To give different aspect on an experience with 1000bulbs: I ordered from them on-line and when mine arrived I did not think 1 of the 4 85's worked, as when I screwed it into a known good working brooder fixture it would not light. I called 1000bulbs and explained the problem, they sent me a replacment with no hassles and asked that I keep the non-working bulb incase the manufacturer might want to have it sent back for inspection. The new bulb arrived it worked and all was well. After finding out I did not need to return the non-working bulb, I tried it in another fixture (I had bought larger brooder lamps after seeing the length of the 85's) and it worked??? I went back to the original brooder lamp I tried it in and low and behold, the 'shallower pan' portion of the brooder lamp was not allowing the bulb to be fully screwed in. So long story short, 1000bulbs was great to me in this instance and I got a freebie in kind of a bad way ;-) I will say that having replaced my 400watt MH HID with 4 85's has helped my plants in that area. Not because there's more lumens or less heat, but because I can actually get the lights much closer (thanks Clara!) to the plants now and they seem to be liking that change. So 20,000+ lumens at @4"-6" inches away, seems to be doing better for me than 36,000+ was at @10"-16" and futher once you get away from being directly under the single light... The footprint of my CFL lights are now spread across an 18" x 48" area, whereas with the HID it was about 12" x 18". I use about the same wattage as before, but I think I use it much more effeciently now. IMO: Overall better coverage with the CFL's and cheaper purchase-wise and energy/heat-wise. I like 'em!!! Bob

I have recently been using Fels Naptha as a pretreater for stains. Wet the stained area and rub the stain with a bar of Fels. Rub the resulting soapy stuff in well. Somtimes I use an old toothbrush to get it into the fabric well. Let it sit for 10 minutes before laundering. I find the "new" Fels Naptha has quite a strong perfume, so I keep the bar in a plastic container. As to it not being the same as grandmom's Fels, Stoddard Solvent is also called white spirit in other parts of the world. It is a type of naptha, which is a petroleum distillate. It's the naptha in Fels Naptha that makes it the most effective soap for removing greasy oily soils. Perhaps Dial is being more specific in naming the particular type of naptha being used in the formula. They have also highly scented the product. It no longer is "the soap with the clean naptha odor" touted in the old ads. I have used Zout for years, and loved the results. I recently ran out of my original formula Zout. It was very lightly scented. The Zout I replaced it with is still effective, but I object to the way it perfumes my clothes, hence the switch to Fels.

I have installed 13 Juno 4" low voltage Halogen lights in our kitchen remodel. There are two in front of the rangetop, one on each side over the counter, one in front of the frig, one in front of the double ovens, one to the left of the sink, two over the sink, two to the right of the sink over the counter, and another two in front of what will be a simulated hutch. There are also 9 more in the family room and three in the hallway. Ha, I should own stock! The LV Halogens are not cheap, costing around $40 each as I recall, plus the trims at $27 each, but IMO they are well worth it in the grand scheme of things. I have installed 50W, 36 deg Solux bulbs running at 4100K in the kitchen area. They are very white and make everything sparkle. I could never go back to the normal yellow looking Halogens. The family room has 3500K bulbs which are a bit warmer looking. The main advantages to the LV Halogens are much more light per Watt and MUCH less heat. You can put your hand right up under them and barely feel the heat. I have all our lights on magnetic LV dimmers. I'm using Leviton Acenti. When I have them turned down really, really low you can occasionally hear a slight amount of hum from one or two... but the sheetrock isn't even up yet, so once that's in I doubt we will ever hear anything. The light you get from these small Halogens is not very diffuse, which is the way I like it. You have light where you need it but the whole kitchen isn't overly bright. We'll also have under counter lighting and three pendants over the bar stool area.

I don't have the practical experience to offer, but we'll be in the same boat when we finally reach the backsplash stage. So I'm glad you started the thread. I'll be watching the responses with my little notebook out! I *think* I'm also leaning toward a light gray grout so that tiles have some definition, but nothing dramatic or that registers 'black grout'. Since I can't offer advice, I will offer these owls. I'm pretty sure DH and I look like this when trying to figure out any question involving colors and slight variations in color: If two pails of grout and a board will tell you what will make you smile, I say go for samples. :)