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How to Make Homemade Carpet Cleaners Comments Off

Filed under the home
Written by Annie on 9th Mar -11

Guest post contributed by Bailey Harris. Bailey writes for AreaRugs.com.

In an effort to keep your carpets clean, it is likely that you will spend more money than is necessary for your carpet cleaners. There is no need to buy expensive commercial carpet cleaners when all the ingredients you need to make your own may already be in your home. Even better, the ingredients needed to make homemade carpet cleaners are fairly inexpensive.

Baking Powder Based Cleaner

To begin making your own cleaner from baking powder, you will also need corn flour and dried bay leaves. You may also add a dry scented substance to make it smell good. First, you need to mix a 1/2 pound of baking powder with 3 ounces of corn flour. Then you crumble the dried bay leaves and add them to the baking powder and corn flour mix.

To use your homemade cleaner, cover the stain with the mixture and let it stand overnight. In the morning wipe the cleaner off of the stain, and use a vacuum to pick up the rest of the residue. You may need to do this more than once for stubborn stains.

Detergent Based Cleaner

Dish detergent is something everyone has in their home, and it is very simple to turn dish detergent into an effective carpet cleaner. Clear dish detergent is recommended to avoid staining your carpet. Both Dawn and Joy work great. Mix 1/4 teaspoons of clear dish detergent with 1 cup of lukewarm water.

When cleaning your carpet, you should remember to use a cloth to apply cleaner instead of pouring it directly on your carpet. It is also recommended that you test a small spot on your carpet before using any cleaner.

Vinegar Based Cleaner

Vinegar based cleaners are not only cheap and easy to make, but they are also safe for children and pets. You can make your own vinegar cleaner by mixing 1 cup of vinegar, preferably white vinegar, with 2 cups of water. You can add 1 cup of Febreze for a fresh smell, but it is not necessary. If you choose not to add Febreze, the vinegar smell will go away once your carpet is fully dry.

Ammonia Based Cleaner

The only ingredients you need to make this type of cleaner are ammonia and water. Mix 1 tablespoon of ammonia with one cup of water. Your water should be slightly warmer than room temperature. If you encounter a stubborn stain you may need to spot clean more than once. You can also use the vinegar cleaner after you use the ammonia cleaner for tough stains. Take care with ammonia based cleaners because some pets may get confused by the scent and possibly urinate on your carpet.

Spot Cleaner

Vinegar and baking soda can be mixed together to make an effective spot cleaner. Mix the two ingredients until they are pasty. Add a little bit of water to dilute the mixture. Apply the solution to a stain and let it dry. After the spot cleaner is dry, use a vacuum to remove the remaining residue.

Image: Arria Belli.

Menu Plan Monday + 7 Ways to Save Money on Dinner Comments Off

Filed under the home, yum food
Written by Annie on 13th Sep -10

Nothing like getting a little more bang for your grocery buck.

I hate dropping a couple of hundred dollars at the grocery store only to realize, a few days later, that I have nothing to cook for dinner. Blech. Where did that food go?
I can’t help it if you have five hungry teenage boys in your house – that’s a different story – but here are a few things I do to stretch the grocery budget and still produce a filling, healthy meal.

P.S. One option I didn’t list here is “don’t cook anything for dinner”; you will save money on your grocery bill but eventually the troops will revolt. You can only serve cold cereal for dinner so many times… (Our personal limit is 3x in a week. Not that I’ve tested that… um… often.)

1. Make a menu.

Basic, I know. Don’t believe me? Check it out:

2. Shop sales on meat.

Meat is usually the most expensive (single) item on the grocery list. Plan your menu around the meat sales so you’re getting the best deals on meat for the week. Compare prices at a couple of different stores in your area, too. You might find one offers consistently better prices on meat. Shop there.

3. Add a fresh, healthy side to every meal.

Salad, for example, which does not have to be expensive. It will be if you purchase organic baby greens and 27 different gourmet salad add-ons plus one of those $5 bottles of salad dressing. Simplify your salad: make your base a nice mix of romaine, spinach, and iceberg.

I know, I know, iceberg has no nutritional value, blah blah blah. It’s hefty and crunchy and I like it in my salad, so there… not to mention it’s super cheap. I wouldn’t recommend a salad composed entirely of iceberg, but hey, if that’s your thing…

4. Have a leftover night.

Otherwise you’ll have 7 Tupperware containers of aging food that you end up throwing out a few days later. That’s a waste. Leftover night means you save money and it also means you don’t have to cook. Wheeee!

5. Eat vegetarian once or twice a week.

Our vegetarian meal this week is spinach-stuffed shells, a recipe from this lovely lady, and I can’t wait to eat it. There’s nothing wrong with a vegetable soup, meatless pasta, or big bowl of spicy black beans and rice. In fact, those are some of my favorite meals. They work great as leftovers for lunch, too.

6. Try some ethnic recipes.

The point being to branch out into recipes from cultures in which meat (a huge hunk of it for every meal) has not been so readily accessible. Thus, the cookbook from “Cattle Ranchers of Australia” probably won’t help you out here, even if they do include a genuine aboriginal side dish or two.

Think of dishes like stirfries and curries, which can incorporate meat but in small amounts. I love Jeffrey …. cookbook for a great selection of doable ethnic dishes that you won’t think to search for on the Internet.

7. Double the veggies, halve the meat.

You’re making spinach lasagna, say, which calls for 1.5 pounds of ground beef and 8 ounces of spinach. Switcheroo: 16 ounces of spinach and more like 3/4 of a pound of ground beef. Spinach is cheaper than beef. The trick is to watch your proportions, overall. Keep enough meat so you get the flavor and texture, then amp up the other stuff. You’ll be healthier, too.

Our Menu This Week:

  • Monday: garlicky chicken soup, homemade crescent rolls, big green salad
  • Tuesday: spinach stuffed shells, big green salad
  • Wednesday: bacon-chicken mac & cheese, asian red cabbage salad
  • Thursday: Leftovers! Wheeee!
  • Friday: mozzarella meatloaf, mashed potatoes, fresh fruit
  • Saturday: Soup of some sort, egg salad & chicken salad sandwiches
  • Sunday: lasagna, spinach salad

I should probably throw a dessert in there sometime… makes my husband happy.

This post is linked up with OrgJunkie’s Menu Plan Monday. Go there for lots of great menus and recipe links.

Image courtesy of  stevendepolo.

How Rach Quit Throwing Money Away 9

Filed under the home, Uncategorized
Written by Annie on 1st Jun -10

This is a guest post by Rach of Rach’s Blog Bite; if you’re interested in guest posting for Sister Wisdom, check out the guidelines.

A while ago a light bulb went off and I decided to start making my own cleaning products at home. Okay, it really wasn’t a light bulb. It was more like major bolt of lightning, striking right down the middle of our expenses.

It really just ticked me off that I was paying so much for detergent, {laundry and dish}, our cleaning products and our fabric softener. It felt like I was just throwing money away. That crap is just ridiculously over-priced, and a lot of it is super chemically {of the “OMG I can’t believe that is really in there” kind of chemicals}…

So enter me with my bright idea. “I will just make my own.” My friends scoffed. Never had I had a friend actually scoff, but at this idea they did. They seemed to think that Walmart had homemade laundry detergent: the kind that comes in a cardboard box and says TIDE in big blue letters! I was determined. I figured it couldn’t be that difficult or expensive.

So, I did it. Here’s the “recipe” and you can see it is pretty basic.  There are so many different ways to make this stuff.  Me being me-{lazy} I picked the easiest one.  It works. Plain and simple.  Your clothes are clean, there are not chemicals breaking your clothes down {saving you money there as well!}, and it’s just a better way to take care of your stuff.

Rach’s Homemade Laundry Detergent

1 bar grated soap (I use the 3/$1 from the dollar store)
1/2 cup Borax
1/2 cup Washing Soda (Not to be confused with Baking Soda…)

Directions

Mix together until the grated soap starts to dissolve.
Use 1 tbsp./load
***The only place near me that I could find washing soda is Harris Teeter on the laundry aisle. Look up- You’ll find it on the top shelf. [Annie's note: I've seen washing soda at Wal-Marts in my area, greater St. Louis.]
I usually grate 6-9 bars at one time- this makes a HUGE batch that will last for 3-4 months! (Remembering that there are only 3 of us in the house and you only have to use 1 tbsp. /load.)

Once I started making laundry detergent at home I looked around knowing there had to be away to do fabric softener the same way {read: the cheap way!}. I googled it, {I google everything} and this was the simplest, cheapest one that I found.

All you need is a Downy ball, vinegar and any type of fragrance oil that you like. I know what you are thinking… and no, your clothes are not going to smell like vinegar. If you use this oil – Downy April Fresh fragrance oil – that’s what your clothes are going to smell like!
I mix the solution in a pitcher and just pour in the Downy ball- I purchase a 16oz. bottle of the fragrance oil approximately every 9-10 months.
You can do this even cheaper, and not use the oil- that’s just for your nose’s sake anyway!

Rach’s Homemade Fabric Softener

1 gallon white vinegar
2 teaspoons fragrance or essential oils

Directions

Mix essential oils into vinegar. {I mix in the vinegar jug then pour into a smaller pitcher just because it’s easier to handle!} Add to Downy ball and toss it in the wash!
Depending on what EO smell you use- you may need to use a little more- try a test wash first, then add a drop or two at a time.

Rach of Rach’s Blog Bite is a fun, real, and hilarious blogger who keeps me coming back to her blog just to see what she’s going to be up to next. As Rach puts it, she writes about “Misadventures from my kitchen, my attempts at getting crafty and other things I find I think I need to try!” She’s always trying new things, living and learning even when it’s messy, and picking up some great ideas and skills in the process. I’ve picked up some super recipes ( cookies to die for) and what-to-read tips as she shares from her kitchen and her 52-in-52 reading challenge. Great giveaways, too: I just WON my first-ever blog giveaway on Rach’s Blog Bite! Wheeee! Thanks, Rach! Go check out her site and I guarantee you’ll have fun.

New Series on SisterWisdom: YOU Write It. 1

Filed under the home
Written by Annie on 24th May -10

Something about home won’t let go of us. (Is it that pile of laundry wrapped around our ankles?)
It doesn’t matter where you are in life: a college gal in a dorm room, a working woman in an apartment, a wife, a business owner, a stay-at-home mom or working mom or single mom or not a mom at all.

We all need home, and it falls to us women to create it. Come on: we know men are smart and capable, but they don’t get this home thing. We do. But that doesn’t mean we always know how to make it happen.

Home should nourish and nurture us… but sometimes home just drains us.
Home should welcome and comfort us… but sometimes all we want to do is run away.

I’d like to invite all you women to participate in a new series on my blog. Instead of drawing lines and making assumptions, let’s find our common ground. Wherever we are in life, we all have a home. And as the women, we’re the ones making it, whether just for ourselves or for other people too.

What matters? What doesn’t? How do you handle the burn-out? How do you keep your mind engaged? How do you throw off the guilt? How do you quit comparing and start enjoying? What about hospitality? What about balance? What about that moment when you realize that if you have to sweep-the-floor-one-more-time-you-will-scream-so-help-me-God?

Please join in. There will be a new post running every Monday for the next four weeks, but I’d love to have more from different perspectives. Read along, comment, discuss, be sarcastic, ask questions, give advice, and let me know if you’re interested in writing a post, too.


Modern Homemaking: Which Direction Should I Go? 5

Filed under the home
Written by Annie on 24th May -10

This is a guest post by Marci of Overcoming Busy. Are you interested in writing a guest post? See how here.

When Annie asked me to write this post, I was excited.  Modern Housekeeping – what an interesting topic!  This should be fun to write about.  I feature myself as a Modern Housekeeper with a traditional bent.  However, as I began to collect my thoughts and actually put them down on paper (yes, I still write on paper!), so many thoughts and ideas ran through my head.  Which direction should I go?

Do I write about how I keep a home?  My housekeeping schedules that are set up for a task a day?  The morning and bedtime routines my kids and I have to keep us on task (and so no one forgets to brush their teeth)?

My ideas on what makes a house a home?  Is it love, laughter, good snacks?

Do I write about how I never thought I would be a SAHM and had a grand plan of a successful career before I had children?  How I thought I had to make a difference in the world before I realized I needed to make a difference in my family?

Would readers want to hear about how I home school my daughter so she can be shaped and molded by her parents and carefully chosen others and not her 9 year old peers?

Should I write about how planning my meal each week saves my family and me time, money and stress?

How about disciplining children with love, yet effectively enough to keep them from misbehaving again?  OK.  I don’t know how to pull that off yet, but if you can, let me know!  SOON!!

Do I write about how it is difficult sometimes to balance family life and blogging?

Keeping a home in this day and age is a challenge.  There is so much to consider and to balance.   We are pulled in so many directions and often inaccurately feel we need to be perfect in each area!  For such a modern, convenient society, modern housekeeping is just plain hard!  And apparently so is writing about it!

Today’s 2 Cents Courtesy of…

Marci: encourager, blogger, wife, mom, woman who strives to eliminate the busy and pursue the meaningful. She helps others do the same with her practical wisdom on organizing and simplifying and her regular features like menu plans and an Article Club. I’ve gained from her blog inspiration to change for the better, and practical tips on how to do it. Head on over to Overcoming Busy to learn more about (and from) this gracious woman.

What’s your 2 cents?

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