A. Pre-seasoned means a coating of wax or vegetable oil has been applied to prevent the cookware--usually cast iron--from rusting while it sits on store shelves or in the warehouse. This cookware is ready to use straight out of the box, according to Hugh Rushing, spokesman for the Cookware Manufacturers Association, a trade group. But once food starts to stick, you'll need to season it again.

It's been unseasonably mild in many parts of the country, which could have you thinking about exterior home fixes. But if painting is one of them, you should probably hold off a while longer if you live in a four-season locale, since chilly weather can wreak havoc on the project. Another reason to wait? Consumer Reports is just wrapping up its latest tests of more than 40 paint products and the new Ratings will be coming out soon.

It starts small. First you ignore the advice on the package of the compact fluorescent lightbulb.. You move on to using a CFL in what can only be described as a bad situation, and before you know it, the bulbs are goners. Sure, CFLs save energy and money—they use about 75 percent less electricity than standard incandescent bulbs and can last seven to 10 times longer. But using them in the wrong way or wrong place can shorten their lifespans. Here are some common misdemeanors.

If you're a dog owner, the greening up of your lawn this spring will likely coincide with the emergence of burn spots where your four-legged friend relieves itself. In extreme cases, these spots, which are caused by the nitrogen in urine, can grow large enough to require reseeding. That's resulted in a cottage industry of dietary doggie supplements designed to neutralize nitrogen and prevent burns. Do they do the trick?

You wouldn’t expect to run a 10-mile race after spending all winter on the couch drinking beer and eating potato chips. Likewise, too many of us neglect the health of our gas-powered lawn mowers then curse them come spring when they just say no. Here are six ways guaranteed to shorten the life of your mower from Consumer Reports' mowing expert Peter Sawchuk who is just back from conducting our mower tests in Florida.

You can find a lot of advice online that recommends only using distilled water for your steam iron, arguing that since it’s mineral-free, minerals can’t clog the iron. But after combing through some of the manuals of our recently tested steam irons, we found that just may be another suburban myth and, worse yet, can possibly void the warranty.

Can you use regular detergent in a high-efficiency machine? Not a good idea. High-efficiency front-loaders and top-loaders use less water than conventional washers and regular detergents produce too many suds. This soapy surplus can affect cleaning performance, extend the wash cycle, cause the machine to overflow, and even cause mechanical problems over time.

The snow hasn’t been piling up like it did last season, but there have been several weather events that have caused power outages and other problems across the country. Witness this morning’s tornadoes that tore through parts of the Midwest. When such things happen, it’s good to have a generator at the ready. But not everyone does, which led us to ask whether a small power inverter could help homeowners survive an outage. The answer was—in some cases.

Sing a few verses of “America the Beautiful” and you’ve got this year’s paint color trends—purple mountain majesties, fruited plains, shining seas. “If you’re thinking about repainting your home interior, look to the great American outdoors,” says Debbie Zimmer of the Paint Quality Institute. “Native plants and flowers, oceans and lakes, and rocks and minerals are the sources of inspiration.”

Vacuum testers at Consumer Reports spend months in the labs vacuuming carpets and floors and measuring the airflow critical for tools. In our tough carpet tests, sand and then cat hair is embedded into the carpet piles and we’ve discovered that not all models are up to the task of removing it. Our most recent tests confirm that you don’t have to pay a lot for good performance: Nine of the uprights we recommend cost $200 or less and four of the recommended canisters cost $300 or less.

Forget Dickens—this is more of an outdoor-gear spin on the Aesop fable “The Ant and the Grasshopper,” a moral lesson on the virtues of hard work and planning ahead. But in this case it was a snow blower and not a winter food supply that stymied the grasshopper. And the ant learned that, when it comes to snow-blower maintenance, there can be a downside to having the only working machine in the neighborhood.

Just as many homeowners are coping with thinner wallets, bills for those holiday indulgences are coming due. Paying them may require a little belt-tightening. One way is to slim down your energy costs. The average American household spends about $2,000 per year on energy, according to the Department of Energy—and about 45 percent of that is heating-related. There are a few simple things you can do to lower your utility bills without sacrificing comfort.

A frigid air mass is sweeping across the U.S. Temperatures in the North and Northeast parts of the nation will dip below zero degrees. And even areas in southern Florida may drop to the chilly 20s. But the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reminds consumers to exercise caution before cranking up your home heating systems.

With Christmas just 10 days away and Hanukkah even sooner, it’s no wonder that most of us are feeling harried and distracted. But don’t take leave of your senses. Thieves and scammers celebrate the season by taking advantage of people who don’t have time to give things the usual scrutiny. Here are 12 top holiday ripoffs and advice on how to avoid them from the Better Business Bureau.

At this time of year we hear a lot about Rudolph, Charlie Brown’s dog Snoopy and the Grinch’s pooch Max. But it’s the animals in your home that you should be most concerned about. Some of the very things that make the holidays so festive can pose a danger to your pets including plants, trees and other decorations, fancy foods, and even the lovely guests you invite to your holiday party.