# Don't waste your time/money on \_\_\_\_ (stuff that DOESN'T work) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 3, 2010, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-waste-your-time-money-on-____-stuff-that-doesnt-work/562747 "2010-12-03T01:56:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-waste-your-time-money-on-____-stuff-that-doesnt-work/562747/81 "2010-12-07T19:29:53Z")
Vinegar as a scalp itch/dandruff cure. You’re supposed to shower with it (i.e. use a cup or two of it like shampoo) and it’ll “permanently” cure dandruff. You’ll find lots of folks swearing by it on the Internet. 'Taint so, and while the odor goes away when your hair dries, the least little bit of moisture in your hair will make your head smell like vinegar again for a few days. I’d swear it makes dandruff worse. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-waste-your-time-money-on-____-stuff-that-doesnt-work/562747/82 "2010-12-07T21:42:00Z")
Yeah, as far as my boyfriend can tell, nothing helps his dry scalp at all. Everything works for a week and then stops. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-waste-your-time-money-on-____-stuff-that-doesnt-work/562747/83 "2010-12-07T22:51:54Z")
**Zsofia** , has he tried alternating his shampoos? Like Head & Shoulders for 2 days, Neutrogena T-gel for 1-2 day, Nizoral for 2 days, and back again? My SO had bad dandruff when I met him despite being faithful to Head & Shoulders. I did a little research and found that alternating the major brands helps. And lo and behold, it did. But if he is lazy and forgets to rotate, back it comes. In the winters he uses more T-gel and Nizoral and less H&S because he’s flakier. (generic options are the same active ingredients as well, so don’t hesitate to use 'em) ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-waste-your-time-money-on-____-stuff-that-doesnt-work/562747/84 "2010-12-07T23:34:14Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Don’t those dryer sheets end up giving your clothes a gradual residue buildup? Yes, they do. All fabric softeners work by lightly coating everything with wax. It isn’t good for the machines, especially front-loaders. Stop using the stuff, and you’ll discover that your clothes are just as soft as the were when they were waxy. Dishwashers: The little soap dish in the machine holds way too much detergent. When you get a rainbow film on your glasses, it’s because you are using too much. It’s called etching, and you can’t get rid of it. Start with a tablespoonful of Cascade powder, and work from there. Those etched glasses? Recycle them. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-waste-your-time-money-on-____-stuff-that-doesnt-work/562747/85 "2010-12-07T23:50:15Z")
A couple of kitchen gadgets: We had an herb chopper that didn’t. It had a row of circular blades that looked like the way to chop leafy herbs like basil. The blades weren’t sharp! I could make a lot of bruised parallel lines on the still-intact basil leaves. My wife brought home a really cute garlic chopper. It was a clear plastic puck with a rubber tire on one side. Put a clove of garlic inside, and run the tire back and forth across the counter, and a gear driven set of blades reduces the clove to tiny pieces, bigger pieces, and one uncut lump. The whole ritual, including cleaning the garlic out of the thing, takes longer than doing a neater job with a knife. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-waste-your-time-money-on-____-stuff-that-doesnt-work/562747/86 "2010-12-07T23:56:29Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > …if you’re expecting 4" tall little fish people who juggle and live in a castle, you might be disappointed. Really? ☹ So much for _my_ Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-waste-your-time-money-on-____-stuff-that-doesnt-work/562747/87 "2010-12-08T04:44:44Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Don’t those dryer sheets end up giving your clothes a gradual residue buildup? Doesn’t matter - it’s so dry here that I would die from the static electricity shocks without them. You’ll pry my dryer sheets and Static Guard from my cold, dead, staticky hands. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-waste-your-time-money-on-____-stuff-that-doesnt-work/562747/88 "2010-12-08T14:21:45Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > To the people who need this service you might as well be speaking Chinese. To someone like my uncle who uses the computer by basically remembering exactly where to click in order to get to yahoo mail and any minor change renders him completely an utterly incapable of using the computer something like is pretty much mandatory if I’m unable to help him. Your uncle’s computer skills sound exactly like my mother’s computer skills. When her email web site changes its interface slightly, she forgets how to run the web browser. (Okay, I don’t think she’s that bad any longer. But a few years ago she was that bad.) ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-waste-your-time-money-on-____-stuff-that-doesnt-work/562747/89 "2010-12-08T15:38:56Z")
Does ‘doesn’t work as advertised’ count? I’m sure those Amish space heaters are wonderful heaters, but save money off your heating bill? Pay for themselves with the savings? Not happening. Electricity (by me) is the single most expensive way to heat a home. Sure your gas bill will go down (except for your water heater & your stove) but your electric bill will skyrocket. “Ma, can you help me with this? Its that new Amish math…” OK, if you shut off your furnace & water to the rest of the house, bleed the pipes so they don’t burst, and heat just one room with it, and only while you are awake, and turn it off when you climb into bed, you might see savings. And 3 ghosts at Christmas. You might even lower your coffee bill too once your bare feet hit that bathroom floor the next morning, but I’m sure thats being saved for next year’s testimonials. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-waste-your-time-money-on-____-stuff-that-doesnt-work/562747/90 "2010-12-08T16:01:01Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > Vinegar as a scalp itch/dandruff cure. You’re supposed to shower with it (i.e. use a **cup or two** of it like shampoo) and it’ll “permanently” cure dandruff. You’ll find lots of folks swearing by it on the Internet. I hope you mean a cap or two. A cup of vinegar? No wonder your hair smelled funny. > [@](#): > > 'Taint so, and while the odor goes away when your hair dries, the least little bit of moisture in your hair will make your head smell like vinegar again for a few days. I’d swear it makes dandruff worse. I’ve tried all the OTC remedies- Neutrogena T-Gel, H&S, etc. I bit the bullet and went to a dermatologist and now alternate Loprox and Salex (both are Rx). My lifelong dandruff problem is finally solved. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-waste-your-time-money-on-____-stuff-that-doesnt-work/562747/91 "2010-12-08T17:22:13Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > Does ‘doesn’t work as advertised’ count? > > I’m sure those Amish space heaters are wonderful heaters, but save money off your heating bill? Pay for themselves with the savings? Not happening. Electricity (by me) is the single most expensive way to heat a home. Sure your gas bill will go down (except for your water heater & your stove) but your electric bill will skyrocket. > > “Ma, can you help me with this? Its that new Amish math…” > > OK, if you shut off your furnace & water to the rest of the house, bleed the pipes so they don’t burst, and heat just one room with it, and only while you are awake, and turn it off when you climb into bed, you might see savings. And 3 ghosts at Christmas. You might even lower your coffee bill too once your bare feet hit that bathroom floor the next morning, but I’m sure thats being saved for next year’s testimonials. Well, we sort of do that - we have the programmable thermostat set quite low in the winter (especially at night), and if we’re feeling cold in the evening watching TV then we’ll turn on an oil-filled space heater if just a blanket doesn’t cut it. The alternative is being tempted to turn the thermostat up and heat the whole house up. We don’t do it very often, but it does work out to save us money. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-waste-your-time-money-on-____-stuff-that-doesnt-work/562747/92 "2010-12-08T17:32:16Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > We had an herb chopper that didn’t. It had a row of circular blades that looked like the way to chop leafy herbs like basil. The blades weren’t sharp! I could make a lot of bruised parallel lines on the still-intact basil leaves. One of my boyfriends had one of those. He was a pretty decent cook, but for some reason he didn’t like mincing things. So when he made his chana masala for me (oh god so good), I minced the cilantro. The first time, he had that tool out, so I tried it. Fucking _terrible_. I chucked the thing in the sink and pulled out a chef’s knife. > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Doesn’t matter - it’s so dry here that I would die from the static electricity shocks without them. It gets pretty bad here, too, for all that I live on a giant fucking lake. I tend to spend all winter in the office shocking myself every time I get up from my desk–for some reason, there’s a bolt recessed into the underside of the armrests \*exactly \*where my fingers curl when I grab them to move my chair back and stand up. I also think that my dad’s SUV has a personal vendetta against me–years ago, I learned that I had to close its doors with the side of my arm. If I reached out a hand, it would shock me. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-waste-your-time-money-on-____-stuff-that-doesnt-work/562747/93 "2010-12-08T17:34:24Z")
> [@Stillwell\_Angel](#): > > I actually went back and read that article again after I posted that link. Apparently I hadn’t read down far enough to see the vinegar info. Anyhoo, I put a bowl full of vinegar on the top rack and ran a load. They came out beautiful! > We already use vinegar for lots of stuff, so I’m surprised I hadn’t thought to try it already. It works great as fabric softener, and way cheaper than Downey > > Jet Dry: check! Cascade: check! > But as they said in the article, they took the good stuff out of the detergent (sorry, too lazy to go back and see what that was they took out), so it really doesn’t matter how good Cascade USED to be. I tried the vinegar trick, and that looks to be the cure 🙂 What they took out was phosphates, the chemicals that do the actual cleaning. Don’t know what they replaced them with, but they don’t clean worth a damn; for months now, Cascade has been selling overpriced white dirt. But, if you go to a hardware store like Lowe’s, you can still find trisodium phosphate (TSP) in four-pound boxes for around $8. It’s by the chemicals used for painting preparation; apparently its most popular use is degreasing walls prior to painting. Anyway, a couple teaspoons in the cup for each load, and your dishwasher will magically start working again. ---
**Author:** ![Kelby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a587f6/32.png) [@Kelby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelby)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-waste-your-time-money-on-____-stuff-that-doesnt-work/562747/94 "2010-12-08T19:02:58Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > And don’t waste your money on paint pad/edgers. I’ve done a lot of home renovating and am always looking for a way to shorcut the painting process. In particular, I have a bit of a tremor which has gotten worse over the years, so it’s hard to maintain a straight line with the wall paint at the ceiling edge. Every few years I’ll be tempted by the paint edger pad in Lowe’s, so I’ll give in. > > Those things suck. I can get a straighter edge with my wobbly hand after a double espresso. I use one and have gotten compliments on how staight my ceiling edges are. Cutting the ceiling edge in by hand makes-a-me-crazy. What kind of problem were you having? ---
**Author:** ![Stillwell\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@Stillwell\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stillwell_Angel)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-waste-your-time-money-on-____-stuff-that-doesnt-work/562747/95 "2010-12-08T23:18:16Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > What they took out was phosphates, the chemicals that do the actual cleaning. Don’t know what they replaced them with, but they don’t clean worth a damn; for months now, Cascade has been selling overpriced white dirt. > > But, if you go to a hardware store like Lowe’s, you can still find trisodium phosphate (TSP) in four-pound boxes for around $8. It’s by the chemicals used for painting preparation; apparently its most popular use is degreasing walls prior to painting. Anyway, a couple teaspoons in the cup for each load, and your dishwasher will magically start working again. You are my new best friend. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-waste-your-time-money-on-____-stuff-that-doesnt-work/562747/96 "2010-12-09T00:09:35Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I’ll second this. Probably the most overpriced thing a person could buy. Monster brand cables are overpriced but do they work? The OP’s about stuff that doesn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-waste-your-time-money-on-____-stuff-that-doesnt-work/562747/97 "2010-12-09T01:49:41Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > We recently bought a $25 drum stool from Target that was a wobbly piece of garbage. Of course your drum stool was a piece of shit! What’d you expect? … We had a cheap infomercial-level mandolin. It had to be over thirty years old–it was even stamped ‘Made in West Germany’. But it was fantastic. Not really worth it for half an onion, but if you had even a modest amount of slicing to do, it couldn’t be beat. Tried an Oxo brand mandolin. Thinking that it was new, would be sharp, and they had plenty of time to improve things. Most obvious flaw? The blade is designed to hit the food orthogonally. Instead of slicing at an angle Guillotine-style like our old one, this smashed into the food head on. Bah~ ---
**Author:** ![BomTek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bomtek/32/21364_2.png) [@BomTek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BomTek)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-waste-your-time-money-on-____-stuff-that-doesnt-work/562747/98 "2010-12-09T02:25:21Z")
A couple relevant links. One, an [article from Cracked](http://www.cracked.com/article_17606_7-high-tech-products-their-cheap-ass-ingredients.html) that discusses more than a few of the items that have been mentioned here. Two, and I hate to add my two cents to this goddamn argument, but I love [this one](http://cheezcomixed.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/129115793545040623.jpg). As for the OP, I’m somewhat ashamed to say that my otherwise intelligent mother and wife both bought Shake Weights. For one thing, as has been discussed in another thread recently, there’s no such thing as spot reduction, and for another, of COURSE the fucking thing won’t work if it just sits in the closet. Just like all the other gimmicky exercise equipment you’ve bought :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-waste-your-time-money-on-____-stuff-that-doesnt-work/562747/99 "2010-12-09T03:32:58Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Monster brand cables are overpriced but do they work? The OP’s about stuff that doesn’t work. No, they do not. ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-waste-your-time-money-on-____-stuff-that-doesnt-work/562747/100 "2010-12-09T04:43:38Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Monster brand cables are overpriced but do they work? The OP’s about stuff that doesn’t work. > [@pedescribe](#): > > No, they do not. They work just fine. Do they work any better than a cable for a tenth the price? Nope. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-waste-your-time-money-on-____-stuff-that-doesnt-work/562747.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-waste-your-time-money-on-____-stuff-that-doesnt-work/562747.md?page=6)