Spring Cleaning - Get the Clutter Out!

Admittedly, I am just like Katie in which I'm writing this post from a "do as I say but not as I do" standpoint regarding clutter. It's something I've battled since getting married and combining households and suddenly things aren't where I left them anymore. :>)

Also? Pre-marriage, I moved approximately every single year, either into a different apartment or a different city entirely. Nothing helps you pare the clutter like moving! Now that we've been here for nearly 7 years, I'm finding that a lot of things have snuck up on me, and I swear they multiply in the storage room... [OK, I'll also admit that moving once a year was better motivation to dust than I have now. Eew.]

Katie at Kitchen Stewardship has a nice mix of tips for organizing different aspects of your life (see them here) and I don't say that just because she mentioned my 40 Bags in 40 Days decluttering challenge that I undertook for Lent. Read my initial post to find out how physical clutter has an effect on us spiritually.

Back around the beginning of the year, I started reading a blog called A Slob Comes Clean. It was actually a crafty post that sucked me in, and then I couldn't help but click around to see what the title meant. Turns out it's exactly as it sounds! I'm one of many of Nony's readers who continually comment that we're reading about our own problems and life on her blog. She has really come a long way herself, and doesn't pull any punches when she talks about her problems and issues with stuff.

One of my favorite posts is My Two Decluttering Questions, which are:
If I needed this item, where would I look for it?
If I needed this item, would it ever occur to me that I already have one?

In the case of the first question, the result is to simply take the item there. This might foil you, though if you don't actually LOOK in that spot when you are trying to find the item. (Reference this post. That is SO something I would do.)

In the case of the second question, if the answer is "no" then she says to get rid of it because you'll just buy a new one if you need it anyway. This theory was highlighted by this post where she cleaned out a junk drawer and found items for that she could potentially need but didn't realize she had and the $1 they cost weren't worth the "storage and memory-related stress anyway." Great move on her part!

Head over to Kitchen Stewardship to read Mandi from Organizing Your Way explaining the benefits of decluttering, and then hop to Mandi's blog to find out how. Next week, we wrap up the Spring Cleaning Carnival as Claire from Saving Money Plan helps us tackle eliminating debt.

No More Plastic Food Storage Containers?

As part of the "spring cleaning" series, Beth at Fake Plastic Fish has explained why we shouldn't use plastic to store food in posts at Kitchen Stewardship and at her blog. Check out the links for some interesting reading!

In the Nettacow household, we have not taken the "no plastic" plunge. When I was still working before Goose was born, one of my favorite lunches to take was macaroni and cheese (standard enriched pasta with Mexican Velveeta - yikes!) in an old margarine tub - because I didn't want to mess up my "nice" plastic containers by using them all the time.

The good news is that the margarine tubs have been put up (except for special/yucky uses that don't involve food!) - and there aren't any new ones coming in the house since I now use real butter. But I'll admit I'm not quite ready to give up my plastic just yet. I've started saving jars to re-use, and I'm certainly more mindful of plastic now, at least!

Along the lines of frugality, I have tried to look at plastic with new eyes. For example, I used to just throw away the plastic bag that lined the boxes of kitty litter that I buy. I discovered that the bag will fit perfectly in my kitchen trash can, so it gets a second use, at least. Freezer storage bags are a staple part of my methods of freezer cooking, though I'm learning a lot about freezing in glass. (If only I weren't so darn clumsy when it comes to breakable items...)

We all have to make decisions for our households based on our own circumstances, and if you decide you aren't ready to give up plastic either, that's fine! I would encourage you to go check out Beth's posts (again at Kitchen Stewardship and her own blog, Fake Plastic Fish) and listen to her point of view. I promise, you'll learn at least something new.

Homemade Citrus Vinegar

I've been collecting recipes for homemade cleaners for a while now. My favorite post on homemade (EASY!) cleaners is What's Under My Sink by Katie at Kitchen Stewardship - she uses baking soda, vinegar and peroxide. Click over to read about how spraying vinegar followed by peroxide (or vice versa) and letting it dry is as effective as using bleach!

My mom loves the smell of vinegar. I think she once told me that it smells clean to her. (Is that right, Mom? Or does it smell yummy as in salad dressing? :>)) Anyway, I don't quite agree, though vinegar is growing on me a bit as I've been using it more for cleaning. One of my favorite smells is citrus - you can read how I even use it to combat motion sickness here.

I found an article at Tipnut quite a while back on making citrus vinegar for cleaning, and gave it a whirl. We don't eat a lot of citrus, so in the wintertime when we enjoy clementines, I save the peels and let them dry. I begin by washing the fruit with a dab of dish soap; Tipnut has a link to a fruit and veggie cleaner on the vinegar post, or you can read Katie's experiment with several different methods of cleaning at 8 Ways To Wash An Apple: How Well Does Produce Wash Work?.

Last year, I laid the peels on the counter until they were dry and then tossed them in a bowl; then when we'd worked our way through the clementines, I put them in the vinegar. This year, I tossed them in the bowl without letting them dry and there were a few that I thought might have been moldy (I threw those away). Live and learn. I suppose it also wouldn't hurt to put them in the vinegar as you accumulate them, but I'd add some time to the four weeks of "brewing", still making sure to shake it every day.

Once the four weeks it up, you strain it a time or two, and your citrus vinegar is ready to use! If you hate the smell of vinegar, this might be enough that you can use it in your green cleaning routine. I have come to enjoy the smell of the citrus stuff, at least.

For more frugal ideas, visit Life As Mom.

Make Your Own Reusable Swiffer Duster

A while back, I used this reusable swiffer duster pattern on Flickr to make a refill for my Swiffer duster out of microfiber towels. I'll admit it doesn't work quite as well as the actual dusters - they are kind of stiff, where the towel is floppy. It works well enough, and is reusable! I toss it in with my cloth diapers, since I like to use fabric softener on the rest of my laundry.

The best part is that Goose loves it, and will run around "dusting". Her technique needs a bit of work, but I figure at a minimum, I'm planting seeds for later. That reminds me, I'm due to dust again . . .

For more frugal ideas, visit Life as Mom.

Clean Dishes and Cheap Clean Balance

When we got married, we moved into our sweet little rental house with a kitchen that has an OK amount of cabinets and no dishwasher. I contemplated having a dishwasher installed, but didn't want to sacrifice the space. Hand washing dishes is not one of my stronger virtues, either.

Our friends and family generously blessed us with a number of cash gifts that, when added up, were enough to purchase a portable dishwasher! It tucks in a corner next to the table, where it is actually rather convenient to load. Once full, I roll it over to the sink, hook it up, and away it goes. I was a much happier bride for Hubs after we got it!

After five years, though, I noticed our dishes looked . . . icky. They were covered in a white film that only a long soak in straight vinegar would take away. Even using a rinse agent didn't help, nor did using vinegar as a rinse agent - it just wasn't enough.

About that time, I was trying to move toward more frugal and green ways of running our household. But, to be honest, there had been a couple of occurrences where I had a full-to-the-brim dishwasher and no detergent. I live 10 miles from the nearest store, and 25 miles from the nearest store that I can afford to patronize without selling my firstborn.

I can't remember where I first found the suggestion to use a 1:1 mixture of Borax and Washing Soda in the dishwasher. I tried it, and it seemed to work fine, but I felt like it was missing something . . . like soap! (OK, detergent, but still.) About that time I stumbled across another "recipe" that used a 1:1:1 mixture of the Borax and Washing Soda plus powdered Cascade. I felt good about using it, it's relatively cheap, and since I use the Borax/Washing Soda for the laundry, too, I can steal a couple of scoops out of there in a pinch. I use two tablespoons in the dishwasher, using a scoop that I can't remember what product it came out of. It has a teaspoon on one side (that I hang onto as I'm scooping) and a tablespoon on the other side.

(I store it in the coffee can above, that is standing in for a box of Borax since I'm currently out.)

That was great, but my dishes were still dingy. We have well water, and it's pretty hard and full of "stuff". I read a glowing testimonial of LemiShine on The Pioneer Woman and wondered what all the fuss in the comments was about. I found it at Wal-Mart, and in just one use, my dishes looked incredible - almost new! Hubs even commented on them, and noticing details is not his strongest virtue. Plus they even *felt* cleaner - before, I could feel a chalky residue and hadn't even realized. And the inside of my dishwasher looked better, too! (There is a map on the LemiShine website that shows the hardness levels of water. We're in "extremely hard". So it's confirmed.)

After a few loads and working to cycle all my dishes through (i.e. put the clean plates from the dishwasher on the bottom of the stack so they all get used), I backed off the amount of LemiShine that I used. I'd guess I use somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4 the recommended amount and my dishes still look great.

It is a bummer to rely on something that never goes on sale and never has a coupon. I priced packets of lemon Kool-Aid and even the generic versions come out about the same as LemiShine, so I think we have a good balance between using less and clean dishes.

You can also go here to see how I use the borax/washing soda in my semi-homemade laundry detergent!

This post is linked to Kitchen Tip Tuesdays at Tammy's Recipes, and because I am so tickled that 1) I even *have* a dishwasher and 2) my dishes now come out of it clean, I'm also linking this to Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers.

More Dirty Laundry

It all started with my cloth diapers. When I washed them, I was incapable of using a small enough amount of detergent to still get them clean but not so much that it produced mountains of bubbles that refused to rinse out. We got a new front-load washing machine, and since I still had a huge jug of regular Tide left over, I mixed it with HE Tide . . . and had enough bubbles that I knew I still had too much detergent. If I backed off too much, though, my diapers didn't seem clean enough.

Enter the internet. I read up on a number of recipes for homemade laundry detergent, including one here on The Simple Dollar and a number of ones mentioned on Frugal Fridays when it was still hosted at Biblical Womanhood. The type of soap used varied from recipe to recipe, but the borax and washing soda did not. It seemed that the borax and washing soda helped the soap work better. Would it do the same for my beloved Tide? I decided to experiment.

First I had to locate borax and washing soda. Borax was easy enough, but I checked the area big box stores for washing soda with no luck. I called a toll-free number I found online (I believe it is 1-800-524-1328, and you need the UPC code which is 33200-03020) to see where it was sold in my area and came up empty. I had found it on Amazon.com, but upon checking again, it was no longer available. It is now coming up as available via drugstore.com, but at a pretty high price. [A web search indicated that it might be available via the above toll free number, and shipping may be free if you purchase multiple boxes. Worth a shot if you can’t find it!] [Or, if you are a bit stubborn like me or Amy, please look a bit more closely at your local store. Or at least ask a clerk.]

Then one day, I turned down the cleaning aisle at my local grocery store in a town of about 3,000 people. I usually avoid that aisle because I can get most things cheaper at Wal-Mart, and I can wait to get cleaning products until my next trip to the “city”. Lo and behold, there they both were on the top shelf! And the prices weren’t too bad, either.

So outside I went, with a measuring cup, my newly purchased borax and washing soda, and a clean small bucket. (As you pour the powders, they release a bit in the air.) I alternated pouring in a cup from each box into my clean bucket, figuring it would help me mix it up more easily - both powders look pretty similar to me. I tried to break up with my fingers any chunks I found, although I didn’t worry about it too much.

But would it work? I put about a tablespoon of the mixture in the detergent cup of my washer, and added a drizzle of Tide. The clothes came out smelling as sweet as when I used MUCH more Tide – I was convinced! I have learned that when washing hubs’s work clothes, I at least double the Tide and I sometimes double the powder, too.

Go here for my post on line drying - I'm a huge clothesline nerd, so there are tons of tips!

Airing My Dirty Laundry

The title isn't exactly accurate, since clothes on the line are already clean! I've only been hanging out my laundry for a few years, but here are a few things I've learned. I'll start with tips to consider when buying and placing a clothesline.

To determine where to place your line, study your yard. Figure out which spots are shady and sunny at various times of the day. Check the ground underneath where you'd like to put your line. If it's near a bird nest, or bird-friendly trees, you'll likely see (ahem) evidence of that. You'll also want to look for sap, leaves or other debris (pods, etc.) and anything else that might make your clean clothes not-so-clean anymore.

Keep in mind that the sun is weaker in the morning and stronger in the afternoon, and also stronger during the summer than the spring and fall.


For our clothesline, we purchased a retractable model at Menards. I can't remember the cost, but I'm thinking it was around $30. We attached the main side to our garage and the hook on the house. To use it, I pull the handle out of the main side across and hook it on the house. I then turn the wheel to tighten the line, and turn the lock knob. This keeps the lines taut. I like this type because I don't have to worry about ducking under it when I mow the grass. If clothes fall off, they fall onto the concrete patio and not in grass or mud. Most importantly, it's right outside the back door and our laundry room.

Here are some line-drying tips (and I know I'm kind of a geek about it!):

On items that have been through the wash but are still stained, hang them on the line so that the stain faces the sun. This would be toward the east in the morning, toward the west in the afternoon, or toward the south anytime.

To keep items from fading, I try to vary how I hang them out. Sometimes I will hang items backwards, so the back of the item is toward the sunny side. Or, if they came through the wash inside out, I won't bother to turn it right side out until it comes off the line.

You'll learn the pattern of how the weather affects your dry time. Hot, sunny, windy days will dry clothes faster than cool, cloudy, still days. The humidity is a big factor as well, and if you live in a dewy-morning type area, your clothes hung out in the morning will take longer to dry until the dew dries off.

I bought a bag or two of inexpensive wooden clothespins at Wal-Mart and unless I have a ton of tiny baby things to hang, I have more than enough pins. If you find you're running short, there are a few creative things to make your pins go farther. I always hang towels, wash cloths, dish cloths, diaper liners, etc. together. I pin the first one on one side (usually the right side first), then pin the second (left) side to the right side of the next item. So, for two items, I use three clothespins, except I extend it out across the line for as many pieces as I have.

Other means of conserving pins include hanging overalls by looping their straps over the line, hanging bibs by their ties or velcro closure over/around the line, and hanging onesies upside down and use their snaps. Keep in mind that clothes that aren't pinned to the line may slide around with the wind. If I want to get more clothes on the line but don't care about a somewhat slower dry time, I will hang two towels stacked together, two t-shirts stacked together, etc.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention my clothespin apron! You can see it hanging on the line on the left side of the photo above. My mother-in-law made it per my request . . . I told her I wanted to be able to wear it while wearing the Goose on either my front or back in the Ergo, and I wanted to be able to wear it while pregnant, should we be blessed again. Now that I know a bit about sewing, I realize how tall an order this was! I don't know how she did it but she nailed every point. Since the pockets are on the side, I can reach the pins whether I'm wearing it forwards or backwards. I wear it pretty much every time I hang clothes. It's wonderful!

Back to the laundry, sheets take up a ton of space but they dry quickly. I usually hang them out first and fill in slower-drying clothes around them, then check them after half an hour or so. If they're close to dry, I pull them down (see post-line-drying below) and put up the rest of the clothes. Hopefully the slower-drying ones have a head start and will be done about the same time as the more newly-hung ones.

When hanging items on the line, I try to balance weight on the lines both front to back and side to side. That means that I neither place all the jeans on one single line, nor place all the jeans on the left hand side of my line. Further, because my lines vary in tautness, as I'm hanging clothes up I place heaver items on lines that are tighter. So, let's say I have a sweatshirt, a pair of jeans, and a t-shirt left to hang. I'll look at my lines and determine which is pulled down the least (the one that is tightest) and hang the jeans on that line. The next-highest line gets the sweatshirt, and the lowest (least tight) line gets the t-shirt. Yes, this is a bit geeky, but if I always hung jeans on the same line, they'd be dragging on the ground before long because the lines stretch.

Sometimes I will hang heavy or thick-waisted items (like jeans) upside down, or by the ankles or bottom hem. This saves a bit of space, too! If I have delicate items on which I don't want to leave pin marks, I sometimes hang those upside down, too. If you notice an item is wrinkled, try to smooth or straighten it when you hang it. I've found this to be especially effective on pant legs and jeans, and hemlines that tend to roll.

While I use my clothesline early spring through late fall, I still use my dryer some. I have found that if I don't dry our socks, they seem to stretch out and don't stay up as well. That is to say, they need the heat to shrink back down. For me, socks are a bit more trouble than they're worth on the line because they take up a lot of pins (even if you pin a pair together) and take a long time to dry.

I also take things for a tumble after coming off the line to make sure they are dry, soften them up, and remove the tiny bugs that like to hang out on them! I'm not sure what the critters are - they're black and white with wings, and they tend to chomp on me a bit as I'm taking clothes down. I don't want them biting the Goose, so most everything goes for a spin after it comes down. I usually just throw the wet socks in the dryer as they come out of the washer, and then later put a load of clothes off the line in with them. The dampness from the socks helps soften and remove wrinkles, too.

If you had a stained item, check it before drying! If the stain is not gone, don't put it in the dryer. Treat it again next time it comes through the wash and continue to sun the stain. Or put the item back out on the line the next day or two for several hours to try and sun it out. This will likely also fade the color of the item, though, so keep that in mind.

Do you have any line-drying tips or tricks? I'd love to hear how you do it! For more frugal ideas, visit Life As Mom here for Frugal Fridays.

Keeping Sink Drains Clear

Thanks for joining me for Kitchen Tip Tuesday! I am a long time reader but a first time poster and a brand-new blogger. I just started this week, but I've already blogged about my garden, frugal finds, and I'm having a giveaway.

This kitchen tip comes to you courtesy of my mother. In order to keep the drains running smoothly on her kitchen sinks, she simply uses hot water.



Run your water until it gets hot (you can use an old milk jug or pitcher to catch it and use it to water plants if you'd like!), then plug your sink or both sides, if you have a double sink. Once they are both full, either don a rubber glove to protect your hand or use a long handled spoon to pull the stoppers. You might also tie a string to your stopper to pull it with, if you prefer. Regardless, don't burn yourself, the water is hot!

If you have a garbage disposal, go ahead and run it as the sinks empty to help pull the water down even faster. Now that your pipes are warmed up, you can repeat it a few times if you wish.

There are two factors at work here; one is the heat from the water softens any grease in your pipes and pushes it on through. The second is the full sinks on both sides (or just the full sink, if you have one) creates more pressure and suction to make it move quickly.

While this does use quite a bit of water, I prefer it to using extremely caustic drain-opening chemicals and I certainly prefer it to paying a professional! The same concept will of course work on your bathroom sinks, and even the tub, although you don't need to fill it all the way full. If you find you run short of hot water, you can put some pots of water on the stove ahead of time to boil and pour those in the sinks to give yourself a head start.

Another tip that has helped me keep my drains clear is that I use the garbage disposal side for wash water when doing dishes and I rinse in the other side. That way, any food particles go through the disposal. Also, when I drain my dish water, I turn on the disposal as sort of a mini-version of the sinkful of hot water tip. Every bit helps, I think.

For more kitchen tips, visit Kitchen Tip Tuesday here at Tammy's Recipes.