Monday, May 18, 2009

Never Scrub a Tub Again

I hate scrubbing the bathroom. The harsh cleaners burn my throat and lungs. And I honestly have better things to do with my life. So to solve my problem I have found the best miracle cleaner there is for a dirty bathroom...a tub.


After cleaning up the clutter and either vacuuming or sweeping the floor, partially fill your tub with very hot water.

You only need a few inches or so. More water won't make it cleaner, so no need to be wasteful.


And then close the door and forget about it for 20 min or so. Just until everything has really steamed up. Now if its the first time or your bathroom has had a rough week then you can spray it down with a homemade multi-purpose cleaner before closing the door.


After you've given it time to not only get nice and steamy, but pretty drippy, don't write on the mirror. I just makes one more mess to clean up. Take two rags, one for the tub and counter, the other for the floor and toilet. Then just wipe everything dry. You will be amazed at how easily everthing comes clean. If the ring around the tub doesn't wipe as easily, you can use a magic eraser, but it shouldn't need it once you start doing this easy trick once a week.
This same concept works with the microwave and a glass of water. Now go find something to do with all the free time you have, since you don't scrub tubs anymore either!

Saturday, May 16, 2009

The White Shirt

Last week, TJ helped the Palmer family brand calves. He wore this white shirt. He has worn this shirt for three years to almost all the brandings.

Its light weight, has two pockets, and does not attract heat from the sun. It's the perfect shirt for being out in the elements all day.

See that blood on the sleeve, and the spatters up the arm. That's how the whole shirt pretty much looked with dirt and cow manure added in to make it good-n-dirty. He does this same thing for our cows, and several other outfits throughout the year, and it always involves at least one of the three things that made this shirt dirty (blood, dirt, and cow manure). I needed to find a way to keep this shirt in business for a little while longer.


I rinsed the shirt well, and scrubbed the bad stains with Ivory bar soap. Then set it to soak in my special mixture of 4 tablespoons of my homemade laundry soap and 1/2 of a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. Finishing it off with enough hot water to keep it emersed in liquid. (I had to weigh it down with a heavy candle after the bubbles started to form.)


It soaked for 24 hours, but it really only needed overnight. I then tossed it in the washer, and put it through a soak and heavy wash cycle with HOT water. I added vinegar to the softener cup because its a good laundry softener, and it couldn't hurt. Just use regular laundry soap and a healthy shake of washing soda for this load.


After letting it dry in the sunlight it came out pirty dang clean. Not even a ring around the collar. It might be a possibility that all of the above mentioned steps are not necessary, but don't ask me which ones. It seems to really do the trick and save a lot of money in new clothes. Hopefully you don't have the same nightmare in your laundry, but if you do this might help.