After 3 weeks of piecing a quilt top - and a day piecing the quilt back, very little housework got done. So, that was top priority as soon as I had a couple of normal days to recuperate. First on my list, was a chore I had been putting off for a while, which was to clean out the fridge. And since I was going to do that, I wanted to do the front, back, top, underneath, and sides as well. That was a good week to clean the fridge since most of our groceries were gone. Less food inside and fewer overflow snacks on top always makes cleaning the fridge easier . Countertops, cabinet doors and drawers, and stove top, front, underneath, sides, and back also needed to be cleaned. So, I spent 2 days cleaning in the kitchen. That also included vacuuming the curtains, ceiling fan, blinds, and windows. The fridge magnets were a mess on the fridge. I just placed them on the doors as I got new ones without any sense of direction. So, first of all, I removed all the magnets, calendar, and to-do li...

As many of you know, I'm an avid crafter . And many of my crafts involve cutting fabric. So, a couple of weeks ago, I had the bright idea to cut some fabric into smaller squares and then cut circles from those smaller squares so I can make fabric yo-yos. Weeellll, the fabric squares kept slipping on the regular cutting mat as I used the circle cutter . When I had cut circles before, I cut them from the full length of fabric, which added more weight, so they didn't slip, and I didn't have this problem. So, now, I had to come up with another bright idea to fix my first bright idea. That's when I brought out my sticky cutting mats (for fabric) that I bought for my Cricut. Yes! I was so proud of myself for having this clever idea. I don't use the Cricut anymore, but I still have all the nice gadgets. 😉 So, cha-ching for me.  Ugh! Another reality check. It turns out I'm not that clever after all. It had been quite a while since I've used these sticky mats, and I...

I've been using the Clorox toilet cleaning system for a couple of weeks, and I already love the way it cleans. I had posted a while back that I had started using vinegar to clean the hard water from the toilet rim  along with Lime Away. Well, I wanted to try this Clorox system to try to remove stains that are building up on the bottom of the toilet bowls, because our toilets are 28 years old, and that happens. It's not gross, but I thought I should start trying to nip that now before it does get gross. And to do that I need to get just a tad deeper into the bowl than I can get with a toilet brush. So, I bought this Clorox kit. I did NOT put the vinegar in the toilet bowl when using these cleaning pads, because you aren't supposed to mix vinegar and bleach. It turns out, the deeper area of the bowl is rough and not coated with ceramic like the upper section of the toilet bowl is, which caused the cleaning head to start separating from the plastic piece it was attached to. S...

Sorry for my delay in posting lately. I had scheduled several posts before I started deep cleaning the kitchen 3 weeks ago. No sooner had I finished deep cleaning the kitchen when my family and I came down with a cold or flu. I took 2 Covid tests and my husband took 3, and we tested negative every time. Whatever it was, was rough. At the tail end of this virus, I got 2 transcribing jobs that lasted about a week. So, where does easy does it show up during all this chaos?  Image courtesy of  Kelly Sikkema via Unsplash First of all, I did take my time when I was deep cleaning the kitchen. I cleaned the stove/oven, fridge, and walls on day 1, the top cabinets on day 2, drawers and bottom cabinets on day 3, and vacuumed valances, wiped off blinds, cleaned 3 windows, and scrubbed the floor on day 4. I went to the grocery store the day after I finished cleaning the kitchen. The day after that I did some minor housework. By the end of that day, I was starting to not feel well.  I...

Even after last week's boiled vinegar incident (gross!), I still want to show you how well the vinegar cleaned the grease off of my glass lid that I covered those frying beef patties with (that lingering smell was the reason I tried the boiled water and vinegar).  I use Dawn to wash my dishes in, and it seems to do a good job at cutting through the grease on my pots and pans. But I still have a greasy residue on my glass lids after washing them - and I wash the lids before I wash the pots and pans to try to avoid that smeary mess on them.  It wouldn't be a good idea to spray something like Glass Plus on them to clean that residue off since some of the spray might remain in crevices such as screws or rims. So, I thought I would try spraying pure vinegar on the lids after washing them since vinegar is a food-grade product that is also used as a window cleaner by many people. It did a great job. I sprayed the vinegar on the lid after washing and wiped it off with a paper towel. ...

I have read multiple times that boiling a mixture of vinegar and water is a great way to neutralize household odors. When I got up this morning, I still smelled the ground beef that I fried last night for our patty melts. So, I thought this was a good time to test that theory. I have never read what the mixture should be for this test, so I put 1 cup of vinegar and 1 cup of water in a small pot since that is a common cleaning solution. I boiled the water and vinegar for 10 minutes. Gross! Gross! Gross! Do not do this. To me, it smelled like I had cooked my ground beef in vinegar. Gross! So, I tried to cover that smell up by boiling water and a few drops of orange essential oil. That didn't work. So, I washed the pot, the filter from the microwave over the stove, and the measuring cup, wiped off the stove, kitchen tile behind the stove, and the stovetop, used Glass Plus to wipe off the microwave door, oven door, and dishwasher door, dusted the kitchen table with Pledge , sprayed th...

My first vinegar cleaning test involved removing an old sticker and the residue that was on the bottom of a very old glass pitcher. I've had the pitcher in my possession for about 5 years and have no idea the full age of this pitcher. So, it seemed like a good item to try the sticker/residue removal test. In my head, the sticky residue is a germ catcher not to mention a plain old eye sore, so I actually try to get rid of that residue as soon as I remove any sticker myself. The idea is to remove goo from stickers, bumper stickers, labels, decals, etc. by repeatedly wiping with vinegar. So, first, I sprayed vinegar onto the sticker/residue section of the pitcher. I let it sit for about 5 minutes then scrubbed the section with a paper towel and my nail. The sticker part came off rather easily with some umph. I sprayed more vinegar onto the residue that remained and let it stand for another 5 minutes. With a hard push with my nail over the paper towel, most of the residue came off. So...

Before we start cleaning with vinegar , let's discuss how we should not use it. Vinegar is an acid and can strip wax from wood furniture and the finish off your wood floors. It can also damage stone surfaces. So, avoid cleaning wood and stone with vinegar. Never clean out your iron with vinegar as it will damage the iron. And don't use vinegar in your dishwasher as it will damage the rubber parts of your unit. NEVER mix vinegar and bleach, because this mixture creates a toxic chlorine gas. Although, many  recommend putting vinegar, alone, in with laundry, beware that it can damage the rubber parts of your washing machine as it does in the dishwasher. The last "never" about vinegar today is mixing it with baking soda and using it inside your drains. I've actually heard that can damage your pipes. So, my recommendation is to NOT use this combination in your household drains/pipes. So, use vinegar and baking soda on non-scratch surfaces only. And always test inconspi...

We all know that we should keep our homes clean for the sake of our health. We can't avoid all germs, bacteria, and mold. But can we do a better job? And with natural cleaners like vinegar, salt, lemon juice, and more? I'm on a quest to find out. I cannot stand the smell of vinegar, but there are so many claims that it cleans so well. I'll have to admit that I was more than impressed when my husband used it to clean the hard water build up under the rim of our toilets a couple of weekends ago. I use Lime Away from time to time, but there was still a gross buildup of hard water stains under the rim. After a bit of scrubbing with  my Lime Away , my husband poured vinegar into the toilet bowl and the fill gage in the tank. So much more of that gunk came out from under that rim when he did that. And the flush is so much more powerful now. There's a nice swirl when we flush. So, from now on, once a week, I'll do a Lime Away and vinegar treatment in the toilet bowl. No m...

If you have a big job ahead of you, and you really dread it, my secret is to just start small. Work in small areas daily until the chore is completed. For instance, if you have several windows and blind sets to clean in your house, start by cleaning one or two sets of blinds and the windows those blinds cover on day 1. The rest of the blinds and windows can follow in short bursts of progress.  Image courtesy of CDC via Unsplash Another example would be carpet cleaning. What a hard job! It requires lots of energy and time. So, I start by moving a piece of furniture away from the wall and I clean that section on day 1. Then I move another piece of furniture the next day to clean the carpet under it and so on until all of the furniture that can be moved has clean carpet beneath it and behind it. Then I can move to the simple parts - the area where no furniture needs to be moved! Let me stress that not all furniture needs to be moved. And if it's too heavy to move, then don't! Kee...

Cleaning routines Weekly cleaning routine I'll have to admit that I don't believe in spring cleaning. And lately there isn't much time for cleaning at all. However, something usually gets cleaned once a week in spite of everything else that's going on. At least once a month, I also wipe off the doorknobs, light switches, remote controls, keyboards and mice, and telephones with antibacterial wipes. The bathrooms get cleaned every week. No ifs, ands, or buts.  Then I pick two other rooms to dust and vacuum each week. Or I'll dust and vacuum one room, sweep the garage, and mop the linoleum floors in the kitchen and bathrooms. Finally, if I have time, I'll vacuum the rest of the rooms to complete the weekly cleaning. I continue this routine until all of the rooms are clean. Then I start the process over again.  It typically takes 4 to 6 weeks to complete my cleaning cycle. This way, I can, at least, keep the house looking decent. Only adults and 1 cat live in my h...

I just stumbled upon these 3-ingredient homemade natural cleaning products  on HGTV's website yesterday and thought I would share them with you. I haven't tried them myself yet, but since the ingredients are readily available, I will do that soon. Each one has an optional fragrant essential oil as a fourth ingredient to boost cleaning power. Each one also uses vinegar, so I'm not sure how the vinegar and essential oils will smell when paired. Other items you'll need will be a funnel and a clean, empty spray bottle.  Image courtesy of  Towfiqu Barbhuiya  via Unsplash There are actually ingredients to make three different types of cleaners. One is an all-purpose cleaner, one is a glass cleaner, and the last one is a wood cleaner. All-purpose is not explained. As always, before using any cleaning product, test it on an inconspicuous area first to find out how it will react to the type of material or surface you're using it on. I would love to hear what you think about ...