Who Knew? Tap Water Tips

We’ve all heard it a million times: To flush the lead that’s built up overnight in household pipes, run the faucet for a minute or more each morning before brewing coffee or filling your water bottle.

But did you know that one flush won’t do you for the rest of the day? So say researchers at the University of North Carolina’s Environmental Quality Institute, who found that lead is back at 25 percent of overnight levels within ten minutes of flushing the tap, and at 50 percent within 30 minutes.

Don’t throw up your hands and buy stock in Evian just yet, though -- the UNC water-quality experts have a simple solution: Flush the tap, then fill up a pitcher and drink from that for the rest of the day.

Bonus: If you let the uncovered pitcher sit in the fridge for a few hours, virtually all the disinfecting chemicals that your water supplier adds to battle germs (but that can be harmful in their own right) will evaporate. So rather than doing it first thing in the morning, “flush and fill” before you hit the sack at night.

(Shameless plug: Click here to read my Real Simple article on drinking water and your health.)

Who Knew? A "Cure" for Shedding

See this adorable pooch? That's our Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Bonnie. I love her almost as much as I love my children -- but her shedding is truly the bane of my existence.

Between Bonnie, our two cats, two flokati rugs, and the "amazing shedding shag" carpet that I blogged awhile back, I pretty much spend my days scooping up tumbleweeds of shed pet hair and carpet fibers from all over the house.

Not too long ago, a sympathetic pet store owner (who actually wasn't trying to sell me anything, since she didn't stock it herself) told me about a product called the FURminator. Have you heard of it?

Using a patented "de-shedding" shampoo and grooming tool, it's supposed to all but eliminate shedding by grabbing and removing all the dead hairs from a dog's undercoat. (The photo above, from the company website, is of hair removed after one "furminating" session.)

Seriously, check this out:


I was dubious, to say the least, but willing to try pretty much anything. So a couple of weeks later I booked an appointment with a mobile grooming service that used the FURminator line.

Now, a normal brushing session with Bonnie yields a comically large pile of hair -- but the hair that came off of that dog during the FURminator treatment was truly a sight to see. She actually looked like she'd lost a few pounds when all was said and done.

The treatment didn't even come close to stopping Bonnie's shedding (which, with a notorious shedding breed like corgis, is probably impossible). But it did significantly cut down on the volume of shed hairs for the next month or two.

The verdict: Not an end-all, but definitely worth a try. (Note for you feline fanciers: The company has a line of products for cats, too.)

Now that the we're actually heading into the warmest months of the year here in the Bay Area, I think I need to book another session. And though they're more expensive than standard grooming supplies, I may even spring for a FURminator brush ($25 to $45, depending on size) and shampoo ($15), available from retailers like PetSmart and Petco.

Now a question for you other pet owners: Have you tried the FURminator? What did you think? Post a comment and let me know.

Who Knew? The Amazing Shedding Shag

About a year ago, I bought the Quinn Felted Shag Rug from Pottery Barn for our family room. (Our old oriental rug had been through house-training with a new puppy and kitten, and alas, had not survived to tell the tale.)

I had lusted after this rug -- with its incredibly thick, nubby plushness and slightly shagadelic vibe -- for ages, and loved the way it looked in the room and felt underfoot. (Our corgi, Bonnie, regularly throws herself down on it and wriggles all around while emitting yelps of pure joy. Our best guess is that she thinks the rug is another animal, and that they're playing together -- or maybe they're doing something a bit more adult, but I don't want to think about that ... ) I even felt a little smug about snagging the brand-new shag for about half of regular retail, from an eBay seller who lived near a Pottery Barn outlet store.

But let me tell you: This rug has become the absolute bane of my existence. It sheds more than our three housepets combined, and I'm regularly scooping up tumbleweeds of shed shag fibers from around the house. Just vacuuming the rug will fill a brand-new vacuum bag to bursting.

Some internet sleuthing led to a message board where owners of the Quinn and similar felted shags (like the Crate+Barrel Pebbles Shag and West Elm's Cable Shag), as well as trendy-again wool flokati rugs, were ranting about the problem. The consensus seemed to be that the shedding would calm down over time. Sadly, a year down the line, that doesn't seem to be the case with ours. Some nights, I dream of giant spheres of soft white rug fibers blowing across the floor ...

Anyway, consider yourself warned.

(And if anyone has a similar tale to tell -- or, even better, a possible solution to the problem -- please feel free to share it!)

Who Knew? Reducing CFL Glare

I admit it: I haven't exactly been quick to jump on the compact fluorescent bandwagon. I'm all for saving the planet, of course, but the light these bulbs emit is just so ... glaring and horrible. So I assuage my guilt by going for the lowest-watt incandescent bulbs I can get away with (seriously -- I buy 15-watters in bulk) while I wait for the magic of science to come up with a better-looking energy-saving bulb.

But I just read a tip that could get me to finally give CFLs a shot: Turns out that CFLs are about three times brighter, per watt, than incandescent bulbs. (So that's why the 40W CFLs Nick sneakily installed in our closets gave me an instant migraine.) For a more subtle fluorescent light, go for a CFL bulb that's no more than a third the wattage of the bulb you're swapping it out for -- replace a regular 60W bulb with a 20W CFL, for instance, or a 40W bulb for a 15W CFL. To further tone down that sometimes-toxic fluorescent glow, use the bulbs in fixtures with warm-colored shades to help diffuse and soften the light they emit.

If you need another incentive, consider this: If every American home replaced just one regular bulb for a CFL, it would prevent the formation of greenhouse gases equivalent to those emitted by 800,000 cars.

I think I'm finally beginning to see the light.