If you are just about to sit down for a meal, I would highly suggest you stop reading. The subject of today’s entry just may kill your appetite… Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Body soil is composed of body oils, dead skin flakes and sweat. As gross as it is, everyday the average person loses one liter of sweat, eliminate one billion dead skin cells, and oozes out 10 grams of sebum or body oils. Even grosser, it’s estimated that the average person excretes up to 50 grams of body soil per day. Think how much higher these amounts could be if you are an active person or a teenager going through puberty! Wait, there is more: this doesn’t count the millions of germs and bacteria that are also along for the journey or the extra particulate/dirt that has landed on your skin and gotten mixed into all of this stuff.

Body soil is transferred from you to anything that you come in contact with. Think about how much stuff this includes:
All your clothing is directly in the line of fire, like undergarments, socks, shirts/blouses, even pants and jeans.
Then there is bedding like sheets and pillowcases.
Finally, towels and wash clothes that help remove it, and now it resides in a new home.

This stuff really gets spread around and then gets absorbed or embedded onto individual fibers.

Now let’s consider some of the “side effects”. Our explanation so far should help you better understand why there is:
· “Ring around the collar”
· Yellowing in old t-shirts when you pull them from the drawer
· The rancid smell from stored items
· Great lunch or late night dinner for bacteria and dust mites
· Weakening or wears down fibers

Check back later this week for Part 2

Last weekend Dr Laundry traveled to Fontana, CA to see the Clorox #47 and Kingsford #59 Busch cars run on the 2 mile banked track. What a special opportunity to see and hear this wonderful sport up close and personal. I was excited especially since the #47 was sporting the Clorox® Ultimate Care™ Premium Bleach colors for the first time. That light blue really stood out in the pits and under the lights on the track. This might help explain why Jon Wood had his best finish in a long time. He finished 8th but was running as high as 4th with 3 laps to go. Great job Jon!!

A lot of credit for the fantastic experience goes to the great people at JTG Racing. The owners, Tad and Jodie Geschickter, and the support people are truly fun to hang out with and stand/sit around and talk racing. Say what you will about the good old-boys, these North Carolinians have a great outlook on life. Genuine, caring and outgoing describes the feelings that you will walk away from the track after being with them for a race. I don’t know how they can do this week in and week out. Their travel and race schedule would leave you worn-out and tired. The weekend before Fontana, CA the teams were in Bristol, TN. They packed up after the race on Saturday, back to Charlotte, NC then off to Richmond, VA for this Friday’s race. Remember, the cars are driven to each race in a hauler. Talking to the #59 driver on Saturday, he was trying to hit the road ASAP after the race and expected to be back at the shop Tuesday morning. A little sleep and off to Richmond. And this goes on for 35 races in 43 weeks from February at Daytona to mid-November in Homestead. But nobody that I talked with was ready to looking for a career change.

I marvel at how these folks handle the pressure of consistently performing at a high level. It is ever present and out there for everyone to see. From the top to bottom, everyone is always under the microscope week after week. Finding and keeping sponsors happy is the lifeblood of the sport. You need the $$s to buy the chassis, engines, tires and gas. This also pays the rent and employs the specialists who build and maintain the cars, the driver and the support crews that make the adjustments and exciting pit stops during race weekend. There are never enough $$s and your competition is always looking for extra money too. Then, there are the mega teams from Nextel that drop down to cherry pick the Busch races. They have seemingly “unlimited” resources and so many cars. How can the “little guy” compete?

The choice of driver as the “face” for the organization/car is so important. The sponsors demands for public appearances and media presence has totally revolutionized the driver selection process. He/she’s not the back road racer anymore. Shiny, young faces are required for the camera and the high tech engineering that makes these cars run so fast. It is not unusual for a 43 car field to be separated by 1 -1.5 seconds in qualifying. That leaves almost no room for error and means the car must be setup correctly and the driver performs or you are on the trailer going home. Not what the sponsor signed on for. If you can handle that kind of pressure day in and day out, then this might be the profession for you.

Everyone who has not experienced a race will ask “What’s the big deal?” The thrill of the competition, qualifying, developing the pit stop strategy, making adjustments and chasing the changing track conditions, the 4 tires and full tank of gas in 14-15 sec pit stops, the noise of the engines and crowd will make you a NASCAR junkie. I know that I can’t wait to go back again!

Enthusiastic parents like me who are sending away their child(ren) to college may feel the urge to provide great pearls of wisdom about forthcoming new experiences, study habits and life experiences. There is a good probability those pearls might fall on skeptical ears or seen as being outdated. One key area that might escape that fate is the laundry department.

Sooner or later each college student comes face-to-face with the reality of owning responsibility for having clean sheets, towels, underwear and clothes. So hopefully, they have had a chance to practice doing laundry before going off to the "real" world. I always start with teaching my high school-aged children some basic practices and laundry tips while they're still living at home to prep them for what's to come. After walking up 10 flights of stairs as a pack mule to my daughter's room and talking to several new residents, it was clear that a wide range of laundering experience existed. From none to 4-5 years seemed to describe the level of expertise. So whether you were one of the lucky ones or not, here's a little resource tool for now or future reference.

YOUR BASIC LAUNDRY TOOL KIT.

A laundry basket or bag: It starts and ends in the basket. This is a seemingly simple item that's critical to laundry success. A big one will keep clothes off of the dorm room floor until your student finds time in their busy schedule to actually do laundry. (Hopefully that's more than one time before Thanksgiving break or their first visit back home!) Remember that dorm rooms and apartments can be short on space. Pop-open baskets made of mesh are a great solution (add dividers to help with pre-sorting), or drawstring bags that can be hung in the smallest of closets (be careful not leave the items in there too long or strange odors will start developing).

Detergent: A must-have item! Liquid or powder, just make sure they understand the usage instructions. If the washer does not have a dispenser, add the detergent as the washing machine is filling with water. Let it mix with the water before tossing in any clothes. Check out my tips from earlier posts for more details.

Clorox Regular-Bleach: College life, whether cafeteria pit stops or on-the-go eating, is a magnet for stains. These make bleach usage essential for students. Shared washing machines in dorms and apartments are always quite germy. Make sure you use liquid bleach in the first white load to prevent dorm mate germs from ending up on your clothes; it's like mouthwash for the washing machine. Another reason to use liquid bleach is body soil - a topic that I will discuss in an upcoming post.

Clorox 2 Bleach for Colors: For those colored items, use Liquid Clorox 2 as a pretreatment to help get stain removal started before washing. It also helps give colors a boost and make them looking brighter.

Clorox Bleach Pen Gel: First time laundry washers may be very anxious about stains on stripes and prints. The Clorox Bleach Pen Gel is a great, portable way to help wipe out the tough stains on combination whites and stripes or prints. Before starting, always check to make sure the item is bleachable; there's a simple pre-test on the back label. Two tips, a scrubber and fine line, cover the range of situations you will encounter and help keep the bleach right where you want it.

Fabric Softener: Remind your student that they can eliminate some of the odors of college life with a nice leave-behind scent on their clothes. Fabric softener comes in either liquid or sheet form. The liquid variety should be poured in the fabric softener dispenser; it will be added in the final rinse. Sheets are easy and portable and can be thrown into the dryer. Fabric softener helps make towels and sheets less harsh and can reduce static electricity during drying. This makes it easier to find those socks.

Quarters: Laundry's not free like at home! Some form of payment will be required. Most likely quarters for both the washer and dryer are needed to transform that dirty, smelly pile into usable items again. A roll of quarters should get you through to your first visit home. Laundry systems at some universities are now equipped with high tech laundry cards, which work like a debit card to swipe through the machine. Check ahead with the university or apartment complex to see what kind of system they have in place so that you don't show up with the wrong form of payment.

No matter what kind of advice you give your students about doing laundry, some of them will resort to the college student motto: "If it looks clean, it is." Encourage them to multitask, double-up laundry time with study time and fold as you go means less wrinkled and easier to find wanted items when you get home. Preparing and encouraging your student to do their own laundry may even save you from "emergency" laundry drops on their weekend trips home.

This past weekend I had the honor of throwing out the first pitch at the Sacramento Rivercats game. Talk about pressure! More than a dozen of my friends drove up to see if I would choke or throw the ball to the backstop. Being sick last week had kept me from throwing a few practice pitches at the local high school, so I was more than a little anxious. As I went into the wind-up, I thought of my own advice as a Little League coach: focus, throw hard and finish on the glove. While it was a little high and inside, there was a pop in the glove as the ball "exploded." Also I got to meet and get my picture taken with Dinger the mascot. (I’ll try to get some photos up soon!) Great night in a fun ballpark, Raley Field. Get out and try a Minor League game if you haven't had the opportunity. It's a ton of fun and not as slow/stuffy as some Major League games.

I thought this might be a good time to pause and reflect as we near the end of summer. Can you believe it's almost over? So much has happened in this time from June to now. I have had so many great new experiences and the changing season will bring even more. Here's how I have spent some of my summer so far.

First, my Mom just celebrated her 82^nd birthday this week. Congrats to her! This year meant adapting to scooter life as the old legs just wouldn't go as far and fast as they used to run. But she still has her independence and enjoys her retirement community and its activities.

I've also been coast-to-coast to help introduce new Clorox® UltimateCare™ Premium Bleach. This has included:

• The opportunity to meet with a wide range of magazine, newspaper and website editors


• An opportunity to expand my fashion knowledge by meeting and sharing the introduction with Robert Verdi


• Conducting 14 TV interviews with Robert in LA starting at 4 a.m.


• Meeting wonderful Bliss Spa team members in NY and LA

I helped develop and produce the demonstrations in the Clorox® UltimateCare™ introductory advertising in Alhambra, CA and the Valley.

I also had an opportunity to helped develop and produce the demonstrations for Clorox® Anywhere HardSurface™ spray commercials that we shot in Auckland, New Zealand. Always exciting to return to such a beautiful place even if it is winter and you cross the International Date Line which really messes with your sense of time.

And this weekend, I join thousands of parents sending our "baby" away to college. My daughter Mallory has spent the past three weeks hunting and gathering everything she will need to start her independent living experience in the freshman dorm at SDSU. It all gets loaded into the van tomorrow and away we go. It is so wonderful to see the anxiety and anticipation as she prepares for the next chapter in her life. From discovering her new roommate's name and all the things they have in common, to wondering how she will be able to live with such a small portion of all her clothes/shoes; where do you get those extra long sheets for the dorm bed, why do I need something to carry all those personal care items to the shower and of course, the laundry.

I'll have some great college laundry tips in my post next week.

I've met all sorts of doctors in my life, but never have I met a doctor who practices laundry! Now that is marriage material.

So, it was a no brainer for me when I was asked to speak to magazine editors about the new Clorox Ultimate Care Premium Bleach in New York City a few months ago. It was here that I had the distinct honor of meeting Harold Baker, a.k.a. Dr. Laundry. Ok, I have to tell you, I was totally impressed, since I've always been, and always will be, a true fan of bleach. For those of you who don't know, some very important personal facts:

1. I'm a clothes enthusiast, as in... I love clothes, I love shopping, I love dressing up, I love washing my clothes, I love folding my clothes, I love seeing other people's clothes, I love the designers who design clothes -- You get it now, Right?


2. I look really good in clothes (some people look better naked; I'm not one of them).


3. I grew up in suburban NJ as a first generation American surrounded by women who were skilled dressmakers and homemakers and I learned every trick I could from them. For example, regarding my neurotic laundry behavior -- I have been known to let the washing machine fill up with water, add my detergent, add my bleach (stir it in with a wooden spoon... don't ask) and let the cycle run. Then, when the wash and rinse cycle was complete, I would rerun the rinse cycle and squeeze the juice from a fresh lemon into the washing machine. How does the old saying go... When g-d gives you lemons, do your laundry. It's something like that - right? I like my whites to be very bright and very fresh.

This seemingly crazy ritual is a by product of my passion for fresh, clean bright white garments (there is no place in this world for dingy whites). So, Dr. Laundry asked me to be a guest on his blog.

Now, for all you die hard bleachers or those who are aspiring users, here are a few tips...

White is Wearable, Wonderful and - Even Better - Totally Washable! Make it a personal goal to take care of your favorite white shirts and jeans, that perfect white t-shirt, your best white sheets or those luxurious, fluffy white towels. Let's face it, until this moment, you didn't even know how many whites there were in your closet that you love and want to take care of. Those favorite comfortable things are irreplaceable.

Say goodbye to the little black dress - white is the color to see and be seen in! Trust me, it's not just for the skinny and the tan. And, stop listening to your mother when she tells you it can only be worn between Memorial and Labor Day. White is for everyday and can, and should, be worn by anyone and everyone from California to Maine and everywhere in between (yes, even in Kansas). When thinking about your next white purchase - whether it's a classic white t-shirt or the romantic blouse of the moment - abide by these easy tips and I guarantee you'll be looking and feeling fabulous in no time!

1. Keep whites glowing and sparkling - Dingy, dirty or stained whites will leave you anything but fashionable. Don't be afraid to use bleach where needed. Check out the new Clorox UltimateCare Premium Bleach. Glowing whites are always in style.


2. White is the new black - when purchasing two of a favorite garment, think about brightening up your closet. Instead of buying it in your most loved color and black, resist the urge to go to the dark side and make your wardrobe pop with white. This is what I do for all my clients, including my little doll, Eva Longoria, and she loves it!


3. White is here to stay - So give in and go paint the town white!

I have invited Robert Verdi, celebrity stylist and lifestyle expert, to provide a guest blog today. I've been working with him to launch Clorox UltimateCare Premium Bleach-the new product that hit store shelves last month (see my last two posts for more details on this innovative bleach). Check out Robert's fashion insights on our favorite color -- white! Also check out http://www.robertverdi.com/.

I'm so excited about this product that I had to dedicate two posts to it! Here is some more detail on our newest product.

There is the PACKAGE. We needed something to compliment and show off this special product. Tami and her team pulled out all the stops on this one.

• It starts with the great shaped bottle to hold the 30 or 90oz of Clorox® UltimateCare™. Coming soon, a 168oz size for the club stores.


• Then they added a drain-back feature like most liquid detergents to make it easier to pour or pretreat.


• Finally, a single-dose measuring cap. No more guess work on whether you're adding the correct amount.

Now, hopefully you should better understand why we are so excited and why we call it the UNEXPECTED BLEACH!

Who will be interested in this new product?

We think this product will have a very broad range of customer appeal.

• Current Bleach Users - They will love that we kept the great cleaning, whitening, stain and soil removal benefits and added all the new goodies.


• Busy Moms - Wow, the versatility and time saving potential of this product calls out to her. For her family laundry, it means being able to pour it directly on bleachable fabrics and also is much easier to pretreat when needed. Want to teach teenagers to do their own laundry? Everybody should learn to use bleach and this makes that job a lot easier and less stressful for the teacher.


• Newlyweds - A lot of the same things as busy moms plus an easy way to introduce bleach usage to your new husband.


• Fashion Conscious - White is the newest fashion trend! Just ask my friend Robert Verdi, the official fashion and style expert for E! Networks and host of E! Entertainment's Fashion Police. Working professionals pay top dollar for their wardrobe and keeping those new white office and play clothes looking great is perfect for Clorox® UltimateCare™.

Clorox® UltimateCare™ was made for anyone who wants GREAT laundry results. I think it truly is "The UNEXPECTED BLEACH!"

I'm really looking forward to hearing your experiences after trying this product.

OK—I’m finally letting out the secret about the new Clorox bleach product I’ve been alluding to in my posts for the last several weeks. We’re launching Clorox® UltimateCare™ Premium Bleach. We call it “The Unexpected Bleach!” Big drum roll and trumpet noises, please!!

There are always projects in the works in our lab; I’m particularly pretty proud of this newest bleach development. It started by listening to consumers tell us how we could improve liquid bleach and what properties/benefits they were seeking in a new bleach. Then, the team set out to build and test a variety of formula and package prototypes. After nearly two years of testing and tweaking this truly innovative product and fine-tuning the whole proposition, I think we’ve nailed it.

Hopefully you are seeing the product already appearing in your grocery store or mass retail store’s laundry aisle. To help spread the word, we have a really neat introductory TV commercial, “Trees”, that I helped shoot and an awesome print ad that will be in several leading magazines starting this month. In addition, a number of you may be in line for a free sample in our door-to-door program. More details on these items in my next post.

So give me the FACTS!!

Our challenge was to make a bleach product that delivered the great bleach benefits (whitening, cleaning, stain and soil removal) while being gentler bleach for white clothes—just goes to show that your comments and feedback really do matter! Tom and his team did an incredible job methodically picking thru the choices and wait until you see what they have done for you.

• So what have we done? By reducing the bleach level, adding buffering agents and other ingredients to stabilize the bleach, we made a THICK, CREAMY liquid. Doesn’t look like any bleach I ever saw. Also, the thicker formula means less splashing, something everyone wants with liquid bleach.
  


• This also makes it gentle enough to POUR DIRECTLY on bleachable fabrics. Wow do you believe that?? A real time saver. If you need to pretreat, pour it right on. In a hurry, pour it over the bleachable whites and away you go.
  


• And we are not thru yet! The SOFT COTTON™ scent completes our aesthetic package. Wait until you smell this on your wet laundry. You can’t tell it has been washed in bleach.
  


• Finally, those new ingredients can leave your laundry with touch of SOFTNESS. Nice little extra for everyone.

How’s that for UNEXPECTED? Ever hear of a liquid bleach that could do all of those things? More soon!

As you may have noticed, I needed to step away for a few days for personal business. While preparing for the introductory event at the Bliss Spa displayed in my last entry, I received an unexpected phone call from my wife that my brother-in-law had taken a sudden turn for the worse. A very quick drive to Orange County allowed my daughter and me the opportunity to see Marshall as he prepared to come home to hospice care on Friday. I left for the New York event on Sunday morning, completed it, and was in the car on my way to the airport Wednesday morning when my wife called to say Marshall had passed away.

The following is a tribute to a wonderful person who left a huge impact on everyone he met.

HEY MrK

Marshall J. Klapman was 43 and died from leukemia. He was the kind of parenting challenge that every parent dreads. After wandering for a number of years, he found his calling/passion: teaching. While usually unorthodox in his approaches, he always took a personal interest in each of his "scholars." He volunteered to teach combination classes that others found too hard/challenging and he always made time for any student. His encouragement led to many kids feeling safe to step out and try the difficult and "impossible' with amazing, confidence building results. Known affectionately as Mr. K, his last 7 years at El Morro Elementary in Laguna Hills were his favorite, as he finally felt he had hit his stride. When the illness struck, he longed for the chance to return to his colleagues and students.

One can gauge the impact of a person by reading the growing stack of personal notes that arrived as word of his passing began to circulate. He had obviously touched an extremely wide circle of people. Current and former students wrote such touching notes that tears streamed down your cheeks and several Kleenex were needed to absorb this outpouring of the impact Marshall had on each and every one of their lives. As touching were the notes from colleagues. There are always people you meet as you go about your daily profession who stand out. Well, Marshall surely had to be one of those people as the lengthy notes kept coming. Then, there were the wide range of friends some who knew the dramatic fatal path that he was traveling and others that were not close by. Whether from his early childhood and those he had collected along the way, all were totally devastated at the news of his passing. Marshall brought such vigor to life. He loved to travel and attend live concerts and theater. But most of all he loved to cook and entertain. Always the life of the party, he was the ultimate host making sure each person felt welcome and comfortable.

From all of this you can tell what a huge hole has been left in his immediate family. His partner and best friend, Tom, had done everything to make Marshall comfortable but had to watch as this vibrant person fought to stave off the leukemia. Tom was just recovering from the loss of his own father within the month. His parents, Norman and Toby, continue to try and put a good spin on the loss of their youngest child but having your youngest pass before is extremely tough on any parent. His sisters, Karen and Meryl, have always counted on Marshall to be the balance in the family and now that is gone. Then there are our children, Brandon and Mallory, who have always used Uncle as their sounding board and outside council when life throws you a curve ball. Always with sage advice and generous heart, he had such a positive impact on helping shape the super young people they are today. Each in their own way now has a huge hole to plug as they go forward in life.

Gone but never to be forgotten..... as the license plate says "HEY MR K" it certainly was a great one!! Miss ya bud....