Category Archives: Cheaper, Greener, Cleaner – Ceiling to Floor Savings

Asperger’s Syndrome Sensory Overload

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Thought:

Wherever you choose to go, go there with all your heart.

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Like so many families, ours is touched by Autism Spectrum Disorder, ASD, Aspergers Syndrome.  My daughter was diagnosed in 2009 and while this was a challenging piece of information to initially digest, it answered so many questions about her general “quirkiness.”  So many of the traits she had now made sense and I had a way to categorize and help her. Autism Spectrum Disorder / Asperger’s Syndrome became my new topic of research. 

Being on the Autism Spectrum Disorder / Aspergers Syndrome, her life was filled with overwhelming and painful sensory stimuli, and the answers on some of these overstimulating situations were easier than others (sensory integration disorder).   

 

Before her diagnosis, a less than loving family member learned of her terror at any sound that was mechanical in nature – vacuum, blender, hair dryer, etc. caused her to cry.  Her advice was to place her into a small room with all of the offending noises, turn the appliances on, leave her alone, and shut the door.  The very thought of doing this to a three year old, even without knowing that she was on the Autism Spectrum Disorder or not offended every fiber of my mothering soul.  I didn’t do it, but used these appliances sparingly, even to the point of leaving the house with her and taking her to her Grammie so that I could run the vacuum.  

Sensory Overload in Autism

I learned that her sensory stimuli, resulting from her sensory integration disorder, was something she was always trying to avoid.  Her reaction to her stimulus at home was not her being naughty, but truly caused her pain;   Knowing the reason for her pain, associated with her Autism Spectrum Disorder, there are many things we now do to help her.  I I keep a set of earplugs in my purse (her school backpack, my church bag, and in the car) for her when the noise around her is overwhelming and making her life challenging.  She doesn’t react to light, but a busy mall, Target Store (Target sets her off – too many overhead signs), airport, and other busy public places are very distracting for her.  She also has sensory sensitivities to touch as well, associated with her Asperger’s Syndrome .  These are manifested in things like; her clothing must be very soft and she doesn’t like to be touched by someone walking up from behind, she has issues in having her hair brushed, and shower water is uncomfortable to her skin. 

As a result of her need for super soft clothing, she needed allergy free detergents and fabric softener.  I was using several times the recommended amounts and not getting the result that I needed for her to feel good in her clothes.  Nothing was working and she would pull at her clothes and had problems focusing.    With the help of my mother, we developed our own recipes to use in our laundry room.  I found that by removing chemicals contained in the retail laundry products my daughter did much better with her clothing softness issues. 

I quickly realized just how much I had been spending to try to resolve her sensory integration disorder challenges and in the process found I also received substantial savings.   I don’t know if it will work for you and your famliy, but i I can say that it worked for mine.

Learn how by replacing retail cleaning products you can help bring relief for sensory overload in individuals with Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome.

Washing Machine Cleaner? Really? –

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Washing Machine in Modern Laundry Room

THOUGHT: “Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius-and a lot of courage-to move in the opposite direction.”

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Do you know there is actually a commercial product to clean your washing machine? Think about this a moment – it is a “WASHING” machine. What do you need to clean it for – it has all the properties of something clean – water and soap. What do you put in your washing machine – swine? This gets me, every time I think about it.

There is something about myself that finds irony in many areas of my life. During the time which we were researching our book, I ran across the biggest example of “oxymoronism” I have run across in a long time.  (OK, that might not be a word that would work in Scrabble nor with Words with Friends, but it paints a picture, doesn’t it?!)

I was inspired to go online and search for other ridiculous products and I found this list that made me chuckle!

In the event that you do wash swine in your washing machine, please send me an email and let me know why you do so and what you use to clean it all up. If you are like most of us, you probably wash clothes in the washing machine. If you have soap build-up and residue, you are using too much laundry detergent. (Yes, you can use too much!) I cannot imagine what anyone is thinking when they spend money cleaning the inside of a washing machine with another product.  If you do find a reason to clean the inside of your washing machine, there is a simple solution.  The cure – stop using that much! To remove soap residue, wet a cloth with white vinegar and wipe the tub out.

Washing machine cleaner?  What is next to hit the store shelves to take our money and to some degree our common sense – single socks to prevent the frustration when the dryer abducts them into another dimension? 

Get all the cleaning recipes you need and start saving today.  Go to Amazon.com for the paperback version or Kindle version.

Time to Invite a Friend to a Party

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Table setting with china and good silverThought:

“My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.”

– Henry Ford

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A special friend of ours was going through a particularly difficult time so Dena and I decided to host a luncheon in her honor. We really wanted to make this a special day for her. Everything needed to be perfect. Paper plates, plastic cups and place settings would not do. It was time to go the extra mile and break out the china but we only had one day to pull this off.

Dena was concerned about using my china because it is antique and everything must be hand washed. Not to mention the time required to dry and polish each piece to a high shine. If we used china, then we would have to use the silver flatware and it was due for a cleaning and polishing, and the list went on and on. We would run out of time, and this was quickly becoming an If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, by Laura Joffe Numeroff moment. We just didn’t have a lot of time to spend on these added preparations. We had to give up something or did we?

We first lined a pan with aluminum foil and place the flatware pieces in the pan. We soaked the pieces in water, baking soda, and salt. While this was soaking, we quickly washed the china and crystal in Borax and hot soapy water, rinsed and dried it to a brilliant shine. When we finished with the china, we quickly washed the silver in hot soapy water, rinsed and dried it.

To plan our menu, we went to the freezer to select what we needed from our already prepared meals. All we needed was to make a fresh salad and dressing. Our desert was also covered. Just a quick thaw and we were good to go. We accomplished this in record time, set the table and greeted our guests.

The luncheon was a huge success, she was so touched that we would go to so much trouble for her, we hope she doesn’t read this and find out how truly quick and easily we pulled this off.

Garbage Disposal Cleaner

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Keep your Garbage Disposal Clean with this Simple TrickThought:


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Shortly after we were married, I heard the most horrible noise coming from my kitchen, knowing something was terribly wrong I ran into the room to see why the garbage disposal was grinding steel!  There standing by the kitchen sink was Randy watching me with a puzzled look.  “What is wrong?” he inquired.  When I asked what was tearing up the garbage disposal he started to laugh.  “I threw  ice cubes into  the garbage disposal to clean it”, he stated. 

Now that I knew nothing was breaking except the garbage disposal and he had done this by his accord I felt I could relax for a brief moment.  Guessing the puzzled look on my face he began to explain the purpose for the ice cubes in the disposal.

“The ice cubes about six or eight cubes will help clean out all the unwanted particles hidden in the disposal that cause that nasty disposal smell,” he stated.  Next step, he ran hot soapy water down the drain to prevent an ice buildup in the pipes.  He then followed up by adding orange rinds into the disposal. The citrus naturally cuts through the grease and grime to allow for ease of movement into the pipes and as an added benefit, leaves a fresh citrus fragrance in your kitchen, no more disposal smell.  You can follow this up again with more ice cubes to remove any residual orange rinds.

I owe an apology to my husband Randy for omitting this tip from our book.  He has been quite diligent in the maintenance of our garbage disposal, so much so that I don’t give it a thought.  I truly appreciate his industrious nature.  He has saved us a ton of money the years over!  Where would we be without our ice cubes for our disposal maintenance.  This was one for the book that I am sorry I missed.

Dear Cheaper, Greener, Cleaner:
I’m writing to say what an excellent book you have! I’ve used the cleaning recipes ever since the beginning of my married life, when my Mom told me were the best.
Now that I am older and going through menopause, I find it is even better. In fact, about a month ago, I spilled some red wine on my new white blouse.
My unfeeling and uncaring husband started to berate me about how clumsy I was, and generally started to become a pain in the neck.
One thing led to another and I ended up with a lot of his blood on my white blouse. I tried to get the stain out using a bargain detergent, but it just wouldn’t come out.
After a quick tip from your book, and not surprisingly, all of the stains came out!
In fact, the stains came out so well, that some detectives who came by yesterday told me that the DNA tests were negative and my attorney said that I would no longer be considered a suspect!
I thank you, once again, for having such a great book. Well, gotta go. I have to write a letter to the Hefty bag people.
Signed,
A Relieved Menopausal Wife

Crude Oil on a White Dress: How To Clean the Impossible Stain

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Crude Oil Gusher Oil Stains on clothing are very difficult to remove

Thought:

The difference between our personal outcomes and the outcomes of other people is primarily found in the differences of our habits.

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A business associate of my husband’s, contacted him to ask if we had a green solution for an oil stain (crude oil) on his white dress shirt..  He thought he might as well throw the shirt away, he would never get the crude oil stain out.   He wanted  a green alternative, if we had one,  he could not use chlorine bleach on the shirt fabric. 

We were instantly up for the challenge, I remembered my dear grandmother teaching me how to remove n oil stains (it was crude oil, Texas T) out of a special shirt of Dena’s.  She said she could always get out the crude oil stains from my grandfather’s clothes.  She explained that the first thing needed was to remove the dirty oil stains  with vegetable shortening.  She used the shortening to work it into the dirty oil stains to remove the dirt trapped within the oil stain.  As crazy as this might sound, it truly worked.  I was amazed.

Next, she would soak the garment in hot water (as hot as the fabric would allow) to loosen any remaining dirt and oil.  Once the dirt was released from the stain only the oil stains remained.  She then treated the oil stain with a degreaser.  Citrus is a great degreaser, make a solution of soap and lemon juice to soak the stain.  Other degreasers you can use with soap are ammonia, glycerin, white vinegar, and washing soda.  Rub some laundry detergent into the oil stains along with any of the above mentioned items.  Let this sit to lift out the stain.  Wash as usual. 

Always check the oil stains before drying.  If the stain is still present, repeat the process.  Remember that the heat of the dryer can set the stains and it will be much harder or possibly impossible to remove. 

He had great results, he removed the oil stains in his white shirt and was really pleased with himself.  The stains were lifted, he felt empowered, renewed and ready to take on any dirty oil stains that came his way.  This wonderful memory became a recipe in our book, thanks Grandma, we love and miss you!

Memory Foam Mattress and the Princess and the Pea

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New Twist on the Fairy Tale the Princess and the Pea

Thought:

 You’re Just Jealous Because The Voices Are Talking To Me

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Sara called today with a cleaning question.  After removing the cover from her memory foam mattress to wash, she discovered the mattress had taken on an unpleasant odor. 

“How can I clean my memory foam mattress ?  I was reading in your book to find a recipe to remove a terrible odor from my mattress, and I thought of using the recipe for the urine smell and stain remover, but it isn’t urine, what do you think?” she asked.  She wanted to  save  their mattress because it was really expensive.

Since there was not the presence of urine she used a “dry cleaning and deodorizing method.”  Using a carpet freshener recipe of baking soda and cornstarch she was able to sprinkle the mattress without adding any moisture to the foam.  She let the baking soda and cornstarch sit on the foam about three hours, then vacuumed the mattress to remove the baking soda mixture.  She loved the results so much she turned the mattress over to repeat the baking soda and cornstarch process on the underside. 

An added bonus for Sara was that she did not have to leave home to go to the store to purchase anything to solve her challenge.  She went right to her supply of ingredients to get the baking soda and cornstarch, to  make her recipe.  Convenience at its best, no trip to the store, no waiting in line and best of all; she did not have to get out in the blowing snow with high gusty winds.  The last thing Sara wanted to do on her day off was get her little boys out in this very cold snowy winter storm weather. 

She was delighted, and so relieved she did not have to throw out the topper and have to go to the expense of replacing it.  Her cost for a deodorized, clean memory foam mattress, just a mere $2.00.  She was able to save the replacement cost of the memory foam mattress $1,500.00*.  Sara and John are very pleased.

Tempur-Pedic


Sodium Chloride (Table Salt) Cleared The Sinks

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Plumber working on kitchen sinkThought:

“Anybody who has any doubt about the ingenuity or the resourcefulness of a plumber never got a bill from one.”
– George Meany

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Sodium chloride (table salt) vinegar, and baking soda or a plumber?   If you guessed the table salt, vinegar, and baking soda, YOU ARE RIGHT!

Of all days to have a major plumbing problem with our kitchen sinks!  We were expecting ten Girl Scouts in a matter of minutes and we had a terrible mold and mildew smell coming out of the kitchen sink.  Well, we would have to do the best we could to cover this odor and tackle the plumbing problem after the event.  What to do now was the next problem. 

My husband took the flashlight and discovered that the pipe between the disposal and the sink had a buildup of dark matter at the bottom of the pipe; this had to be the cause of the mold growth emitting the smell.  He poured baking soda down both drains, followed with vinegar and plugged both sides of the kitchen sinks  and held the plugs down to force the action to stay in the cross pipe between the sinks.  We left the sinks plugged and greeted our guests.  We postponed our plumbing problem until the Girl Scouts left.

Three hours later, he had to face the problem of the pipes.  He unplugged both kitchen sinks and began to run water down the sinks.  He made a solution of sodium chloride or commonly known as table salt and hot water and poured this down the kitchen sinks.  The  draining was a bit sluggishly so he kept pouring down the sodium chloride solution and finally all the mold debris cleared and washed away.   He was saved a huge plumbing project.  The kitchen sinks were draining freely, the sodium chloride solution washed the mold from the pipes and we did not have a plumbing problem. 

Once again, we were able to use what we had in our arsenal of cleaning supplies ( the sodium chloride was readily available in the form of the table salt container to meet our needs.  Without the need of harsh chemicals we were able to accomplish.  The plumbing problem was minimal, my husband wasn’t frustrated with having to disconnect the pipes and replace them, nothing leaked and he was free to play a round of golf, yep, this was what he called one of the better uses of sodium chlorine, a plum of a plumbing problem!

Why, For Convenience Sake!

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Thought: Church bulletin misprints

The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict. 

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Stressed out multi-tasking mom tackles household shores with gustoWhy are we paying such a high price for convenience?  Yep, you guessed it, it has been a horrible day; the children are driving me crazy, “I don’t care who touched who, get your fingers out of her ear, no you can’t have a kangaroo for a pet, please try to be nice!  What?  Why didn’t you tell we before we left, can you wait until we get home?  No, we are not going to the movie, I need to fix dinner!  Don’t lick the window, yes you can have a sucker at the bank, no we are not buying that, oh heck, let’s just do drive through!”  Does any of this sound familiar?  Impulse buying has long proved to be expensive for us and great for the profits of the manufacturers!

Convenience can be a great motivator as we make our purchasing decisions.  As consumers we have numerous choices to make regarding the different products we are purchasing.  How much more are we spending of our hard earned money for convenience?  In this economy we want to get absolutely the most we can from each dollar we must spend, without giving up time with our family, ourselves, or convenience.   

But at what price are we paying for this perceived convenience?  We know that drive through fast food is not the best choice, not as nutritious, and certainly more expensive but it is convenient, right?  Right!  We purchase what we have been told or shown to being convenient.  Funny, how we have been pre-programmed to pick up the quick, easy, and convenient all of course with an added price.. 

One of my granddaughters loves mac and cheese, the other loves pork pot roast.  I fell into the convenient trap one night when running late and we needed a quick dinner.  I grabbed pre-made mac and cheese along with pre-roasted pot roast in the meat section.  Just four minutes in the microwave and they would have a meal.  Now they want this all the time.  The pre-made pot roast turned out to be $15.86 per pound.  While the pre-made mac and cheese cost $3.99 versus $.26.  Wow, was this expensive, and all for the price of convenience!   

Convenience can certainly come at a high price.  Think of all the impulse buying you might do when you are either hungry or just too tired to fix dinner.  And we all have certainly been there and done that!  



Dutch Oven Burned Again, Really!

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Fire Fighter battling a conflagrationThought:  Smoke Alarms only work when the batteries are in them!


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Burned on food is never fun to clean, this was the worst yet!  It wasn’t just any ordinary scorched food, this was black thick burned turkey bones crusted to the bottom of a very burned pan.  There was nothing that was going to clean and restore my once shiny Dutch oven.  Didn’t you hear the smoke alarm?  

Poppa (Randy) started a science project with the girls, reconstructing the Thanksgiving turkey.  Saving all the bones from our turkey was a careful task.  Feeling confident that all was well, Dena and I went shopping.  Only to return with a terribly burned pan.  Didn’t the smoke alarm go off? 

Randy had placed the bones into my newest (and of course best) Dutch oven to boil and clean all the turkey bones.  They became distracted with the reconstruction of the skeleton and forgot about the boiling bones.  Not only did the pan boil dry but it char-burned the bones into the thick mess of crusty black matter in the bottom of my burned Dutch oven.  Upon seeing the pan, I knew it was ruined.  There was no way it was ever going to be clean again, neither inside nor outside of the pan.  It was no longer the once shiny stainless steel; it had taken on the appearance of a much neglected dirty brass hue on the outside and the inside a blacken, crusted burned Dutch oven.   UGH!

Randy told me not to worry and he would scrub the pan, he stated he could clean it so well I would never know it was the char burned pan.  I could just imagine him with his Drummel grinder, or his drill trying to sand and grind off the burned substance.  On second thought, I had better clean my Dutch oven.  I didn’t want to have deep and uneven dents (or something worse) in my pan.  Soaking would never get this mess off; it would take hours of scraping and scrubbing with steel wool to clean the burned pan.  Again, I wondered why the smoke alarm didn’t alert them.

Just on the off chance I could get some of the burned crust off, I filled the pan with hot water and gave it a squirt or two of liquid dish soap.  Next I poured in some vinegar, not knowing if that would help but hoping something would remove a layer or two.  After some time passed I thought of adding some cream of tartar, I knew that it would loosen the burned cooked on food, but what would it do with something as burned on as the bones was a whole different matter.  Maybe, just maybe! 

Much to my surprise, after a couple of hours of soaking, I used a plastic spatula and with very little effort scraped off the beginning of the charred mess.  It was easily coming off!  My husband was delighted!  I must confess I was happy, but at the same time I thought this just was not quite fair, he should have to scrub for hours cleaning this burned pan.   Did you check the smoke alarm?

We had a good laugh and then I thought I should have taken a picture of the pan because no one would ever believe this one.  He kindly offered to redo the incident but I decided a picture of this would surely come later when he forgets another turkey carcass or something else gone terribly wrong in one of my pans.  Oh, I finally got an answer to the smoke alarm story, they took out the batteries because it kept going off with all the steam! We will be keeping the batteries in from now on!


Walmart, Diet Dr. Pepper and Chocolate and I Will Rule the World

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Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. PepperWalmart, Diet Dr. Pepper (Cherry Vanilla variety) and Hershey’s Nuggets became the staples of many a long writing and researching session as we tirelessly spent hours over the last two years, delving into the ins and outs of the chemical ingredients found in many retail household cleaners, their properties, dangers of use and trying to learn how to pronounce them!  (We were less than successful on the how to pronounce them than anything else!)  At many points during the day,  we dug into the stashes that we kept on hand of Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper and Hershey’s Nuggets.  (If you own stock in either of these parent companies and noticed an increase in your dividends, you’re welcome!)

Hershey's Nuggets

The other day, I fell victim to what I caution my friends about, the cost of convenience and generalized fatigue.  It was at the end of a long day, and we needed a few things for dinner at the grocery store.  Before I go any farther, I am a true Frugalista, the price is a major consideration.  If there is a lower price for something, I will go the extra mile to save money.  I regularly use Gas Buddy to find the best prices on gasoline nearby.  I shop at thrift stores, can’t pass a garage sale without at least slowing to see if we need to get out of the car, can navigate people around Walmart quite easily (I tell my husband if something cannot be found at one of these places, I need to evaluate if it is really necessary), and save a lot of money making our own cleaning and laundry products.  This is not a terminal case of cheapness, it is an exageration for illustration’s sake, but the basic underlying principle in our lives is frugality.

Anyway, back to the long day and needed trip to the store.  Rather than go to Walmart, where I know I could have saved some money, I went to the local grocery store.  Prices were double on several items of what I knew I would be spending at Walmart.  When I went into the soft drink aisle, I was shocked at the price of the 12 pack cans of soda!  It was going to cost me over $4 for the soda that I wanted.  I could justify buying the salsa and bagels at the higher price, yet the added costs for this bonus item was too much for me and my pocketbook to bear!  (I ended up purchasing a two liter bottle until my next trip to Walmart to stock up.)

What does this even have to do with making your own cleaning and laundry products, you might be wondering.  We know that you will have days when it is simply more tempting to buy a product than to make it.  If the item is urgently needed, you will make the call, if it is something that can wait until tomorrow to make, you will be happy you waited.  The additional day to feel refreshed not frazzled, after a hard day will be worth it.   Saving money by doing your own is exhilarating.     I knew that by taking the few extra minutes (less than 5) to drive to Walmart, we would save money, but I just did not feel like doing so.  As long as I make the conscious choice to do so, I am ok – the ability to choose is what I love.  You can have that same power (yes, power) to choose how you want to spend your time and money.  Just a side note, I returned the sala, the next morning being refreshed; I just could not deal with the double price!