Hey Sis! Did you miss us?! I missed blogging and after Rachelle was here a few weeks ago, I decided that it was time to get back on here... so here I am!
Now that Christmas and New Years have passed, my house it a hot mess and needed a serious deep cleaning! All the kids (now 19,17, 14, 14, 12 and 9) have been home for a few weeks and my bathrooms especially were out of control. Like most of my friends, I am obsessed with Pinterest and I am constantly pinning new cleaning methods with less chemicals. I feel better with my 19 month old niece and my puppy running around eating off of surfaces and licking who knows what at any given moment, using less chemicals wherever possible. This past weekend, I rolled up my proverbial sleeves, pulled up a few Pins and got down and dirty with my bathrooms. Here are a few things that I tried... I LOVED most of them and can't wait to hear what you all think after you have tried them. Pretty please comment after you have tried these things and let me know what you think!
The first pin that I tried was this pin about cleaning with used dryer sheets. Life changer kids! I will NEVER, EVER throw another dryer sheet away without using it to clean something else first. I wiped my toilet seats with one, wiped all the silver fixtures (toilet paper roll holder, hand towel holder, faucet etc) and they sparkled like they were brand new! I also ran one across my baseboards. Not only did it remove all the dust and lint, rumor has it that is should also repel dust and lint a little longer than normal dusting would. I tried it on the mirrors in my kid's bathroom and was not super impressed. I cleaned the mirrors with my favorite window cleaner and then ran a dry dryer sheet over them again and it grabbed all of the lint and cooties that the first cleaning left behind so I would for sure recommend at least wiping your mirrors when they are not crazy filthy, I was quite pleased. All this being said, my favorite way to use it BY FAR was for the sink. I got the dryer sheet damp and used it to wash out the sink. All the left over tooth paste and soap scum came right up! Yep, I'm hooked!!! I keep them in the bathroom cabinet so they are ready to go whenever the bathroom needs a quick touch up. Extra added bonus??? The bathroom smells like clean laundry! Yes please!!!
After I had everything sparkly clean, I tried this pin telling me to use a cup of baking soda in my toilet bow to absorb odor and clean ugly marks on the inside of my toilet. Honestly, not my most favorite. I don't know if I didn't use quite enough baking soda or if I didn't let it set long enough, but I was not impressed. I will give it another try however and follow the instructions a little better and see if that helps.
This next pin changed this mom of four boy's life. Seriously. I am not any sort of exaggerating. I found this pin promising me that with just three ingredients I could get rid of the boy pee smell in my bathroom. Ladies (and gentlemen)... IT WORKS!!! All you need is baking soda (I used about a half of a cup) and lemon juice (enough to make the mixture the consistency of pancake batter) and vinegar in a squirt bottle. The first thing you will do is make your paste mixture. In one of my bathrooms I made it a bit thin but poured it on the areas I needed to be dealt with (the base of the toilet where it meets the floor and also where the seat connects to the actual toilet) and it worked just fine so not to worry if you get a little excited with the lemon juice. Now you will want to pour it where the stink is coming from (see my last sentence to note where I put my mixture) and let it sit for about 10 minutes and then squirt it with straight white vinegar. It fizzles and bubbles and that apparently is where the magic happens! After it is done fizzing, just wipe it up and viloa! All better!!! I was shocked at how well this worked you guys. It is amazing and so easy! The lemon juice leaves a fabulous scent behind. I can not say enough good things about this idea...
The last pin I tried was one for cleaning the floors. I will never mop with anything else! The recipe is 7 cups water, 1/2 cup baking soda, 1/3 cup ammonia (or lemon juice) and 1/4 cup vinegar. I happen to have a giant bottle of lemon juice in my fridge and no ammonia so I opted for lemon juice. Again, the lemon juice left a fabulous scent. I would recommend using hot water so the baking soda will dissolve fully. I used it in my bathrooms and also my kitchen/dining room and holy moly does this mixture ever cut through dirt and ick! I do want to try getting on my hands and knees and going crazy with a scrub brush because 'they' say it does amazing things for your grout.
I do have a few more pins that I want to try for my shower area, but I decided to wait until the plumber comes to clean out my drains to do that part. I will definitely let you know how well those pins worked also. Overall I was amazed at how clean and fresh my bathrooms turned out and how little effort I had to put into getting them that way. I hope you are all as happy with these ideas as I am!
Happy Cleaning! Alisa
