We finally broke down and bought a Keurig back in February. I love it! However, it is not cheaper than making coffee the old fashioned way with a coffee maker.
On average, we pay about $0.48/K-Cup. Sometimes we can get them cheaper using coupons, but not much. I tried the store brands of a few, but they just aren't that good.
We make three cups of coffee a day. I drink two and Bob drinks one. If you break that down, we're spending around $36/month on coffee. That's a lot considering I was buying Maxwell House and spending around $10/month. Is Maxwell House comparable in taste to the Donut Shop K-Cups? No, but it was drinkable. What isn't drinkable is when you put the Maxwell House into the My K-Cup thing and brew it in your Keurig.
Until now... I found a hack online that actually made my Maxwell House coffee taste ALMOST as good as a K-Cup made in my Keruig! I found an Instructable and tried it...it worked like a charm! Get a STRONGER Brew from your My K-cup.
Does this mean that I'll make every cup of coffee this way? No, I'm not awake enough before my first cup of coffee to put all that together, but my second cup can and will be done this way.
While searching for images for this post, I came across something interesting... you can buy the empty K-cups with the filters inside them. However, the smallest quantity I could find was something like 6,000. It think it'll be a while before something like that is available for the general public, although it would be nice. (sorry, no pics...I couldn't find one online that I felt comfortable stealing and I was too lazy to take one.)
Showing posts with label Household Stuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Household Stuff. Show all posts
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Monday, November 3, 2014
It All Started With a Coat
Last week Bob asked me if I knew where his flannel jacket was. I told him I'd unpack it that day since it was packed with all of the other winter coats. This meant washing them all and hanging them up since I wasn't opening the vacuum bag for just one coat.
As I was washing the coats I noticed that one of the coat racks on the wall was coming off. No way would it hold a bunch of coats. We had already had another one fall out.
I told Bob that he would have to figure out something for the coat racks so I could hang our coats. The next morning while I was sleeping in, I heard him get the screw gun out to remove the coat racks from the wall. The plan was to put a piece of wood on the wall that was screwed securely to the studs in the wall and then attach the three coat racks we had to the piece of wood.
A few minutes after I heard him remove the coat racks from the wall I hear, "riiiiippp, crack, riippp, craaack..." What in the world?? I finally realized that sleeping in wasn't going to happen and went out into the living room to see what he was up to because it didn't sound good.
He was tearing the seam strips off the wall. We own a double-wide mobile home. It's a newer home, but we didn't pay to have the upgraded sheet rock walls. So, at each seam instead of seam taping and plastering the walls, they just put a small strip of wood that matches the wall to the seam. I've looked at them for over 7 years and I absolutely hate them.
Our conversation went something like this:
Me: What are you doing?
Bob: Tearing these ugly strips off the wall. We'll just seam tape it.
Me: I agree that the strips have to go, but you do realize that we can't do just one wall, right?
Bob: Yeah, I figured.
Me: You also realize that this means repainting the whole room, right? I don't have enough paint left over from the last time we painted to repaint the wall let alone the whole room.
Bob: (he shrugs) Yeah, I know.
Me: If we do one room, we might as well do them all. One at a time of course.
I think that's when he realized that he opened a whole new can of worms.
The only room in the house that has been fully painted in the 7 years we've lived here was the living room. I ordered plain cream colored walls, knowing that I would want to paint each room eventually. I wanted a neutral background to work with. We painted part of Boo's room but never went back in to finish the job. Since then she's decided she wants a new color anyway...
So, we bought paint over the weekend for the living room and I think the paint is a little too dark to do the whole room. I've decided that since I need more paint anyway I'd use a lighter color on three of the walls. We painted one wall with the dark gray and put up the coat rack. I'm very pleased with the results, but I also know that there is so much more to do.
As you can see, I have trim to paint. The bottom trim was already white from when we put in the laminate floor, but the top trim has been ignored up until this point. No longer. I cannot leave it the wood, it has to go white in my opinion.
This also proves that you can seam tape wallboard and paint over it. My wallboard is slightly textured, so if you look close enough you can see where the seams are. However, with the paint color I chose it's hard to see the seams unless you're looking for them and/or knew where they were to begin with.
The wall had four seams: two of them we used the traditional method of plaster and tape, but the other two we just used plaster. I think the ones with just plaster lay flatter. Bob pointed out that sheet rock is made to be seam taped and wallboard is not. Anyhow, despite the fact that the walls are not as seamless or flat as traditional sheet rock walls, it looks 100 times better than it did with the wooden strips.
We need to go to the store and buy one more rack. Each rack runs about $10 at Lowe's. We've obviously bought three over the years. We decided to make the board long enough to accommodate four racks. Each of us will have his/her own place to hang their coats. With 12 hooks per rack, if you can't hang all of your coats on it then you have too many coats.
Eventually, I will put pictures of the kids up on that wall; all of them framed with white. That's a whole other post since I won't be using traditional picture frames :)
As I was washing the coats I noticed that one of the coat racks on the wall was coming off. No way would it hold a bunch of coats. We had already had another one fall out.
I told Bob that he would have to figure out something for the coat racks so I could hang our coats. The next morning while I was sleeping in, I heard him get the screw gun out to remove the coat racks from the wall. The plan was to put a piece of wood on the wall that was screwed securely to the studs in the wall and then attach the three coat racks we had to the piece of wood.
A few minutes after I heard him remove the coat racks from the wall I hear, "riiiiippp, crack, riippp, craaack..." What in the world?? I finally realized that sleeping in wasn't going to happen and went out into the living room to see what he was up to because it didn't sound good.
He was tearing the seam strips off the wall. We own a double-wide mobile home. It's a newer home, but we didn't pay to have the upgraded sheet rock walls. So, at each seam instead of seam taping and plastering the walls, they just put a small strip of wood that matches the wall to the seam. I've looked at them for over 7 years and I absolutely hate them.
Our conversation went something like this:
Me: What are you doing?
Bob: Tearing these ugly strips off the wall. We'll just seam tape it.
Me: I agree that the strips have to go, but you do realize that we can't do just one wall, right?
Bob: Yeah, I figured.
Me: You also realize that this means repainting the whole room, right? I don't have enough paint left over from the last time we painted to repaint the wall let alone the whole room.
Bob: (he shrugs) Yeah, I know.
Me: If we do one room, we might as well do them all. One at a time of course.
I think that's when he realized that he opened a whole new can of worms.
The only room in the house that has been fully painted in the 7 years we've lived here was the living room. I ordered plain cream colored walls, knowing that I would want to paint each room eventually. I wanted a neutral background to work with. We painted part of Boo's room but never went back in to finish the job. Since then she's decided she wants a new color anyway...
So, we bought paint over the weekend for the living room and I think the paint is a little too dark to do the whole room. I've decided that since I need more paint anyway I'd use a lighter color on three of the walls. We painted one wall with the dark gray and put up the coat rack. I'm very pleased with the results, but I also know that there is so much more to do.
As you can see, I have trim to paint. The bottom trim was already white from when we put in the laminate floor, but the top trim has been ignored up until this point. No longer. I cannot leave it the wood, it has to go white in my opinion.
This also proves that you can seam tape wallboard and paint over it. My wallboard is slightly textured, so if you look close enough you can see where the seams are. However, with the paint color I chose it's hard to see the seams unless you're looking for them and/or knew where they were to begin with.
The wall had four seams: two of them we used the traditional method of plaster and tape, but the other two we just used plaster. I think the ones with just plaster lay flatter. Bob pointed out that sheet rock is made to be seam taped and wallboard is not. Anyhow, despite the fact that the walls are not as seamless or flat as traditional sheet rock walls, it looks 100 times better than it did with the wooden strips.
We need to go to the store and buy one more rack. Each rack runs about $10 at Lowe's. We've obviously bought three over the years. We decided to make the board long enough to accommodate four racks. Each of us will have his/her own place to hang their coats. With 12 hooks per rack, if you can't hang all of your coats on it then you have too many coats.
Eventually, I will put pictures of the kids up on that wall; all of them framed with white. That's a whole other post since I won't be using traditional picture frames :)
Monday, September 22, 2014
DIY Undershelf/Cupboard Storage
I've been seeing a very clever idea, but they tend to get expensive! The one pictured below is $17.99 on Amazon:
That seems expensive to me. If I was going to use it in my kitchen or something, I'd probably shop around and buy one. However, I wanted to use it in my laundry room for rags, so not many people were going to see it.
Steps to make one from a box.
I used a Bojangles box, mainly because of its size and it's what I had on hand. I also used two wire hangers, duct tape, wrapping paper, clear tape, and a ribbon.
Step 1:
Step 2 & 3:
Cut the tops off the wire hangers.
I folded the ends of the hanger toward the middle and taped the middle with duct tape, then folded it in half.
Step 4:
Step 5: Decorate the box as you choose. I used wrapping paper, but you can do it however you choose. I forgot to take a pic of this step.
Step 6:
Finished!
That seems expensive to me. If I was going to use it in my kitchen or something, I'd probably shop around and buy one. However, I wanted to use it in my laundry room for rags, so not many people were going to see it.
Steps to make one from a box.
I used a Bojangles box, mainly because of its size and it's what I had on hand. I also used two wire hangers, duct tape, wrapping paper, clear tape, and a ribbon.
Step 1:
Step 4:
Step 5: Decorate the box as you choose. I used wrapping paper, but you can do it however you choose. I forgot to take a pic of this step.
Step 6:
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Refreshing the Dining Room Table Set
My dining room table and chairs didn't match. The chairs were from one set and the table from another. I loved the chairs and I loved the compact size of the table. The fact that they didn't "match" was driving me crazy.
Over Winter Break I decided to paint the set and recover the chairs. I had some mis-tint paint I bought for $5 from Lowe's. It was a creamy white, very pretty and it had the primer already in it.
Some lessons learned:
Again, this isn't a tutorial, just some pics of my progress...
I sanded the table, this was after I tried painting the chairs outside and figured out that I would have to do this project inside.
This was the result of painting chairs outside in the cool, damp weather using a paint brush
The result of painting inside where it's warm and dry, and using a mini-roller.
The fabric I used on the seats.
I was able to buy a 4-pack of foam pads for the chairs, but they were square, whereas my chair seats were not. I had to improvise...
Chair pad with pieces of an old blanket to help fill in and thicken the pad.
Bob helped me staple everything to the bottom. We used a clear tablecloth to protect the fabric and padding from spills.
Finished chair pad
6 months after using the clear tablecloth ($5 at Walmart) I'm finding a couple of holes, but we do have cats and that doesn't help.
To fix the "tacky" issue I mentioned above, I sprayed a couple of coats of clear spray paint over the top of the table as soon as it warmed up enough to do so. It made a huge difference! Papers and napkins don't stick to the top of the table anymore.
I wish I had taken a "before" pic of the set so you could see the vast improvement a little paint, fabric, and a clear tablecloth gave this set!
The finished set!
Over Winter Break I decided to paint the set and recover the chairs. I had some mis-tint paint I bought for $5 from Lowe's. It was a creamy white, very pretty and it had the primer already in it.
Some lessons learned:
- Don't try to paint outside in the cool damp winter weather.
- If you're using paint from a can, not spray paint, use a roller, not a paintbrush.
- Paint with primer in it, even just a satin finish, will dry tacky.
- When you have funky shaped chair seats, they don't make foam pads to fit, so you have to improvise.
Again, this isn't a tutorial, just some pics of my progress...
I sanded the table, this was after I tried painting the chairs outside and figured out that I would have to do this project inside.
This was the result of painting chairs outside in the cool, damp weather using a paint brush
The result of painting inside where it's warm and dry, and using a mini-roller.
The fabric I used on the seats.
I was able to buy a 4-pack of foam pads for the chairs, but they were square, whereas my chair seats were not. I had to improvise...
Chair pad with pieces of an old blanket to help fill in and thicken the pad.
Bob helped me staple everything to the bottom. We used a clear tablecloth to protect the fabric and padding from spills.
Finished chair pad
6 months after using the clear tablecloth ($5 at Walmart) I'm finding a couple of holes, but we do have cats and that doesn't help.
To fix the "tacky" issue I mentioned above, I sprayed a couple of coats of clear spray paint over the top of the table as soon as it warmed up enough to do so. It made a huge difference! Papers and napkins don't stick to the top of the table anymore.
I wish I had taken a "before" pic of the set so you could see the vast improvement a little paint, fabric, and a clear tablecloth gave this set!
The finished set!
Monday, January 28, 2013
Did you know Kool-Aid will go bad?
It never occurred to me that Kool-Aid would go bad. I mean, it's sugar, water, and flavoring... anyway, the kids like to mix flavors. Strawberry with lemonade, blue-raspberry with fruit punch, etc. They must not have liked the last mixture they made. I can't even tell you what it was because it was in the fridge for so long. They wouldn't drink it, but I kept leaving it in there trying to convey the message to drink it before they made more.
It sat in there so long that I finally decided to drink it myself, and I don't like Kool-Aid much because it gives me heartburn. Let me tell you, it was nasty! When I actually looked inside the pitcher, there was mold growing on the bottom, underneath the liquid!
Lesson learned, don't leave it in the fridge for weeks, it's better to just toss it if they don't drink it.
Our dog Milo won't come in the living-room because he doesn't like to walk on the new laminate flooring. He was doing fine for almost two months after we put it down. Then he started slipping and sliding on it for no apparent reason. My in-laws said that he might be having problems with his hips since he is a large-breed dog (black lab/rottweiler). We changed his food to one that contains glucosamine and he's making progress!
It started with him just putting his front paws on the floor, but leaving his back paws on more familiar flooring... he'll now come onto the new floor with all four paws, but JUST onto the floor, lol! He leaves himself so he can quickly scoot off of it if he wants too. He's so silly!
I have a lot of tutorials and stuff planned to do, but time hasn't been on my side. I started my fifth class of the semester on Friday, so my class work load is heavier. (I still don't quite understand why that class started three weeks after the other four.)
Stay tuned, I hope to get something interesting up this week, at least one thing, darn it, lol!
It sat in there so long that I finally decided to drink it myself, and I don't like Kool-Aid much because it gives me heartburn. Let me tell you, it was nasty! When I actually looked inside the pitcher, there was mold growing on the bottom, underneath the liquid!
Lesson learned, don't leave it in the fridge for weeks, it's better to just toss it if they don't drink it.
Our dog Milo won't come in the living-room because he doesn't like to walk on the new laminate flooring. He was doing fine for almost two months after we put it down. Then he started slipping and sliding on it for no apparent reason. My in-laws said that he might be having problems with his hips since he is a large-breed dog (black lab/rottweiler). We changed his food to one that contains glucosamine and he's making progress!
It started with him just putting his front paws on the floor, but leaving his back paws on more familiar flooring... he'll now come onto the new floor with all four paws, but JUST onto the floor, lol! He leaves himself so he can quickly scoot off of it if he wants too. He's so silly!
I have a lot of tutorials and stuff planned to do, but time hasn't been on my side. I started my fifth class of the semester on Friday, so my class work load is heavier. (I still don't quite understand why that class started three weeks after the other four.)
Stay tuned, I hope to get something interesting up this week, at least one thing, darn it, lol!
Monday, January 21, 2013
Whiteboard Cleanup
I keep a whiteboard on my refrigerator. I used permanent marker to write the lines and such on it so I wasn't having to constantly rewrite what I wanted to stay there all the time.
I recently rearranged some things and need to move it to the other side of my fridge, which is not as wide as the right side. So, I need to turn it.
I accidentally figured out that you can erase permanent marker from a whiteboard using a dry erase marker. So, here's how.
There's my dirty board. As you can see, the marker is wearing off already, so it needed to be redone anyway.
First: color over the permanent marker with your dry erase marker, then wipe off:
Do this with everything you want to remove. I wipe it off with a paper towel.
As you can see it isn't ALL gone, but most of it is. I will go over it with some of L.A.'s Awesome cleaner before rewriting on my board.
Finished! The blue permanent marker is still there, faintly, but it doesn't interfere with what I wanted to do with it. The black writing is permanent marker, the blue is dry erase.
This will work on other non-porous surfaces. We had written our kids' names on their 4-wheeling helmets and when they grew out of them and we put them up for sale, I was able to get the name off of one with this method, but the other had a non-shiny surface and the marker had bled, so there was no way to get it off.
Hopefully it's an inspiration or help to someone!
I recently rearranged some things and need to move it to the other side of my fridge, which is not as wide as the right side. So, I need to turn it.
I accidentally figured out that you can erase permanent marker from a whiteboard using a dry erase marker. So, here's how.
There's my dirty board. As you can see, the marker is wearing off already, so it needed to be redone anyway.
First: color over the permanent marker with your dry erase marker, then wipe off:
Do this with everything you want to remove. I wipe it off with a paper towel.
As you can see it isn't ALL gone, but most of it is. I will go over it with some of L.A.'s Awesome cleaner before rewriting on my board.
Finished! The blue permanent marker is still there, faintly, but it doesn't interfere with what I wanted to do with it. The black writing is permanent marker, the blue is dry erase.
This will work on other non-porous surfaces. We had written our kids' names on their 4-wheeling helmets and when they grew out of them and we put them up for sale, I was able to get the name off of one with this method, but the other had a non-shiny surface and the marker had bled, so there was no way to get it off.
Hopefully it's an inspiration or help to someone!
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Trying It Out- DIY Dryer Sheets
Last Saturday, I posted about Homemade Febreeze. While I was doing my search, I found out that a lot of people believe that fabric softener and dryer sheets can be toxic or carcinogenic. So, what are we supposed to do now? Make our own, that's what!
A while back I came across a recipe for homemade liquid fabric softener, and we tried it, but still had an issue with static in our clothes, even though I also use dryer balls. So, I went back to dryer sheets since they seem to be the only thing that keeps the static at bay.
The homemade liquid fabric softener calls for the use of conditioner and white vinegar... I really don't want the scent of vinegar in my dryer, even though I know it'll dissipate after a while. You can find the recipe here, at One Good Thing by Jillee: My Homemade Laundry Products “Cheat Sheet”
Apartment Therapy posted an all natural alternative, but I'm not sure how much help it would be for static: DIY Dryer Sheets
Other alternatives mentioned elsewhere were:
Aluminum foil balls
Natural wool balls
Avoid drying your synthetic fabrics with your natural fabrics
Spray a little white vinegar on your wet clothes in the dryer
Wash with baking soda and rinse with vinegar
Use plain old conditioner instead of adding the vinegar
Too many choices!
So, I decided to try a little something of my own. Plain conditioner was mentioned, but that wouldn't give your clothes a lot of scent. If you're like me and like some scent to your clothes (not too much, or I get a headache), then you like your fabric softener or dryer sheets to have a nice smell.
What I did:
I added the crystals to the water and mixed until dissolved:
Then I added the conditioner
Then I added the cloths (I had 9 already cut)
Then comes the messy part: squeezing the glop off the cloths and letting them dry. I tried drying them flat, but that was a fail:
So, I hung them on a hanger with clothes pins:
It took two days, but they were finally dry... very stiff, though. I wondered if they'd work. So I put a very fuzzy blanket in the washer. One of those cheaper blankets, maybe made of poly fibers, not fleece. Totally synthetic, I'm sure. If it came out static free, then I'd know they worked.
It did NOT come out static free. Boo! Thank goodness I had a regular dryer sheet left. This week's tryout is a FAIL.
Back to the drawing board...
A while back I came across a recipe for homemade liquid fabric softener, and we tried it, but still had an issue with static in our clothes, even though I also use dryer balls. So, I went back to dryer sheets since they seem to be the only thing that keeps the static at bay.
The homemade liquid fabric softener calls for the use of conditioner and white vinegar... I really don't want the scent of vinegar in my dryer, even though I know it'll dissipate after a while. You can find the recipe here, at One Good Thing by Jillee: My Homemade Laundry Products “Cheat Sheet”
Apartment Therapy posted an all natural alternative, but I'm not sure how much help it would be for static: DIY Dryer Sheets
Other alternatives mentioned elsewhere were:
Aluminum foil balls
Natural wool balls
Avoid drying your synthetic fabrics with your natural fabrics
Spray a little white vinegar on your wet clothes in the dryer
Wash with baking soda and rinse with vinegar
Use plain old conditioner instead of adding the vinegar
Too many choices!
So, I decided to try a little something of my own. Plain conditioner was mentioned, but that wouldn't give your clothes a lot of scent. If you're like me and like some scent to your clothes (not too much, or I get a headache), then you like your fabric softener or dryer sheets to have a nice smell.
What I did:
- 1/2 Cup warm Water
- Purex Crystals (or Downy Unstoppables, or the Gain things...)
- 1 Cup Hair Conditioner (I had Garnier Fructis, two bottles of it, which I'm not currently using)
- Old fleece fabric (I had white)
I added the crystals to the water and mixed until dissolved:
Then I added the cloths (I had 9 already cut)
Then comes the messy part: squeezing the glop off the cloths and letting them dry. I tried drying them flat, but that was a fail:
So, I hung them on a hanger with clothes pins:
It took two days, but they were finally dry... very stiff, though. I wondered if they'd work. So I put a very fuzzy blanket in the washer. One of those cheaper blankets, maybe made of poly fibers, not fleece. Totally synthetic, I'm sure. If it came out static free, then I'd know they worked.
It did NOT come out static free. Boo! Thank goodness I had a regular dryer sheet left. This week's tryout is a FAIL.
Back to the drawing board...
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Homemade Febreeze?
Today, my in-laws came across a 5 tier cat tree for only $5!! We have three cats and have been looking to buy or build one for a while, but it's one of those things that always gets put off. We couldn't pass us a $5 one, though!
It needs a little work, once the weather is better we'll replace the carpeting on it (we still have the carpeting that we ripped out of our living room when we put down laminate flooring). Bob wants to re-do the bottom as well so it's a little more stable. Right now, though, the immediate issue is smell. It doesn't stink, but it does smell like it came from a smoker's house... a lot of people with allergies in my house.
So, I started searching how to make my own Febreeze since I'm completely out of it and am not going out to the store just for that.
Most of the recipes I found used fabric softener, which is considered toxic and carcinogenic.
Fake-It Frugal: Fake Febreeze
A Few Short Cuts: How To Make Your Own Febreeze
Tipnut: 4 Homemade Febreeze Recipes
So, what's the alternative if you don't want to use fabric softener? Or, if you're like me, and don't use liquid fabric softener?
Here's one using vodka, which I had been told that they use on movie sets and such to de-scent costumes.
The Conscious Shopper: Make Your Own Febreeze
However, I don't have any vodka, so that would mean making a trip... it would be cheaper to buy the Febreeze than the vodka I think.
I found one that uses either vodka or rubbing alcohol!
Not Stepford Wives: Cut the Chemicals, Ditch the Febreeze, and Make Your Own Fabric Freshener
"Homemade Fabric Refreshener
•16 ounce empty spray bottle
•Everclear, vodka, rubbing alcohol or witch hazel
•4-6 drops essential oil
•Water
Add ½ cup 100 proof vodka to a 16 ounce spray bottle.
Add ½ teaspoon essential oil of choice (or a mixture of oils).
Fill the remainder of the bottle with distilled water. Shake and spray!!
You can use Everclear, vodka, rubbing alcohol or witch hazel. The rubbing alcohol is my least favorite, but it works. If you choose to use rubbing alcohol, remember that it will leave a scent behind for a few minutes before dissipating. Do not use this spray around an open flame.
You can also put a little bit in a small, travel size pump bottle to freshen up your car or your cubicle!
Suggested Essential Oils:
Lavender – stress reduction
Cedar – a gentile woody smell to freshen up your closet and drawers and dissuade moths from making their homes in your wool sweaters. Ceder is also great for pet beds because fleas can’t stand the smell!
Mulberry – great around the holidays
Vanilla – great base scent if you plan to add another note."
So, I'll be giving this one a try. I actually have some of the minty (is it wintergreen?) alcohol in the cupboard, and I also have some lemon-eucalyptus essential oils. I think the two scents would mingle well together.
It needs a little work, once the weather is better we'll replace the carpeting on it (we still have the carpeting that we ripped out of our living room when we put down laminate flooring). Bob wants to re-do the bottom as well so it's a little more stable. Right now, though, the immediate issue is smell. It doesn't stink, but it does smell like it came from a smoker's house... a lot of people with allergies in my house.
So, I started searching how to make my own Febreeze since I'm completely out of it and am not going out to the store just for that.
Most of the recipes I found used fabric softener, which is considered toxic and carcinogenic.
Fake-It Frugal: Fake Febreeze
A Few Short Cuts: How To Make Your Own Febreeze
Tipnut: 4 Homemade Febreeze Recipes
So, what's the alternative if you don't want to use fabric softener? Or, if you're like me, and don't use liquid fabric softener?
Here's one using vodka, which I had been told that they use on movie sets and such to de-scent costumes.
The Conscious Shopper: Make Your Own Febreeze
However, I don't have any vodka, so that would mean making a trip... it would be cheaper to buy the Febreeze than the vodka I think.
I found one that uses either vodka or rubbing alcohol!
Not Stepford Wives: Cut the Chemicals, Ditch the Febreeze, and Make Your Own Fabric Freshener
"Homemade Fabric Refreshener
•16 ounce empty spray bottle
•Everclear, vodka, rubbing alcohol or witch hazel
•4-6 drops essential oil
•Water
Add ½ cup 100 proof vodka to a 16 ounce spray bottle.
Add ½ teaspoon essential oil of choice (or a mixture of oils).
Fill the remainder of the bottle with distilled water. Shake and spray!!
You can use Everclear, vodka, rubbing alcohol or witch hazel. The rubbing alcohol is my least favorite, but it works. If you choose to use rubbing alcohol, remember that it will leave a scent behind for a few minutes before dissipating. Do not use this spray around an open flame.
You can also put a little bit in a small, travel size pump bottle to freshen up your car or your cubicle!
Suggested Essential Oils:
Lavender – stress reduction
Cedar – a gentile woody smell to freshen up your closet and drawers and dissuade moths from making their homes in your wool sweaters. Ceder is also great for pet beds because fleas can’t stand the smell!
Mulberry – great around the holidays
Vanilla – great base scent if you plan to add another note."
So, I'll be giving this one a try. I actually have some of the minty (is it wintergreen?) alcohol in the cupboard, and I also have some lemon-eucalyptus essential oils. I think the two scents would mingle well together.
Friday, December 28, 2012
Three Household Money-Saving Tips
I'm always trying to find a way to save money. And over the years I've discovered a few things, some of them on other blogs, and some on my own.
Sponges:
I use sponges to wash my dishes. I like the ones with a sponge on one side and a scrubby on the other side. The problem is that they aren't cheap anymore. A three-pack at Walmart is over $3 right now. I was going through one sponge a week, then having to toss it because it stunk no matter how well I rinsed it when I was done washing dishes.
I tried bleaching one of them, but Dawn has ammonia in it and my sponge melted! So, I tried putting it in the dishwasher and it worked like a charm! I put them on the top rack of the dishwasher and when it's run, not only do they get blasted with super hot water, but there's the cleaning agents in the dishwasher tabs added to that, plus the drying cycle. They look like brand new when they come out.
A sponge now lasts me a month or so, I honestly lose track. I keep two in circulation so I can wash a sponge every time the dishwasher is run (about every two days).
All-purpose Cleaner:
I found the most wonderful cleaner called Krud Kutter. You can buy it at Walmart or at Lowe's. This stuff will clean anything off of anything! Bob cleaned our four-wheeler with it and it looked like new when he was done. I've used it to deep clean my kitchen floor, clean baseboards, spot-treat stains on laundry, clean the cooked on crud off of my ceramic top stove, clean paint and primer off my floor... The list goes on and on.
The problem with this is that it's expensive for as much as I use it. Between $6-$7 per bottle. I love the stuff, and it's worth the price for all that it does, but I'm cheap and hate to spend that much $$ on a household cleaner.
My mother-in-law found an alternative!! The Dollar Tree sells a product called LA's Totally Awesome and it's the same exact thing as Krud Kutter. It works just as well and only costs $1!
Windows:
Forget Windex! When cleaning windows or mirrors or even chrome fixtures, all you need is two micro fiber cloths. One wet, the other dry and in really good shape (never use fabric softener on them). Wet the window with your wet micro cloth and wipe it dry with the other. Keep wiping until all streaks are gone.
I learned this one from a friend of mine who cleans houses for a living.
Sponges:
I use sponges to wash my dishes. I like the ones with a sponge on one side and a scrubby on the other side. The problem is that they aren't cheap anymore. A three-pack at Walmart is over $3 right now. I was going through one sponge a week, then having to toss it because it stunk no matter how well I rinsed it when I was done washing dishes.
I tried bleaching one of them, but Dawn has ammonia in it and my sponge melted! So, I tried putting it in the dishwasher and it worked like a charm! I put them on the top rack of the dishwasher and when it's run, not only do they get blasted with super hot water, but there's the cleaning agents in the dishwasher tabs added to that, plus the drying cycle. They look like brand new when they come out.
A sponge now lasts me a month or so, I honestly lose track. I keep two in circulation so I can wash a sponge every time the dishwasher is run (about every two days).
All-purpose Cleaner:
I found the most wonderful cleaner called Krud Kutter. You can buy it at Walmart or at Lowe's. This stuff will clean anything off of anything! Bob cleaned our four-wheeler with it and it looked like new when he was done. I've used it to deep clean my kitchen floor, clean baseboards, spot-treat stains on laundry, clean the cooked on crud off of my ceramic top stove, clean paint and primer off my floor... The list goes on and on.
The problem with this is that it's expensive for as much as I use it. Between $6-$7 per bottle. I love the stuff, and it's worth the price for all that it does, but I'm cheap and hate to spend that much $$ on a household cleaner.
My mother-in-law found an alternative!! The Dollar Tree sells a product called LA's Totally Awesome and it's the same exact thing as Krud Kutter. It works just as well and only costs $1!
Windows:
Forget Windex! When cleaning windows or mirrors or even chrome fixtures, all you need is two micro fiber cloths. One wet, the other dry and in really good shape (never use fabric softener on them). Wet the window with your wet micro cloth and wipe it dry with the other. Keep wiping until all streaks are gone.
I learned this one from a friend of mine who cleans houses for a living.
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