1937 ad for Listerine. From what I understand, Listerine really is an effective cure for dandruff. However, I assume that most people were reluctant to rub mouthwash in their hair. And nowadays, no company in their right mind would admit in the ad that they tested the product on cute rabbits.
The makers of Clorox Bleach are urging everyone on the internet to share their "bleachable moment." Because who hasn't shared a special moment with their bottle of bleach? Like the time you tried to hide those blood stains, perhaps, or had to clean up after an ebola outbreak.
Ludwick Marishane, inventor of DryBath Bath-substituting™ skin gel, has been trying to raise money to promote the DryBath™ No-Bathing Weekend. The idea is that you buy his DryBath sachets and simultaneously pledge not to wash with water for a couple of days. He hopes this will "bring awareness to the billions of people who don’t have water to bathe when their health depends on it."
To sweeten the deal, Ludwick made his own pledge:
I will be matching your donations with a personal pledge to use DryBath™ instead of bathing:
1. If we reach the campaign target of 1 million skipped baths...I will not bathe for 1 month
2. If we skip 2 million baths...I will not bathe for 3 months.
3. If we skip 20 million baths...I will not bathe for a YEAR!
But it looks like Ludwick hoped to raise $500,000 and only got $761. This means (I assume) that he'll continue to be taking baths every day.
The demure product of today versus the bold product of the past (1962). Which would you choose for your pressing oral hygiene & "mouthpiece filth" needs?
CDC researchers recently published a study of contaminants found in public pools (in the metro-Atlanta area). It's worth reading if you plan to take a dip in a public pool this summer. Here are the highlights:
During the 2012 summer swimming season, filter concentrate samples were collected at metro-Atlanta public pools... Escherichia coli, a fecal indicator, was detected in 93 (58%) samples; detection signifies that swimmers introduced fecal material into pool water. Fecal material can be introduced when it washes off of swimmers' bodies or through a formed or diarrheal fecal incident in the water. The risk for pathogen transmission increases if swimmers introduce diarrheal feces...
The detection of E. coli in over half of filter backwash samples indicates that swimmers frequently introduced fecal material into pools and thus might transmit infectious pathogens to others... A single diarrheal contamination incident can introduce 107–108 Cryptosporidium oocysts into the water, a quantity sufficient to cause infection if a mouthful of water from a typical pool is ingested.
The frequent occurrence of fecal contamination of pools documented in this study... underscore the need for improved swimmer hygiene (e.g., taking a pre-swim shower and not swimming when ill with diarrhea). This study also found that the proportion of samples positive for E. coli significantly differed between membership/club and municipal pools. This finding might reflect differences in the number of swimmers who are either diapered children or children learning toileting skills.
Paul Di Filippo
Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.