Product review: Nonscents Odor Control Cat Litter Deodorizer

 We have been using the kitty litter deodorizer for four weeks and it does deodorize well.  The key to any kitty product is for the cats to accept it.  We have two cats and both of them had no problems with it.  We started with a clean box and after a few weeks my sensitive nose typically picks a bit of a scent normally.  With the deodorize sprinkled on top it stays scent free longer.



The bottle is just like a large spice bottle, it has opening at the top which control how much falls out when you shake it.  Pretty good stuff!



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.



Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Book review: Dealing with Relatives: Your Guide to Successful Family Relationships

This book is OK. Some sections of the book are useful (not just theory) and can be acted on such as discussion of blending - minimizing the differences between people. The authors did identified an area I was particularly interested in - how to deal with a person who only wants to talk and does not to listen to others. The authors only offered solution to the person who is reading the book (i.e. make pauses, repeat what the other person said, ask questions) but it does not help the person who is the talker, the person who is not pausing or hearing the others.



The book does not address how to deal with all areas that cause family problems such as alcoholism, drug abuse, co-dependency, and other more serious disorders. It mostly deals with the personality issues. The book is most helpful for self-improvement, it helps YOU to be a better relative.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.



Ali Julia review ★★★☆☆

Product review: lethmik Infinity Scarf Rex Rabbit Hair Knit Scarves Winter Warm Neck Scarfs Multicolor

This scarf is woven out if rabbit hair.  Rabbit hair is combined with wool to form "hairy" wool.  This is not a skin of the animal, just like a scarf woven out of plain wool it is not solid and has small holes in the weave.  The hair is pretty dense so unless you look at it through the light you do not see the holes. I wondered if such construction would shed, but it does not shed. It looks pretty full, until you touch it you can't tell is woven. It feels very soft on top, and knobby from the knitting if you press down.

The scarf is an infinity scarf and is 56" long. This length allows me either wear it long as is or wrap it around twice, which then puts it right against my chin. The soft and silky fur feels very nice against my neck and it looks good. The only negative I can say that it has a bit of a scent. It is not a moldy smell, probably some sort of anti-moth scent used for storage. After airing it out for 2 weeks the scent is gone. I looked up tips for scent removal for fur and used this method: use a vinyl garment bag and fresh coffee grounds. Hang the fur scarf in the vinyl garment bag, put a container with fresh coffee grounds in the bottom of the bag. Zip the garment bag closed, and leave the scarf in the bag until the scent goes away. Every now and then the coffee grounds should be stirred. In about a week the scent was gone. The scarf did smell like coffee but after airing out in a well-ventilated area the coffee smell dissipated and the other scent did not return.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: Comfort Zone Personal Heater

On the positive side this heater works fairly fast, I measured that it
raises the temperature in a 12' x 16' feet room by 2 degrees in 15
minutes (low heat settings). It is reasonably quiet especially on the
low setting. On the negative side it draws quite a bit of power so it
is fairly expensive to use.



My power meter shows:

High heat setting: 931.3 watts

Low heat setting 522.5 watts

Fan setting 12.5 watts



Because
this battery draws a lot of power it has to be plugged in. The
instructions say to plug the unit directly into AC outlet (not using an
extension cord). Certainly do NOT use an extension cord used for lamps
which is 16 AWG which is not heavy gauge, if you use an extension hard
you need to buy a heavy duty cord (12 AWG).



It has a dial thermostat to control the desired temperature. It is not temperature base just high to low.



Because
of its high power consumption I use it in a bathroom (small room for a
short time). We keep the house pretty cool in the winter so I use this
heater to warm up the bathroom when I take showers so I don't freeze
when I get out of the shower.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.



Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: VH Ultra-Quiet USB Powered Portable Desk Fan, Touch Switch with Smart Sensor by Crazo

After using this fan for a couple of weeks on my desk I noticed that speeds up and slows down on its own without me touching it. It seems to have a mind of its own. It is not a total deal breaker because the difference between the two speeds is not significant.  What is worse that sometimes it is hard to stop or start.



This fan is pretty different from any other fan I own. Its strongest feature is that it is quiet. The air flow is reasonable for a very small fan, i.e. I can feel it if it is on a desk close by.



On the negative side, you cannot aim it. It works only one one position and any aiming is done by moving the fan, or putting something under it if you want to raise the angle. The on/off mechanism is touch based. For example, if you touch it to move it you will change the setting. The setting cycle one touch low flow, next touch high flow, next touch off, next touch low flow. The fan only can be controlled when it is in one position (resting on the leather-like strap). If you hang it by the strap (rather than rest on the strap), then you cannot change the air flow. Hanging is really not a very practical option because it does not hang or blow straight down. The fan hangs on an angle so you need a configuration where you want air from above on an angle. Someone might find it useful, but it is not very general purpose.

 



The fan's size is slightly under 4" x 5" (measuring the fan's cage). The USB cord is built-in (i.e. cannot be removed and swapped for a longer one) and is 40" long.  Overall - too many short comings, I am not a fan of this fan.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.



Ali Julia review ★★☆☆☆

Product review: Heat Holder Women's Original Thermal Heat Holders Socks

My feet always get very cold in the winter. I even purchased electric booties to warm up my feet when they get painfully cold. Since I purchased Heat Holders I have not had to resort to the electric booties. These sock's warmth exceeded my expectations. On outside they look like regular socks, on the inside they have a very thick plush pile. In attached video I show the outside and the inside of a sock.



✔ The socks material content is 91% Acrylic, 5% Nyln, 3% Polyester, 1% Elastane.

✔ The socks are fairly color fast. I did the first wash by hand to see if they will bleed indigo blue, but they did not. The discoloration of water was minimal.

✔ The socks are fairly thick, so they may not fit into tight slippers/shoes/boots.

✔ The sizes run large. My shoe size is 7. I purchased Women 5-9. By the end of the day the sock stretches out and the sock heel is no longer in the right place. But they are so warm that I don't care where the heel is, I bought several more pairs.



The only thing I do not like about the socks is that they are shipped stapled through the sock with a plastic staple which can cause damage to the sock, which is what happened to the first pair of the socks I received..  When I attempted to issue an Amazon return for the first pair, it was marked as non-returnable item. However a chat with Amazon representative and the fact that the socks were still in original packaging got me a return label. If the Amazon return does not work for some reason, another option is to contact customer service directly at Heat Holders web site, the web site name is included on the back of the packaging.



My feet are very happy in these socks. Since my original purchase I ordered 2 more pairs. I now own black, grey, and blue. Also note that all three colors are color fast.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: HoneyGuaridan CG-8120 Electric Coffee Grinder

This is a powerful grinder. The grinder is 6.5" tall (with the cap on).  Its capacity is only 30 grams (for coffee beans it means 4 coffee scoups of beans) but it does an excellent job and fairly quickly too.



The package includes two small brushes to clean the grinder - they do a really nice job!  I show how well they work in the video.



Overall, pretty nice grinder!



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





Ali Julia review ★★★★★