"The Good Housekeeping Institute tested 13 steam irons and six steam generator irons. All the irons were tested on a range of fabrics, from delicate lingerie to heavy denim jeans. Crease removal and ease of glide was assessed. Soleplate temperatures and temperature fluctuations were monitored at each of the dot settings and compared with the British Standards Institution (BSI) guidelines. Weight, tank capacity, controls, flex length, features and clarity of instructions were also taken into account. Through years of working with the M157A2 smoke generator we''ve come up with some sure fire for better smoking. Believe me, we''ve found these suggestions will save operators and repairmen lots of trouble.

Odds and endsDoes your company ever install underground, insulated hot or super-chilled water lines? Then you know the process: Dig a trench and put crews of men to work long hours assembling steel pipe with foam insulation filling a steel jacket, which eventually becomes clogged and corroded with age. There is a better way.A company called Ecoflex now has pre-assembled and insulated lengths of single and dual-pipe runs -- as long as 650 ft. -- that can be laid quickly by a minimal crew. Cross-linked polyethylene pipe is available in sizes to 4 in. and all surfaces are smooth as well as non-corrodable, and the insulation doesn''t absorb water.

There are two ways to clear the hole. We show stopping the auger and lifting it and the soil out of the hole and emptying the soil in one pile near the hole. That keeps the soil in one place for easy backfilling and prevents it from scattering over nearby grass. An alternative is to dig down a few inches, then throttle back to slow the turning and pull it free to spin off the collected dirt. Then drop it back down to pull up more soil. This method is faster (and more physically demanding), but dirt will fly everywhere and be harder to reclaim. It''s a good method if you''re backfilling with gravel or concrete and/or don''t care about the mess.

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