10 Cleaning Products That Are Safe for Your Pets

What Cleaning Products Are Unsafe for Dogs and Cats?

From floor cleaners and carpet shampoos to sink scrubs and all-purpose sprays, keeping the house clean requires a full quiver of products. But many of the most common ones may contain ingredients that are dangerous for your pets to ingest, inhale or even absorb through the skin while moving about and licking their paws.

“There are a number of common household cleaning products that contain harmful and potentially life-threatening ingredients,” says Anthea Schick, a veterinary dermatologist.

Toilet bowl cleaners, especially with the kind that stick inside the bowl, often contain bleach and can be a risk for dogs who like to sneak sips from the toilet. Other problematic products include laundry detergent containing sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), 1,4-dioxane and NPE (nonylphenol ethoxylate). These can cause skin irritation, as well as severe vomiting and diarrhea if swallowed in the concentrated pod form that can look like a toy or treat.

Schick says even products labeled as “natural” aren’t always a safe bet, either, including essential oils, which can irritate airways and even exacerbate asthma. A good rule of thumb: “Don’t let your pets ingest anything you wouldn’t eat!” she says. “Carefully read the labels of everything you use in your home to ensure no harmful ingredients are present.”

Tonya Harris, an award-winning environmental toxin expert and the founder of Slightly Greener, recommends scanning labels and avoiding products with the following ingredients:

• Ammonia: Can damage the respiratory system.

• Chlorine bleach: Skin, eye, and throat irritant, corrosive to mucous membranes.

• Glycol ethers: Propylene glycol, ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol.

• Benzalkonium chloride: Often found in disinfectants.

• Fragrances: Individual ingredients are not required to be listed because fragrance is considered to be a trade secret. “Fragrances” may contain ingredients that are allergenic, hormone-disrupting, toxic to the brain and nervous system, or carcinogenic.

• Phenol: Common in Lysol and PineSol. It can cause liver and kidney damage;

• Hydrogen peroxide: It causes irritation to the esophagus and stomach lining, induces vomiting and can also cause severe gastritis and ulceration and bleeding.

• Formaldehyde: Known to cause cancer. Some preservatives, known as formaldehyde-releasers, release formaldehyde slowly into a product over time to extend the shelf life. Look for formaldehyde-releasing ingredients such as DMDM hydantoin, Diazolidinyl urea and Imidazolidinyl urea.

Pet-Safe Cleaning

Even products with none of the above listed on their ingredients can pose some risk to your pets, as labels can be deceiving.

“It’s sometimes hard to know exactly what ingredients are in cleaning products,” Harris says. “That’s because the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] requires companies to only disclose active disinfecting ingredients and ‘chemicals of known concern’ on their labels.

“The problem here is that there aren’t any testing requirements for most of the chemicals in cleaning products — by the companies or the EPA. And companies aren’t required to disclose their ingredients, because formulations are considered to be proprietary.”

In addition, pets are often curious by nature and may be tempted to sniff, lick or swallow cleaning products they find around the house.

Harris recommends you minimize risk, even with products that appear to be safe, by:

• Keeping pets away from the room or area you are cleaning;

• Ensuring the area is well-ventilated;

• Allowing the surfaces to dry completely before allowing pets back in the room;

• Storing disinfectants out of pets’ reach.

If your pets do ingest cleaning products, call the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 and bring them to a vet immediately.

Here are our recommendations for some pet-friendly cleaning products, including DIY suggestions.

Article source here: 10 Cleaning Products That Are Safe for Your Pets

Everything You Need to Know About Amazon’s Smart Soap Dispenser

We should all be experts at washing our hands by now. But if you’re still singing your favorite song while sudsing up and scrubbing to remember how long to keep at it, Amazon has the perfect solution for you.

The Amazon Smart Soap Dispenser is another smart home device you’ll love because of its simplicity and surprisingly useful applications. It’s also easy to integrate into your home network of Alexa devices, so you can automate another important area of your life.

Alexa may not be able to keep your hands squeaky clean, but she can help you make sure you’re washing them as efficiently as possible. As a tech editor, finding new ways to pursue great hygiene while also leveraging our smart home gadgets is an exciting vision of the future. And this cool little soap dispenser is a fun preview of what’s to come.

What Is the Amazon Smart Soap Dispenser?

Amazon’s new Smart Soap Dispenser is an affordable and useful product meant to help make your home smarter. It’s a svelte, frosty white automatic soap dispenser with a built-in 20-second timer that lights up while you rub those hands together and lather up.

It flashes as it counts down the minimum time recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to kill the bacteria traveling on your mitts. Smart home automation that helps you stay healthy and hygienic may well be the best kind!

Of course, the Smart Soap Dispenser also does just what its name implies — it dispenses soap! But it does a lot more than spit soap out. It actually dispense more or less soap depending on how far you place your hands below the nozzle. There’s no unsanitary and unnecessary contact with the bottle, which means totally contactless handwashing from start to finish. These days, that’s really something we can all benefit from.

If you’re tired of buying new bottles of soap and constantly wondering whether you’ve scrubbed all the dirt and nasties away, this Smart Soap Dispenser is a great tool to fight germs and sickness, especially during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It’s also excellent at helping little ones remember that splashing soap on your hands and rinsing it off isn’t exactly washing, though it might fool Mom and Dad.

What are the Amazon Smart Soap Dispenser Features?

The Amazon Smart Soap Dispenser is rife with useful features that make it well worth its $55 price tag.

Sure, it’s more expensive than a plastic or glass soap dispenser. But it pays for itself through thoughtful design and advanced functionality that you won’t get in run-of-the-mill soap containers. It’s also nice to look at, with a simple white design that should easily fit into any decorative bathroom scene.

This dispenser pumps additional amounts of soap based on your hand’s position relative to the nozzle. The further down you reach, the more soap you’ll get, which eliminates the need for physically touching the pump. Moreover, it will flash for 20 seconds to indicate how long you need to be scrubbing.

The bottle is easily refillable, and you won’t need to charge it that often. According to Amazon, its battery will power the device for three months of use, offering even less of a reason to touch the dispenser. These augments make it perfect for keeping germs in your home at bay, especially among families with small children.

Pros

• Facilitates contactless handwashing;
• Dispenses additional soap based on hand position;
• Can connect to Echo speaker to play a song or other audio while washing hands;
• Easily refillable when empty;
• Battery powers dispenser for up to three months.

There are plenty of great reasons to pick up the smart dispenser, especially if you already have Amazon Echo units lying around the house. And if you have kids, it’s a no-brainer to help their hand-washing protocols make a difference. But there are still a few things you might want to consider.

The dispenser does not include a speaker or Alexa capabilities, so you’ll need to connect it to another Echo within 30 feet to use any of its sound-based or smart connectivity options. If you don’t have another device or don’t plan on buying one, but want the dispenser to play music or other sounds, this may not be the best product for you.

It’s also important to remember the dispenser will only work with liquid hand soap. If your preferred soap is foaming or alcohol-based, you can’t use it. If you’re sold on making this your soap container of choice, find a great liquid soap instead.

Cons

• More expensive than your average soap dispenser;
• No built-in Alexa connectivity;
• No built-in speaker;
• Requires additional Amazon Echo for smart home integration;
• Charges via micro-USB instead of USB-C;
• Must set up Alexa Routine separately after connecting to Echo.

Where To Buy It

The Amazon Smart Soap Dispenser is popular among tech enthusiasts for its simplicity and ensuring buyers wash their hands properly. So where can you get said hands on one? As with most Alexa-compatible devices, it’s available via Amazon’s digital storefront.

You can pick one up now on Amazon, with Prime delivery and free returns if you’re unsatisfied. It’s only available in one color now, but that could change in the future.

If you need to purchase an Amazon Echo device to use in tandem with the dispenser, the cheapest and best option now is the Echo Dot (2nd Generation) at about $21. You can opt for black or white, bringing your total purchase to about $76 for the entire package.

Amazon Smart Soap Dispenser Specs:

• Size: 3.65-in. x 6.1-in. x 3.97-in.
• Weight: 326 g.
• Capacity: 12 fl. oz.
• Supported soap type: Liquid.
• Connectivity: 2.4 GHz, 802/11 b/g/n.
• Battery: Three months per charge.
• Water resistance: IP66 standard.

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Article source here: Everything You Need to Know About Amazon’s Smart Soap Dispenser

Best Area Rugs for Hardwood Floors

Choosing an Area Rug

Finding the right rug to warm up your hardwood floors can be a fun but sometimes exasperating challenge. Determining the right size, the right material, and the right style and color can complicate the search. Here are some tips to get you started, plus a few of our favorites for inspiration.

• Size: Make sure at least the front legs of all furniture in the room fit around/onto the rug, and leave a 10- to 20-inch margin around the room.
• Style: Draw inspiration from your space. “Decide whether your space craves something traditional or contemporary, abstract or boho, and THEN see what colors are available,” says Yoselin Castro, senior interior designer at Mackenzie Collier Interiors. “This will help you keep the design direction really clear.”
• Material: Natural fibers lie wool or silk still rule for durability and softness — good ones last a lifetime. But synthetic fibers such as polypropylene give natural fibers a run for their money, with their washability and variety of prints and colors. “Other great materials include jute and seagrass, as they are strong fibers that are renewable,” Castro says. “Something to consider is the feel of this material as it will be coarser due to its resilient properties.”
• Price: They run the gamut depending on size, whether the rug was handmade or machine made, and the material. “It’s almost a given that the larger the rug, the higher the price,” says Castro.
• Pads: Pads and their materials are key to protecting your hardwood floor from costly, and sometimes permanent, damage. The best options are natural rubber and felt. Avoid plastic, latex and PVC. Some will still say they’re safe for hardwood, but they aren’t. The off-gassing from these materials creates a chemical reaction with your floor, leaving an etched, discolored pattern that oftentimes cannot be removed, even with refinishing. Pay attention to the materials on the backing of your rug, too. You can protect your floor from problematic backings with natural rubber or felt. Other products don’t stay in place, stick to the floor indefinitely, or ruin the finish or the composition of the hardwood. Pads with natural rubber or felt allow the rugs and hardwood to breathe — they are natural materials, after all. Pads also protect your own bodily safety — no slipping on sliding rugs or tripping over flipped edges. “Rug pads are great as they provide traction between hardwood (or tiled) floors and help keep the rug in place, especially when placed in a high trafficked area,” Castro says. “Keep in mind when you purchase a rug pad, it may not be the exact same size as the rug so feel free to cut any of the rug pad excess.”
• Cleaning: Different rug fibers have different cleaning requirements. Wool rugs will likely shed, so regular vacuuming is recommended. Always try removing spills immediately using a sponge or soft-bristle brush, and refer to the rug’s materials cleaning instructions. If a stain or technique has eluded your gentle detergent spot cleaning, find a trusted rug cleaner.

Article source here: Best Area Rugs for Hardwood Floors

Steam Showers: What You Need To Know

Bringing home the spa experience isn’t a new idea, but it still has legs. And steam showers are one of the most luxurious spa experiences you can recreate in your home.

You’ll need some space (a steam shower takes up more room than an average shower) and some money (see below for costs). But the rewards can quickly make up for the sacrifices. Here’s what you need to know.

What Is a Steam Shower?

A steam shower is an enclosed space that serves as both a steam room, like you find at spas and gyms, and a shower. The enclosure can be custom-built on site with the components purchased separately, or you can buy a ready-made glass unit with all necessary components. Both feature typical shower plumbing and fixtures, and ports for steam to enter the stall. Some also have jets. And they usually have a bench for seating.

“We’ve built quite a few custom steam showers over the years,” says Chuck Khiel, vice president of Fred Home Improvement in Bethesda, Maryland. The sizes vary considerably, depending on the space available. But the enclosure construction is consistent: They’re built like a typical shower, with waterproofing methods key.

Typically, they’re tiled on three sides and the ceiling, with a glass door that seals well and a transom at the top for ventilation. Another important feature: Khiel says “the enclosure has a slightly sloped ceiling to direct water droplets toward the sides so they don’t drop in the center where you’re standing.”

How Does a Steam Shower Work?

Controls for the steam can be located inside or outside the shower. A generator usually tucked inside an adjacent closet or other space creates the steam.

“The generator is about the size of a microwave,” says Khiel. “It’s rated for the cubic feet it can accommodate, so there are different sizes depending on the size of the stall.”

Water and electrical connections are required to run it. The generator heats the water and then pumps it out as steam through the ports in the shower. “The ports are typically placed in the lower part of the enclosure because steam rises,” Khiel says.

What Are the Benefits of a Steam Shower?

Besides a relaxing and luxurious spa experience in the privacy of your home (who doesn’t want that?), the high heat and humidity of a steam shower provide several health benefits.

• Heart health: Heating up the body may have heart benefits. While the health benefits of steam rooms haven’t been studied as much as saunas, indications are they’re similar, according to Columbia University research: “The brain, the nervous systems and endocrine systems work together to respond to this external stimulus by increasing blood flow, heart rate, cardiac output and sweat production in order to cool the body down to maintain balance … This has been linked to direct benefits for cardiovascular diseases in general, and in assisting with reducing inflammation.”
• Skin health: Heat and moisture from a steam shower open pores and remove toxins, according to Medical News Today.
• Pre- and post-workouts relief: Medical News Today also notes heat and steam immediately after a workout helps reduce muscle soreness and retain muscle strength. When used before a workout, it loosens muscles and joints and increases flexibility.
• Reduced congestion: Warm steam can provide relief of allergy and cold symptoms.

Your bank account might see a health benefit, too, when you sell your home. “Bath remodels have a high return on investment, 70 percent or so nationwide,” says Khiel. If the right buyer wants a steam shower, you could recoup a chunk of your investment.

How Much Does a Steam Shower Cost?

In the Washington D.C. area, an average-size custom steam shower can cost $25,000 to $35,000 for labor and materials, Khiel says. The steam shower generator and fixtures cost $4,000 to $5,000. A ready-made steam shower unit varies widely in cost — $2,100 to $6,600 — depending on its size and features.

Can you DIY it? “Maybe,” Khiel says, “if you have knowledge of plumbing and electrical.” And you need the skills to build a steam shower enclosure that’s properly waterproofed.

Where To Buy a Steam Shower

You can purchase a steam shower generator and related components or a ready-made steam shower unit from specialty retailers and big-box stores, including:

The Home Depot

Houzz

The Hardware Supply

Article source here: Steam Showers: What You Need To Know

GIE+EXPO Changes Name After Fourteen Years

The Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) recently announced the popular GIE+EXPO trade show has been rebranded. Beginning in 2022, the event will be known as “Equip Exposition.”

“Equip Exposition is where the landscape changes, and is the place for landscape contractors, outdoor power equipment dealers, distributors, and manufacturers to connect, learn and grow,”  said OPEI President Kris Kiser. “The trade show remains the best place to connect with your peers, network, and gain a competitive business edge.”

Many aspects of the show will be retooled and expanded, with more attention paid to the educational aspects. One thing that will not change, though, is the host city. The rebrand was announced in conjunction with the opening of new OPEI offices in Louisville, Kentucky, where the annual show has been held since 2007.

“The opening of our new office shows the investment our industry has in the event and in its long-standing location of Louisville,” said Kiser. “With OPEI bringing the management of the show wholly under the association’s umbrella, it was time to re-envision the event while honoring its long history.”

Equip Exposition was the sixth largest trade show in the U.S. in 2019 with more than 26,000 attendees. The next one will be October 19-21, 2022. It is scheduled to feature a keynote speech from former pro golfer David Feherty and a concert performance from country music star Trace Adkins. You can request registration info here.

Article source here: GIE+EXPO Changes Name After Fourteen Years

10 Ways To Decorate Your Fireplace for Christmas

Charming Cottage Christmas Fireplace

This gorgeous fireplace by @thehumblehaven starts with a traditional green garland and Merry Christmas banner. But it’s the top of the fireplace that really catches the eye — it looks like a page out of a Christmas story book! In front of a starry background, a white house, bare branches with twinkle lights and a silhouette of Santa’s sleigh create this magical scene.

Article source here: 10 Ways To Decorate Your Fireplace for Christmas

Best Gifts for Outdoor Lovers

Atiap Ultralight Titanium Camping Stove

For the dedicated backpacker on your list, get the compact, light and inexpensive Atiap Camping Stove, which uses easy-to-find fuel like twigs and leaves.

“On more and more backpacking trips (when legal), I carry a tiny titanium twig stove rather than a stove that burns fossil fuel,” says Jon Turk, author and National Geographic Adventurer of the Year.

“A twig stove is lighter and less bulky than any stove and fuel, you’re not throwing away cartridges, and a tiny controlled fire of twigs and pine cones is a cheery addition to the morning coffee.”

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Article source here: Best Gifts for Outdoor Lovers

If Your Leaves Aren’t Changing Colors This Fall, This Is What It Means

Depending on where you live, the fall foliage situation might be a little different this year. We’re talking about leaves changing color and/or falling later than usual, or even falling off of trees without changing color much at all.

If your typical fall routine involves spending breezy autumn afternoons enjoying the tree scene in all its splendor, what you’re seeing is probably disappointing. And what about all those fall lawn care chores you normally work into your weekend schedule? Should you even bother getting out your rake?

Yes, because the leaves are probably still going to change color and fall off the trees — eventually. The delay, though, will impact when you do those chores.

Where Is This Happening? And Why?

If you’re looking out the window and wondering what we’re talking about (because your lawn could actually use a good raking), you probably live in the Pacific Northwest, or maybe the Midwest. The leaves are pretty much right on schedule in these areas. But if you live in New Hampshire, Vermont or certain Southern areas? Not so much.

“We’ve seen a delay in fall leaf color in 2021 across much of the Northeastern U.S. and higher elevations of the South, largely due to higher than average temperatures during later summer and early fall,” says Steve Norman, Ph.D., a research ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service.

Along with the heat, heavy rain can also impact the color patterns of leaves, Norman says. (We probably don’t need to tell you about all the rain this year in some areas, with more to come.) This is because wet leaves are prone to fungal infections. While fungus-infected leaves will turn brown and fall off, Norman says they won’t exhibit strong displays of color.

What Does This Mean For the Health of Your Trees?

Don’t let this worry you too much, at least not in the short term. “If leaves stay green a little longer than normal, that isn’t much of a tree health concern,” Norman says.

The exception to this, he adds, might be trees in colder places, or those at higher elevations. If a severe winter storm comes through before trees have shed their leaves, the extra-heavy branches could break under the weight of snow and ice.

And if excessive heat and heavy rains keep happening, impacting the “schedule” of leaves year after year? That’s a much bigger concern than a one-off drought, says Chris Still, a professor of Forest Ecology at Oregon State University. Over time, Still says, it’s possible lots of excessive heat will impact the growth of trees.

“(This is) a bad scenario if it keeps happening,” Still says. “(It’s) bad for plants and people. They don’t do well in extremes.”

Does This Change How I Handle Leaf Raking This Fall?

Of course, as individuals we can’t do much about the weather. And we definitely can’t tell our trees when to shed their leaves. What we can do, though, is adapt to whatever it is the weather and our trees decide to do.

Kris Kiser, president of the TurfMutt Foundation, an environmental education and stewardship organization, recommends looking at the delay as an opportunity to spend extra time caring for your yard and preparing for the upcoming winter and spring.

“If leaves change color later, that means that homeowners have more time to do fall lawn tasks and check off their to-do list,” Kiser says.

While you’re waiting around to rake, you can aerate your lawn if you haven’t already. This will help produce a lush lawn come spring, says Kiser. You can also continue mowing. You can fertilize, and maybe even plant some grass seed. Always be careful not to run over the tree roots or nip the trunk with your outdoor power equipment.

When the leaves do finally do start falling?

“Give (your trees) one last deep watering before the ground gets too hard to allow water to get to the roots,” Kiser says. Then, get out there with your rake or leaf blower!

It’s important to get the leaves off your lawn before it rains or snows because a thick mat of leaves isn’t good for the grass. You definitely want to avoid raking wet leaves. Here’s what to do with those leaves after they’ve been raked.

This is also a good time to put mulch around trees, which will help them survive the upcoming cold winter temperatures, Kiser says. A lot of work, yes. But in the end, it’s worth it if it keeps your trees in good shape.

“Trees add a lot of value to your landscape and even benefit your health, so it is important to take care of them,” says Kiser. He referenced a 2015 study that found people who live on streets with more trees had better heart and metabolic health.

Article source here: If Your Leaves Aren’t Changing Colors This Fall, This Is What It Means

These 10 Cars Are Actually Worth More Used Than New

What Makes a Car Worth More Used Than New?

Traditionally, economic uncertainty and less travel means less demand for cars. But surprisingly, many vehicles from the last few model years are selling at a premium compared to their original prices. Various factors have pushed used car prices into stratospheric heights, including:

A microchip shortage: COVID-related factory closures reduced the number of microchips available to manufacturers. According to Kelley Blue Book, the average car uses more than 100 such chips.

Supply chain issues: Besides parts shortages, there are fewer delivery drivers. That means it’s harder to ship completed vehicles to dealerships.

Low new vehicle supplies: When the supply of a new model is essentially zero, prices for used models naturally rise.

Low older used car supplies: The Great Recession caused manufacturers to cut back on production between 2009 and 2011. That means that many vehicles that would be affordable and well-maintained aren’t on the market. That’s why more consumers are looking to new or late-model vehicles.

Cash for clunkers succeeded: To jump-start the automotive industry, the government-sponsored Cash for Clunkers program offered owners financial incentive to trade in older vehicles. It worked well enough to eat up a large chunk of the older car supply.

Dealers are paying more for trade-ins: Eager to add stock, dealerships began to pay more for used vehicles. But that meant sales prices also increased. According to Edmunds, the average trade-in value for used vehicles rose to $21,224 in June, an increase of more than 75 percent compared to June 2020.

The end result, according to Consumer Reports? Current used car prices are 42 percent higher than in the pre-pandemic first quarter of 2020.

We used data and listings from Edmunds.com to find 10 popular selling for more than when they were new. Car prices fluctuate with time, local market and trim package, so double-check prices near you before deciding to buy or sell.

Article source here: These 10 Cars Are Actually Worth More Used Than New

How to Winterize a Sprinkler System

Winterizing your irrigation system will keep it running better and longer. Take these steps to prepare your sprinklers for the cold season. Your yard will thank you when you can still water the lawn next spring.

Compressor Set-Up

With a basic quick-connect coupling, you can use your air compressor to clear water from your sprinkler system for the winter. Just be aware that even the largest home compressor isn’t powerful enough to blow out the entire system at once. But you can probably blow it out zone by zone.

If you’re into number crunching and you have the original irrigation layout showing the gallons per minute (GPM) of each sprinkler head, just divide the total GPM of each zone by 7.5. That’ll give you the cubic feet per minute (CFM) you need to blow it out. Otherwise, just rent a 10-CFM compressor and hose from your local tool rental center.

Set the compressor air pressure regulator to a maximum of 80 psi for rigid PVC pipe systems, or 50 psi for flexible black polyethylene pipe. Then turn off the water supply and set the sprinkler system timer to open just one zone. Next, open the manual drain valve at the end of that zone (if equipped).

Article source here: How to Winterize a Sprinkler System

8 Early Black Friday Best Buy Deals with Guaranteed Pricing

Waiting until the big Black Friday sales to buy pricey electronics is usually the smart choice. But as you’ve probably heard, holiday shopping is a little different this year. Supply chain issues and slower shipping times mean the earlier you can shop, the better.

The good news? You can get those sought-after Black Friday deals and prices now! The Best Buy Early Days Event is full of discounts on laptops, big and small appliances, televisions and every other tech item on your list. Save thousands on everything from Samsung Frame TVs and Apple iMacs to robot mop vacuums and Nest smart speakers.

Not sure if you should be Black Friday shopping at Lowe’s or The Home Depot? We pitted the two DIY big box retailers to find out which one is best.

How is Best Buy Black Friday Shopping different in 2021?

Here’s the great thing: All purchases featuring a Black Friday Prices Guaranteed note on the product page will be part of Best Buy’s Black Friday Price Guarantee. This means that if prices go down before Black Friday on November 26, Best Buy will refund you the difference. So you can buy now, without worrying if you’re missing out on more savings later. Pretty cool, right?

Just remember, to be eligible for the price guarantee you’ll need to be a Best Buy member. Don’t worry, it’s free to join. Once you sign in as a member and shop, you’ll automatically receive your refund if the price drops lower after your purchase. Reimbursements are scheduled to go out by December 15, 2021.

What is the early Best Buy Black Friday sale?

This early Black Friday sale includes lots of your favorite Best Buy categories. We made our picks based on the most reliable brands and the biggest savings, and each item features the coveted Black Friday price guarantee.

Keep in mind, these Black Friday items are limited-quantity items with no rain checks. When they’re sold out, they may be sold out through Black Friday. So don’t wait!

Microsoft Surface Laptop 4

This highly-rated Microsoft Surface laptop features an upgraded processor with 70 percent more speed than its older model, eight gigabytes (GB) of memory and all-day battery life. It’s big enough for comfortable productivity, but lightweight and small enough to transport easily.

Original price: $999.99.

Sale price: $899.99 (save $100).

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Samsung Frame 55-Inch TV

The Samsung Frame TV series is all the rage this year due to a sleek design that mimics a picture frame. The TVs not only play your favorite shows and movies, but display artwork in a seamless transition to a gallery piece. In Art Mode, choose from a library of artwork to display instead of an empty big black screen. These TVs are rarely on sale!

Original price: $1,499.99.

Sale price: $999.99 (save $500).

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Keurig Limited Edition Single Serve Coffee Maker

Who doesn’t love a Keurig? This limited edition K-mini single serve brewer by famous designer Jonathan Adler looks great on the counter top or in your cubicle, even in the smallest spaces — it’s only five inches wide.

It’s made for busy mornings. Instead of waiting for a whole pot to brew, make one quick cup from six to 12 ounces on your way out the door. And now you can snag it at half price! This coffee maker is a perfect holiday gift, too.

Original price: $99.99.

Sale price: $49.99 (save $50).

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Apple iMac

In the market for a new computer? Now is the right time to buy the Apple iMac you’ve always wanted. It features a 21.5-inch screen with retina 4K display and comes packed with powerful processors, ultra fast SSD storage and phenomenal graphics. You’ll also get free six-month subscriptions to Apple Music and Apple News.

Original price: $1,499.99.

Sale price: $999.99 (save $500).

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Samsung Large Capacity French Door Refrigerator

Black Friday is the best time to save on large appliances, and this Samsung refrigerator is a kitchen dream come true. Fit all your regular and party holiday groceries inside this 28 cubic foot capacity fridge. Everything from turkey to brie to beer is guaranteed to stay at the right temperature thanks to the multi-vent cooling technology.

The best part? The exterior door features fingerprint resistant finish so you won’t waste time wiping away smudges.

Original price: $1,979.99.

Sale price: $1,599.99 (save $380).

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Nest Mini 2nd Generation Smart Speaker

The 2nd generation Nest Mini is a cute little smart speaker that helps with anything you need via the included Google Assistant. Just say “Hey Google” to play songs, ask about the weather or news, or hear a joke. It can help you keep track of your schedule, alert you to reminders, and set timers and alarms. It might be the gateway you need to start a smart home.

Original price: $49.99.

Sale price: $24.99 (save $25).

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Ecovacs Vacuum and Mop Robot

Get your house nice and clean for all the holiday foot traffic with this robotic all-in-one vacuum and mop device.

It detects and cleans around furniture and objects like shoes and cords for hassle-free, uninterrupted cleaning. It vacuums and mops at the same time, automatically avoiding carpet when mopping, and maps your entire home with laser technology so it won’t miss one inch of dirty floor. Cross cleaning off your to-do list.

Original price: $749.99.

Sale price: $449.99 (save $300).

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Samsung Channel Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer

Immerse yourself in the clear sounds of your favorite shows and movies with the powerful Samsung Channel Soundbar. Acoustic technology projects realistic 3D audio from above, in front and behind you for a full sound experience.

Connect it to your TV wirelessly with WiFi or Bluetooth. Why bother going to the movie theater when you can get this kind of sound quality in your living room?

Original price: $699.99.

Sale price: $399.99 (save $300).

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Article source here: 8 Early Black Friday Best Buy Deals with Guaranteed Pricing

10 Best Gifts for Cat Lovers

Cactus Cat Scratching Post

Cat parents and plant parents alike will adore this cute cactus scratching post. And their cats will love it too. It’s a pretty, muted green color with multiple textures cats love — a mop fabric top for nuzzling and a wrapped base for scratching. It also has a ball on a string to encourage play. It’s really a gift for the cat, but cat lovers will get years of entertainment from it.

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Homeowner’s Guide To Firewood

Depending on where you live and how you heat your home, you may not give a lot of thought to firewood. But if you live in one of the more than 2.5 million American homes heated with wood fuel, or you have a fireplace, or you just love to sit around your backyard fire pit, then you probably know a thing or two about firewood.

And if you don’t? No worries. Our Homeowner’s Guide to Firewood is here to help!

Types of Firewood

Firewood from felled trees is a minimally processed natural resource. It’s also considered a renewable resource, although how renewable depends on good forest management. If you’re shopping for firewood, you’re likely to come across these terms:

Hardwood

Hardwood comes from slow-growing, deciduous trees. Hardwood is favored for nearly all indoor and most outdoor fireplace and wood heating uses. Commonly known hardwoods include oak, ash and birch.

Softwood

Softwood comes from mostly coniferous trees (those that remain green year-round). These fast-growing trees, including pine, are among the most commonly harvested by the timber industry, although they’re not ideal for indoor fires.

Read our guide to hardwoods vs. softwoods for more on the differences between these two wood types.

Seasoned wood

Virtually any firewood you purchase from a wood supplier will already be seasoned. This is the process of drying out the wood, which can take six months and two years depending on the wood type. If you’re cutting and seasoning your own wood, here’s a guide to how much time it will take.

Kiln-dried wood

Kiln-dried wood is dried in a massive oven, or kiln, which radically speeds up the seasoning process. Kiln-dried wood burns hotter and longer, and costs a little more than seasoned firewood.

Check out this article on the differences between seasoned and kiln-dried firewood.

Split/Unsplit wood

Commercially harvested firewood that you order for delivery will almost certainly be split. That’s because split wood seasons faster, is easier to handle and quicker to catch fire. For those same reasons, if you fell your own trees for firewood, you’ll need to split the logs.

There are of course, different types of firewood you should not burn.

Firewood is just one wood product that can be used in fireplaces or wood stoves. Here are a couple of others:

Manufactured wood

Manufactured wood logs, such as those from Duraflame, combine byproduct sawdust and paraffin. For those who only use an indoor fireplace or outdoor fire pit occasionally, manufactured wood may be a convenient, if more costly, option.

Wood pellets

Another wood byproduct, wood pellets are made from various types of wood biomass pressure-treated into small pellets. They work with stoves, pizza ovens, grills, furnaces and wood boilers specifically designed for pellet fuel.

Pellet appliances to heat homes are generally expensive, and a season’s worth of pellets can cost more than the equivalent amount of firewood. But pellets burn longer and are a more eco-friendly solution than traditional firewood.

“Many homes use wood pellets stoves for heating,” says Eric Carlson, executive director of the West Virginia Forestry Association. “They are extremely efficient, and provide only minimal ash that is easily used as garden fertilizer.”

Choosing Firewood for Your Home

The best firewood for you to buy or harvest depends on where you’ll be burning it, and for what use. This also determines how much firewood you’ll need. Heating your home all winter will require a lot more wood than what you’d use for an outdoor fire pit.

Home heating

For fireplaces, wood-burning stoves or boilers that don’t require wood pellets, there’s one word you need to know — hardwoods. These dense woods burn hotter and longer and emit far less smoke than softwoods.

Also, many softwoods contain resins that produce creosote when burned, which will build up in chimneys and other fittings. Because softwoods are full of sap and light easily, you might want to keep some small pieces on hand for kindling.

Check out this guide to the best hardwoods for your home heating needs.

The particular hardwoods you choose will depend on what types of trees grow in your region of the country. Bulk hardwood is usually sold in mixed cords of a few types of wood. It might not even be possible to order a cord of just one type of wood.

Outdoor fires

Campfires and backyard fire pits are the only places you might use softwoods. They catch fire easily and burn for a shorter period of time — say, the few hours you and your friends will gather around the fire pit. But there are a few caveats.

Softwoods will pop and spark. In a backyard setting, embers could land on someone’s clothing or, worse yet, in someone’s eye. In a wooded campfire setting, those flying sparks could have even graver effects. Just think of the wildfires devastating the western U.S. It’s also not ideal to cook over a softwood fire, as the smoke and resins will likely give foods an unpleasant flavor.

Tim Connelly, product engineer for BioLite, prefers to avoid softwoods altogether except for kindling, even for outdoor fires. “For campfires, the less-dense hardwoods like birch or poplar burn more easily and better for the beginning of a fire,” he says. “Hardwoods that are denser, like oak and cherry, will burn for a bit longer.”

Because a typical bundle of firewood will have a mixture of varieties, Connelly suggests picking out the oak pieces, which are heavier with a coarser grain. Save those for once the fire gets going.

Where To Buy Firewood

Firewood is sold at home improvement centers like The Home Depot and Lowe’s, and through firewood suppliers. It’s even sold in small bundles at most grocery stores; these small amounts are often all you need if you just build a fire once in a while. And you can actually order firewood from Amazon, albeit in small amounts and with a hefty price tag.

Here is our rundown of where to buy firewood.

When you place an order for a cord (128 cubic feet) or a face cord (one-third of a cord), make sure you’re buying local wood from a reputable dealer. If you’re having the wood delivered, clarify with the supplier how it will arrive — bundled, or dumped in a pile on your driveway? Learn more in this guide to buying firewood.

Firewood Accessories

For indoor or outdoor fires, your toolkit needs to contain the following items:

Fire starter

Keep fire starter cubes or bundles on hand to give your fire a little boost. For cooking fires, choose natural fire starters that won’t emit unpleasant odors or chemicals. Chemical-based fire starters usually light faster and burn hotter, a good alternative for fires intended for heating.

Kindling

Keep some dry softwood kindling to help nurture a new fire and allow larger pieces of hardwood to catch. You can buy oak kindling or opt for fatwood, small pieces of kindling made from heartwood, the resin-rich wood from the middle of pine trees.

Lighter

When you’ve got your fire built and ready to go, the last thing you need is a faulty lighter. Use a grill or fireplace-style lighter with a larger handle and long pipe that reaches the center of the unlit fire so you don’t burn your fingers. And as we’ve learned from experience, always keep a spare lighter in the utility drawer!

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