Why We Do It
A practical site for the Stay at Home Mom
A practical site for the Stay at Home Mom
Cleaning Tips and Tricks
How to get any stain off your baby's clothes
Everytime I had a child I have recieved bags of hand-me-downs. At first I was always dissapointed at have to throw half of them out because of set in stains. I would think to myself, "Don't these people know what Spray and Wash is?!" That is until I figured out a method that has worked everytime and now I look forward to those big sacks of leftovers.
1. Divide the clothes into two piles. Visible stains and overall dingyness
2. With the visible stain pile apply a stain pre-treater, aka Spray and Wash, to each stain. (this works even better if you use and old toothbrush to rub it in.)
3. Make one big load with detergent (I use Dreft) and 1 cup of powder BIZ
4. Let the load sit in the soak mode for 24 hours
5. After 24 hours let the load finish the wash cycle as normal.
After the the load is finished washing is when you can check your stains. If there are any left repeat the cycle before drying, dry as normal. With my experience this has worked every time!
Everytime I had a child I have recieved bags of hand-me-downs. At first I was always dissapointed at have to throw half of them out because of set in stains. I would think to myself, "Don't these people know what Spray and Wash is?!" That is until I figured out a method that has worked everytime and now I look forward to those big sacks of leftovers.
1. Divide the clothes into two piles. Visible stains and overall dingyness
2. With the visible stain pile apply a stain pre-treater, aka Spray and Wash, to each stain. (this works even better if you use and old toothbrush to rub it in.)
3. Make one big load with detergent (I use Dreft) and 1 cup of powder BIZ
4. Let the load sit in the soak mode for 24 hours
5. After 24 hours let the load finish the wash cycle as normal.
After the the load is finished washing is when you can check your stains. If there are any left repeat the cycle before drying, dry as normal. With my experience this has worked every time!
My favorite use for the Magic Eraser!
The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser has saved my leather couch over and over against attacks from my artistic 3 year old. I have used it to clean off marker, pen marks, crayon and overall dirtyness. I always have one on hand!
The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser has saved my leather couch over and over against attacks from my artistic 3 year old. I have used it to clean off marker, pen marks, crayon and overall dirtyness. I always have one on hand!
Cleaning your carpet yourself
Just because you get a few noticable stains doesn't mean you need to call every carpet cleaning business in town for high dollar quotes. With a little time and a lot less money you can get those carpets looking like new without the stains coming back a week later.
First what you will need is a steam cleaner of some sort. You can get one of these at your local Wal-Mart or Target. If you don't want to commit to a purchase you can rent a RugDoctor. These can usually be rented from your grocery store.
Next you need your cleaning solution. This is the most important part. Warm water. That is all you need. Plain water will not leave a residue on the fibers therefore not attracting dirt to your fresh carpet. Cold water won't do the job and hot water may set in certain stains.
Pre-treat by pouring plain warm water on all noticable stains and follow with the machine over the entire carpet per machine instructions.
Drying is the next important step. Since the store bought machines don't have as powerful suction as the commercial ones, drying the carpet is very important. Make sure you extract as much moisture with the machine and then run as many fans as possible and run the airconditioner when weather permits. The airconditioner acts as a dehumidifier.
Last, after the carpet is completely dry (24 hours or so) you need to apply some kind of protectant. This can also be bought at Wal-Mart. I use Scotch Guard Carpet protector in the aerosal can.
It can be done and save you money!
Just because you get a few noticable stains doesn't mean you need to call every carpet cleaning business in town for high dollar quotes. With a little time and a lot less money you can get those carpets looking like new without the stains coming back a week later.
First what you will need is a steam cleaner of some sort. You can get one of these at your local Wal-Mart or Target. If you don't want to commit to a purchase you can rent a RugDoctor. These can usually be rented from your grocery store.
Next you need your cleaning solution. This is the most important part. Warm water. That is all you need. Plain water will not leave a residue on the fibers therefore not attracting dirt to your fresh carpet. Cold water won't do the job and hot water may set in certain stains.
Pre-treat by pouring plain warm water on all noticable stains and follow with the machine over the entire carpet per machine instructions.
Drying is the next important step. Since the store bought machines don't have as powerful suction as the commercial ones, drying the carpet is very important. Make sure you extract as much moisture with the machine and then run as many fans as possible and run the airconditioner when weather permits. The airconditioner acts as a dehumidifier.
Last, after the carpet is completely dry (24 hours or so) you need to apply some kind of protectant. This can also be bought at Wal-Mart. I use Scotch Guard Carpet protector in the aerosal can.
It can be done and save you money!