Review & Giveaway: Listerine White Strips

Our whole experience with the Listerine White Strips can be summed up with an old-time mockery of a toothpaste jingle.

In my mother's time, there was a toothpaste called Pepsodent, that was supposed to whiten your smile remarkably better than any of the others on the market, or so the commercials stated, but popular opinion was a different matter, at least among the smart alek teenagers of the time, so the jingle commonly ended in a second verse not heard on the commercials.

"You'll wonder where the yellow went, when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent" was the jingle, and the teens of the day added the second verse; "You'll wish you had the yellow back, when you find your teeth are turning black.".

Of course Pepsodent doesn't turn your teeth black, but that's another matter entirely. We're here to talk about these whitening strips.

The Listerine whitening strips are supposed to fully dissolve in your mouth, abolishing any need for a rinsing or a brushing after the whitening is complete, making it easy to whiten on the go, but that's not what we found when we tried them. The dissolved all right, into a frothing mass of annoyance that made me constantly want to spit. Not so good for being in public and seeming like a lady of any quality, so the whitening must be done at home. Also, it leaves a film on your teeth that not only cannot be rinsed off, but must be brushed off with a toothbrush.

They are supposed to leave a fresh minty flavor in your mouth. If overpowering is what you call fresh and refreshing, then they're right.

It works great for whitening. Let me tell you, the Listerine whitening strips showed a significant difference in the whiteness of my family's smiles within 2 uses! Amazing, yes, fabulously effective, no doubt, behaves as advertised, of course!

There's just one teeny problem; the fact that it eats away at the enamel around your gums, creating yellowish pockmarks that require a lot of expensive dental work to correct.

Not exactly an effect you want to pay money to achieve, now is it?

For the giveaway; I wouldn't dare to inflict these whitening strips and the subsequent tooth enamel erosion on anyone, so I'm giving away a tube of Pepsodent! The first three people to comment will win a tube of Pepsodent! Contest ends this coming Wednesday, so get to commenting!

Review & Giveaway: Pledge Multi-Surface Cleaning Wipes

Let's talk automotive windows and surface cleaning.

I've tried sprays to clean the inside of the car before. The dashboard, door handles, and most of the windows work just fine with a regular spray cleaner on normal, everyday jobs, but not the inside of the front and back windshields, or the steering wheel. Nope, sprays just sort of drip onto the upholstry, possibly discoloring the interrior in a horrid speckled pattern if you aren't really careful, and/or if you don't wash it off immediately. The extra care needed to do this just right isn't something many of us have the time for these days.

The folks at Bzzagent sent me some Pledge multi-surface wipes to try, and they work great on those spots that regular sprays are a pain to use, making the whole automotive cleaning chore a lot quicker and easier. Not only that, but you can use them on all of the surfaces inside the car instead of needing a bunch of different cleansers, which saves a lot of time and storage space as well.

Marker marks from the kids on the dashboard, fingerprinty or tar-stained windows, grime on the door handles and armrests, and even the sensitive screens on the electronics in modern vehicles like your GPS, stereo, or portable DVD player can be cleaned beautifully and easily with these wipes, without any extra polishing needed to get that ever-elusive streak-free clean.

For smokers, cleaning the inside of the windshields of the car is even more of a pain. The tar from the smoke forms a film on the inside of the window that makes it harder (and more time consuming) to get condensation and fog off of in incliment weather. The average window cleaner does not work for tarry windows, and requires that you repeat the washing action at least two times to get even a passable clean, but with the Pledge multi-surface wipes, a quick once-over is all you need for perfect clarity. That's because it isn't made just for windows, but for everything, which gives it the extra cleaning power needed for tough stuff like tobacco tar, soot, and grease. No matter what you do, from car repair to smoking, having a few packets of wipes in the glove compartment can really save the day.

Pledge Multi-Surface Cleaning Wipes work great on metal, wood, plastics, glass, and sensitive electronics*.

The wipes are ideal for the inside the car, since sprays are so awkward, but in most other applications, the disposable wipes are rather wasteful because of the excess packaging, so if there's no worry about dripping or overspray, I'd still suggest you stick with the Pledge multi-surface spray and a washcloth or cleaning rag, as it puts less waste into our landfills, and conserves resources.

Giveaway Surprise: Everyone who comments gets an entry in a giveaway to get one of three sample packets of Pledge multi-surface wipes to try in their own home. Even if you don't like the idea of disposable wipes, you'll still get a good idea of how effective the spray is, as it is the same cleanser, just in different application formats. Contest ends Friday, October 3rd.

Win an Amazon.com Gift Card! BuzzAgent wants to see how far the conversation goes, and they need your help. Visit ChatThreads.com and enter the conversation ID# 101 754 2729 to tell them about what I've said here and what you thought of it and enter to win up to $500 in Amazon.com Gift Certificate or learn how you can have ChatThreads donate up to $5 to charity. If you talk to anyone else about the Pledge wipes, give them the URL and number too so they can have a chance to win as well.

* Do not use on leather or marble.

Droolworthy Giveaway

I said I'd have a giveaway a while back, but the box of freebie goodies I had set aside isn't ready to be fully unpacked yet, so I thought I'd give you someone else's contest to drool over.





Did I mention that this is one heck of a giveaway?!

Blondemomblog is giving away an Ultreo ultrasound toothbrush. This thing is a power toothbrush with ultrasound waveguide technology, and automatic power shutoff and timers built in, so you know when you've spent enough time brushing each section of your mouth, as well as when you are done with the whole shebang.

I wonder if my Soniccare can stand up to it, or if it cleans even better than our family's multi-headed, one-and-only, never-buy-anything-less, Soniccare.

She's doing a random drawing of the entries in her contest, and she wants you to come sign up too.

To enter, click here, and comment with what kind of toothbrush you use.

I can't wait to see if it does... I wonder if I can get the company to let me try one out to review here.

What's your favorite oral care device?