MailWash uses the built-in capabilities of your web browser to make a working application that sits in a small (less than 4KB) web page that you can save to your computer.

Use MailWash to quickly remove unsightly >'s, like in this email:

> > > > > THE SMELL OF RAIN
> > > > >
> > > > > A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as the
> > > > Doctor
> > > > > walked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. Still 
>groggy
> > from
> > > > > surgery, her husband David held her hand as they braced themselves
> > > > > for the latest news.
> > > > >

and get clean text like this:

THE SMELL OF RAIN

A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as the Doctor 
walked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. Still groggy from 
surgery, her husband David held her hand as they braced themselves for the 
latest news. 

MailWash can also be used to quickly remove forced line breaks from text copied from web pages or previously sent email messages.

Requirements:

Download or view: (Remember, it's just a web page that you can save to your computer.)

Optional Files - right-click to save these files: (I don't think the ICO file can be used as-is by the Macintosh.)

How to use:

  1. Copy the text from an email message and paste the text into the top box in MailWash.
  2. Press the button corresponding to the wash cycle you want. The clean text appears in the bottom box.
  3. Press the mail it button and paste the clean text into the body of the email.
  4. That's it! To clean another email message, press reset to clear both boxes in MailWash.

Tips:

  1. To make MailWash more accessible, try one or more of the following suggestions:
  2. Some email messages are part story, part list. To wash these messages, take the following easy steps:
    1. Copy and paste the message into the top box of MailWash.
    2. Select either the regular or deluxe cycle.
    3. Copy from the bottom box either the story or list part of the message, depending on the cycle selected, and paste it into a new message.
    4. Now press the other cycle button (no need to re-paste the original message).
    5. Copy from the bottom box the other part of the message and paste it into your new message.
  3. You can easily adjust the size of the text boxes by opening mailwash.html with any text editor and changing the number of columns and rows. Just find and edit these two tags:
    <textarea name="boxold" cols="80" rows="10">
    <textarea name="boxnew" cols="80" rows="10">
  4. Keyboard Shortcuts: (For Macintosh, use the Command key (the one with the apple) instead of Ctrl key)

    Function

    Press both keys

    Select All

    Ctrl + A

    Copy

    Ctrl + C

    Cut

    Ctrl + X

    Paste

    Ctrl + V

  5. Send your family and friends a link to this page so they wash their mail before sending it to you.

Troubleshooting:

  1. You must use Netscape 4 or Internet Explorer 4, or a more recent version, or an equivalent.
  2. You must have JavaScript enabled on your browser (Note: JavaScript is usually already enabled):

    Browser

    Choose the following menu options

    Netscape 4:

    Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Enable JavaScript

    Netscape 6:

    Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Enable JavaScript for Navigator

    Netscape 7:

    Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Scripts & Plugins -> Enable JavaScript for Navigator

    IE 4:

    View -> Internet Options -> Security -> Custom (for expert users) -> Settings (button) -> Scripting ->Active Scripting -> Enable

    IE 5 & 6:

    Tools -> Internet Options -> Security -> Custom Level -> Scripting -> Active Scripting -> Enable
Last updated: July 24, 2004