Refill Your Swiffer!

So I found this thing on Pinterest yesterday. It was an article on how to refill your Swiffer Wet Jet. I was actually just about to stop using my Swiffer because I prefer to use more natural cleaning products nowadays. I had about four squirts left in my Wet Jet, so I emptied it and went to work on getting that darn cap off!

Here's what you do.

Boil a small pot of water on the stove, and dip the cap part of the Swiffer Wet Jet bottle into the water for about 90 seconds. Then simply twist the cap off. The heat helps soften the plastic enough so you can just give it a good twist and it will come right off. But make sure to use a towel or something because that cap gets pretty hot.

The cap has these little flaps inside that catch on the bottle so that you can't open it again. Your next step is to cut those off. The article I read says to use a finger nail clipper to just snip them off. I actually made James do this part. Well, I didn't so much make him, as he just took over this part. He loves stuff like this. He said a sharp knife and a steady hand worked way better than a finger nail clipper. Anyway, now you can screw and unscrew the cap at your leisure - no boiling required!

 

I decided to use my favorite all-purpose cleaner. I'm pretty much in love with Mrs Meyer's basil scented stuff. It smells so fresh and wonderful! And this bottle is super cost-effective. It's about $8, and it's concentrated, so 1/4 cup makes a gallon of cleaner. This bottle lasts a looong time.

 

So I mixed up a half gallon of my favorite basil scented cleaner and I refilled my Wet Jet! I was SO super happy about finding out this wonderful little tidbit. I really like my Wet Jet, and the fact that I can now use it with my favorite kind of cleaner (that's more healthy for my dog and my kids) really got me excited. I know, that's pathetic, but I try to find joy in the little things. :) 

 

Aaaaand, I had some cleaner left over, so I poured it into a handy little spray bottle. I only have a little bit left of the all-purpose cleaner I keep in the bathroom, so this will be a great replacement for that.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I've been toying with the idea of making my own laundry detergent for a while now. I was hesitant because I have an HE washer, and I wasn't sure if it was okay to use the homemade stuff in it. But everything I've read says it is. So I decided to trust the interweb and go for it. There are several different recipes out there. They mainly have the same ingredients, just different measurements. This is the one I used.

First, you need an awesome washer and dryer in a cool color. Okay, you don't need that, but it sure makes doing laundry more fun! And I just wanted to show off my new washer and dryer, which I love.

Now here's what you do need.

Fels-Naptha (this is soap) - 2 cups, finely grated
Washing Soda - 1 cup (note: this is NOT the same as baking soda)
Borax - 1 cup
Oxygen stain remover, like Sun or Oxyclean (optional) - 1/3 cup

You can get all of these things at Wal-Mart in the laundry aisle. They are pretty easy to find. And they're very inexpensive, which is a plus. I used about 2/3 of the bar of Fels-Naptha to get two cups, so if you want to make a bigger batch, you should get a few bars. The rest of the stuff will last a while, which is why making your own laundry detergent is dirt cheap. Haha, dirt. Get it? Laundry gets rid of dirt? .... tough crowd.

I always feel weird when I say Fels-Naptha. Like I'm trying to say Napsa, but I have a lisp. But I digress...

First you want to grate the bar of Fels-Naptha with the smallest holes your grater has. The smaller you grate it, the better it will blend with all the powders you mix it with.

Then you want to let it sit uncovered over night. I used a couple of plates to spread it out so it would dry out faster. You could use a baking sheet, or whatever strikes your fancy. Just keep it out of reach of kids (or husbands) because it looks a lot like grated cheese. Once it has dried out a bit, just crumble it with your fingers and it will almost turn to powder. This way it will mix better with the other ingredients.

Put all the ingredients into a container.

Then mix it all up. I just put the lid on and shook it. Then I took an old measuring spoon (1 tbsp) and put it in the container for... well, measuring.

Use one heaping tablespoon for normal loads, and two tablespoons for more heavily soiled loads. This has worked out well for us.

I ended up paying around $12 for all these supplies. If you want to do more batches, you'll need to buy more Fels Naptha, but that's cheap, so no big deal. I would guess that all the laundry soap I can make from these supplies will probably last me about six months. That's six months of laundry detergent for the price of one bottle of Tide. Awesome!

Domestic Stuff

Today as I was making my menu plan for next week, I started feeling domestic. And that inspired me to post a blog about domestic stuff. Now, "domestic stuff" is a very general term, and a lot falls into that category, so I thought I'd just briefly touch on some of the domestic stuff I do (or should do) that might help someone else feel domestic too, and get stuff done.

Menu planning -
Some people have very elaborate menu plans - we're talking worksheets, lists, rotations, etc. I'm not that hardcore. I just write down a few recipes to make next week, and then make sure I have all the ingredients for them. In fact, most of the time I don't even do this. But I should! When I menu plan for the upcoming week, I'm always glad that I did. It's so much easier than standing in front of the fridge/freezer/pantry at 5:00pm, hollering to James, "Honey, what do you want for supper?"

Freezer meals - 
If you've been following my blog for a while, then you know how I feel about freezer meals (see this post) - I love 'em! If you have a weekend where you don't have much going on (ha!) you could set aside some time to make a bunch of meals to freeze. Or, if you're making something for dinner that would freeze well, you can make a double batch, eat one, and freeze the other. I do this frequently with meatloaf. Most freezer meals you can just pop into the oven while frozen, although if you thaw them it will take less time to cook.

Organizing -
Ok, so I'm not so good at this one, but I'm working on it. It doesn't help that we just moved and are still trying to find a permanent place for everything. At any rate, I've been reading a lot of organizing blogs lately. Some of my favorites are I'm an Organizing Junkie, I Heart Organizing, and A Bowl Full of Lemons. Here's a little disclaimer: don't feel like you should be doing everything that these ladies do. You will feel like a failure. I'm pretty sure they don't do anything besides organize and blog, because honestly, who has time for all that. So while I feel that these blogs are a bit unrealistic, they do have some really great tips and ideas. I love reading them. They really inspire me to get organized, although that hasn't quite happened yet.

Cleaning - the green way
No, I'm not a tree-hugging hippy. I'm a mother of two kids, and I want to do everything I can to keep them healthy. And if it's also better for the environment - bonus! When I was pregnant with Isaac, I bought some natural bathroom cleaner because I didn't want to be breathing in all those harsh chemicals. I felt good about it, so I've been slowly trying to buy more green products, or using natural products to clean, like vinegar and baking soda (you can add a few drops of essential oils if you want to mask the vinegar smell). Before we moved into our new house, I cleaned the entire fridge/freezer out with vinegar (well, I wiped it out with soapy water first, then cleaned it with vinegar). I would have used bleach, but I didn't want to use something so harsh on a surface where we store our food. Don't get me wrong, not every cleaner I own is green, but I'm making an effort.  Here's a good link on making your own household cleaners. If you would rather buy it than make it, I've heard great things about Shaklee and Mrs. Meyers, although I haven't tried either of them.


Saving money -
Lets rewind a minute - back to homemade cleaners. Not only are these better for your family and the environment, but they're cheap! A big jug of vinegar costs, like, a dollar. Baking soda is even cheaper. I really want to try making my own laundry detergent (I like the idea of knowing exactly what's in it), but I'm hesitant because I have a high efficiency washing machine and I don't want to void the warranty by using something other than HE detergent, even though I've heard it's okay to use in HE machines. Anyway, from what I've seen, homemade laundry detergent ends up costing around 3-5 cents per load. That's crazy cheap. A few homemade things I do plan to try are dishwasher detergent, and hand soap. Don't worry, I'll be sure to blog about them when I do. :)

Another, more obvious thing you can do to save money, is use coupons. Duh, right? Saving 50 cents on two boxes of crackers might not seem like much, but if you were going to buy those crackers anyway, why not save 50 cents? It adds up, every little bit helps, and all those other cliches that we've all heard a hundred times before. If you have more time, you can pair coupons with sales and really save a lot. Check out sites like Totally Target and Hip2Save. They do all the hard work for you. You just have to print the coupons.

Whew, ok that's all for now folks. I'm all domesticated out. Now go forth and meal plan/cook/organize/clean/save money.