Saturday, January 24, 2009

Alternate uses for shampoo

The shampoo I prefer to use is not available for purchase in Canada. When we first arrived I was paying to have it shipped to me, but for reasons of laziness I have not ordered more lately.
My spouse has to use shampoo which is non smelling, non coloured, super sensitive, hypo allergenic, low lather, 14 dollars a bottle, special import, made from tree frog spit from the amazon. The only thing is DOESN'T do is massage her scalp.
I don't use these bottles of shampoo because in addition to being super special they are super tiny.
I go to the shampoo aisle, look for the cheapest and least offensive smelling shampoo and that is what I use. At one point I was convinced that all shampoo was the same, of this I am now convinced otherwise.
Last time I was at Costco there was a super container of Garnier Fructis on sale. I bought it. I have been using it for months and recently my son has been playing with the bottle because I have now used enough of it that he can lift the super container. His ability to lift the shampoo bottle corresponds exactly with his "I like to pour everything onto the ground" stage of development and he took my bottle and poured it all over the bathmat.
My spouse was right in the middle of doing loads of laundry and so she picked up the mat and put it into the tub until she was able to start the next load.
And here, my friends, is where a miracle occurred.
Let me segue here for just a minute to explain the condition of our bathtub.
We purchased our home just over a year ago (still 34 years of mortgage payments for anyone following along). The bathroom is is DESPERATE need of renovation. In some spots previous water damage has rotted the floorboards right through to the basement. The bathtub is OLD and the porcelain veneer has long since deteriorated. Unfortunately what that means for cleaning is this. You can't. There is no way to keep the tub clean. We have used bleach, tub cleaner, vinegar, baking soda, vim, rubbing alcohol, you name it and we have tried it. Out of sheer desperation one day we used SOS pads which backfired in gargantuan proportions. Everywhere Shel scrubbed with the SOS pad left a black streak. We have learned to "deal with it".
And then..... Garnier Fructis.
Ladies and Gentlemen. The spots where the bathmat covered in garnier fructis touched the tub left BEAUTIFUL clean spots. White. Shiny. Spotless.
And so it came to pass that I lost the rest of my super bottle of shampoo to my spouses cleaning cabinet. I have to say two things.
#1. Garnier Fructis is the nicest smelling bathroom cleaner we have ever used.
#2. The cheap crap I bought at IGA to replace my shampoo does not clean my hair. All shampoo is not created equal.

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