Glow in the Dark Mt. Dew - Fact or Fiction?

Freshman year of college, my roommate introduced me to Mountain Dew. I've never been a fan of coffee or tea so this was my wake-up drink of choice. Ever since then, I've been slightly addicted. Well a few weeks ago, I came across this post multiple times on Pinterest and perhaps you've seen it on other social media sites, as it has been making the rounds since 2007:

Look familiar? There was even a video of someone making it and pouring it on the sidewalk to show how well it "glowed." Before going to Snopes, I decided I would give it a shot. I had all the ingredients so, what the heck!

As it says above, you'll need:

1. Mountain Dew (I only had cans so I had to use an empty bottle to pour everything in)
2. Baking soda
3. Hydrogen Peroxide

First, have 1/4 of Mountain Dew in a bottle and add "a tiny bit" of baking soda. First I tried 1/4 teaspoon and later I tried 1 teaspoon, to see if that would make any difference. And yes, those are Mickey Mouse measuring spoons.

Next, add three caps worth of hydrogen peroxide. I tried three caps worth but because I was almost out, I just topped off the bottle, so it might have been closer to four.

Shake well and.......

Voila! Glowing Mountain Dew!.... oh wait...

....yeah, totally doesn't work. If you want to get into the science behind it, here's what Snopes says:

"The familiar chemiluminescenct effect produced by common glow sticks comes mixing hydrogen peroxide and diphenyl oxalate with a fluorophore dye; the chemical reaction between the hydrogen peroxide and diphenyl oxalate releases energy that excites the dye, and the dye subsequently relaxes by releasing a photon, producing a glow effect. But Mountain Dew contains no diphenyl oxalate, and the addition of baking soda (i.e., sodium bicarbonate) to Mountain Dew will neither produce nor substitute for the needed diphenyl oxalate. As well, the food colorings used in Mountain Dew aren't the type of dye that can be "turned on" through this form of chemical reaction."

So the moral of the story of the story? Don't believe everything you see on the internet.

TOTAL COSTS: About $5, if you feel like waisting your money

$1.69 for a 20 oz. Mountain Dew from Vons

$1.99 for 32 fl. oz of hydrogen peroxide

$1.59 for baking soda

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: Less than 5 minutes

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very hard): 1 out of 5
It's very easy to do, perhaps because it doesn't work!

DIY Toilet Tablets

I came across these DIY toilet tablets that I thought would come in handy - they're easy to make, they supposedly clean and remove odors in toilets, and no one will ever know you used one. This recipe comes courtesy of SavvySugar. The question is - do they work?

First you'll need:

*1 C of baking soda
*1/4 C of citric acid OR powdered preservative (which is what I used - it was easier to find)
*1/2 t of vinegar
*1 T of hydrogen peroxide
*Essential oil (to make it smell nice - I used peppermint)
*Parchment paper
*Cookie sheets or a hard surface out of the way
*Measuring spoons (yes, those are Mickey Mouse spoons, don't judge)
*Spray bottle (optional but recommended)

First, combine your baking soda and citric acid/powdered preservative in a bowl and mix them together with a fork, to remove any clumps.

Next, combine your vinegar and hydrogen peroxide in a glass and very VERY slowly add to the dry mixture. It doesn't have to be one drop at a time but constantly stir and slowly add the liquid until clumps start to form.

Then add your essential oils - I did about 15 drops and I think the peppermint permeated my nostrils because I can't stop smelling it!

Take your parchment paper and your cookie sheets (or hard surface) and place down enough parchment paper to hold all the tablets you'll be making. The original post says it makes 30 tablets but I made 112!

Finally, grab your 1/2 teaspoon, put some of the mixture in the spoon, and very gently tap it onto the parchment paper. You'll want to be very gentle so the mold holds and doesn't crack or crumble.

Spray equal parts vinegar and water onto the finished tablets (I used 1/3C of each and found it was way too much - had to toss most of it down the sink) and set them aside to dry.

The original post said to let them dry between 4 hours and overnight.

But since "patience" is not my middle name, I only waited 5 hours before giving them a try. They do fizz a little and they look a bit yellow in the water but they didn't smell up the toilet like I thought they would. When they're not in water, these smell freakin' amazing so keep them away from children, pets, and very hungry roommates! Please clearly label the jar you put them in and keep them out of harm's way. But in the toilet? You're definitely going to have to put in more than 1 to do any sort of damage.

TOTAL COSTS: About $15 to make at least 112
$2.99 for parchment paper from Target

$1.59 for baking soda

$1.99 for 32 fl. oz of hydrogen peroxide

$6.29 for Ball produce protector

$2.82 vinegar

Cookie sheets, measuring spoons/cups, and spray bottle on hand

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 5 hours, 41 minutes
13 minutes to combine ingredients
28 minutes to make 112
5 hours to dry (though some were still crumbling so overnight might be your best bet)

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 2 out of 5
You might have difficulty making the tablets, as they can crumble if you hit them against the parchment paper too hard but other than that, they're very easy to make. Now whether they work? That's a different story...

Cleaning Old Cookie Sheets? Don't Waste Your Time.

Cookie sheets, am I right? I'm sure you have a few... they're brown (or black!), they're dented, they don't look at all the way they did when you first bought them. Have you ever tried to make them look the way they used to? Well, this post by One Good Thing by Jillee claims with two ingredients - baking soda and hydrogen peroxide - you can make them look shiny and new once again.

The original post shows it being done to the back of cookie sheets. I don't care about the back because that's not the side that you put cookies on! So I decided to try this out on the front side, the side you would put cookies on.

Step 1 - I found an old cookie sheet

Step 2 - I poured baking soda over cookie sheet

Step 3 - I then poured hydrogen peroxide on top of baking soda

Step 4 - Finally I poured baking soda on top of hydrogen peroxide

Step 5 - Then.. the waiting game.

Now I wasn't sure how long to wait (the original post said 2 hours) so I broke up the pan into fourths so you can see what happens after 1, 2, 3, and 4 hours. Note that I did not use a sponge or scrub it, as the original post said "Minimal rubbing with my fingers was required."

Hour 1: I just wiped off the baking soda with a soapy paper towel... and found no difference whatsoever.

Hour 2: Still no difference

Hour 3: Sigh... still nothing...

Hour 4: It looks exactly. the. same.

So another case has been solved of "What's on Pinterest Should Stay on Pinterest and Not Be Tried At Home!"

TOTAL COSTS: About $3.50
$1.49 for baking soda from Vons
$1.99 for 32 fl. oz of hydrogen peroxide from Vons

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 2-4 hours
Depending on how much time you want to waste

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 1 out of 5
It's so easy you'll wonder why you did it at all after reading this post!