good porcelain is easy to clean and color is less the issue than quality of the material. White grout is more problematic, but if you use a good quality stain resistant grout and then properly seal its really not bad. I thoroughly clean my white subway with a commercial steamer I own 1 a year and reseal the grout every 2. The majority of the time I clean it like I would any other shower and have no problem keeping it clean. Where white on white is an issue is the floor. Before I redid my bathrooms this is what I had in builders grade carp and it was impossible to keep clean. I use medium greys and browns for floor grouts.

The batteries (NiCad) last about 2-3 years (better quality replacements last longer, NiMh are better than NiCad(Lithium ion are better still, but pricey)). It isn't really a problem with the batteries developing a 'memory' but rather one of number of charge/discharge cycles that kills solar lighting batteries. The light output is fine for walkways and gardens; but not for area lighting for games etc.

Super Soft - NYC soft water. Whirlpool. A better explanation. On your laundry tub, where the perforated holes are - that is where most of the water sits during a wash cycle. If you start looking past that, where the wall of that inner tub starts to form leading all the way to the edge of it - that is the area where you will get water just strictly by nature of agitation and overspray, but not as much as it doesn't really *sit in water* during a wash cycle, Too many variables, as different makes have different tub designs, etc. For me, that is the scum ring - but it's also due to how my wash cycles are.. I do suspect that while most people are looking at their gasket, how many of ya'll go to great lenghts to check out the cavity I'm referring to.... I'm a OCD clean freak deep down. I have a commercial grade steam cleaner that not only produces steam but allows me to shoot boiling water through the nozzle - I will put the nozzle in that tight cavity and steam clean/send high pressure boiling water through that cavity (after seeing how this a problem prone area) around the entire perimeter of that area. While this cleans the area , nothing beats a sanitize cycle with the overloaded water dosage to really clean it.

When I graduated from high school in '65, my mother's friend gave me a clutch type wallet as a graduation gift, and somehow, very quickly, that evolved into my purse, and I have just carried a wallet like that ever since. I carry the same one for years...until it literally falls apart. Right now, the zipper on the zippered coin compartment is broken, so when I am out and I get change, I carry it in my pocket, or put it in the console of my truck. My truck is my purse. I keep receipts in my wallet and about once a month, take them out and put them away. I save a lot of my change, and keep it in a jar in one of my cupboards. Once a month, I empty the jar and put it away. I try to make sure I save a little more each month than I did the previous one. I've tried carrying a purse a couple of times since I switched to the wallet and it seems so heavy and kills my shoulders. Hairbrush and anything I think I will need....I keep in my truck.