Cleaning Tips I Tried From Pinterest

          Sometimes I get overwhelmed with all of the posts to pinterest, they all sound like great ideas but how many of them can actually be true? Well this weekend I went through everything I had pinned and gave them a go.


Dryer Sheets 

   Personally I use off brand gain because I am cheap and I don't think it matters. I have tried all of these and they have worked. I also tried to use them in my back pocket for bug repellent, I don't believe it worked but as far as their cleaning ability, I am completely convinced they work better than other methods.

• dusting, they totally work! I use them on all of my base boards and blinds and don't have to dust for 2 to 3 weeks. 
• ring around the toilet, just put on a pair of gloves and go to town. 
• soap scum in the bathtub 
• polishing faucets 
• wet dog smell 
• cleaning glass top stoves    

Hot Vinegar

• Hot vinegar and dawn.  Fuck that shit. Don't heat vinegar in the microwave unless you are looking for ways to make mustard gas. I tried hot vinegar and dawn to clean my bathtub after giving my dogs a bath, I do not believe that it made any difference and it just made us choke from fumes. 
• Hot apple cider vinegar, and honey.  I use 1 tablespoon of each in about a cup of water whenever my throat feels sore. This has cured my strep throat without the use of antibiotics in 2 days. It doesn't taste great but you can't beat those kinds of results. 

Vinegar

• Vinegar and newspaper. For mirrors and windows, totally works. 
• Vinegar and mildew. Put it in your washing machines pre-wash with towels and pillows and takes the stink out, added bonus, it keeps your washing machine clean. 

Homemade Dishwasher Soap

      I use this recipe below and have for about a year now. I had some trouble with it in the beginning because my dishes came out with that white film, I tried adding vinegar, which worked but it seemed like I was going through a lot of vinegar. What works the best is simply adding rinse agent. This recipe also works as a soft scrub for cooked on foods, and garage needs like rims and greasy hands. (Ryan tested.)

• 1 cup borax, 1 cup baking soda and 1 package of sugar-free lemonade (for citric acid) 

Homemade Laundry Soap

     I found that most recipes were the same with just small variations. I made myself a big 2 gallon bucket of the powder for my he front load washing machine. I was surprised to find that my machine could use powder but apparently all front loading ones can, you just have to take out the cup where you put the liquid.  

     So let me get real about this stuff. Ryan and I went to three different stores to find everything we needed to make it, partly for price, partly because we live in an extremely small town and partly because fels naptha soap is hard to find. If you wan to make the stuff go to Wal-mart, normally I wouldn't advocate doing that but they had everything and lots of it. 

     After we got back home with all of the stuff I needed, I had the tiresome act of making the shit. Grating the bar of fels naptha, the hardest soap in the world, made my arms weak but the good news is that everything else is as simple as opening a box and pouring it in your bucket. The part I enjoyed the most about making my laundry soap was that I was able to choose how it smelled. The Purex washing crystals come a few verities and add most of the smell but you can also add essential oils. 

    It's cleaning abilities were pretty great. It was able to get waxy deodorant residue out of a couple of mine and Ryan's t-shirts. I have long been a fan of borax and baking soda in my laundry so I wasn't surprised that it did get my laundry clean. I do have concerns about whether it is too harsh of a detergent over time or not. 

Everything cost about $35, which is a lot of money if you ask me because it made about 1 1/2 gallons. You use 1/3 cup for a normal sized load, so really if you are doing a load of laundry a day, its not very cheap. Personally I choose to coupon for my detergent and I use this stuff more like an additive to my regular laundry. 

    I do also use this as a carpet freshener, sprinkle it on the carpet about 10 minutes before I vacuum and it smells nice. 

     Those are the few I have tried and liked. Oh also water in a ziplock bag for flies is bullshit.