Friday, October 05, 2007

Extraordinary denture tablets in my toilet bowl from Reader's Digest

My mother-in-law was old school in every imaginable way. She had a subscription to Reader's Digest since the beginning of time. Whenever Reader's Digest would come out with a book, she would buy a copy as often as not. Hence, as the days after her recent passing unfolded, I had occasion to review Extraordinary Uses for Ordinary Things: 2,317 Ways to Save Money and Time while taking care of business at my inlaw's house.

I read several passages aloud to my brother-in-law. We laughed and marveled over the nearly 30 pages devoted to vinegar. Then I got to the denture tablet section.

I guffawed and rolled my eyes at the entries, imitating the vacuous expression a bland housewife might wear as she steps from bathroom to bathroom, dropping an Efferdent into each of her toilet bowls. I did not admit that the idea of cleaning diamond jewelry with Polident made perfect sense.

One of my daughter's orthodontic appliances requires cleaning with denture tablets, so I am in possession of way too many of them. So as soon as I got home, I quietly stepped into the upstairs bathroom, locked the door and dropped my diamond ring in a container along with a fizzing denture tablet as the book recommended.

It came out brilliantly.

Then next admission is of course hardly even necessary. I will let a picture do the talking for me.



Hence I publicly concede to my mother-in-law as well as the editorial staff at Reader's Digest Books.

7 comments:

Velvet Fog said...

We use them in the toilet around here too! It was my mother in law that started it. My kids love dropping them in there and watching them fizz. Go figure.

Ms Baroque said...

Erin you are a marvel. So sorry to hear about your mother-in-law; give my best to the Goat.

Kx

Toby said...

Some things never change. Will you mail me one of those denture tabs? I've never even had a cavity, but I doubt Crest will keep the bowl clean.

Great story Erin. When my grandpa died back in 1980 we found his garage "his man room" filled with Popular Mechanics. I was 12 and only remember a few things from some of the rags I perused through, but it is amazing how smart some of us were way back when.

I think there's a book deal here. My mom was a lifer with Reader's Digest too, and if today you can get past all the adverts for medicine, there are still some good things found in it.

I just turned off "rambling." Good night, have a great weekend. :-)

Anonymous said...

i love reader's digest. when i was younger my mom had bunches and bunches of them from the 80's and i would go through and read the "terror in real life!" stories and the jokes and such...i had a subscription in high school too, but my parents stopped paying for it. boo.
i also like the condensed books. i've read some cool things i never would have chosen otherwise cuz i picked up one at a book sale.

dean said...

If it's worth reading, it's condensed in Reader's Digest.

I may just try that denture tablet trick. I wonder if I dropped one in my mouth and took a swig of beer, would it clean my teeth while I watched TV?

Kathy Sena said...

Great idea, Erin! I use a mouth guard at night and it requires a denture tablet for cleaning, so I have a ton of those things around the house. And I hate cleaning toilets. I'll gonna go toss one in the toilet right now! You never know what you're going to learn around here...

josh williams said...

I have tried the bleach tablets in the tank, but it ruins the flapper. I hate replacing flappers so bleach I will pour into the toilet, when I become light headed I know I have added just enough, let it do its work and then flush..Do not put bleach in your tank it will ruin your rubber flapper! Thats really about all I know...Kind Regards JW