College football season is here and Friday, September 3 is College Colors Day. It’s a great way to show your support of your favorite institute of higher learning. Colleges around the country are holding special events and fundraising for good causes. So, put on your favorite colors and celebrate. We’ll worry about keeping those colors bright in the laundry another day! … Read Full Post Read More...

Whirlpool refrigerators tends to perform well in Consumer Reports’ tests, with the brand’s Gold GX5FHTXV[Q] topping our Ratings of bottom-freezer refrigerators. The home-appliance maker said today it is taking at least a small step back from offshore manufacturing when it announced its plan to rebuild a cooking-appliance plant in Cleveland, Tennessee, with construction of the one-million-square foot facility beginning at the end of 2010. That would add 130 employees to the current 1,500 Read More...

Thousands of tourists were ordered to evacuate islands off the coast of North Carolina as Hurricane Earl continued its inexorable approach towards the mid-Atlantic. The National Hurricane Center issued various warnings and watches that extended up to the New England states. A warning indicates hurricane conditions are expected within 36 hours; a watch indicates 48 hours. "Our two biggest concerns," Bill Read, director of the National Hurricane Center Director, told NBC's Today Read More...

I have previously blogged about bamboo clotheslines, and now bamboo is being used once again in the clothesline drive, but this time with clothes pins! Bamboo is environmentally safe and is a renewable source of fuel and building materials. Bamboo has a higher tensile strength than many alloys of steel and a higher compressive strength than many types of concrete! Everyone knows that it is the fastest growing plant on Earth but there are many other facts that need to be brought to the Read More...

My niece had a problem with her washer a few weeks ago and had to take her laundry to her parents’ house. She made the comment that she was glad that she didn’t have to go to a laundry mat. I know that those with a home washer and dryer are spoiled but there are ways to make the trip to the laundry mat a bit easier. For one thing, measure out your laundry detergent into smaller containers to avoid carrying a big bottle or box around. Plus, you won’t accidentally leave it at Read More...

An Australian grandmother has lost her life due to asbestos inhalation. However, she never worked with or was near asbestos except for her husband’s laundry. According to the Herald Sun, for ten years she laundered her husband’s work clothes while he worked as a lineman for a communications company. During that time, she inhaled the asbestos that clung to his clothes and contracted mesothelioma. Her family is sharing the story to warn others that have been exposed in this way to Read More...

Q. Can you tell me how to soften a box of Clorox 2® so that I can use it in my washing machine and not waste it? A. Thank you for writing–this is an interesting question. Clorox2® Stain Fighter & Color Booster should be stable and usable (and free-flowing) for at least a year when stored at 70⁰F, so I would think your box is either quite old or has been kept in a hot and humid environment. Unfortunately, the hydrogen peroxide active has likely degraded somewhat, and the Read More...

Depending on where you live, the winter of 2011 is going to be a "cold slap in the face" or "kinder and gentler," according to the new edition of the Farmer's Almanac. Oh, it'll be cold but not like last year when every state but Hawaii got snow. "Overall, it looks like it's going to be a kinder and gentler winter, especially in the areas that had a rough winter last year," managing editor Sandi Duncan told the Associated Press. The Farmers’ Read More...

It's a sure bet that taking care of your appliances will keep them running longer. Performing a few quick cleaning and maintenance moves can improve the performance of your refrigerator, vacuum cleaner and washing machine, according to Jim Nanni, Consumer Reports' appliance expert. Here's how. RefrigeratorsVacuuming the dust and debris from the fan and condenser coils of your refrigerator will help it run more efficiently. You should also check your door gaskets Read More...

Here are the laundry products I found on sale this week: Walgreens:Tide 24-40 loads $5.99; Gain 24-32 loads $5.99; Downy liquid 40 loads or 80 ct. sheets $3.99; Bounce 70-80 ct. sheets $3.99; Tide Stain Release 10 pack or 20 oz. liquid $3.99; Shout Stain Remover 22 oz. 2 for $5.00; Shout Color Catcher 24 ct. 2 for $5.00; Tide to Go Stain Remover 2 for $5.00; Xcel 2X Laundry Detergent 41-50 loads $1.99; Xcel 3X Fabric Softener 64 loads $1.99 … Read Full Post Read More...

As you may remember, I grew up on a farm – an apple orchard, actually. Late summer meant the garden was full and the apples were getting ripe and ready for making jelly. Our family followed the Farmer’s Almanac and heeded the stages of the moon. The best time to make jelly is when the moon is getting full or full. The juice will gel more quickly and produce a nice, tender jelly. … Read Full Post Read More...

Okay, maybe that’s going too far. But my wife and I have had our share of disagreements over her penchant for pre-rinsing dishes before loading them into the dishwasher. I’m from a family of pre-rinsers, so I understand the urge. But working at Consumer Reports has helped me break the habit, since I see firsthand how even today’s most basic dishwashers are often very good, if not excellent, at cleaning dirty dishes. And our test dishes don’t just contain a few scraps of food. Read More...

The local newspaper was stuffed with circulars, but only the Home Depot’s “Three kitchen updates for any budget” caught my eye. The options were to replace old cabinets and counters with special-order items, reface the cabinets, or for even less money, schedule a “wood-renewal” process to spruce up the cabinets. That got me thinking about all the choices that go into remodeling a kitchen. Our special section on kitchen remodeling presents three design schemes at different budgets. Read More...

One of the first pieces of advice that I give to laundry novices is to read the labels. Laundry care symbols are now a part of almost every garment tag. The U.S. has been slow to adopt the symbols and still relies on words; but the symbols are international in understanding. I’ve put together a list of washing, bleaching, drying, ironing and dry cleaning symbols for easy reference. Once you become familiar with the basic symbols and the dots representing temperatures, you’ll be a Read More...

My boss at the school where I am the janitor wants to use a mild bleach solution to disinfect the children’s’ desks after lunch. She believes that the health organization, which monitors our cleaning, requires that this be done with “Ultra” Clorox. Does Ultra Clorox exist? I cannot find it on the shelves. A. Let’s clear up the confusion. Your boss is correct in using a disinfecting bleach solution to wipe down the desks after lunch as a way to help control the Read More...