THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 31, 1996 TAG: 9603290057
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G3 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: AROUND THE HOUSE
SOURCE: MARY FLACHSENHAAR
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
WHEN THEIR CUSTOMERS complained, Spiller and Nancy Anderson listened.
Owners of the Virginia Beach company Power Clean, the husband-and-wife team used to rent pressure washers to homeowners who wanted to remove grease and grime, moss and mildew from the exterior of their homes.
Until they began hearing too many high-powered criticisms of the cleaning technique.
``We learned that high-pressure washing can take the siding off a house,'' said Nancy. ``It can blow water into the home's electrical system and into the vents on top of the house.''
``You wouldn't put your grandmother's fine china into the dishwasher even if it had a real tough stain, would you?'' Spiller added. ``That china needs a low-pressure wash.'' And so does a house.
So Spiller invented a kinder, gentler alternative. Called the Miracle Soaper, the device is simply a pick-up tube that is locked between faucet and garden hose and placed into a bucket of detergent or bleach. With it, the house can be cleaned with the easy pressure of a garden hose. The Miracle Soaper also can clean fences, sidewalks, outdoor furniture, the car and more. It can even be used to apply liquid lawn fertilizer.
More good news: Spiller's patented invention, which retails for $49.95, can save the homeowner money, say the Andersons.
``It might cost you $75 to rent a pressure washer or $200 or more to hire a professional,'' said Nancy. Their product should last for years.
Earlier this month, in their first week of sales, the Andersons sold 1,500 Miracle Soapers throughout several Southern states.
To order or for more information, call Power Clean at 471-7142 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. DUST BUNNIES TAKE HEED
This is a warning, to those corners around the house where dust, crumbs and cobwebs have lived complacently for years because no cleaning tool could reach them.
The Twist & Vac is coming.
And there is no corner the small but powerful vacuum can't reach, say the folks at The Hoover Co., the manufacturer of the sleek, hand-held cleaner. What sets this appliance apart from others is the patented swivel nozzle, which turns 90 degrees and locks into place. According to Hoover, this feature makes Twist & Vac ideal for tight areas, stairs and under furniture.
No disposable bags are required because the vacuum collects dirt in a removable cup and has a reusable filter, says Hoover.
Twist & Vac, model number S1147, comes with a 20-foot cord. It retails for about $50 at many Wal-Mart, Circuit City, Builders Square and Service Merchandise stores. By June it will also be available at Kmart and Best Products. TOSSING TOO MUCH FOOD
The average U.S. household wastes - gulp! - between 10 percent and 15 percent of the food it purchases. That's enough to feed all of Canada.
The statistic, from Dr. William J. Rathje, professor of archeology at the University of Arizona and director of The Garbage Project, appears in The ULS Report, a newsletter that tells consumers how to ``use less stuff.''
By digging up landfills and analyzing the contents, Rathje and his team study contemporary cultures. They discovered that households that buy the highest proportion of processed foods waste the highest percentage of fresh foods.
Rathje explains the phenomenon, which he calls ``the fast-lane syndrome,'' this way: Convinced that they will prepare home-cooked meals from scratch, ``fast-lane'' consumers buy fresh foods. But aware that they might become too busy to cook, they also buy lots of processed food for backup.
At the end of the week, the packaging from the processed foods is in the garbage, and - guess what? - so is the gooey head of lettuce. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Twist & Vac from Hoover goes after hard-to-get dirt.
by CNB