Cleaning the Microwave

How many of you hate to scrub your microwave? I feel like there can be much time spent scrubbing with little result. THAT IS until I learned the easiest way to clean a microwave oven.

In a microwave safe bowl put some water and some lemon juice (a table spoon or two). Heat in your microwave to a boil, 2-3 minutes. The citric acid from the lemon juice will loosen the grease and residue. I tired this and just whipped the microwave clean with a warm wet wash cloth. This method works so well! Try it and you will see. :)

Homemade Multipurpose Cleaning Solution

After many dollars spent on various cleaning products to scour my sinks, scrub my counters, table, to mop my floor, I decided I'd had enough.

Enter Homemade Multipurpose Cleaning Solution

About two years ago I on Studio 5 (a local morning show in Utah), they made a simple homemade cleaner in a spray bottle. I wrote it down, then made the marks on my spray bottle and got rid of the recipe. Do not despair, as the exact measurements are not key to this great solution. I decided I would make the recipe and write down what I put in it so that you the reader would know what I put in it, if you are one who is not comfortable with just pouring ingredients and like to measure.

What you will need:

spray bottle
borax
white vinegar
hot water
liquid dish soap

In the spray bottle put 3-4 tablespoons borax, 3/4-1 cup white distilled vinegar, and a squirt of dish soap (about 2-3 tablespoons). Fill the spray bottle to the top with hot tap water. Shake lightly to mix ingredients.
I am one who doesn't measure so if you are like me, just pour away and it should work out just fine. :)

Lets just say that I love this cleaner! It works so well. I use this homemade cleaning solution for most everything. It is a great disinfectant. I love that I can scour my sinks and not worry about the chemicals left behind because there are none. I can bleach my sink and not worry about us all dying from chemicals mixing if I didn't rinse the sink well enough. I love that there are no fumes left by this cleaner, less head aches and no danger while cleaning if you're pregnant. For those of you with pets and small children it is great to know that it is safe to use around them and economically friendly.

Just a pot scraper?

How many of you have a pot scraper? I didn't have one for a long time and decided to buy it when I got a baking stone. Let me tell you, they are amazing! They are great for scraping dry glue stick of table tops, dry, stuck food off of stoves, any random food that is stuck to your floor, etc. I have one for counters, table, and stove cleaning, one to scrape things off the floor when I mop, and one for dishes. This little gadgets are super helpful is all different kinds of ways. I payed $0.99 cents for each of mine. My favorite one I have found is from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I couldn't find a picture of it but it comes with a little handle on one side that helps you grip it better. May I suggest that if you don't have one, that you pay the dollar and at least one, to see all the amazing ways you can use it for cleaning.

Dish Washing Detergent

Because I have been struggling with morning sickness, things go unattended to and I've not made it to the store as often as I have needed. That being said, necessity is the mother of invention.

I ran out of dish washing detergent for our dish washer. I hopped on line and searched for a home made recipe.

Behold, the world's cheapest way to wash dishes!

What you will need:
washing soda
borax
white distilled vinegar

Mix equal parts washing soda and borax together (both two of the cheapest washing products under the sun). I did a half of a cup of each in a plastic Tupperware. Mix/shake ingredients together so they are mixed well. To wash a load of dishes dump 1 tsp of mixture, yes folks, only 1 teaspoon of the mixture into the bottom of your dish washer. Fill the compartment that is labeled for detergent, ( the one that pops open to release the stuff, not the one that has the holes for the detergent to leak out) use with distilled vinegar. (I put some vinegar into a squirt bottle and don't even measure this out just squirt until it is almost full. I can't imagine that i use fore than 1/4 C vinegar for each load.) Then run your dishes as you normally do.

Know that your dishes will NOT smell like vinegar after they are washed. Trust me, I currently have a pregnant nose and would know if they did. This has been wonderfully helpful and it took awhile for me to perfect. The measurement was not right on the recipe I found so I had to come up with what would work. If you use too much borax/washing soda mixture, your dishes will be covered in subtle white residue. I also poured my vinegar into the rinsing boost place in my dish washer and there was the same white residue. Be sure to follow the directions I outlined and your dishes should come out nice and clean!

Try it out. It will save you $$ and tips to the store. :)

Put out the fire!

We have to put the dog dish on the stove (ideally it would be the counter but the place where it is out of the way is by the back door, which is right next to the stove) when it is not in use because Miles likes to eat the dog food and play in the water. Amelia has been vigilant about watching out for Miles and the dish.

A few days ago I had finished processing some jars so I moved my steam canner to the sink. The element on the stove was still super hot. As usual, Miles was making his way for the dog food. Amelia, being on the look out, promptly moved the plastic dish to the top of the hot stove. Melted plastic dish and smoke ensued. I grabbed for our baking soda and dumped a generous amount of it onto the plastic that was melting/melted onto the element and the smoking stopped. Once it had cooled completely, it was much easier to scrape off (than it would have been without the baking soda).
Keep baking soda above your stove in case of melting plastic or small oil fires. It will smother the flames and stop the smoke.

Get rid of the wall paper!

Some of you know that I am in the midst of a "Repainting the kitchen!" project. For this to happen, I first had to take down wall paper the covered the upper half of my kitchen walls. (The bottom half was paneling which is a different story entirely.) This has near been the death of me! I spent roughly 6 hours scraping a 6x4 foot area, after puncturing the paper with the hole gadget ("the paper tiger", but lets face it, hole gadget sounds cooler), before hand, then using the special gel/non-drip wall paper remover that I bought at the Home Depot, ). Needless to say after hours of work, and little result, I was not the happiest of campers. Thankfully a dear friend came to the rescue and told me this tip. The results were almost instant and it gave me the courage to continue scraping the wall paper. I am happy to report the walls of my kitchen are near paperless!
Here's what to do:
Pull the top layer of paper off the walls (this shouldn't be difficult). Put some dish soap in a spray bottle with hot water and spray down the walls. Let it set for a few minutes (3-7). Using a putty knife, scrape the glue gunk wall paper right off!!
Why this bit of information isn't in every do-it-yourself book and web site proclaiming to have tips for removing wall paper, is beyond me. But you found it here!

Permanent Marker on Dry Erase Board

If you ever get permanent marker on the dry eraser by mistake, there is a simple solution. Take a dry erase marker and draw over the permanent marker, and wipe away. It will be gone!

Super Value Laundry Detergent

This is a great recipe for home made laundry detergent. The ingredients (washing soda and borax) cost about $5.00 at walmart, and will make quite a few recipes. I STRONGLY recommend this laundry soap. It is inexpensive and does a good job of cleaning. It doesn't leave a strong scent in the cloths, just a nice general clean smell. Try it out and see if it is something you want to do to save your family some money. The recipe costs approximately $2.

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap- Front or top load machine- best value

-4 Cups hot tap water
-1 Fels-Naptha soap bar (You can try other soap, just be sure to use one that is not highly perfumed.)
-1 Cup Washing Soda
-½ Cup Borax

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)