Finish it Friday: Pantry Organization
I’ve now joined the group of bloggers who do Finish it Friday. I’ve fought it, thinking and saying to myself that I don’t need to do a blog post on one thing I finally accomplish during the week just to make sure I get one thing accomplished in a week. I was wrong. I need motivation and someone(s) to be accountable to. This is something I’ve needed to do for quite some time, so I’m going to do it.
We have two pantries in our kitchen, and you know when you first move in you put things places and think, “I’ll organize that later.” And maybe you do do a few improvements and “organizing” but in the end you aren’t happy but you don’t want to spend the time to do more. Well that is me and my pantries. We have one that is quite shallow and one that is really deep. I had more stuffed into the shallow pantry than the deep pantry and decided that I should fix it, I HAD to. My main reasoning being that I like to have extras of essentials… hand soap, floss, emergency stuff, extra cooking oil, etc. Until today I had just been stuffing those all on the very top shelf in the shallow pantry. Well anyone who has met me in person knows I am vertically challenged, aka: short. I (especially in my pregnant state) could barely reach much less see the much prized and needed emergency/storage items. In fact two weeks ago I went without flossing for 3 days until I could get to the grocery store because I was too short to see the extra floss on the top shelf. Sad. And it wont happen again! It only took me about half an hour…
Before:
After:
Basically I moved all my everyday cooking/eating items to the deep pantry with the less-used items to the shallow pantry. And now I have more room to buy storage food/household items. And when you find a way to have more storage space isn’t that always a winner? Yay!
And don’t forget today is the last day to sign up for my 2010 Planner Giveaway!
Cleaning Tote = Easier Life
Say what? You heard me. I put my cleaning supplies in a tote and it has made my life SO much easier! No more hauling individual bottles around with several trips back and forth to the laundry room shelf or bathroom cabinet. I take my tote, set it in the doorway, use the duster, put it back, use my dust rag, put it back, all purpose cleaner, glass cleaner, etc. I never lose or misplace my cleaning supplies, ahhhh. It’s a wonderful thing. My cleaning supplies are in one place, and I always know where it is AND it’s easy to track when I’m running low.
Things in My Tote:
Duster
Toilet Bowl Cleaner
All-Purpose Cleaner
Glass Cleaner
Floor Cleaner
Rubber Gloves
Dusting Spray
Disinfectant Wipes
Magic Eraser
Febreeze
Things on My List To Put in my Tote:
Plastic Rinsing Cup (how else do you rinse the soap off the tile that’s above the shower head?)
Old Toothbrushes
Barkeepers/Comet
Random Thoughts:
If you don’t have a place to put your toilet brush put it in your tote! Professional cleaners do. Put them in plastic bags in your tote, you may want to put a rag under it. If having a toilet brush in your tote grosses you out, just remember to let it soak for a few minutes in bleach water to disinfect it.
When picking a tote, always go for bigger. I bought a smaller one before this and took it back, it was too narrow to fit all the different cleaning bottles.
*Don’t forget to enter into my 2010 Woman’s Success Planner Giveaway! You have until this Friday November 6th at midnight to enter.*
Vacuum Tips
Everyone wants to extend the life of their vacuum, but how?
-If your vacuum has a filter you should check it, and clean it after every other vacuuming. Or if you have a large house or vacuum infrequently you should check it after each use.
-Check your vacuum bag frequently. That doesn’t mean you have to change it each time, but check it frequently. If you unknowingly have a full vacuum bag it causes a lot of stress on the vacuum’s mechanics. A full vacuum bag means that your vacuum has to work much harder to pick up dirt to deposit it in the bag, which means you are much more likely to burn out a belt or worse.
-Clean out the beater bar. How often you have to do this depends on how many people have long hair in the household. Long hair is much more likely to get wrapped around the beater bar than shorter hair. I haven’t cleaned mine in quite a while and this is what it looked like:
And the close up:
Yuck! If you haven’t cleaned your beater bar in a while… do it! And you may need a pair of scissors like I did! It will increase the ability of the beater bar to pick up dirt and debris.
If you wait for a while like I did it really takes some muscle and patience to get it out. I’d actually recommend cleaning out your beater bar after each use. This way you have a more efficient clean and it makes it much easier to keep clean, and your vacuum will love you.
And for those of you who think… why is Meagan giving out “recommend”-ations? I am a trained professional cleaner, and have had quite a bit of experience with vacuums and caring/cleaning them along with other house-cleaning experience. So good luck and happy cleaning!
Favorite-ist Scrub Pads
There are SO many options for dish scrub pads, along with every other cleaning supply, and I have an absolute favorite. The SOS Tuffy Cleaning Pad. It is amazing! Tightly woven and made of nylon. So it is a champ at scrubbing off stuck on food but doesn’t scratch your cookware. And food chunks are easy to rise out of it to keep it clean.
When we moved I couldn’t find them anywhere. Thankfully I had brought along a few that we had stored, then we went back to visit my husband’s parents and I brought home 8 or so. They lasted over a year and when we went back to visit I completely forgot to buy more. Once again I searched the different stores in my area, wishing, hoping I would find them to no avail. I whined and hated doing the dishes (even more than I do normally) and my husband surprised me by finding them and buying an entire box for me to have. They will last us about 3 years.
I was, once again amazed at how well they worked compared to the intermediate scrubber I had bought. I wish I had kept it to take a picture, but I threw it away immediately after these came in the mail. A pan my husband had burned eggs in and I couldn’t get clean for over a week was on the counter, in 5 seconds flat I had gotten the burned egg off the pan with this scrubby. Ahhh, it so nice to have products that work like they are supposed to.
The thing that worries me though is that they were really hard for my husband to find! I’m trying to decide if I should buy a ton of boxes to (hopefully) last through my life! (But I’m not too worried because it is listed as a “Top Seller”) I know you might think, “Meagan, they aren’t that wonderful.” And I tell you yes, they really are. And since they are so hard to find I will give you the link to look at them. SOS Tuffy Nylon Scouring Pads It is $25 for a box of 24, and who can beat that price really? Just over a buck per scrubber? The lame scrubber I bought was $5!! I couldn’t believe it and it was so useless. restockit.com was one of two sites my husband found these scrubbers on, so feel free to browse, and if you like to stock up on items, they have great prices on bulk.
New Vacuum
Can you guess which vacuum is my new one?
It’s the Electrolux a.k.a the ugly looking one! It is actually pretty old and I bought it refurbished. It is awesome! Why I love Electrolux:
1. Durability. The housekeeping company I work for only uses them, and I talked with my boss Laurie about vacuums. When I got this one she was telling me the sounds to listen for if a belt is loose, but then stopped and said, of coarse it will be several years before you will even need a new belt on that thing.
2.There are 2 motors, one for suction and the other for the beater bar (the bar with the bristles that spins and picks up dirt out of your carpet). I can sweep my tile floor, and then suck up the dirt with just the suction on rather than bend over with a dustpan. Which is great when you’re pregnant and can’t bend over! Using the suction only is great on any hard surface, wood, tile, linoleum, you name it.
3. Ease of changing out bags. You just open the top, by pressing in two buttons, lift out the bag, put in a new one and you’re good to go. They are also HEPPA filters, so I know the bag is holding in all the yuckies. And I do love the bag. My previous was a bag-less, but then all the dust and yuckies are re-exposed when you empty the container. I have an allergy to dust mites so I hated having to empty it out and have an allergy attack!
4. Local Electrolux Dealer. I paid just over $300, for a high-quality vacuum that will go and go, and there is a local repairman I can take it to. No trying to figure out which belt has gotten loose, or just not knowing what I should do with it when it breaks down.
If you are looking for a “new” vacuum check out Electrolux for a new Electrolux or check the yellow pages for a local dealer. You can get a steal with a refurbished, which comes completely cleaned and fixed, with all the attachments, and 5-10 bags.
Bye Bye Eureka!
Back to Basics with Cleaning
In the April 2009 edition of Real Simple magazine there were some great cleaning tips that I thought I would share with you! These tips were on page 140, I hope you enjoy and use!
Baking & Washing Soda
The Nitty-Gritty: Baking soda (a.k.a sodium bicarbonate) and its close cousin, washing soda (sodium carbonate), both absorb odors. But unlike baking soda, slightly stronger washing soda can’t be ingested; wear rubber gloves when handling it.
Price: About $1.08 for a pound of baking soda; $7 for 4 pounds of washing soda: both available at supermarkets.
Use them to clean your…
Can Opener: dip a toothbrush in a paste of 2 tablespoons baking soda and 1 teaspoon water and use it to dislodge gunk.
Garage Floors (and other concrete surfaces): Pour washing soda generously on oil and grease spots and sprinkle with water until a paste forms. Let stand overnight. The next day scrub with a damp brush, hose down, and wipe clean.
Garden Tools: Dip a moist stiff-bristled brush in washing soda to scrub trimmers, clippers, and more. Rinse, then place in a sunny area to dry. (Don’t use washing soda on aluminum tools.)
Grills and Barbecue Utensils: To combat tough grease stains, dip a moist stiff-bristled brush in washing soda and scrub away.
Stove Burners: In a dishpan soak them in 1 gallon warm water and 1/2 cup washing soda for 30 minutes. Rinse and dry.
Stained Teacups and Coffee Mugs: Fill with 1 part baking soda and 2 parts water and soak overnight; rub with a sponge and rinse.
Upholstered Furniture: To remove odors, sprinkle baking soda on fabric, then vacuum.
Scuffed Walls: Erase crayon marks by applying a baking soda paste (equal parts baking soda and water) to white painted walls (baking soda may dull colored walls.) Let dry before brushing it off with a clean cloth.
