I have been pretty busy around here with all of my spring cleaning...wait, what? Spring cleaning in August?? Yup...you heard right. In the actual Spring season, I am up to my eyeballs in end of the year school stuff and planning my garden and Summer activities. In other words, I had no time for cleaning. This time of the year has always worked best for me, and now that Hannah is in school, I tack on cleaning out the drawers to the list, and my back to school shopping becomes much easier!!
This week I have been working hard in the bathrooms and laundry room, trying to de-funk the drains, faucets, you name it. The first thing I tackled was the Master Bathroom sink. Any house I have ever lived in has always had a slow drain in the Master Bath. I'm sure it has to do with the amount of use it gets, as well as my hair. In any case, I wanted to try a DIY natural solution before resorting to chemicals and plungers.
I found a remedy online that suggests pouring 1/2 cup of baking soda in your drain, followed by 1/2 cup of white vinegar. Let it sit for 5 minutes with a damp cloth over the top and then rinse it down with steaming water. I gave it a go, though it sat much longer, as I got chatting on the phone with my Mom. I did find that 1/2 cup was a bit too much for my little drain, though it worked like a charm! After I removed the cloth, I used it to clean the sink and shine up the faucet. The drain now flows like it was brand new and I never had to buy or use chemicals to do it!
My next big project was the washing machine. The people who owned this house before us did not take good care of their machine. Remember this post?? I knew the rubber gasket was nasty, but I had put off actually cleaning it until today. I read in several places that good old water and vinegar would clean it up, so that was my first plan of action. As you can see from the photos, it looks much better now, but there are still nasty spots that need to be dealt with. I scrubbed them as much as I could without ruining the gasket and that didn't seem to be enough, so I think I'm going to try bleach and water next. I'll be sure to post my results.
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| Before...I wanted to throw up!! |
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| After...still not great, but MUCH better!! |
So that's part of what I've been up to. I know it doesn't involve pretty hand knits, quilts, or cooking, but hopefully it is helpful info. Stay tuned for some "cleaner" posts...I have lots of ideas...just need a few more hours in the day to get them all typed up.
Cheers!
Sharon
