Yesterday was that one day a year I think back to high school English class, when we all had to read Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.
Congratulations, Everybody. We survived the Ides of March!
Friday, March 16, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Cleaning the Castle: Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall
I don’t know what the fairest in the land is right now, but one thing is for certain: it wasn’t my mirror.
After trying Amy Bayliss’ all-purpose cleaner, I decided to give the Glass and Mirror Cleaner a shot. I was so convinced it wasn’t going to work that I didn’t even bother taking a before shot of my first attempt: the back door leading to the deck. It’s the one that has my pint-size helpers’ hand prints all over it. And Debo likes to breathe doggie-breath on it when he comes over, which makes it really lovely. I usually clean it with the ol’ reliable blue, but the glass continued to look very dingy. Not anymore; this stuff made my window shine. So I had to set up a legit experiment for you.
Step 1: Let the bathroom mirror get really nasty. (You’re welcome!)
Step 2: I mixed a batch of Amy Bayliss’s Glass and Mirror Cleaner; the only change I made to her recipe was that I swapped out the essential oils. I used a combination of Tea Tree, Orange, and Peppermint instead.
Step 3: Split the mirror in half: the ol’ blue stuff on the left and the DIY stuff on the right. I think the deck was kind of stacked against the DIY stuff; I really did a number on that side. And then the ol’ blue side started mocking the DIY side, saying there's no crying in cleaning and if it couldn’t handle the competition it could go elsewhere, blah blah blah….
So the DIY version showed it what a true competitor is made of. The right side? Crystal clear, spot-free, streak free. The left side? It’s kind of hard to see, but there were still splatters and streaks. Sorry ol’ blue!
I should point out that immediately after spraying the DIY version, the glass looked cloudy and there was a slight vinegary smell to the DIY stuff. It dissipated within a few seconds, leaving the clear glass you see here and a yummy scent from the essential oils. In fact, after I finished my experiment I went back over the entire mirror with the DIY stuff, and then sighed with satisfaction.
Very important step, that satisfaction-filled sigh.
After trying Amy Bayliss’ all-purpose cleaner, I decided to give the Glass and Mirror Cleaner a shot. I was so convinced it wasn’t going to work that I didn’t even bother taking a before shot of my first attempt: the back door leading to the deck. It’s the one that has my pint-size helpers’ hand prints all over it. And Debo likes to breathe doggie-breath on it when he comes over, which makes it really lovely. I usually clean it with the ol’ reliable blue, but the glass continued to look very dingy. Not anymore; this stuff made my window shine. So I had to set up a legit experiment for you.
Step 1: Let the bathroom mirror get really nasty. (You’re welcome!)
Step 2: I mixed a batch of Amy Bayliss’s Glass and Mirror Cleaner; the only change I made to her recipe was that I swapped out the essential oils. I used a combination of Tea Tree, Orange, and Peppermint instead.
Step 3: Split the mirror in half: the ol’ blue stuff on the left and the DIY stuff on the right. I think the deck was kind of stacked against the DIY stuff; I really did a number on that side. And then the ol’ blue side started mocking the DIY side, saying there's no crying in cleaning and if it couldn’t handle the competition it could go elsewhere, blah blah blah….
So the DIY version showed it what a true competitor is made of. The right side? Crystal clear, spot-free, streak free. The left side? It’s kind of hard to see, but there were still splatters and streaks. Sorry ol’ blue!
I should point out that immediately after spraying the DIY version, the glass looked cloudy and there was a slight vinegary smell to the DIY stuff. It dissipated within a few seconds, leaving the clear glass you see here and a yummy scent from the essential oils. In fact, after I finished my experiment I went back over the entire mirror with the DIY stuff, and then sighed with satisfaction.
Very important step, that satisfaction-filled sigh.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Cleaning the Castle: the all-purpose cleaner
I want to point out that this post was ready to go on Sunday, but my neighbor challenged the test results because he said one got to sit longer than the other. Ergo, it was held up while I had a re-test.
Of all the DIY all-natural all-purpose-cleaner/general-disinfectant recipes I found, the one by Amy Bayliss sounded to me like it would be the most effective. She uses white vinegar in a lot of her recipes; I was going to write about how vinegar is a powerful disinfectant, but she does a much better job of it in her blog post than I could have. Go ahead on over there and read what she has to say; I'll wait right here.
Back? Ok, let's get started.
Step 1: A small spoon of catsup in two spots of the stove. Nothing stays behind quite like a tomato-based sauce, right? Bake at 350 degrees F for about 3 hours, then let cool. Think about the crazy things we do in our quest for the truth. Nothing’s too good for you, my friends!
Step 2: Doing one at a time so the neighbor can’t claim one got an unfair advantage, spray the Clorox on the spot on the left and wipe. Then spray the spot on the right with the DIY version and wipe.
Amy Bayliss’ all-natural, all-purpose cleaner came out ahead in the appearance/level-of-effort category. I'll post my results from the bacteria tests in a few weeks, but in the meantime I'm planning to switch to Amy's version. If you’re interested in her recipe, please visit her website.
Of all the DIY all-natural all-purpose-cleaner/general-disinfectant recipes I found, the one by Amy Bayliss sounded to me like it would be the most effective. She uses white vinegar in a lot of her recipes; I was going to write about how vinegar is a powerful disinfectant, but she does a much better job of it in her blog post than I could have. Go ahead on over there and read what she has to say; I'll wait right here.
Back? Ok, let's get started.
Step 1: A small spoon of catsup in two spots of the stove. Nothing stays behind quite like a tomato-based sauce, right? Bake at 350 degrees F for about 3 hours, then let cool. Think about the crazy things we do in our quest for the truth. Nothing’s too good for you, my friends!
Step 2: Doing one at a time so the neighbor can’t claim one got an unfair advantage, spray the Clorox on the spot on the left and wipe. Then spray the spot on the right with the DIY version and wipe.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Cleaning the Castle: Introduction
I seem to be deep into spring cleaning here at the Blue Door. Maybe it’s all the beautifully warm weather we’re having here, or maybe it’s seeing tons of pins on Pinterest of homes that look all bright and sparkling that makes me look around and think, “Yeah, I need to do something about this.” Or maybe it’s also that I’ve lived in this house for over two years, and I’m starting to feel comfortable with the idea of how I want to live in it. I can try decorating decisions without suffering a panic attack.
Whatever the reason, I think cleaning/organizing/decorating is always better with a pal, don’t you? Thanks for helping me out. :-) While I’m doing this, I decided to kick it up a notch and see if there’s any merit to the hype of all-natural cleaners. I’ve heard the hype about all-natural cleaners being cheaper, being safer and healthier, but for some reason I didn’t think they would be as effective as the commercial cleaners. I hate cleaning as much as – maybe more than – the next person, so I don’t want to make the switch unless I can be shown that the all-natural versions will actually make my life easier. Yes, I’m lazy that way. I’m not ashamed of it.
When I saw Amy Bayliss’s blog post promising that her all-natural cleaners are more more effective than commercial cleaners, I decided it was time to put this to the test. Over the next several posts, I’m going to share these experiments, one cleaner at a time. I don’t want to go out and buy a bunch of different brands just to (hopefully) have to dispose of them after, so I’m using the cleaners that I already have. If anyone reading this would like to conduct their own experiment with their favorite cleaners, please, please, please share them in the comments!
Most of the ingredients are common household ingredients and were found in my kitchen/laundry room (ha ha!), my local big-box store (Walmart, Target), my local grocery store, or the local health-food store. Even the items at my local health-food store were far cheaper than purchasing them online from Amazon.com.
Whatever the reason, I think cleaning/organizing/decorating is always better with a pal, don’t you? Thanks for helping me out. :-) While I’m doing this, I decided to kick it up a notch and see if there’s any merit to the hype of all-natural cleaners. I’ve heard the hype about all-natural cleaners being cheaper, being safer and healthier, but for some reason I didn’t think they would be as effective as the commercial cleaners. I hate cleaning as much as – maybe more than – the next person, so I don’t want to make the switch unless I can be shown that the all-natural versions will actually make my life easier. Yes, I’m lazy that way. I’m not ashamed of it.
When I saw Amy Bayliss’s blog post promising that her all-natural cleaners are more more effective than commercial cleaners, I decided it was time to put this to the test. Over the next several posts, I’m going to share these experiments, one cleaner at a time. I don’t want to go out and buy a bunch of different brands just to (hopefully) have to dispose of them after, so I’m using the cleaners that I already have. If anyone reading this would like to conduct their own experiment with their favorite cleaners, please, please, please share them in the comments!
Most of the ingredients are common household ingredients and were found in my kitchen/laundry room (ha ha!), my local big-box store (Walmart, Target), my local grocery store, or the local health-food store. Even the items at my local health-food store were far cheaper than purchasing them online from Amazon.com.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
The microfiber what?
Have you heard about the microfiber-towel-as-miracle-cleaner? Please tell me I haven’t just been living under a rock.
To be honest, I was pretty skeptical that a damp towel with nothing but water could serve as a general all-purpose cleaner. I mean, that sounds way too good to be true. But as I read more and more bloggers talk about how life-changing e-cloths were in their household, I figured I should at least see what the hype was all about.
And then I saw the price tag. $33.26 for a pack of 5? No, thank you.
The story probably would have ended there had I not decided to make my kitchen paperless. I don’t use paper plates or paper cups, but I go through paper towels as though I have a little factory full of elves churning out paper towels just for my use. And when I researched tips (translation: browsed Pinterest) I found a lot of other people who successful eliminated the use of paper products in their kitchen. Interestingly, every one of them used micro-fiber towels.
I had purchased a couple from the Flylady back when I had bought into all her hype, but they’re a deep purple and even after washing them I was afraid they’d bleed all over my counters. I pulled them out of storage and gave ‘em a go; I was ok with the results. I wasn’t exactly singing Hallelujah’s over it, but they didn’t exactly fail any tests, either. However, I don’t do laundry all that often (I’m a household of one), so I was going to need more than two if this was going to work.
And then I spotted them: a package of 24 for $9.99 at Home Depot. I snatched them up, put them in a basket by my sink, and I’ve been been using them almost exclusively for the past couple weeks. You can now add me to the “This is AWESOME!” camp. The real test came when I decided to make spaghetti for dinner this week. I turned it on, went back upstairs to work for a bit more while the sauce simmered, and then came back downstairs to realize that I hadn’t been simmering the sauce but boiling it. You know what my kitchen looked like? Words failed me. And I forgot to grab my camera.
Imagine my shock when one microfiber towel and enough water to make it damp cleaned off all the sauce that had cooked itself onto my stove, walls, counters, etc. I’ll try to recreate my “experiment” later and update this post with pictures so you can see, but…I’m sold!
To be honest, I was pretty skeptical that a damp towel with nothing but water could serve as a general all-purpose cleaner. I mean, that sounds way too good to be true. But as I read more and more bloggers talk about how life-changing e-cloths were in their household, I figured I should at least see what the hype was all about.
And then I saw the price tag. $33.26 for a pack of 5? No, thank you.
The story probably would have ended there had I not decided to make my kitchen paperless. I don’t use paper plates or paper cups, but I go through paper towels as though I have a little factory full of elves churning out paper towels just for my use. And when I researched tips (translation: browsed Pinterest) I found a lot of other people who successful eliminated the use of paper products in their kitchen. Interestingly, every one of them used micro-fiber towels.
I had purchased a couple from the Flylady back when I had bought into all her hype, but they’re a deep purple and even after washing them I was afraid they’d bleed all over my counters. I pulled them out of storage and gave ‘em a go; I was ok with the results. I wasn’t exactly singing Hallelujah’s over it, but they didn’t exactly fail any tests, either. However, I don’t do laundry all that often (I’m a household of one), so I was going to need more than two if this was going to work.
And then I spotted them: a package of 24 for $9.99 at Home Depot. I snatched them up, put them in a basket by my sink, and I’ve been been using them almost exclusively for the past couple weeks. You can now add me to the “This is AWESOME!” camp. The real test came when I decided to make spaghetti for dinner this week. I turned it on, went back upstairs to work for a bit more while the sauce simmered, and then came back downstairs to realize that I hadn’t been simmering the sauce but boiling it. You know what my kitchen looked like? Words failed me. And I forgot to grab my camera.
Imagine my shock when one microfiber towel and enough water to make it damp cleaned off all the sauce that had cooked itself onto my stove, walls, counters, etc. I’ll try to recreate my “experiment” later and update this post with pictures so you can see, but…I’m sold!
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