Time Out with Ariel

Right now, there are about five press releases and an advertorial waiting for me to write into being. And it’s one of those moments when I’m not even sure I still know how to write properly. So I searched for the perfect distraction and found it -- yahoo! -- on my sink. Allow me to warm up for a few minutes with this entry:

Today, I decided to test Ariel’s power. No, not the Little Mermaid Ariel from under the sea… but superpower Ariel the laundry detergent.

When I was in Cagayan de Oro a year ago, one of my and cousin maya babes’ favorite bonding moments was doing laundry together. She was the one who showed me the proper way to wash certain clothes. She was the one who introduced me too to the power of Ariel.

As she said, Ariel is made in such way that you need not handwash clothes too much or too strongly or too long. All you’ve got to do is soak the clothes in a bucket of water mixed with Ariel powder and just leave it for a few minutes. The powder does some kind of dance -- let’s just call it magic – that removes dirt automatically. If you’re not using a washing machine though, it might pay to do some handwashing after for a bit. But not necessarily too much or too long.

Me, I’ve always hated doing laundry. But I remember at that time being so amazed by the dirt-removing power of Ariel that I voluntarily washed clothes again a couple of times more. Frankly, I couldn’t tell the “before and after” difference really (my clothes still look clean even after I wear them … well most of them anyway ;p). Nor could I really tell if Ariel compared to other laundry bars actually has its own special magic. But just the thought of those little enzymes attacking invisible dirt and oil and weaving its own special fragrance over the battlefield of whites and coloreds was enough to arouse my imagination into overdrive.

Anyway, back to the present, I find my thoughts drifting back again and again like the Tide to that particular lesson once upon a time. Especially when I’ve decided to do some of my laundry again ever since I started living on my own to save on outside speed washing cost. So once more, I have little Ariel packs on my sink.

But this little experiment has nothing to do with clothes though. For I’ve decided to test Ariel’s power instead on the stained takeout styro, which previously contained the Chicken Parmesan from Jammers (yummy!) now being digested in my stomach.

To prevent insects (ants, roaches, and what-have-yous) from claiming my room, I’ve taken to the habit of washing every little food/drink container or trash before I throw them out or in the garbage can. All right I admit I’m freaky this way, but hello?? Roaches? I’ll take my own freakiness over theirs anytime.

Anyway, this particular styro’s tomato sauce stain was hard to remove. And since I have no plans of going outside the apartment just to throw it when I have these overwhelming assignments on hand, I needed to do something.

So inspired by Ariel, I set out to do my little experiment.

I. Problem: Is Ariel powerful enough to drive the styro sauce stain into extinction without outside force?

II. Objective: To find out answer of the problem before writing deadline.

III. Hypothesis: Yes, it is!

IV. Materials: Celfone clock, stained styro, a cup of water, 7 pinches of Ariel powder

V. Procedure:

1. Do a preliminary wash of styro, particularly its problem area, using running water for 10 seconds.

2. Pour a cup of tap water to the styro container.

3. Add 7 pinches of Ariel powder and stir with fingers

4. Check results every 30 minutes thereafter until curiosity is satisfied or boredom settles in

VI. Findings

30 minutes: No visible change

1 hour: stain is lighter

2 hours: stain is even lighter but still visible

3 hours: hey, I’m not that patient! No way am I waiting till the third hour.

VII. Conclusion

1. Let’s just say Ariel has potential.

2. I believe I’ve wasted enough wacky, senseless words to go back to writing serious, boring stuff for a few hours.