September is a month that is full of lots of activities, usually focused around going back to school.
However, last year we bought a manual lawnmower. I am not really sure why we decided to do that, but I know we were fed up with our electric ones breaking down or cutting the cord accidentally and the whole hassle of fixing up extension leads inside the house as we have no outside power. The one petrol lawnmower we had was very heavy and noisy and really too big for us and our lawn and neither of us liked it.
The electric one had just given up, more expensive to fix than to buy another one and of course, it was at peak mowing time so we needed another one quickly.
We started trawling Amazon for lawnmowers. We did not want a petrol mower as we do not have a massive amount of lawn and it would have been too much. We were fed up with electric lawnmowers and all the issues we had found with them.
So we decided to hone in on manual lawnmowers. At first, I was not sure this was a good idea. My husband has health issues and I need to be careful with my back having a history of severe back problems. I wasn't sure we would be able to push it without added power.
I also wasn't sure if it would cut effectively. It felt in this age of technology, powered appliances and high specifications to be a step backward. Yet in a way also felt completely appropriate for our nature-friendly, wildlife garden and for the more power-saving, environmentally aware times we live in.
The manual lawnmower we found had an appealing price point and looked very sturdy and we were fed up replacing lawnmowers too often. So we bought a Bosch manual lawn mower.
Bosch Manual Lawn Mower |
When it arrived I was pleasantly surprised that it was sturdy looking but not too heavy.
Set up was easy with only the long handles to fix to the frame which even for us was easy. We never fitted the grassbox as we intended to cut the lawn often and have always found a grassbox to be an encumbrance. However, the grassbox is there if we ever need it.
Hubby was the first to try to in the garden. We set the blades on high and he simply pushed it and it cut cleanly and efficiently. After a few laps he stopped and said it was really easy to push and no more work than our previous electric mowers! In fact, he seemed to be rather enjoying it!
So then I tried it and to my joy, it was indeed easy to push and did not hurt my back that time or any other time I have mowed the lawn.
For some reason I have yet to pin down it always seems more fun to use than our powered ones ever did!
So after using this manual lawnmower for nearly a year now we have found clear benefits and drawbacks as we see it from our personal experience.
Manual Lawn Mower Is Easy To Use |
It is easier to push than we expected and no more physical strength is required than with our previous powered mowers
Much quieter than our electric or petrol mowers and it has quite a soothing muted sound
There are no electricity costs and no petrol costs. So we can mow to our heart's content knowing we are not incurring any ongoing financial costs at all! This is great for us as power costs are due to rise by a significant amount, so any savings are good.
Regarding the environment, there are no emissions from a manual lawn mower so this is all good for our planet.
There is the joy of knowing that never again will we cut through an electric cable!
With no trailing wires, no extension leads required, no outdoor power needed and no wires trailing from the house into the garden, it is an easy-use tool.
Fewer components mean there is less to go wrong
The manual lawn mower is ready to go as soon as you are! We now have no worries that it won't start or that a component will suddenly go wrong.
Close Up Of Bosch Manual Lawnmower, blades, wheels and roller |
Even with battery lawnmowers you have the battery life or recharging to concern yourself with, while with a totally manual machine none such concerns.
Significantly better for wildlife. We don't disturb any more wildlife using our manual lawnmower than we would with our presence walking down the garden.
The frogs, toads, hedgehogs and birds -especially fledglings - have plenty of time to move away from it and there's no risk if any of them getting caught up by the blades.
Fledgling Baby Robin |
To us, it does appear to give a better cleaner cut rather than tearing the grass.
It was less expensive than other powered mowers we have purchased in the past.
As it has a smaller footprint than most powered mowers it is easier to store and takes up less space.
We can carry it easily as it is not too heavy, though it is sturdy.
The manual lawnmower feels safer around wildlife, pets and children as there are no wires for them to get caught up in or trip over. There is no electricity to worry about and no fast-moving blades. We do take all the usual safety precautions of course.
Hedgehog In Our Garden |
I do think that if you have a very large lawn a manual lawnmower will take more time to achieve the task. While it is perfectly possible to cut a large lawn with a manual lawn mower you will need to decide if you wish to do that.
We find you need to cut a little more often than with a powered mower as it is much easier to cut shorter grass than longer grass with it.
If you attach the grassbox you may need to empty it more often, but I think if you cut more often this would not be an issue.
Long grass will be more difficult to cut and certainly take more effort. Little and often is easier to cut than letting the grass grow longer which makes it harder to cut and then does require more physical power.
It is not so good at cutting wet grass as it does take more effort and seems to clog up more easily, but we rarely try to cut wet grass anyway even with our powered mowers, preferring to cut it when it is dry.
We will need to sharpen the blades every few years with our size lawn, but given the saving in electricity, this will not be a cost issue.
Ours does have a roller but many manual mowers won't have rollers, so stripes will be more difficult to achieve. If this is important to you check that you can achieve stripes with it. If you want one with a roller function do check all the specifications.
If you are considering a manual lawn mower do research properly what is important to you in a lawnmower. We bought a Bosch Manual Lawnmower and there are many more choices that are equally suitable.
Here are a few available on Amazon to browse. Do consider what you need in a manual lawn mower and read all the specifications carefully.
Great States lawnmower
In summary, we are both really happy with our Bosch manual lawn mower. We have owned it for nearly a year now with no issues at all and are very content that we never need to worry about it breaking down or not starting.
We don't worry about wires or electricity costs. We have no need to worry about safety with wildlife or pets or children getting caught up in the wires or blades. Obviously, the blades are sharp so you would take all the usual precautions regarding children and any type of machinery.
We find it a gentle, easy, quiet way to mow our smallish lawn that is environmentally and wildlife-friendly and does not annoy us or the neighbours.
Bosch Manual Lawnmower |
For as long as I can remember, I have struggled with keeping up with my camera lens caps. I am not normally clumsy, but my lens caps just seem to slip through my fingers and fall to the ground just as I am trying to capture the perfect shot.
Not only can fumbling with the camera lens cap cause me to lose the opportunity for a great picture, dropping it in dirt can get the lens cap dusty. That pretty much negates the purpose of having a lens cap. After all, I don't wish to press dirt or dust against my camera lens.
Normally, I wear jeans and my camera vest when we go hiking. If I am taking a panoramic photo of a landscape, I simply slip my camera lens in a pocket. However, if I spot an animal along the trail, I tend to "flip" the cover off the lens in a hurry. Needless to say, that is how it ends up on the ground instead of in my pocket.
I've also managed to drop and lose lens caps in our vehicles. They just seem to gravitate to unknown crevices or fall into the dark abyss, otherwise known as under the seat.
Extreme annoyance with these pesky, unruly covers sent me on a search for a leash to keep them close at hand. I demand, no more runaways!
Obviously, I am not alone in this game of "find the fallen lens cover" because I quickly located exactly what I needed. You, too, may feel you need a remedy. If so, I can highly recommend this easy to attach lens cap leash.
These camera lens cap leashes have one end that sticks to the lens cap cover and the other end is an elastic strap that stretches snugly around the lens itself. This simple invention works like a charm! Plus, the lens cap leashes are extremely inexpensive.
Stop your lens cap struggle today! If only every annoyance was this
easy to eliminate.
There is no doubt that our family loves pasta. We enjoy
making our own homemade pasta whenever time allows.
We have had and used, our Atlas pasta machine for years, and
with this machine, you can make different types of noodles. With everybody’s
busy schedules we don’t always have the time to make the dough, roll it out and
run it through the machine.
It was just after Christmas 2020 when I was flipping
through the television channels, and I came across Emeril Lagasse’s
infomercial for his Pasta & Beyond machine.
I immediately stopped flipping the channels, number one
because I like Emeril Lagasse and number two, I love homemade pasta. I’m usually
not an impulse buyer, but after watching the infomercial I knew that I had to
have this.
I bought the complete system, which includes a shredder, a slicer,
a meat grinder, a slow juicer, and a frozen treat maker. This post is about the
pasta machine, as I have not tried the others yet. Although, my daughter did
use the meat grinder and she liked its performance.
The pasta machine
Liquid measuring cup
Dry measuring cup
Mixing Chamber
Pasta Discs (8 different types of pasta)
Spatula/cleaning tool
Cleaning brush
A recipe book that includes so many pasta recipes, and there
is even a gluten-free pasta recipe.
Penne
Spaghetti
Linguine
Tagliatelle
Udon (This is one I haven't had before)
Angel Hair
Fettucine
Lasagna
Making homemade pasta with this machine is so easy. You
just add the dry ingredients into the mixing chamber. Prepare the wet ingredients
in the provided measuring cup. Turn on the machine according to the
instructions. Then, add the wet ingredients slowly through the mixing chamber
lid.
The machine will mix for about 5 minutes and then it will
go in reverse to begin extruding the pasta. The best part is that you can have
homemade pasta on the table in about 30 minutes.
If you are in a pasta-making mood the pasta is easy to freeze. Make a few pounds of your favorite, freeze it, and have homemade pasta anytime. The machine is also very easy to clean.
Check Out This Brand of Mini-Chopper for a Quality Product |
I recommend this mini-chopper because it's lasted us nearly fifteen years.
As most of us know, it's rare for any appliance to last that long.
What makes this mini-chopper special isn't fancy features; in my opinion, it's the company that makes it.
We've always been a fan of this company and its products. They established their beginnings in 1910 in Baltimore, Maryland, as a small machine shop. Their products range from heavy equipment, hardware, home accessories, fastening systems, power tools, and home appliances. A Black & Decker drill was even used on the moon in the early 1970s for the Apollo 15 and 16 missions. In 2010 they merged with Stanley Works to become Stanley Black & Decker.
On a personal note, my mother worked for their company in the mid-1970s. Where I'm from, Black & Decker has been known for manufacturing solid products.
I'm not one for a lot of counter appliances. I find hauling out an appliance to be time-consuming. I prefer to cut, chop and mix as much as I can without a lot of extra equipment to store and wash. However, I've made an exception for this one product.
Our Black & Decker Mini Chopper - It's over 15 years old and still going strong |
I use the mini-chopper for anything that needs shredding, cutting, or chopping. I especially like it for chopping garlic and onions. I'll chop one, two, or three heads of garlic in one go. Tonight was a chicken broccoli casserole, and its main feature was lots of garlic. Thanks to this handy item, I can dice a lot of garlic at once.
In our house, we've had to replace numerous appliances over that same time period. However, not this mini-chopper - it has never broken or needed any type of repair.
Our 15-year-old+ Black & Decker Mini Chopper |
Not repairing or replacing an appliance for over fifteen years automatically earns said appliance a five-star rating. This little gadget is well made!
If you're looking for an affordable hostess gift or a small gift for someone, don't hesitate to choose the Black & Decker Mini Chopper. It's something that will absolutely get used, and best of all, last.
You can find the mini-chopper here on Amazon. You'll notice that our mini-chopper has a completely different look. Of course, the reason being, it's fifteen years old!
Don't hesitate to choose this product. Five stars.
Detangling hair without damaging it requires time and a gentle touch. Removing snarls from wet hair requires even more patience and gentleness. A detangling brush aka “wet brush” with flexible, ball-tipped bristles is the best hair care tool for getting tangles out of not only wet but also dry tresses, especially for long, thick, curly, long or damaged hair that gets knotted easily.
In today’s review, I'll explain why and when it's important to use "wet brushes" and sharing my favorite detangling brushes to help protect the health and beauty of your mane.
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If you are lucky enough to have the type of hair that rarely gets knots and can be combed through easily, without tugging, after a shampoo or swim, I envy you! For everyone else, whose locks are prone to tangling and breaking (especially when wet), there are two very important things you will need to minimize damage to your mane when you are trying to persuade your snarled strands to separate.
The first is plenty of patience, since you will need to coax the strands apart only a few inches at a time, starting with the last two or three inches and slowly working your way up toward the scalp, moving to the next section only after the one you are working on is completely tangle-free.
The second thing you will need is a good quality "wet brush", i.e., a detangling brush designed to help you remove snarls from either dry or wet hair.
When we talk about hair, we usually are referring to the shaft (the visible portion outside the scalp). The cortex, which forms the majority of the shaft, is responsible for the hair's strength/elasticity, color and texture. (Very thick hairs may also have a thin core called the medulla.) The hair shaft's outermost layer, the cuticle, is composed of smooth, flat keratin cells arranged compactly in overlapping, downward-facing rows, similar to roof tiles or fish scales. The cuticle protects the cortex (and medulla, if there is one) against damage and controls how much moisture can enter it.
The health of your hair depends largely on the integrity of the cuticle. If the cuticle is abraded, worn away, stretched, cracked, or otherwise damaged, it can no longer protect the cortex. Without an intact protective cuticle, the helix-shaped keratin protein strands (which are like coiled springs) are no longer held securely in place and can stick out, creating a frizzy appearance and weakening the hair fibers.
Healthy hair looks shiny because the cuticle is smooth and intact, so light reflects off a smooth surface at the same angle. Damaged hair looks dull because the cuticle's overlapping cells no longer lay down flat, so light refracts off the uneven surface at different angles.
Since hair grows from the roots, the ends are the oldest part and, therefore, have had the most cumulative exposure to physical, chemical and environmental damage. The cuticle on the ends of the shaft has had the most wear and tear, and the exposed cortex is what we call split ends. (For more information about the chemical, mechanical and environmental factors that cause hair damage, please see my Olaplex No.0 Intensive Bond Building Hair Treatment + No.3 Hair Perfector Product Review.)
Paddle brushes and other hairbrushes designed to be used only on dry hair often have thick, stiff bristles. For example, 100% boar bristle brushes are good for adding shine to healthy tresses because they help distribute the oils from the scalp along the shaft.
However, because these shorter, stiff bristles have very little “give,” when they encounter a snag they tend to get stuck in the knot. Since the hair is more elastic and more fragile, especially when it is wet, those tangled strands will break rather than slide apart when they are under tension from the stiff bristles.
By contrast, a "wet brush" designed specifically for detangling both wet and dry hair has smooth, flexible bristles that can glide along the strands without abrading the cuticle or causing tears or cracks. Some stretching and breaking is inevitable when you are trying to brush out snarls, especially if your hair is long, thick, wavy, fragile or damaged and tangles easily even when it is dry. But a detangling brush, especially one with long, ball-tipped bristles, will help minimize the damage to the cuticle when used on dry or wet hair.
When your hair is wet, the shaft absorbs water and swells, causing the edges of the protective cuticle's overlapping "tiles" (cells) to lift a bit, exposing more of the softer and more porous cortex layer. That's why your tresses are weaker and more vulnerable to stretching, breaking, and other damage than when they are dry, and why it's important to use a brush with thin, flexible, rounded or ball-tipped bristles and slide it through the strands slowly and gently.
Before you shampoo or go for a swim, it's a good idea to use a "wet brush" to detangle your hair while it's still dry, so there will be fewer knots and snarls to unravel after you get out of the water, when your wet hair will be more vulnerable to damage from a brush.
Make sure to dry your wet hair with a soft, very absorbent microfiber hair towel or turban to gently wick away as much moisture as possible before you begin to detangle, brush or style it. (See my VOLO Hero Premium Microfiber Hair Towel Product Review to learn more about the hair towel/turban that has earned my highest recommendation.) Then use a “wet brush” with thin, flexible and, ideally, ball-tipped bristles to gently ease any tangled strands apart and minimize potential damage to the all-important protective cuticle layer.
If you find a lot of strands in your shower drain or your hairbrush, or if your mane is frizzy, breaks or gets tangled easily even when it's dry, those are signs that the cuticle has been damaged.
If that's the case (as it is for most of us who are past our twenties), you definitely will benefit from using a detangling brush on your dry hair, either exclusively or to remove any snarls before you use your regular hairbrush.
Many years ago, the stylist at my hair salon explained that the reason my formerly smooth, silky long locks were becoming frizzy, dull, brittle and increasingly prone to snarls was the cumulative damage to the cuticle from decades of coloring, highlighting and heat styling. One of the things he recommended was to stop using my beloved (and expensive) Kent boar bristle hairbrush and switch to a good quality "wet brush" instead, since the more detangling I had to do, the more damage a brush with dense clusters of short, stiff, boar bristles would create. Since then, I have tried several different brands and styles of detangling brushes and the Wet Brush brand has worked the best for me.
Wet Brush makes many different styles and models of detangling brushes, all featuring the brand's smooth, ball-tipped, flexible IntelliFlex bristles that glide through snarls more easily than others I have tried. In fact, Wet Brush states that independent clinical trials showed that the brand's exclusive IntelliFlex bristles are less damaging than a traditional styling brush and use less force than another leading detangling brush. The brand says its IntelliFlex bristles cause 19% less damage and use 56% less force.
Another advantage of the ball-tipped bristles is that they are good for massaging the scalp gently, without causing any damage.
For the past several years, I have been using the Wet Brush Pro Flex Dry Paddle, a vented paddle detangling brush with a flexible head that conforms to the scalp better than a traditional, rigid brush head.
This Wet Brush model is one of several styles that are vented to promote air flow while blow drying. (I assume "dry paddle" means "drying paddle.") When I was blow drying my hair, the wide vents worked really well for that purposeI have been using this brush on my long, easily tangled mane for several years and it has held up fine. However, there have been some customer reviews complaining that this and other vented Wet Brush models break too easily. If they were using enough force to break the sturdy plastic, I suspect that they were tugging too hard and trying to force the bristles through stubborn knots and snarls, rather than using the bristles to gently work them apart to avoid damaging the cuticle and causing the enmeshed strands to break. If my guess is correct, then the allegedly premature breakage of the brush head may well have been caused by user error, rather than a materials or design flaw.
Last year, I decided to stop blow drying my hair, so I no longer need a vented paddle detangling brush. These days, after I towel-dry and detangle my tresses, either I let it finish air drying naturally or use my oval hot air brush, which is virtually identical to the REVLON One-Step Hair Dryer And Volumizer Hot Air Brush and produces very similar results to what I could achieve with a blow dryer and a vented round brush, but much more easily.
As a result, I have been looking at some of the company's non-vented models. Here are the front-runners under consideration.
I had purchased an Original Wet Brush detangler in basic black quite a few years ago, which was my first introduction to this brand. I used that one for several years, until my checked luggage went astray when we flew home from a trip abroad and never turned up. Fortunately, it was one of the less expensive items I had to replace! (That was when I decided to try one of the company's then-new vented paddle brushes.)
Since I no longer need a vented paddle brush for blow drying, I'm seriously considering going back to The Original Wet Brush, especially now that it comes in a gorgeous new aqua color that is exclusive to Amazon.
I love any shade of aqua, turquoise, teal, etc., so the Amazon-exclusive edition of this tried-and-true detangling brush is very appealing.
If aqua isn't your color, you'll be happy to know that it also comes in black as well as a rainbow of other colors, as well as in vibrant prints, such as daisy garden, dark floral, Aztec, sea life and even fun leopard, tiger and zebra animal prints. No matter your color preferences or taste, you're sure to find something you like among the many choices. (There's even a Wet Brush with a pink unicorn print, twinkling LED lights and the saying, "follow your dreams" that many teenage girls would probably adore!)
The smooth, ball-tipped, flexible IntelliFlex bristles glide through the hair, allowing you to work out snarls gently without damaging the cuticle. At the same time, the shorter boar bristle tufts help redistribute the oils from your scalp along the length of the shaft, smoothing down the cuticle and adding shine.
Since the boar bristles are fairly short, the much longer IntelliFlex bristles only allow them to glide along the surface layers of the hair, where the shine is needed, without penetrating deeper and getting caught in any knots or snarls.
It's also fantastic for brushing out dry shampoo, which for some reason always makes my long hair tangle like crazy, even though I always use a detangling brush before applying the dry shampoo to my roots!
Although it is theoretically okay to use on wet or dry strands, I would be reluctant to use a brush with even short boar bristles on my long, damaged hair when it is still damp. So, I probably will end up getting the Original Wet Brush for detangling just before going into the water and after my hair has been towel dried, and also the Wet Brush Shine Enhancer on my dry hair as my "regular" brush, since my hair is in need of frequent detangling even when it is dry.
Wet Brush now makes a line of round blow-drying brushes with different types of bristles designed to stand up to the heat of a blow dryer. If I ever go back to blow-drying my hair, I will definitely look into getting one of these, rather than a vented paddle brush.
The brand recently introduced the Wet Brush Go Green Collection, a line of "earth-friendly" detangling brushes, treatment brushes and treatment combs that feature handles made from "an all-natural biodegradable plant starch" that it claims "will naturally break down in a landfill within 5 years."
Although this collection is too new for me to feel confident about the durability of the plant-based plastic that provides their structure, I will be interested to see the reviews in another year or two. I would be thrilled to have a more environmentally friendly option for my favorite detangling hairbrush!
Men's hair needs TLC, too, which is why there is Wet Brush Men's Detangler. It is longer and narrower than the women's models and is designed to be used on "straight, curly, textured, thick and wavy hair including beards." It has the same signature IntelliFlex bristles and works well on both wet and dry hair, The guys, however, have to settle for a couple of basic color choices.
Anyone who either had long hair when they were a kid or has had a long-haired young daughter or son knows that brushing out those tangled locks can be a daily or nightly battle between the parent and child. Fortunately, there is also a Wet Brush Kids Detangler to take the tears out of this dreaded routine task. The kids' version is a smaller-scale version of the Original detangling brush and comes in cheerful prints, including one with ice cream bars.
The company also makes detangling and grooming brushes and combs for pets, which I think would make great gifts for pet owners.
The Best Wet Brushes for Detangling Your Hair Without Damage product review by Margaret Schindel
Read My Other Hair Care Reviews:
Olaplex No.0 Intensive Bond Building Hair Treatment + No.3 Hair Perfector Product ReviewRead More of My Product Reviews
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