cleaning
The Easiest Way to Make a Pretty Home
I thought I’d go for a sensational headline to kick off my 2017 blog posting. I’m baaack! I wasn’t sure what I was going to write about after my Christmas blogging break. I didn’t do much that was project or craft-related. I tried to feed my kids cereal three times a day instead of cooking. I stayed off the computer more than normal. The days were lazy and unscheduled, which is needed from time to time. Well, except for that one day when we went hiking and Handy Husband swore this was a trail. That’s totally a trail, right? Needless to say, that wasn’t a lazy day. I did flip…
How to Reshape a Flexible Woven Plastic Basket
This is a story about Target…which I just found out ships to Ireland. And my world is complete. Do you hear angels singing? I’m pretty sure the angels are singing. Anyway, this isn’t a story about Target. It is a story about a basket I purchased at Target though. A basket that the movers CRUSHED in a box along with my hopes and dreams. Kidding. Hopes and dreams were intact. I just needed to add that for dramatic effect. I stalked this basket for a good long while at Target. When your daughter’s room is decorated in lavender, gray and navy, you need this basket. However, I’m too cheap to pay $12…
How to Remove Ring Around the Toilet
I am so sorry if you are reading this post during breakfast. The images contained herein are not appetizing or pretty. It’s time to get down to the dirty truth. I clean the toilets in our home regularly. I really do. Despite that, to varying degrees, the toilets always end up with a ring around the water line. It mocks me. Depending on the minerals in the water, the toilets also get marks where the water runs down the bowl to refill. More mocking. Everyone swears their product or cleaning method is the best way to get those marks off the toilet. Maybe it is…for them. For me, they never work. Ever. Did someone order melodrama?…
Fixing Nasty Grout Is Pretty Easy
The Junk Whisperer is coming to visit me next month and it prompted me to take a good hard look at the bathroom she would be using during her stay. Normally, if I have to go in there, I just kind of squint and say to myself, “hey, it’s not so bad…if you don’t turn on the light.” I’m fairly certain the bathroom is original to the house. My powers of deduction lead me to conclude that the grout in this bathroom is also original to the house. While I’m holding on to the most fervent of delusions that the grout has been thoroughly cleaned periodically in the last 50 years,…
Hello, My Name Is Stuck on Your Shirt
Usually it is my children who cause me laundry grief – especially when it comes to leaving stickers on clothes. If I had a nickel for every sticker that was inappropriately placed on a wall, a door, a car seat, a forehead or article of clothing, well, I’d be rich. When I found my husband’s blue polo shirt rolled up in the hamper, I didn’t think twice about tossing it in the wash. Surely, my husband knows by now what happens when you wash a shirt that has a sticker attached to it. Surely. For the record, the “hello, my name is” name tag is a sticker. A very sticky sticker.…
How to Clean a Nasty Booster Seat
Here’s my advice to all you new parents out there. Never buy the light pink car seat. Ever. Don’t buy any light-colored car seat. Even if all your hormones scream you want the pretty pink flowery car seat just slowly STEP AWAY. Seriously. Stick with black. You will thank me later. Before you have kids you might make ridiculous statements like “I’m never going to let my kids eat in the car.” Okay…I actually said that. And then I quickly realized the only way to survive a car ride longer than 0.3 seconds is to have plenty of snacks on hand. Okay, I exaggerate. Slightly. On the plus side, if…
Shine Wood Floors Without Refinishing
Carpet freaks me out. There. I said it. When I see how much dirt I sweep or vacuum up from hardwood floors on a daily basis and think about that dirt settling into a carpeted area…ugh. It grosses me out. I’ve lived with carpet – old and brand new – and I survived, but it’s not my favorite. Hardwood floors, on the other hand, are my jam. I don’t think I’ve met a wood floor that I didn’t love. Sometimes though, they can look a little sad. A little dull. Like they’ve lost their sheen and sparkle. A friend recommended a product to me to give our wood floors new…
Removing Grease from Carpet
Once upon a time, a husband and wife decided to haul a washer and dryer up a flight of carpeted stairs. If this was a “choose your own adventure” story, I would throw the book away. Did you know washing machines are heavy? They are even heavier when you carry them UP the stairs. I’m a master of the obvious. In comparison, a dryer feels as light as a cloud on a summer day. I digress. Image Source: http://imgarcade.com If you want to test the trust factor in your relationship, just be the person at the bottom of the stairs holding the washer. In case you are wondering, I was the…
How Did I Not Know This? Bed Sheet Labels
I have changed bed sheets countless times in my life. I would try and figure out how many times, but that would be too depressing. I mean, really, it’s not my favorite chore on the planet. Because I am a creature of habit and routine, I wash sheets every Sunday. Go ahead, be jealous over the glamorous life I lead. I can wait while you deal with this rash of emotions. My husband and I share a king-sized bed. Earth-shattering, I know. On Sunday, per every other Sunday, I was putting clean sheets on our bed. The length and width dimensions on a king-sized bed are fairly similar, so sometimes I…
