Helping Mommy

Rebecca has been wanting to help sweep lately. And by the way, she loves her Sleeping Beauty necklace Nana and Pappa gave her for Christmas. It came with a Sleeping Beauty Barbie, which stays on the shelf for now. She wants to wear the necklace all the time. :)

Microfiber towels

Last week when I was at Target, I found these microfiber towels in the dollar section. I love cleaning with microfiber. They do a great job of absorbing messes and picking up dust and dirt. From what I've read before, microfiber is so good at picking up germs, you only need to use water with them. I still use my cleaning supplies with them though. I was super excited about finding these for 2 for $1. These are about twice the size of a washcloth, and they match the washcloth size towels I got the last time I bought some (also at the Target dollar spot). Since I use microfiber towels and dish towels a lot, we don't use many paper towels. I hardly ever buy paper towels, and those dollars add up. When I wash microfiber, I don't put them in the dryer. I had a couple that seemed to loose their "sticky" feeling and didn't pick things up as well. You also shouldn't use them with fabric softener. I use them for dusting, cleaning windows, swiffering, among other things. I keep a couple of rubber bands wrapped around the Swiffer handle to keep the towel on.

WFMW: laundry soap

This week's Works for Me Wednesday tip is once again about laundry. I recently read on A Full Cup about making laundry detergent for really cheap. So after finally finding Zote soap, I tried it this weekend. The link has a couple of different recipes, including a liquid version. I decided on trying the powder one. Here's the recipe I used:

2 parts Zote or Fels Naptha soap (This is laundry soap, not regular soap)
1 part Borax
1 part washing soda (This is not the same as baking soda.)

The thread on A Full Cup has more info on different stores that carry these ingredients. I got Borax and washing soda at Kroger, and Zote at Save a Lot. Kroger also has Fels Neptha if you use that recipe.

Grate the bar of soap. I got an old grater at an antique flea market to use just for my soap. We grated mine in bigger pieces, but the next time I do this I'll grate it finer. It didn't seem to affect the soap dissolving, but I think it will just be better if it's finer. Then just combine the three ingredients. I put mine in an empty Tidy Cats kitty litter bucket. By now if you're like my mom and sister, you're thinking I'm crazy. But it was really easy to do, and I'm not just saying that because my sister grated my whole bar of soap for me. :) The ingredients cost me about $7. At first I thought one recipe would last me about 100 loads, but according to someone on A Full Cup will last me for over 300 loads! Even with coupons and sales I could never find detergent that cheap. You just need to use 2 tbs for each load, so it will last a long time. The Zote soap I got is pink and has a flowery scent, but my laundry had no smell at all after I washed it. If you want to, you can add a few drops of essential oils to the washing machine to give your laundry a little scent. There won't be any suds with this detergent, but trust me it really cleans! It got out some old stains I was sure would never come out.

There's a cost break down at Simple Dollar on store bought detergent vs. homemade. This is based on the liquid detergent, but I think the powdered version is about the same and even cheaper is you can find coupons. Sometimes Arm & Hammer has coupons in the paper for any laundry product or something.

Works for me Wednesday: Microfiber Towels

My tip for this week is about microfiber towels. I've seen them with the cleaning supplies for about $3 for one, which I'm just not willing to pay. So I got mine in the automotive section at Target for $5 and something for 12 towels. They don't come in pretty colors like the more expensive version, but they do the job. I use them all over the house (except the bathroom), and they pick up everything. I use them with my Swiffer sweeper thing on all our wood floors, on the windows, mirror, kitchen counters, dusting furniture. When I'm finished, it just goes in with the laundery. They have a weird texture that I can't seem to get used to, but other than that I love my microfiber towels. I never have to buy swiffer duster thingies or use up lots of paper towels. It saves me money, and it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside because I'm not adding more trash to our burn pile. Who invented microfiber? Wish I'd thought of it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Clean Your House in 19 Minutes

A coworker showed me this article on housecleaning. I printed the list out so I can put it on the refrigerator or some place where I can look at it every day. Tonight there's a ladies meeting at church, so I'm going to use this list over the weekend. I doubt I'll get everything on this list done in 19 minutes the first time, but maybe I can work towards that. I'll time it, and post here how long it took. Here's the link to the list, and I copied and pasted the list here too. Happy house cleaning! :)

Clean Your House In 19 Minutes

Kitchen, 4 1/2 minutes daily
Always start with the sink. A sparkling sink becomes your kitchen's benchmark for hygiene and tidiness, inspiring you to load the dishwasher immediately and keep counters, refrigerator doors, and the stove top spick-and-span, too.

• Wipe down the sink after doing the dishes or loading the dishwasher (30 seconds).
• Wipe down the stove top (one minute).
• Wipe down the counters (one minute).
• Sweep, Swiffer, or vacuum the floor (two minutes).

Bathroom, 2 minutes daily
Make cleaning the basin as routine as washing your hands. But don't stop there. Get the most out of your premoistened wipe by using it to clean around the edges of the tub and then the toilet before tossing it.
• Wipe out the sink (30 seconds). Wipe the toilet seat and rim (15 seconds).
• Swoosh the toilet bowl with a brush (15 seconds).
• Wipe the mirror and faucet (15 seconds).
• Squeegee the shower door (30 seconds).
• Spray the entire shower and the curtain liner with shower mist after every use (15 seconds).

Bedroom, 6 1/2 minutes daily
Make your bed right before or after your morning shower. A neat bed will inspire you to deal with other messes immediately. Although smoothing sheets and plumping pillows might not seen like a high priority as you're rushing to work, the payoff comes at the end of the day, when you slip back under the unruffled covers.
• Make the bed (two minutes).
• Fold or hang clothing and put away jewelry (four minutes).
• Straighten out the night-table surface (30 seconds).

Family Room, Living Room, Foyer, 6 minutes daily
Start with the sofa -- as long as it's in disarray, your living room will never look tidy. Once you've fluffed the pillows and folded the throws, you're halfway home. If you pop in a CD while you dust, you should be able cover the whole room by the end of the third track.
• Pick up crumbs and dust bunnies with a handheld vacuum (one minute).
• Fluff the cushions and fold throws after use (two minutes).
• Wipe tabletops and spot-clean cabinets when you see fingerprints (one minute).
• Straighten coffee-table books and magazines. Throw out newspapers. Put away CDs and videos. (Two minutes.)

Rug

It was rainy Saturday, so there weren't many yard sales. But those are the days I'll usually find bigger, though fewer, items. This was the only thing I got this week. I've been looking for a couple of rugs, so I was pretty excited. A good sweep with the vaccuum, and some spot cleaning, and it looks great! By the way the big brown spot is actually just a cat toy, not a spot! :)