DON"T Call the Plumber

Here's a handy dandy way to unclog your drain with basic household ingredients. Oh, and it's green, too.

Ingredients
Baking Soda
Distilled White Vinegar
Hot Water

1. Pour ¾ cup baking soda into the drain
2. Pour ½ cup vinegar down the drain
3. Cover the drain completely with a rag or plug to make sure nothing escapes
4. Let the baking soda and vinegar do their magic for 30 minutes
5. Meanwhile boil a kettle of water
6. Pour hot water down the drain

If the drain remains clogged, repeat the above steps and it should be good as new.

Is Your Coffee Pot Clean?

Is it REALLY clean? No matter how well I clean the coffee pot each day with warm soapy water, annoying brown stains seem to magically appear. Yuck.

A quick home remedy to the rescue - denture tablets.

Put 6-8 tabs in a 10-cup stainless steel coffee carafe, fill with warm water and let it sit for a few hours.

Dump the water out, give it a quick swish and wipe with warm soapy water. Next thing you know, you've got a sparkly clean coffee pot. It feels so much better to make a fresh pot without the ooky stains.

Cleaning Up the Joint

My parents are coming to visit for Roo's birthday this week. Needless to say, I've been working to clean up the joint. Who knew two kids and two dogs could make walls and floor trim so dirty? Eww.

I use homemade cleaning solutions most of the time to maintain a thrifty and green household.

Photo courtesy of The Sassy Homemaker

Green cleaning tips
Use white vinegar and newsprint to clean your mirrors and windows; it works better than anything else. My mother swears by this trick, a technique she learned as a child from her German grandmother.

Dilute white vinegar with water to clean your bathroom floor, tile and fixtures.

Instead of using a commercial fabric softener in your rinse cycle, use half a cup of vinegar instead. It breaks down laundry detergent more effectively, especially helpful if you have sensitive skin.

Now, back to work. . .

Green and Clean, Baby!

One of my recent discoveries is cleaning sterling silver with toothpaste.

My sterling silver ring by Carmen de Anguis is one of my treasures, so I wear it every day. I purchased it in Cannon Beach, Oregon, when my daughter was only 9 months old (she's 11 years old now). It was recently tarnished while I cleaned my bathroom - stupid to wear it, I know. Since I didn't have any silver polish - Wenol is my favorite - I looked online to find a homemade alternative. Voila! Toothpaste. I globbed it on and left it for a while, rubbed it off and now it's good as new.

You can also clean diamonds, remove ink and lipstick stains from clothing, and clear up pimples. Discover more uses at WiseBread.

In Praise of Baking Soda

Baking soda is the best. Not only can you use it in cooking, but you can also use it to clean and deodorize your home.

We all know that placing a box in your refrigerator or freezer for 30 days keeps food tasting fresh. The box even has a handy dandy spot to jot down your change date on the side of the box. But did you know that it can be used to deodorize your garbage disposal? When my disposal gets smelly, I pour about 1 cup baking soda and 1 cup distilled white vinegar in, then flush with warm water. It deodorizes the drain and makes it smell a-ok. Follow up with lemon peel and it smells great. You can vary the amount of baking soda and/or vinegar. When I'm in a hurry I just dump the baking soda in, skip the vinegar, and flush with water. Especially handy when you're cooking.

There are tons of other uses, too. Go to Arm & Hammer for more tips.

Green and clean, baby!