Be Kind To Plants When De-Icing Paths

Lay de-icing chemicals on paths before snow and ice storms arrive. You then can use much less material, minimizing salt damage to plants, the University of Maryland’s Cooperative Extension Service tells the Washington Post. And calcium magnesium acetate is kinder to plants than salt (sodium chloride).

Flush with confidence: Ready for some straight talk about toilet paper? The Wall Street Journal points out that, until now, marketers of bathroom tissue have used everything from puffy clouds to cuddly babies to advertise their product. Now, testing the limits of how much consumers want to hear about what goes on in the bathroom, Kimberly-Clark, the maker of Cottonelle, is spending $100 million to promote the brand as the toilet paper that wipes better than regular tissue, thanks to a new “rippled texture.”

Covered like a rug: DuPont is upgrading its Stainmaster carpet with something out of cooking and combat.

Teflon.

It was 1986 when DuPont introduced Stainmaster. Its technology helps repel dirt and makes it easier to clean. DuPont’s new Advanced Teflon Repel System has taken that effort one step forward, the company says.

To find the dealer nearest you that offers the new carpeting, call (800) 438-7668. Not all dealers have the carpet yet, so be sure to call first.

To find out more about this new carpeting on the Internet, visit the DuPont site at http://dupont.com/ Stainmaster.

Let’s talk light: A new type of glass block window without the usual installation problems of traditional glass block is on the market.

Dubbed LightWise by its maker, Pittsburgh Corning, the new glass-block windows are made of one rather than two pieces of glass block.

LightWise windows come in 29 sizes. Look in your yellow pages for the nearest Pittsburgh Corning window distributor.