This thread is devoted to identifying commercial products that actually do the job as required. I have recently encountered some new (to me) items that function exceptionally well. I’ll be listing these along with some timeless classics as we go along. Feel free to append products that you found disappointing at the end of your posts too. I’m hoping all of us here at these boards can find a way to save each other a lot of grief and time with these testimonials. Everything from cleansers, foodstuffs and tools to tires, lubricants and flooring are welcome here. The biggest intent is to save all of us time and money.
NOTE to MODERATORS: Please post a disclaimer that this thread in no way constitutes an endorsement by this board’s parent organization for any or all of these products.
CLEANING PRODUCTS:
CLR[ul]This cleaning agent really does the trick. I’ve seen it remove the most stubborn residues from everything including coffee urns out to toilet bowls.[/ul]Zud[ul]This scrubbing compound kicks boutee. It’s gotten out stains from porcelain that other cleansers didn’t even budge.[/ul]TOOLS:
Klein:[ul]These hand tools seem to retain their edge and functionality far longer than most regular brands. Xcelite is good and Craftsman’s lifetime warrantee is cute, but Klein seems to rise above the rest. Snap On tools are so high priced that, not being a professional mechanic, I am unable to justify their cost.[/ul]Victorinox:[ul]Both their Swiss Army pocket knives and their recently introduced pocket tool are top-of-the-line. Shaving sharp edges straight from the factory are a common feature of these fantastically well designed knives.[/ul]Mag Lite:[ul]Any size, any design and you can count upon all of them to work well. A rare thing in a product line. I have more of them than I can count. Always a perfect gift and always useful.[/ul]FOOD:
Herdez Salsa Casera:[ul]Simply one of the best commercial salsas made. No tomato sauce or paste is used in this splendid concoction. Only chopped vegetables appear in this well balanced and adequately heated salsa.[/ul]Best Foods or Hellman’s Mayonnaise:[ul]Often imitated yet rarely equaled, this is the one essential household cooking ingredient no kitchen should be without.[/ul]MUSIC EQUIPMENT:
Fatar Music Controllers:[ul]These MIDI keyboards are the standard by which anything save orchestral grade performance instruments should be judged. My 86 note controller has a better action than many pianos I’ve played. The feature rich configuration and compact design make this the only electronic keyboard I’ve truly welcomed into my home. It will now supplant my well-worn Wurlitzer spinet, and for good reason.[/ul]
Rest assured that this is only the beginning. I’ll be posting many more additions to this thread in the days to come. Please join us in the fight against lame commercial rip-off goods.
After having a fire recently (as posted in another thread) I can vouch for OdorNix. It completely eliminates smoke smells from everything. It saved my mattresses (when I was told this was an impossibility) and sheets, blankets, and clothes as well.
I bought it at Wally-World, but it’s kind of difficult to find. It’s sometimes on the laundry aisle, but I also have found it in the household goods section.
According to the back of the bottle, it is used in autopsy rooms and obliterates all smells. That it does. (Anybody else here picturing Clarice Starling wiping it under her nose?)
There is another product I used during the whole fire-fiasco that worked so well, I gave up another: Orange Blast. I used to swear by Greased Lightning, but this stuff makes it look lame. It got rid of all the grime and smoke off tons of my furniture and appliances when GL didn’t do anything but roll off.
Breathe Right throat spray makes me not snore.
It’s the first thing that ever worked with me. If I forget to use it and start snoring, my wife throttles me until I stumble into the bathroom and spray some in the back of my mouth,
Then I’m quiet.
First, for you bricksanmortar people trapped in the web of webbing that is the Interweb:
Bricks: Believe it or not, these little beauties refuse to fail. Century after century, they withstand the elements and hold up their end! Plus, for no extra charge, they can be used to smite one’s enemies! What a deal!
Mortar: But what would bricks, marvels of technology that they are, be without mortar? Truly, mortar is the mortar that mortars this world together! Nothing short of bored schoolkids at recess can permeate its sheer impermiability! Mortar, too, can be used as part of an integrated smiting solution: It can be used to conceal the smote from the smite-worthy, thereby forestalling further smiting until a more convenient time.
Now, for all you techo-geeks webbing the webbing that constitutes the webbing of the Interweb:
dd: Truly a marvel of technology and a paragon of modern command-line interface design, dd integrates seamelessly with any data-managment integrated integration solution integrated seamlessly with your integrated business model. dd provides hassle-free information copying between such diverse (yet integrated) devices as /dev/random, /dev/tty, /dev/zero, and /dev/audio! Its support for ultra-modern `floppy-disk’ backup solutions means it will be a technology to watch in the coming decades!
Afrin. It promises to get rid of nasal congestion. You squirt it up there, and within a few minutes, you can breathe again. You stay clear for hours. Great stuff.
Orange clean You can pick this handwash stuff up at an automotive shop. it has never failed to remove any type of oil, grease or grime from me withen seconds.
Yes, but then it wears off, and you get this rebound clog–it’s like the top of your nose is trying to close itself off. Yes, my nose gets “addicted” after just one use. YMMV on Afrin.
Mary Ellen’s WOW laundry stain removers work very, very well. My local grocery store discontinued selling it several years ago, and I bought out their remaining stock at a discount. I’m running out, though…I hope they still make it!
Goo Gone has saved me hundreds of dollars in damage deposits over the years. It removes all sorts of adhesives, from the double-sided tape I used to stick my white-board to my dorm-room door, to Scotch Tape, to that blue poster putty that supposedly comes off walls. It got rid of my daughter’s crayon scribbles on the wall that nothing else would even budge, and a recent young visitor’s scribbles on my floor. Now that it’s my own propery I’m protecting, Goo Gone’s as invaluable as ever!
I’ll second that. Alka Seltzer (original or Cold Plus) is also the only thing that can ever truly settle my stomach. And if I have a sore throat, the dissolved aspirin makes it nice and numb, and the cold relief kicks in so much quicker than a pill.
I love it, love it, love it.
This may be slightly frivolous, but MaxFactor’s 2000 Calorie Mascara is the only mascara I’ve ever used that causes strangers to compliment me on my eyelashes. Gotta love that.
Anybody know of a detergent that actually removes all the stains it claims to remove? I’ve yet to find one; Mr. Levins is a walking stain disaster, to the point that I’ve forbidden him from wearing white T-shirts.
I have been pleasantly surprised by Splenda, which is a sweetener. Usually, I detect a bitter taste with sweeteners, but I’m happy with Splenda. I’ve only used the stuff in the packets, not the granulated kind, so I can’t say anything either way about its baking properties, but it works wonders in my drinks and on my morning cereal.
