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Kelly, Elisha, and Lyndsey talk about creating comfortable homes—and how DIY culture kinda makes us feel bad about ourselves.
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Blue Apron
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@blueyeti this episode might need some editing right at the beginning?
So I hate to rain on the “scented candle” parade, but they’re really bad for you (& babies). Source: Richard Corsi, a professor I had for undergrad, who is both a genius and has been studying indoor air quality for his entire career. He’s a hippy progressive who wants the government to regulate indoor air quality, but the actual advice he gives on improving indoor air quality is great:
Candles are terrible for indoor air quality
General info on indoor air quality
Big list of how to help your indoor air quality (linked in general info)
Also, his big thing: Don’t buy “Ionizer” air filters/fans, as they release ozone, which is terrible for you. Use HEPA filter/fans, which actually work.
Oops. We’ll fix that today. Sorry!
Chemist, former mold remediation worker, and former worker at in the QC / regulatory office of a cleaning company here.
Bleach is massively underrated. It will kill nearly any kind of microbe – fungus, mold, bacteria, or virus, they all die to bleach. It is what we recommend for cleaning up seriously nasty bacteria cultures. So-called “superbugs” are toast after a little quality time with hypochlorite, and there is very little chance for resistance. It will even kill Ebola virus. It also great at breaking down nasty odor chemicals – the same oxidizing power that bleaches out stains destroys a wide range of chemicals that cause odors. (Hydrogen peroxide has similar effects on odor chemicals while being easier on skin and clothes) All this and the stuff is dirt cheap. Lastly, the alkaline nature of bleach will give it some detergent action, though see my caveats below.
On the downside, bleach loses effectiveness over time – after a year you will be needing to use more bleach in your cleaning buckett to get the same effect. Also, bleach works best if you remove the heavy dirt and grime first before disinfecting. Bleach reacts with grease and other organic material just like bacteria. Get the worse of it up with another cleaner, then bleach it to finish the job.
Don’t worry, my husband has moved from blowing them out to systematically removing them and stuffing them in the bottom of the “Goodwill bag” so by the time the baby is here I don’t think there will be any left. Ha!
My apologies for any perceived pedantry but “Hygge” is Danish, not “Scandinavian.” As a Danish word, it has a difficult pronunciation which doesn’t rhyme with ‘piggy.’ As a concept, it is broader than scented candles and warm blankets.
Denmark is usually considered part of Scandinavia. And any perception of pedantry from my comment is entirely accurate.
Thanks for the chuckle. And yes, while Denmark is part of Scandinavia, its culture is distinct nonetheless.