Questions tagged [household]
for questions about claims related to the household (e.g. household appliances).
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Has there ever been a burglary or assault from someone keeping an old key and using it on new owners?
It's "common knowledge" that you should change keys on move-in. Usually this is suggested to avoid burglary (or for Googlers and more casual conversation, "robbery"). But has ...
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In the US, were clover lawns common until a supposed smear campaign by Roundup?
Then in the 1950s a chemical company, to advance a weed killer, used a public relations campaign to declare white clover a weed.
http://americangardening.net/public-relations-campaign-attacks-clover ....
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Was the living room called the "death room" around World War I? If so, by whom?
On a Reddit post I recently stumbled across the surprising assertion that the living room was once called the death room, with the explanation being given variously that it's where you would mourn the ...
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Are there 300,000 items in the average American household, and 10,000 items in the average European household?
There is a trope that can be found in many articles discussing topics such as consumerism or minimalism: the average number of items that can be found in an average household. The number that is ...
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Does cutting paper dull a knife quickly? [duplicate]
This question is a follow-up to "How to test the sharpness of a knife?", my answer to it, and the comments my answer generated. Charlie Brumbaugh wanted to know how to tell when he is done when ...
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Does detergent help clean clothes in washing machines?
The Telegraph reported in 2008 that British historian Ruth Goodman:
stopped using soap in her washing machine and says the clothes come
out just as clean. "We're all victims of 150 years of hype ...
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Does residential radon cause lung cancer?
Radon causes lung cancer; a typical statement is this:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified radon as the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. Many ...
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Is vinegar dangerous for dishwashers?
This post claims that putting vinegar in rinse aid reservoir of a dishwasher leads to damage (similar claims can be found here and here):
on newer dishwashers, the rinse aid compartments have ...
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Can an iron + steam remove "heat stains" from a wood table?
I recently accidentally caused heat stains on our wood table by placing hot pizza boxes on it. You can see the evidence of it below.
When I googled ...
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Any scientific evidence that bubble wrap on windows lowers energy bills?
These newspaper articles claim that bubble wrap is an effective window insulator:
The Telegraph
Cheap and effective: using bubble wrap on the inside of your windows will help reduce energy bills
...
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1
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Does lavender repel moths?
On Wikipedia, it is said that
Dried and sealed in pouches, lavender flowers are placed among stored items of clothing to give a fresh fragrance and to deter moths.
I know many people do it. Has ...
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Is it dangerous to run with scissors?
It was common when I was growing up to be told not to run with scissors. It seems the adults were particularly concerned about the risk of severe injury should I fall. Is there evidence that running ...
- 1,419
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Are objects such as towels, bank notes, carpets, shopping trolleys and light switches dirtier than a toilet seat?
Are objects such as towels, bank notes, carpet, shopping trolleys and light switches listed in blogs such as these and these really dirtier than an average toilet seat since Dr Chuck Gerba, professor ...
- 22.6k
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Are coffee grounds effective as a cat repellent?
It is one of those "remedies" you can find everywhere: if you have trouble with cats in your flower beds, cats leaving their droppings in your garden (or burying their poop) you should use your coffee ...
- 4,697
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Do ionizers in air conditioners promote cardiopulmonary health?
This website for an air conditioner claims:
A built-in ionizer helps stimulate blood circulation, improve lung function and prevent respiratory passage illnesses.
Does research indicate that ...
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Can burning potato peels clean a chimney?
Some state, that burning dry potato skin would remove or reduce carbon black in a chimney. One can find many examples for this online:
The potato peels burn at high energy and will help push the ...
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Do "liquid solar blankets" work to stop heat from escaping a swimming pool?
There are products on ther market that claim to spread a thin layer of proprietary transparent liquid over the surface of your pool to reduce evaporation and thus retain heat.
One product is ...
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Does adding a dry towel to a load in the dryer make it dry faster?
Is there any truth to the claim the a dry towel can actually speed up the drying process?
There are numerous different sources that I've heard claim this, here is one on voices.yahoo
A few months ...
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Is typical indoor concentration of VOC correlated to concentration of CO₂?
A vendor of VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) sensor claims the VOC concentration correlates highly to CO₂ concentration in a typical conference room:
Figure 2 illustrates the correlation of true CO₂ ...
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Is it safer to NOT light your house at night?
At some point, I read a news report that investigators found out it is actually safer not to light your house when you are not there or when asleep. It mentioned that thieves found very dark places '...
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Is it more secure to close the door turning the key twice?
Some door locks you can turn twice (or even three times!). Is there added security in doing so? Or would it basically take the same amount of time to break / open a lock?
NOTE: I'm not sure if I use ...
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Do home alarm systems reduce burglaries?
Does installing an alarm system in your home have an effect on the number or results of burglaries?
I am about to buy a house with an alarm system installed, with a siren/flash light on the front ...
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Does filling a clothing washing machine to the top reduce cleaning effectiveness?
Someone recently insisted that filling a washing machine to the top doesn't get clothes as clean. My washing machine has water fill levels from "Small" all the way to "Extra Large," but no ...
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Do "reusable chemical-free dryer sheets" reduce static cling?
Inspired by another recent question about dryer sheets:
According to the retailers of purecosheet, these reusable dryer sheets can make your fabrics "soft and static free" for hundreds of ...
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