Cleaning with Oil Paste

Alright - so I set out today to do some heavy cleaning.  My house has been slightly neglected (read - VERY neglected) over the past few months while I try to figure out how to be a mom, student, wife, friend, business owner...etc. You know the feeling, right?

Anyway, the home we live in is a foreclosure. Or, it was, we own it now.  There have been several neglected projects that we keep meaning to do, but something else always comes up.  After a long weekend of cleaning and reorganizing the garage and storage space, I finally decided enough was enough, and set out to tackle some of those jobs I've been avoiding...namely - cleaning the kitchen cabinet faces from years worth of grime.

My mother used to make a paste of baking soda and water to clean surfaces like this, and I tried that.  No go.  The cabinets were covered with oil and grease from who knows how long ago and it just wasn't budging to my satisfaction.

It was time to get creative.

I remember from 8th grade science that oils will will help clean up other oils.  Think about it - water will run off of oil, not penetrating or getting through the icky sticky barrier.  Even with an abrasive substance mixed in, it still won't fully remove the residue.  In order to penetrate and get down to the base of the issue, you need to mix a like substance with it so it won't simply glide over the top of the molecule...

clear as mud?

I thought so.

Anyway, I created a paste of Borax and vegetable oil... (I was out of baking soda, and I like Borax better for tough jobs...)

Next I schmeeered it on the cabinet face...scrubbed and voila!  Clean! (sorry, no photos of this, apparently they didn't turn out. :( )

The dangerous part....I couldn't stop cleaning with it!  I cleaned the surface of my flat top stove...

(Note I only cleaned half so you could see the difference...)

Then....My stainless steel pans...

Last...the textured handles on my refrigerator....

(admittedly not a great photo, but if you look close you see the one on the left is

free of hand prints and grime! yay!)

Yes, I'm seriously happy about this new found cleaning paste.  I do believe I will be cleaning baseboards next.  This house has serious dirt to remove.  I'm even considering using this to clean the oil spots out in the driveway...I'll let you know if it works.

Happy Cleaning!

UPDATE!

So I decided to try it out on the oil stains in the driveway...and.....it totally worked!  I don't know what else this paste will clean, I just know I'm absolutely in love with it.

The Litter Kwitter

Okay, I did it. 

I'm a gullible little pet owner that would have previously mocked this product on my other  blog - but desperate times call for desperate measures.

I.Bought.A.Litter.Kwitter.With.The.Intention.Of.Toilet.Training.My.Cat.

Wow, say that out loud and it really does  sound completely redonkulous doesn't it?

Okay, five minutes of public mocking and ridicule start: NOW.

Phase one of the master plan started yesterday when I moved his rather large, rather bulky litterbox to the bathroom from the laundry room.  A quick inspection of said box this morning confirmed that he was okay with the new location - and it didn't confuse him at all.  (The dog however seemed very annoyed as she has been using the litterbox from time to time for her own business, and to search for "kitty roca" as my friend Krista calls it...on another side note - ewwwwww!)

Today,  we moved on to phase two...removing the rather big, rather bulky litterbox and replacing it with this small-ish toilet shaped thing filled with 5 cups of litter, and then introducing him to it.

Believe it or not, he seemed pretty okay with it. He scratched around, sniffed, dug some more...so far he hasn't used it,but I can't force that, I just have to let nature take it's course, do I not?

Phase three is where I start to be concerned...see phase three through five cause issues for anyone else that might want to use that bathroom in the meantime, because the LitterKwitter replaces the regular toilet seat. And of course I just remembered we are hosting a Super Bowl party in a week and a half...this ought to be interesting...do I tell the guests to use the upstairs bathroom, or tell them to scoop out their mess when they are done...hmmmmm....)   At any rate, this should be interesting, and I promise to chronicle the progress here.  Words of support and encouragement are welcomed, of course - as is the public mocking. I know this is crazy. I am embracing that.  Who better to try something like this than me? Heh.

I potty trained five kids.  A cat can't be that difficult. Right?   Right????

Candlebreeze

The CandleBreeze.
I not only have one, but I wish I had one more!

If you like to cook with garlic, you’ll want one.

If you have pets, you’ll want one.

If you have kids (that often come with their own set of fragrances…)  you’ll definitely want one!

What is a Candle Breeze you ask?  It’s a flameless candle, that goes a little beyond a simple candle warmer.  It has an integrated fan that allows the scent to gently waft through the house…filling up to 2500 square feet with only one unit.

That’s right sports fans…2500 square feet.

And it’s perfectly safe.  (And since my recent house fire involving electric appliances…I’m even more paranoid than ever…but not about my CandleBreeze.)

My favorite scent (at the moment) is fresh peach, but vanilla sugar cookie is growing on me too…oh and fresh oranges and then there’s the cinnamon one…oooo and don’t forget the spiced wassail at Christmastime…On second thought, I have no favorite.  I like them all.

The candlebreeze costs about $50.00 for a a large unit and comes with one scent.  Replacement scents are about $7.00 each for the large units.  You can purchase them from their website at www.candlebreeze.com.

Glad OvenWare

Ok, I have a big family.

Not 18 Kids and Counting  big, but still big nonetheless.

As you can imagine keeping them all fed and well-nourished can be a bit of a challenge sometimes.  Especially with a mom that has two businesses, writes this silly very informative blog, and occasionally likes her Thursday Girls Night Out evenings…

So, when I cook, I cook A LOT.  And I don’t cook a lot because my family eats a lot, but I cook large amounts – usually double portions – so that one full meal can be frozen for later heating and eating.

I USED to use all my glass casserole pans and large pieces of Tupperware (which are not oven-friendly and that is annoying) to do my fix and forget cooking.

Until I found these:

They come in 9x12, and 9x9 sizes and are perfect for my family’s needs.  They are oven safe, dishwasher safe, freezer safe, microwave safe – and completely, totally, loss proof…why?  Because they are disposable, so nobody cares if they don’t come home.

Not to mention the fact they won’t shatter like my $40.00 stoneware pan that got put into the HOT oven after coming directly out of the COLD freezer…no I didn’t do it, we don’t need to go there…

Look, these things are awesome, and they make my life as a mommy a little bit easier and more peaceful on nights where I’m pretty sure I might lose my mind if I add one more task to my plate.  With these things in my freezer full of yummy pre-made dinners, I don’t have to worry that cooking for my family is going to be the straw that breaks the mommy’s back on any given day.

Glad OvenWare cost about $6.00 for a set of two or three depending on the size. I found mine at the local Kroger store, but I know Walmart, Kmart and other discount outlets offer them as well.

Shark Portable Steam Pocket

Also found on our Humor Blog - http://someonewillbuythis.com - where there are products that aren't quite so helpful.
Have you ever cleaned your bathroom with a black light that is rated to see germs and bodily fluids?  If not, I actually do not recommend it.  You will find that what you think is a clean bathroom actually - - -well, is not.  It's icky.  Okay, well at least mine was.  Of course we are talking about the bathroom that my five children share - one of which is a 6 year old boy, but I digress.

I took these pictures for your shock and enjoyment.  (and much to my mother's utter disbelief and embarrassment - sorry mom.)

Yea, gross, right?

The thing is, this is AFTER I used a certain name brand spray cleaner to clean it up.

That's right, I said AFTER.  Apparently all it did was streak the icky mess downward.

So, I decided to heat things up a bit, and pulled out my Shark Steam Pocket.  I bought this thing not too long after my first steam cleaner machine pooped out on me.  Probably because I rarely used it, and it sat dormant for a while - I know - bad me.  Anyway - I filled it up and with some bursts of steam and a clean wash cloth (dry to wipe down with afterward...) this is the result...

Pretty stinkin' amazing right?  And all of this with just WATER.  My bathroom smells fresh and clean, my  toilet passes the black light test, and I did it all without harsh chemicals or fumes.  Anyway, I love my Shark Portable Steam Pocket.  It also does this to my kitchen, my carpet, and my walls and baseboards.  Clean and fresh like a daisy...the whole house.

Bounce Dryer Bar

Not too long ago I saw this fabulous commercial.

Bounce Dryer Bar Commercial

Notice how it promises busy working mothers more time simply by cutting out the step of adding a dryer sheet or liquid softener to your laundry batches.  If you know me -and since you are reading this blog you most likely do – you know few things get me more excited than finding those things that allow me to shave precious seconds off of my already busy schedule.  So, I decided to give it a try.

I went to the store full of grandeur and ideas about how my Laundry might now magically fold itself, and the garbage will suddenly sprout legs and walk itself to the curb.  While I know these were the fanciful ideas of an overly exhausted mom, I decided to give it a try anyway.

I purchased the dryer bar, and brought it home.  I ripped open the package with the excitement of a kid on Christmas morning and immediately sniffed in the glorious vapors it was emitting.  This thing smells really good.  Possibly a bit flowery for my husband’s taste, but really smells great nonetheless.

I installed it into the dryer.  I was a bit disappointed, for some reason I thought it was a magnetic application, but alas – it is a sticky backed adhesive.  I thought twice about using it.  If I don’t like it am I going to have this thing stuck in my dryer forever?  Will the heat permanently adhere it to the drum and I’ll end up with sticker backed foam in there?  I decided to throw caution to the wind and try it out anyway.  Anything for you, my precious blog readers.

The first batch of laundry I washed was a batch of whites and delicates.  These things tend to have a lot of static electricity in them after coming out of the dryer (they are actually really fun to fold in the dark and watch them spark!)  I was hoping the bounce dryer bar would help with this.  Unfortunately, it was discovered that they were still very static clingy when coming out of the dryer after being tumbled with the bounce dryer bar installed.  After attempting to fold the batch and fighting with the cling for about five minutes, I decided to throw a dryer sheet into the batch and re-run it.  So much for shaving precious seconds.

The second batch I tried was towels.  I ran seven full size towels and about ten wash rags through the batch.  Once again, the batch came out smelling fantastic (have I mentioned how much I love how this smells?) But the softness and static cling left a lot to be desired.  Again I threw a dryer sheet into the batch and restarted the dryer.

Bottom line?  When used with a Dryer sheet the dryer bar works fabulously well.  I enjoy the smell of the product, although I don’t know that I’d buy it simply for that alone.  It does soften the batch a little bit, but perhaps not enough for my taste.  It certainly didn’t help with the static cling.  I’m going to go back to using simply dryer sheets – one per batch as I’ve always done – and find other ways to shave seconds off of my laundry folding duties.