A Spot of Protection for Sun Worshipers

This is the first of a weekly column on new products that may be of particular interest to consumers. Attention sun worshipers: There’s a newly released, adhesive sensor patch that tells you whether you’re rare, medium or well-done while catching rays.

The UV SunSensor, “which turns red before you do,” measures ultraviolet radiation and can be worn on the skin or a bathing suit. It also can measure UV rays from an adjacent spot, say from a sunbather’s towel, its New York developer says.

The 1-inch patch is sold with company sun screen lotions, offering a range of UV protection. Cost for the kit--four sensors (each usable once) and a bottle of lotion--varies from $8 to $13.95, depending on the degree of UV protection sought.

For more information, write Sola Research Laboratories, 4350 Van Cortlandt Park East, New York, N.Y. 10470, or call (212) 826-6244.

Zap It From Anywhere

California couch potatoes now have a new device that will let them linger on the sofa--forever if they wish.

The battery-operated Zapit supercharges wireless remote controls so their users need not sit in front of their televisions, videocassette recorders or stereo systems to change channels.

Zapit attaches to the underside of any infrared remote for TVs, VCRs or stereo systems, its manufacturer says. It boosts the control signal, almost doubling its range and giving it so much more power its beam bounces off ceilings or walls and into the sensor of the TV, VCR or stereo.

Zapit is available from Monster Cable Products in San Francisco for $25 or may be purchased from selected Los Angeles area dealers. Call (800) 331-3755.

Sprinkle From Bath Water

Talk about a timely product: Garden Saviour, on the market just last week, should get the summer award. It’s a siphon that lets consumers send used bath water, clarified of suspended solids and soapy scum, through a hose for storage, for sprinkling on a garden or for washing a car.

Marc S. Caspe, a San Mateo civil and structural engineer, is marketing his invention, which he says takes just a minute and no plumbing genius to hook up. It can empty a tub in 10-15 minutes “as long as the bathtub is 6 inches to a foot above the garden.”

He recommends that re-used bath water not be sprayed on edible plants: “We tell people ‘Do not put it on the strawberries.’ It is for the lawn, trees and flowering plants.”

To purchase, send check or money order for $19.95 (which includes tax, handling and shipping charges) to Garden Saviour, P.O. Box 6897, San Mateo, Calif. 94403.

Natural Zip Packing

If your cereal goes stale before you can finish the box, there’s hope for you in a new packaging design. General Foods says consumers have been raving over Post cereals’ resealable inner bags, designed to keep cereal fresher longer.

Post introduced ZIP-PAK bagging of Natural Bran and Natural Raisin Bran late last summer, said spokesman Cliff Sessions of General Foods’ White Plains, N.Y. offices. The new packaging has been so successful that Post now plans to market all 22 of its cereals in the re-closeable, airtight bags.