household

Spring Cleaning…Let’s Start with the Bathrooms!

household

News of the Coronavirus is stressing me out! Will we have enough toilet paper? Will the stores be depleted of all the items on my list? Will one of us take ill? Let’s face it, all the news can really weigh on a person. It is not good for one’s health to be stressed. But how to stop thinking about everything!?! I tried some spring cleaning this morning and it did wonders!

I saw that toothpaste was supposed to be excellent for cleaning the grout in showers. Well, that seemed interesting to me, so I gave it a try. I must say that the toothpaste was a good idea. I liked that it was thick and clung to the brush and was easy to use. It also smelled minty fresh.

I also read once that dryer sheets were an effective way to clean glass shower doors. Yes, indeed this works as well. One can also use the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on shower doors, however, they are more expensive and will crumble after a while. To use the dryer sheets, just get them wet, wad them up, and give the glass a scrub. They take the soap scum off with little effort.

As I was really stressing this morning, I went crazy and did two bathrooms from top to bottom. I cleaned the showers, the windows, the sinks, the toilets, the light fixtures, mopped the floors, sponged down the walls, and washed the curtains and rugs. I felt 100% better and my bathrooms are sparkling.

As this was so rewarding, I have decided to not only clean the bathrooms, but to start spring cleaning the entire house. I will do this procedure room by room. After all, if we have to stay home, it might as well be clean. Happy cleaning!

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Getting My Closet Organized on a Budget

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I was REALLY wishing I had a different closet organizer. When we bought this house over seventeen years ago, I just moved my things into the closet as it was. But one persons needs for an organizer are not necessarily anothers.

So recently I looked into the price of a new closet organizer. Wow! They do not come cheap. So I decided to see what I could do on my own. Upon more careful inspection, I decided I could make due and be happy with a few minor adjustments. I removed the shelves that could be adjusted and the clothes rods as well. Unfortunately, some of the shelves were permanent and were not going anywhere. Next, I decided to reorganize what I could to give my clothes the maximum hanging length. Then all the clothes went back into the closet. This time, tops on one side and bottoms and dresses on the other. But what to do with the shoes!

Alternate image 2 for SALT™ 3-Tier Wood Shoe Rack
Image from Bedbathandbeyond.com
SALT 3-tier wood shoe rack

I had my shoes in boxes. However, in order to get to the shoes on the bottom, I had to take everything on top off and then stack them up again. What a pain! I headed to the store… I found a very simple wooded shoe rack that was wide and tall enough to fit my boxes and cheap enough for my budget (Only $15, plus I had a coupon!). I brought it home and assembled it. I also sanded it, as it was a bit rough. It fit perfectly for my space and the boxes are now easy to pull out when I need a pair of shoes.

I saved a lot of money by redoing what I had and adding the shoe rack. Is it perfect? No, it is not perfect, but it is organized, does the job, and I am a little happier every time I open my closet doors. Happy organizing!

Carpet Stains Be Gone!

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Let’s face it, accidents do happen. Someone spills something on the carpet and now there is a stain. The carpet has lost it’s fresh, clean look. Don’t fear, with a few simple products it will be as good as new.

No need to buy fancy carpet products. Head to the pantry or grocery store isles for the best, non-chemical approach. Here’s how:

With an old sock or cloth, dab/pat the stain with club soda until as much of the stain is lifted as possible. Next, sprinkle common table salt over the damp area. Let the salt sit on the carpet for 24 hours. Vacuum this with a vacuum cleaner. The stain should be gone. If not, try the process again.

Believe it or not, this has worked on my daughter’s carpet removing black nail polish and many more mysterious stains. This method has removed stains that the carpet cleaning solution did not lift. The cost is minimal and no chemicals were added.

Knitting in the Large

Projects

I had the idea YEARS ago to knit a rug. For this I would need extra large knitting needles. Where to get such large needles one might ask? Ask your husband to make them of course.

So my wonderful husband made me a pair of extra large knitting needles (20mm round x 36″ long with a wheel on the end). However, I never did get around to using those needles, until now that is. It all started when my son accompanied me to the craft store. We were looking for something else entirely, which we found, when my son liked the feel of this REALLY huge yarn. It was extremely soft! Then it dawned on me, what a perfect yarn to use with my extra large knitting needles. Sold!

The yarn we chose was a Loops & Threads brand labeled 87 yds/35 oz – 80 m/1000 g / Super Bulky 6. It called for a needle size of 12 mm / US 17. Ha! What do they know! What this super bulky acrylic yarn needs are super extra large needles. I’ll show em!

At home that evening I got out the needles and proceeded to find a show on the television to knit along with. Of course, I chose MasterChef. But as I was about to sit on the sofa, I realized the needles were not going to work. I would need to bring in an armless dining room chair so my needles could move. They were too long to use on the sofa. Boy these were big needles!

I must say, the knitting does go by quickly with such big yarn and needles. Although, my project was a bit heavy. Since I was making a rug, the pattern was not hard. I decided to cast on twenty-five and knit until it was long enough or I ran out of yarn, whichever came first.

Compare the big needles to a size 15 and a size 8. Compare the yarn to regular size by Vanna.

I knitted until I ran out of yarn. Now what? It seemed a bit smaller than I had hoped for. The consensus around the house was to keep going. So back to the store we went to get another ball of yarn. Thank goodness this is on clearance as it is normally pretty expensive stuff.

Another night and more MasterChef to accompany my knitting project. But woah, this project was really getting heavy and I needed a bit of support. I marched into the dining room and brought back another chair. Then on second thought, I made that two chairs. I now supported both needles with the seat of a chair so my arms could support my project. How on earth did the manufacturer of this yarn think I could make anything on a size 17 knitting needle!?

Using a chair to support each needle as the weight of the project weighs me down.

After two trips to the store, two balls of yarn, and two extra chairs, my project is now complete. I do like the outcome. Would I recommend this project? Why not! I would caution, however, that the weight of the project after the first ball of yarn was a bit challenging. Maybe a few pushups or a bit of weight training before adding the second ball of yarn? Happy knitting!

Finished project! Approximately 30″ x 40″.