Seven ideas for Arizona homeowners from the National Hardware Show

Each year, there is a giant hardware show in Las Vegas where manufacturers show off their latest products.

This year, Rosie on the House was there and came back with cool ideas for products you can use in your Arizona home. You’ll want to check out these products online.

Clean up outdoors

Briggs & Stratton, a Wisconsin company, has come up with a smaller size pressure washer for homeowners who want to clean up patios, sidewalks, fences and the garage now and then, but who don’t want to buy an expensive machine.

A company survey indicated that most homeowners only use a pressure washer four or five times a year, so the company built this unit that can be folded up and stored on a shelf.

This compact model on wheels is an easy-to-use model that saves on water. Priced at about $200, it can provide 2,000 pounds per square inch of pressure using only 1.1 gallons of water per minute.

It runs on electricity rather than gas, making for a quieter experience. It only makes noise when you pull the trigger.

Briggs & Stratton also has a new line of outdoor yard tools (Snapper XD 82V Max), including a chainsaw, hedge trimmer, blower, mower and edge trimmer — that can all be powered with a single 82-volt lithium ion battery. The mower costs about $500 to $600. Most of the other tools are under $200.

Get organized

Alligator Board, based in Illinois, has a huge variety of pegboards in many sizes for organizing your garage, kitchens, closets, laundry rooms or workshops. Some are galvanized metal, some are powder-coated, some can be set up with carts that have wheels on them so tools or equipment can be moved easily.

They’re easy to install using a stud finder, level and screwdriver. A galvanized kit with four boards in it goes for $75 and a cart on wheels about $220.

Hold on to your nails and screws

Magnogrip makes magnetic gloves as well as wristbands that fasten with Velcro tabs.

Instead of fumbling around with every little screw and nail while doing a project, just stick the little metal parts onto your wristband.

A typical model costs $17. The Florida company also has tool belts, pouches and other devices to help keep equipment in easy reach.

Replace your old hammer

Fine steel tools from Estwing, a made-in-America company, include every kind of hammer you can imagine, such as equipment for first responders, woodsmen, paleontologists, bricklayers, drywall installers, roofers and many more.

One of these hammers will be $15 or more, depending on which hammer you buy.

Work on your yard

Ccheck out the line of tools from True Temper, a branch of Ames Tools, one of America’s oldest tool manufacturers. Among the possible jobs to take on: digging post holes, spading, putting in narrow trenches in tight spaces, creating large planting holes.

You’ll also want to check out the Earth Talon Shovel, the invention of Chino Valley resident Jon Curry. The shovel, available on Amazon, comes in several different sizes and materials and is specially crafted to handle hard, rocky soils like those in your Arizona backyard.

Get a new wrench

We liked the award-winning line of made-in-the-U.S. wrenches from Loggerhead Tools. These wrenches ($25 to $30) are easy to use and work like a pair of pliers. They promise not to strip nuts and bolts. Available on Amazon.

Have some fun

Among the many possibilities are colorful neck coolers for under $10 each. You soak them in water for 20 minutes — no refrigeration required — then hang them around your neck for cooling on Arizona’s many hot-weather days.

Super absorbent crystal polymers absorb hundreds of times their weight in water and cool you as the water evaporates.

Another fun possibility is the Bakerstone Pizza Oven Box ($130 or more) that can transform your BBQ grill into a pizza oven. It can cook pizzas up to 12 inches in size.

It takes about 35-40 minutes to heat up the box and you’re ready to go.