I’ve said this for years:  the newest washers aren’t worth a cup of warm spit, one reason being they are too lightweight to handle anything heavier than a pillowcase.  You get bang, bang, bang as the cylinder hits the side, but doesn’t stop and buzz like older models, so when you open the washer at cycle end you find soggy stuff you have to move around and run SPIN as you stand there…love time-saving devices…gonna go back to rocks and a river.

Apparently Samsung top-loaders go one step further in their dislike of cleaning your stuff.

To read the entire article, click here.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a warning this week to owners of certain top-loading Samsung washing machines, saying the appliances may pose safety issues; Consumers Union has suspended its recommended rating.

The warning comes on the heels of a class-action lawsuit customers have filed against the company claiming that their washing machines exploded during use, according to CNN.

Unilever announced Monday that it plans to buy Seventh Generation, adding the eco-conscious home goods company to its stable of chic, green brands.

Unilever is also in talks to buy the Honest Company, actor Jessica Alba’s natural consumer goods brand, according to a report last Thursday in The Wall Street Journal.

Conventional wisdom posits that publicly traded corporations make poor stewards of startups driven by some kind of ethical credo.

For example, the Kellogg Company badly mismanaged Kashi, which it bought in 2000, by forcing the organic cereal firm to cut costs by using artificial ingredients. In 2014, Kellogg agreed to stop labeling some Kashi products as “all natural” or containing “nothing artificial” as part of a settlement to end a class-action lawsuit.  Read more here.

Kellogg Company is voluntarily recalling approximately 10,000 cases of Kellogg’s^®Eggo^® Nutri-Grain^® Whole Wheat Waffles because they have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. No other Eggo products are impacted by this recall.

Recalled product was distributed to customers and retailers in 25 states (CO, CT, DE, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, VA, VT, WI, WY).  Read more here.

Olive Garden will sell 21,000 of the $100 Pasta Passes Thursday, September 15th from 2-3 ET on its website and an additional 21 on eBay with proceeds going to Feeding America.  Those 21,000 passes are 10 times more than last year.  Each $100 pass allows the pass holder to eat as much of the chain’s pasta as they like for seven weeks; guests get complimentary Coca-Cola products. The deal was a success last fall, with all 2,000 passes selling out in a second.  and boy did we all try…

The passes allow people to mix and match from a selection of sauces and pastas; I read it included chicken alfredo this year. They also include unlimited Coca-Cola products; salads, soup and breadsticks apparently didn’t make the cut this year. The passes are good from Oct. 3 through Nov. 20 at the chain’s more than 800 U.S. locations.  In-restaurant redemptions are unlimited but they’ve eliminated to-go redemptions.

Home Run Inn is having a Dock Sale next Friday, September 16th, from 1-5 at their corporate headquarters in Bolingbrook (click here for map).

Thrift pizzas are those that didn’t make the cosmetic grade. Retail bulk are perfect and you pay more.

They’ll even wheel out and load your purchases – very well organized. Get there early for the best selections because they sell out very quickly on some varieties.

Olive Garden will sell 21,000 of the $100 Pasta Passes Thursday, September 15th from 2-3 ET on its website and an additional 21 on eBay with proceeds going to Feeding America.  Those 21,000 passes are 10 times more than last year.  Each $100 pass allows the pass holder to eat as much of the chain’s pasta as they like for seven weeks; guests get complimentary Coca-Cola products. The deal was a success last fall, with all 2,000 passes selling out in a second.  and boy did we all try…

The passes allow people to mix and match from a selection of sauces and pastas, including chicken alfredo this year. They also include unlimited Coca-Cola products; salads, soup and breadsticks apparently didn’t make the cut this year. The passes are good from Oct. 3 through Nov. 20 at the chain’s more than 800 U.S. locations.  In-restaurant redemptions are unlimited but they’ve eliminated to-go redemptions.

This week, Garrett Popcorn turns 67 and shops are selling bags of Garrett Mix for 67¢.  These Chicagoland locations are selling the 67¢ Garret Mix bags September 12-15 from 11am-1pm:

• 27 W Jackson Blvd
• 625 N Michigan Ave
• 600 E Grand Ave (Navy Pier)
• 4 E Madison St
• 26 W Randolph St
• 500 W Madison St
• 835 N Michigan Ave
• 151 N Michigan Ave
• 737 E 87th St
• O’Hare International Airport
• 5 Woodfield Mall

I didn’t know the General Mills flour recalls now include cake mixes!  The Party Rainbow Chip Cake Mix and Carrot Cake Mix were added to the recall after a General Mills supplier used Wondra flour, which was recalled on July 1, to manufacture flavored chips that are used in these mixes.  Full list of recalled products here.

PITA and I are leaving in a few minutes for our NYC road trip for the 2016 BloggerBash.  Conference is a couple of days, so lots of downtime for shows and shopping and more.  Sign up for my Twitter feed and get real-time photos.

ALL US locations will be participating in this promotion through July 4th.  Need something you can’t find at Costco any longer?  Check out Sam’s Club for FREEEEEEE!  I’m gonna hit them up for the Cuban-style coffee I used to buy at Costco.