Easy Way to Keep Your Shower Clean

If you are looking for a super easy way to keep your shower clean all you need is these three things.

Take the cardboard off of your scrub brush. I bought mine new at Dollar General for $2.00. This type opens at the bottom of the handle.

Open it and pour two tablespoons of dishwashing liquid in. Fill the remainder with vinegar.

This is what it will look like once you have finished filling it.

Now, hang it in your shower for easy access. After each shower, before you get out, use the scrubber to wipe down the walls and tub. Use your shower to rinse the scrubber and your shower. Now, your shower will be clean the next time you use it. So simple! So easy! You will never have to scrub and break your back cleaning your tub and shower again! 

How to Clean Your Stove Top For Less Than $1.00

I have one of the oldest (& dirtiest) stoves known to mankind. It is so disgusting that I have been threatening to trade it in on a new one! (I just can't afford it yet!) I have to make do with it. I am just tired of it looking like I pulled it out of the county dump. I have tried all sorts of cleansers and nothing really works. Oh, it might take off a little, but nothing like I want it to. I have even tried Easy Off oven cleaner with no success. I thought after my success with the oven, I would try to tackle this.

EWWW!!!
Believe it or not, I actually washed over it with hot, soapy water just before I took this picture. I am so embarrased but before I show you the after photo, I wanted you to see what it looked like before.

The first thing I tried was a paste made with baking soda and peroxide.

I just poured the box of baking soda in a bowl and slowly added hydrogen peroxide until it made a paste. Then I coated the stove top with it and left it alone for about 30 minutes. After I wiped all of the baking soda paste off, I rinsed the stove top with hot water. These were my results.

It definitely looked better. You can tell it worked. My stove top was just so bad, that it would not get it all. If your's is not as bad as mine was, this is probably all you need to get yours sparkling clean.

Because my stove was so stained and had at least 100 years (I may be slightly exaggerating, but it certainly felt like it as I was cleaning it) of grease built up on it, I had to keep trying.

I remembered the mixture I used to clean my oven, and thought about giving it a shot.

I brought a pot of water almost to a boil on the stove. I did this for two reasons. First to heat up the stove top, and second to get my water as hot as I could stand it.

I poured the hot water into a cleaning bucket and added two tablespoons of dishwashing liquid.

Pulled out my rubber gloves,

And, added 1 1/2 cups of lemon scented ammonia to the mix.

I used an old rag to wash off the stove top. There was a tiny bit of steam because of the hot water and hot stove top. I was able to stand it without difficulty. I used a stainsless steel scrubber around the edges of the eyes to try to get the old, cooked on grease off. After about 30 minutes of wiping and scrubbing, I gave up.
This is the final result.

It still did not get off everything, but I have never seen it look this good. This is a stove I can live with while I am saving my pennies to buy a new one. (Patting myself on the back for a job well done!) Try it for yourself and see how good your stove top can look!

DIY Citrus Rosemary All Purpose Cleaner

Do you need a great all purpose cleaner to use around your house? I have an all natural cleaner for you. It only has 3 ingredients so it is simple and easy to make. You probably have all of the ingredients on hand, so why not give it a try?

Start off with oranges. I still had plenty on hand from the holidays. Instead of throwing those peels away, I had the family save them. I put those in a recycled plastic mayonnaise jar.

Orange peelings contain citrus essential oil which is a natural solvent. It will cut through grease and grime and is great to clean those really tough jobs, like the stove top.

I poured vinegar over the peels and this is what it looked like.

Vinegar is a natural bi-product of fruit, vegetables and grains. It kills bacteria, mold, and germ causing viruses.

I added a few sprigs of dried rosemary.

Rosemary is a natural disinfectant and a natural air freshener. As a bonus, the aroma is known to have properties that stimulates brain function that will aid in mental clarity and increased memory. It is also a stress reliever and promotes relaxation.

When the rosemary was added to the orange peel/vinegar mixture it looked like this.

The Citrus Rosemary Cleaner starter is now complete. All it needs is a label with date and time to wait.

Place the jar in some place out of the way. Let it steep for about 30 days. Shake the jar every few days to stir contents. Then, strain the liquid and pour into a spay bottle. Place rosemary and peelings back in the jar. Fill with vinegar to start your next batch of cleaner.

This cleaner is non-toxic, all natural, biodegradable, and environmentally friendly.

DIY Project - Clorox Wipes - reusable

Love Clorox wipes! Hate paying the high price for them and hate the waste. I decided to make my own natural, cheaper version that actually cleans so much better. The wipes can be washed and used over and over again. The best part is I used items I already had on hand to make them.

I used an old towel that was destined for the 'rag basket' It had definitely seen better days, but it was perfect for this. You can use an old t-shirt, old washcloths, or any type of cotton material that you are comfortable with.


I cut it up into squares about the same size as Clorox wipes cloths.

I was able to get over 30 square cloths out of this one towel.

These are the ingredients I used to make my version of Clorox wipes.

The Domino's Sugar container is an empty container I am recycling to put my finished product in. I did not want to use a 'baby wipes' container because we have a toddler ( my granddaughter) running around this house getting into stuff. Plus, I did not want to take the chance on getting wipes confused. I did not use a glass container because of my granddaughter too. You feel free to use any type of container that makes you happy.

Recipe:
1 cup of hot water
1/2 cup of vinegar
2 tablespoons of dishwashing liquid (I used Dawn because it was what I had on hand)
10 drops of peppermint essential oil

Mix all ingredients in measuring cup. Place cloths in container and pour liquid mixture over cloths.

Put lid on and shake to saturate all cloths. In this instance I made a double batch of the cleaning mixture so all of my cloths would be saturated.
Don't forget to label your container. I used pieces of old poster board to make mine. I covered the labels with packing tape to keep the labels from getting damaged. I also put the recipe on the back. This way I don't have to look it up again when I get ready to make my next batch.

 

  You can fancy your container up a bit if you are into that kind of thing.

 

The most important part to me is - how well does it do the job?

I had to put it to the test. I went to the dirtiest room in the house - the bathroom and did some cleaning.  I put 'real store bought' Clorox wipes up against my DIY Clorox Wipes. Here are the results. You be the judge. I can tell you my version was thicker and cleaned easier than the name brand one.

 

Before

 

After

 

 

 

Before

 

After

 

Close up view of ring stain - top portion is my DIY cleaner and bottom portion of the picture is the store bought name brand.

 

 

 

Floors were cleaned with only my DIY Clorox wipes. These are the before and after shots. I only used 2 cloths on the entire floor.

 

 

Before

 

After

 

 

Worst part of the floor - Behind the toilet - Before cleaning with DIY Clorox Wipes

 

After cleaning with DIY Clorox wipes.

 

 

These little wipes certainly cleaned a lot better than I thought they would. The name brand store bought ones did not stand a chance up against the ones I made. If you don't believe me, try your own test and experience the results first hand.