Synthetic???
aggranduser
8 years ago
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sc77 (6b MA)
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoRelated Discussions
synthetic pine straw
Comments (38)Well, sounds like most of you are going to jump all over me. But I crunched the numbers and went for the synthetic (polyester) pine straw. I put it over weed cloth in my flowerbeds in 2004 and it still looks great. It and the weedcloth have cut my weeding time by about 98%. The artificial straw contains no molds, diseases nor insects. My beds are on high ground, and the straw stays put. There is one area that gets a lot of leaves. For that, I take the straw out on the lawn on a lovely day, sit on my rolling garden wagon and shake the leaves out, bagging the cleaned straw as I go. Then I blow any remaining debris off the weed cloth and replace the straw. I understand that they now have a glue that one sprays over newly installed texstraw so that you can use a blower to get the leaves off without disturbing the straw. That might work if your planting were all perennials and you weren't planning on new plants for a while. When I want to add a plant, I simply remove the straw from that area, cut an x in the weed cloth, plant, and replace the straw around the new plant. No problems. My spring bulbs come right up as usual....See MoreSynthetic blends - % synthetic?
Comments (15)hercules, I see a problem with your question. As I understand oils, None of the latest oils are natural. They could all be considered synthetic. They are all cracked (modified) after being pumped out of the ground. 50 (100?) years ago oil was pumped out of the ground and then distilled by its boiling point. Thicker oils boil at higher temperatures. I have read that Amsoil and Mobil 1 oil is a PAO (type 4). Castrol (and most other synthetics) are type 3 hydrocracked. I think esters are type 5, but I don't know where they are used. So most blends would seem to be a mix of cracked and hydrocracked. Mobil 1 should be a mix of cracked and PAO's. So I would think the question should be what type of oil AND what percentage. I am not sure that it even matters which base is used. Perhaps we should look at the approvals on the back label. While the SL (and SM) oils have better testing and improved refineing to meet the testing, I have read that euopean standards are even tougher. BTW.. I saw the evidence that mobil 1 was way better than valvaline 25 years ago. But then in 1990, mobil had a new formulation. then they came out with a new version in the late 90's. And now they are on their 2nd or 3rd version of supersynth. Other (conventional) oils have changed just as much, or maybe more. Oh, As to mobil 1 pouring easier than valvoline, we had a winter in 1983 (dec) that had many mornings below -30. I took jars of 5w-30 outside and tipped them over several mornings. Both 5w-30 oils (valvoline and mobil 1) poured about the same. But of course they do, that what the 5w-xx means! The mobil 1 looked like a smooth honey. The valvoline looked awful, that would be cloudy and even chunky. I also had a 10-30, but it set up and wouldn't pour at all when turned over, hence its thicker rateing. Further, In the car the valvoline broke down under pressure to be thinner much faster and let the oil pressure go down much faster than mobil 1. So mobil 1 gave higher oil pressure for longer. The valvoline reminded me of jello, poor flow, but little resistance to pressure. JerryO...See Morewhitest white synthetic trim board material
Comments (9)I just trimmed out the porch with stuff I found at L0wes - though we tried to match colors, it does seem like the board over the stairs is whiter than the others. Tried 2 different boards to left of stairs, didn't see difference when laid on the ground but once they were up I could still see joint where grayish one met white one. Sorry, gotta take daytime pic Here is a link that might be useful: PVC trim...See MoreAnyone using synthetic shakes or synthetic slate?
Comments (1)I haven't seen any synthetic shakes that didn't look like what they are -- synthetic. On the other hand, it's possible I've seen some synthetic shakes that looked so genuine, I didn't realize they were synthetic -- but I'm not aware of them. One of my neighbors down the road recently installed synthetic slates that are made from recycled tires or some other rubber product. Upon installation (about 10 months ago), the look was impressive and real looking. So far, so good. I'm not sure how they'll look in ten years, but for now, they're beautiful....See Moreaggranduser
8 years agoaggranduser
8 years agoaggranduser
8 years agosc77 (6b MA)
8 years agokimmq
8 years ago
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