Issue Date: May 18, 2008
Removing wallpaper can be less yucky now
A new method eliminates scraping.
|
No one likes removing wallpaper. It takes forever, and it's messy. The job just stinks.
The old-fashioned approach is to "score" the paper with a knife or a tool that you roll across the surface to poke little holes in the wallpaper. Then you spray a stripping agent that soaks into the holes to loosen the glue. Finally, you scrape and scrape -- and then scrape some more.
Using a wallpaper steamer eases the job, but lifting the heavy unit can be difficult.
Now I've found another method that makes removing wallpaper almost as simple as peeling a banana. In the Wallwik system (wallwik.com; kits start at $27.99), reusable fabric sheets are soaked in a dissolving solution and applied to the papered walls. This keeps moisture at the surface, loosening the paste. You still have to score the wallpaper before stripping it, but about 30 minutes after you've applied the wet sheets, you can remove them, and the old wallpaper peels right off.
Go to top
Swap homes for a vacation
Want to save a bundle on rentals and hotel rooms this summer? Exchange your house or apartment with someone in your desired vacation spot, whether it's Seattle or the Swiss Alps.
Not everyone is comfortable with the idea of swapping homes with total strangers, but services like HomeExchange.com, which charges $99.95 per year to list your home, and digsville.com, which has a $44.95 fee, make it easy. They both have online listings with photos and detailed descriptions of the homes and owners.
The trick is to find someone who wants to visit your city at the same time you want to visit his. If you browse listings at HomeExchange.com, for example, you will find a three-bedroom house near Orlando whose owner is interested in visiting New York City or Philadelphia this summer. There's a one-bedroom penthouse on Alamo Square in San Francisco owned by someone who wants to visit Washington, D.C. And the residents of a three-bedroom house in Brunswick, Maine, want to
go to Sedona, Ariz. If you're game to exchange, there are plenty of opportunities.
Travel writer Everett Potter's website is everettpotter.com.
Go to top
Make your lawn truly green
Lawn care that involves the use of synthetic fertilizers and gas-guzzling lawn mowers can contribute to global warming. To change your act:
Join the Million Acre Challenge. With more than 30 million acres of turf in the United States, the goal of SafeLawns.org -- to have 1 million acres of lawn tended organically by 2010 -- may seem like a drop in the bucket. But every little bit counts.
Mow without using gas. "Switching to electric rotary mowers or push reel mowers is a great way to save energy," says Paul Tukey, founder of SafeLawns.org and author of "The Organic Lawn Care Manual." Lawn mowing causes 5% to 10% of summer air pollution, but electric mowers can reduce emissions to zero, he says.
Recycle grass. Leaving the grass clippings on the ground "will return up to 50% of the required nutrients back into the soil," Tukey says. Bonus: no clippings to bag.
Go to top
The anti-asthma diet
Mothers who watch what they eat while pregnant can help prevent asthma and allergies in their children, says a new study from the University of Crete, Greece. Pregnant women who ate a high-quality Mediterranean diet were more likely to have kids free of asthma and allergies at 6 1/2 years of age than women who ate a lower-quality diet.
The prenatal diet that warded off asthma and allergies: vegetables eight times a week, fish more than three times a week and legumes more than once a week.
The prenatal diet that upped the odds of having children with asthma and allergies: red meat more than three to four times a week.
|
