I'd like to invite you to check out Zero Bull Jetted Tub Cleaner. I’m a co-founder of Zero-Bull.com. We make powerful, safe, all-natural replacements for common, dangerous chemicals. We’ve taken a successful industrial cleaner used by Kellogg’s, Carnival, Craft, and U.S Navy and repackaged it for household bathtub use. Pages like this often recommend DIY solutions using bleach, vinegar, or products that use “quat” like Oh Yuck. We have a lot of research on these chemicals as cleaning solutions. The consensus is that bleach and quat are extremely dangerous, and vinegar is mildly effective. Here’s a brief explanation about why bleach, vinegar and quat are not great solutions for jetted tubs: Bleach: when bleach is added to a tub of hot water, the chemical aerosolizes, filling the room with the noxious chemical known to cause asthma, lung damage, and rashes. Also, the corrosiveness of bleach will damage a jetted tub system over time. Vinegar: household vinegar has a pH of about three. Vinegar by itself won’t actually clean out the jets—it’s better at cleaning mineral deposits but can’t cut and remove gunk saturated in biomaterial oil deposits. Quat: Like Bleach, quaternary ammonium compound is known to cause asthma, lung damage, and skin irritation. Quat poses a “high health risk” and “moderate flammability” on the HMIS scale. Oh Yuk is a popular jetted tub cleaner that contains quat. Jetted Tub Cleaner - LInk! Please send your feedback, we love seeing reviews, especially the nasty photos!

I've done two loads of laundry in the new Cabrio HE top-loader. I don't think I have anything negative to say about how the clothes cleaned. I did use more detergent than this forum says one should. Using Tide HE, I filled to the "1" mark. It was late, I was tired and well, it kinda looked like a 1 tbls measure (g) It's not. It's at least 2x that if not more. The first load felt a little "thick" after drying. Towels weren't "crunchy" tho. I may not have even noticed it if I wasn't looking for a difference. The work clothes load (jeans and dark tees) felt ok. I'm going to reduce it to 1 tbls and hope that the over powering scent is less as well. Didn't add Oxy or vinegar to either load. Couldn't remember which dispenser the vinegar went in and had already loaded the clothes when I read that the oxy powder would have to go in the bottom of the washer BEFORE the clothes if using liquid soap. The vinegar goes in the fabric softener dispenser, right? 1/2 cup? I don't use liquid fs or the sheets. I don't care for the feeling of "limp" clothes and I know it creates a build up, not to mention towels aren't as absorbent. All my clothes washing life, I've washed towels, washcloths, underwear, socks together. I did it with this first load too, on the normal cycle, warm/cold, high spin. I saw no twisting issues. Can I/should I not combine these articles for washing in this washer? It would result in having to do more loads if I have to separate the towels. That's more time, water and energy. I washed the work clothes in hot/cold, heavy duty, high spin. I normally do NOT wash work clothes on heavy duty, just longer on the normal cycle and they come clean. What I do NOT like...I do NOT Like the locking lid! WHY in the world does a top loader HAVE to lock?? I know, I can pause it and look inside but I *need* to see it in action (lol) Really, I do! I remember seeing a YouTube video about how to disable the auto-lock feature on this machine....hummmmmmmm Can you REALLY see thru the clear lid? Seems like water and steam would prevent being able to clearly see the action. I have both water taps wide open. With the first load, I never felt warm water (I checked SEVERAL times). It was mildly cool. With the heavy duty load, the hot water didn't kick in till the "wash" cycle. The soak cycle was, again, mildly cool (what our cold water is here in Texas this time of year). The washer it's self is level (checked with a level) and doesn't move AT all when manually rocked back and forth, but, during the high speed spins, it vibrates pretty bad. It's not walking but it definitely jitters around and makes me worry about the integrity of the machine after so much of that kind of vibration. Yes, the clothes were distributed evenly. lulundave, can you "add" water to a cycle if you feel it needs more or just reset it to high, med, or low levels? You said it (Cabrio with agitator) has "just a few more bells and whistles". What does it have that the HE doesn't? Also, it doesn't appear to be an Energy Star machine :( Are HEs the only Energy Star rated washing machines? Thanks for ALL the comments and help. I truly appreciate the time everyone took to reply :) Monica

Cleaning/updating a freezer is easy at any time of year. Unplug the freezer, a couple of hours before you want to clear and clean it. Bring cooler tubs used for picnics and get enough large cardboard boxes to hold slightly more stuff than is in the freezer, line the boxes with coats, blankets, sleeping bags, etc. if you choose. But I figure that it's not really necessary, for it won't be out of the freezer long, and as long as there's a bit of ice remaining in each item when it goes back in, it's fine. The insulation makes sense environmentally, though, as the stuff going back in fully frozen will mean that the freezer won't need to run as long to get everything back down to the proper temperature. Maybe label them according to product - veggies, meat, baked goods, ready-to-eat, milk (if you live in the country and milk is an essential, some of that may save a trip to town (unless you just HAVE to go to get cigarettes) ... plus I like to buy some extra when, occasionally, it comes on at about half price: a few small chunkies as it thaws don't bother me, and a bit of shaking reduces them somewhat). If some of the stuff isn't dated, you may want to write with felt marker an approximate date on it as to when it may have been put into the freezer. Having cleared off the ice and dried a spot on the item first. You may want to inventory it, as well - if you don't have one, I recommend it. If you do, check each item against yur inventory. After the stuff is all stored in boxes, cover each box with a coat, blanket, etc. Clear off the frost, a quick way to do it is let the exhaust from the vacuum cleaner flow down into it. Clean the freezer. Let all of the liquid residues on the surfaces dry. Replace the food, storing each kind of food in a different location. Make a map of where all the stuff is, possibly a list of each item, and the date you think that it went into the freezer. Where you have several items of one type of thing, make that number of boxes behind the name, with room for two dates in each box. Put the date that you think that each item of the stuff went into the freezer at the top of each relevant box. When you remove an item for use, write that date into the bottom of the relevant box and cross it off if you choose. When you add more stuff, make a new box at the appropriate location for each item, and put the date that it was added at the top of the box, leaving room in the bottom of the box for the date of removal. If you have different sizes of the same item, you may want to have separate lines including name of product and size, then boxes for each size. Simple, huh? Have yourselves a great day or so before the weekend, then the weekend. ole joyful

Ok it's been a while but the PB is also been taking his time away :) Here is the decking. I went ahead and added another 400 sqft which totaled just over 1100 sqft. I already had 700sqft slate patio. Here is a few photos: I chose the lighter pattern so it would not be so hot on my daughter's feet. Almost there thank god. I think I see a little light at the end of that very long tunnel . :)