Get Rid Of Ants With This Simple Recipe

It's that time of year where the ants are starting to drive me crazy. Watch this video and learn a quick way to get rid of them, without nasty pesticides.

Homemade Mixtures That Save Money

If you meet someone who is a very dedicated cleaner but hasn't yet discovered green cleaning, you will often meet someone with a different mixture for every surface in the home. The simplicity of green cleaning not only means you won't need as many products but also that you will spend less money. Many of the solutions for green cleaning can be made from common ingredients found in your kitchen.

Counter Cleaner
Vinegar is a powerful natural cleanser that kills many foreign elements you won't want making it into your food like mold and germs. Combine equal amounts of vinegar and water and use that solution to clean your counter. If you can't abide the smell, mixing some oil fragrance with the vinegar before adding the water will improve the smell.

Glass Cleaning Solution
Combine rubbing alcohol and water in equal portions. It will make whatever you wish to clean shiny and works well for appliances as well as windows.

For Copper
If you scrub the bottom of a copper pan with a mixture of lemon juice and salt, your pot will shine with that reddish glow once again and you won't even have to go shopping to get new soap.

Scouring
Baking soda is perfect for this. It is gentler than regular solutions and safer. If you want to increase the power, you can mix it with other household items like sea salt or borax.

For That Unsightly Lime

It's a shame when those beautiful new glasses become fuzzy or spotted after a few washes. There is a simple explanation, and it's not wear and tear on your dish-ware. If your water is hard and has minerals in it like lime, it will leave traces behind. In the video below I've included some tips on how to get rid of these unsightly marks.

The "little cleaning box" Is Big News!

Don’t you just love samples? What about opening presents? And that special excitement when you see a package in the mailbox? Don’t you love trying new products? If you answered “yes” to all of these questions then signing up for the little cleaning box will be just what you should do!

The Little Cleaning Box is a “members-only” subscription website where you can try before you buy the newest and coolest new cleaning products. For $10 a box you get access to the tips, tricks and tutorials on how to make cleaning greener and easier – and who doesn’t want that! You also have access to online shopping with monthly specials and free shipping. The best part is the quarterly brown box that is mailed directly to you - filled with 4-5 full sized samples. These are the highest quality cleaning products available for your home.

As inconceivable as it may seem, there are NO laws protecting you dangerous chemicals that are being used as ingredients in common household cleaners that are more than likely sitting under your sink right now.
And it’s the mission of Leslie Reichert, the idea lady behind the LittleCleaningBox.com,  to protect families and pets from hidden toxins and health risks that are commonly found in household cleaners that are being used EVERY day all over the world.
Which is why she wants to send you the Little Cleaning Box, a collection of green cleaning samples that she has personally used and tested. Everything in the box has Leslie’s “Fast… Green… and Totally Clean” seal of approval.
And you can receive these samples each quarter for less than what you would spend on one full-sized bottle of laundry detergent!
So go check out www.littlecleaningbox.com and get started on a cleaner, greener home right now!

For That Tough Coffee Grime

Recently there's been this commercial that pops up whenever I watch TV. It's the Folgers coffee commercial where the whole story is told in a song about a woman who signs up for a dance class and then the morning of her class, she's groggy and tired. Then Folgers gives her the extra push she needs to go and have the most sunshiny morning possible. And while I'm not personally a Folgers girl, when Saturday morning Zumba class rolls around sometimes there is nothing that will revive me like a cup of coffee. So whether your a Kuerig kid or a Folgers follower, chances are you have relied on your coffee maker as a main fixture in your house, and it works hard. Those Kuerig machines can get temperamental after too much use and not enough TLC. So the best way to enjoy your morning, evening, or afternoon coffee? Keep your coffee machine happy.

As you make batch after batch of coffee, the inner portions of your machine can build up mold that makes your coffee bitter or just start collecting residue from the coffee grinds that can get in the way of the flow of your coffee into the pot. Now cleaning your coffee maker doesn't mean that you have to get down into the creases of the machine. To clean you are essentially going to go through the motions of one of the things you know how to do best, making coffee. Your ultimate weapon against inner coffee grime is Full Circle Coffee Machine Cleaning Powder. This all-natural biodegradable product hits that oily residue hard and will kill any mold that might make your coffee taste bitter. Just mix the powder with some water, pour it into the reserve in the machine, and then run it through as though you were making a nice cleaning brew. The mixture will come out dirty into the coffee pot. This is what it looked like when I used it. The water was completely clear when I put it in the machine. It really proves exactly how much grime your machine starts to accumulate.

After it's emptied you can clean the coffee pot out without even scrubbing it. This coffee pot had a film around it before. After going through one process of the Full Circle Coffee Machine Cleaning powder I didn't even need to scrub.

I recommend cleaning out your coffee machine once a week. It only takes the amount of time it would take you to make a cup of coffee, it requires no attention, and the quality of your coffee and the ease of your machine will be better. In fact, for those of you having difficulty with your Kuerig machines, this is bound to clear up those clogged passages that are inhibiting your machine from working properly. The best way to avoid mechanical problems is maintenance. If you take just a few minutes a week to keep your coffee pot running smoothly, not only will your coffee taste better, but your morning schedule will run better without the hassle of a rebellious coffee pot.

Thanksgiving Accident

After everyone has left and you have a few days to breathe - is when you find the little accidents that happened during your Thanksgiving celebration. I got a desperate call from Sally in the Berkshires, who found a large grease stain on her fabric chair.

 

Sally: "I tried some baking soda and white vinegar, but the stain is still there. What can I do?"

Me: "Let's start with one simple secret ingredient that cuts through grease. It will take some patience, but we'll see if we can remove it with this first."

What's the secret ingredient? It's rubbing alcohol! Alcohol breaks down the grease. You can try it on clothes and furniture. I even suggested it to a mom with a crayon stain on her couch. Just make sure you try it in a hidden place in case it may change the color of the fabric.

Sally called back after two applications: "It seems to be working, but I can still see the stain."
Me: "If it's working, lets keep going. You'll have to be patient, but it should come out."

The next day I got a very happy phone call from Sally:  "It worked! The stain is gone!"

Simple things can work! It just takes some patience.