Showing posts with label Murphy Oil Soap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Murphy Oil Soap. Show all posts

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Auntie’s Systems Flow

It’s me, your very own eccentric germ freak who doesn’t like clogged systems. As I close windows more often to keep warm air inside, I decided to share some household tips to keep your home fresher and operating more efficiently.

Send your cutting boards with your range fan cover on a trip through the dishwasher. Mineral oil your boards afterward.


Rather than use a toilet brush to scrape your porcelain bowl, use a long-handled dish brush that you can buy at Dollar Tree. The bristles are in the right places. Opt not to use the brush on dishes later.

After you run your toothbrush through the dishwasher, keep it cleaner by attaching a pinchy clothespin atop a glass and set the brush between the pin’s legs to dry it quicker and not lean it against a germy surface.

Put vinegar in the fabric softener and/or bleach dispensers in your washer when you start a load. Clothes end up softer.

Fill your washtub with the right amount of laundry detergent and hot water. Soak and thoroughly scrub pillows. Send pillows through your washer's spin cycle, then place on a drying rack or other vented surface in the sun, which acts as a natural antiseptic. Do a final hot fluff in the dryer.

Reuse plastic bottles to squirt bleach water and/or vinegar through a hole you’ve poked through its cover.

Wrap your yardstick with an old sock. Secure with a couple rubber bands. Moisten with some Murphy Oil Soap and water, and wipe under your fridge and range. Keep the yardstick under your fridge for an occasional dusting.


If your comforters are too large for your washer, take them outside and shake ferociously (a person on each side works well). Lay on a clean surface in the sun for the day—where birds won't perch above.

I use a lot of vinegar and don’t like to waste those jugs, so I carefully cut the top off, retaining the gallon jug’s handle. Uses:
• store newspaper and grocery bags
• scoop water with it
• fill with compostable leftovers
• place labeled electronics cords and cables inside one
• keep one under your sink to contain stuff that usually floats around down there
• carry in your yard and put plucked weeds in it
• fill with soapy water and wash your dog's feet after hiking [see auntieeartha.blogspot.com/2008/11/sniff-sniff.html]

When you drain your hot tub, use a canister-type shampooer to pull the last few gallons out.

Spray peppermint water around the house to keep the air perky.

Remember to snort your snout in private and thoroughly wash your paws.

Wear socks in the house to keep foot sweat off the carpet, presuming we don’t wear shoes in our houses.

Stay healthy, my dear friends!

(Dawn, now do you know why I’m not married? Plus I just shampooed my garage floor with Murphy Oil Soap and bleach. Smells yummyful!)

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Film

My daughter and I are in film, and I’m not sure how we got wrapped up in it.

Though my daughter is a video producer and scriptwriter, that’s not the type of film I’m referring to. The film I’m talking about is sort of like the clingy plastic a guy wanted to wrap me with, but it’s not that tight. It’s grimy, attracts smells, and reduces transparency, like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

It’s the film that accumulates on our windows, walls, and doors. Even my backyard neighbor has offered his window-cleaning apparatus when he sees too much grime building up. Where does it come from?

Our carpet and furniture are at least 15 years old, so all their formaldehyde and chemical outgassing occurred years ago. We haven’t run the gas log fireplace insert all season, and our window coverings are ancient. We don’t even buy new clothes.

When I cook, I use the fan and Clarity, our air purifier, and give her a new charcoal filter when I think she needs changing. We have at least 38 potted plants in our home, many of which are on NASA’s clean air study list.* We don’t allow smoking on our property, and we don’t expel flatus. Well, Shiloh the Labradog does.

To deal with this pervasive problem, I have tried Windex-style cleaners, Murphy Oil Soap, and vinegar water. I’ve even sprayed my peppermint water on walls and wiped them clean.

But today I came up with a miraculous, new formula! On a cloth that did not contact a dryer sheet, I unscientifically poured the right amount of vinegar and a sufficient quantity of rubbing alcohol. I then rubbed it on my big living room window, and voilà!

Now my backyard neighbor can watch me dance much more clearly.

copyright © 2009 by Auntie Eartha. All rights reserved.

If you like it, link it!
http://auntieeartha.blogspot.com/2009/03/film.html

* http://www.zone10.com/technology/nasa-study-house-plants-clean-air.html