07 August, 2011

Searching For Neat

Friday is cleaning day at Chez Goodneedle, this week was no exception. While dusting books in the study I ran across this one. I don't know where it came from, I'm not sure I've ever seen it before. It contains all sorts of nifty comprehensive information on the best way to clean household items, choosing the right cleaning agent for the job, special cleaning situations and stain removal charts; all the topics I love. Under the heading of cleaning agents was a paragraph on "Neat's Foot Oil". I remembered my Dad had a can of this out in the garage when I was growing up. He used it to oil his baseball glove. I recall asking him one day what a "Neat" was. I imagined it was some sort of hairy creature with excessively oily feet. He laughed then and told me that I would recognize one when I saw one. Hmmmm. I hadn't thought about running across a Neat in... oh, say... fifty years, until I found this book on Friday. The definition for the product reads like this: "a pale- yellow fatty oil used as a leather conditioner and protector. It is made from the hooves and bones of cattle and similar animals." Ewwww. Now I know. I won't be searching for Neat anymore; except for the kind that results from a successful cleaning day around here, I'm always searching for that NEAT!

Life is Good!

8 comments:

FabricandFlowers said...

Wow, Neat is very politically incorrect these days. A friend at work and I chat about The Fly Lady (http://flylady.net/) as we try to bring peace and order to our environment. Kind of a fun way to attack the mundane task of cleaning. Enjoy your clean abode!

Kathy ... aka Nana said...

I used Neat's Oil to oil my baseball glove as a child (I was very definitely a tomboy). ;-)

Anonymous said...

I have that same book and always forget about it when it is most needed. It came to us FREE with a renewal subscription.

Karen said...

Hmmm...looks like a NEAT book! Actually, I've not heard of that oil.

Have a great Sunday!

Janet O. said...

And I always thought it was something to use on your feet. Who knew?
Another public service announcement brought to you by Mrs. Goodneedle!
BTW, we had hot dogs with mustard and root beer floats last night--in honor of the day! : )

Quiltdivajulie said...

My grandpa always told me that jello was made from hooves -- now I learn that Neat's oil is, too. Honestly? Some things I just don't "need" to know :-)

I cleaned my desk at work on Friday (moving equipment, dusting behind and under, etc.) - does that count?

Jean said...

Too funny.... when are kids were young one of them asked where Spam came from? If you don't know what Spam is you may want to google it! LoL ..... anyway it's a type of ham and something else canned meat. My husband told the kids that spam comes from a little spam animal.... like ham comes from pigs and hamburger we get from beef cows etc.... He then asked them if they wanted to go on a "Spam Hunt". So later that evening we took the kids outside and as we were now living in a new area (only a few house had been built so far) he told them that "spam" nest like chickens did and we might find them in their nests in all sorts of places like holes in the ground and old pipes etc.... Low and behold he had made a little nest for a can of spam and the kids found it... we all had a fun time laughing about the whole thing!

Shelina (formerly known as Shasta) said...

The book came free with a Consumer Reports subscription. I had several copies.