Cleaning Windows.........

Monday, the sun was shining and it was above freezing, so I decided to clean the downstairs outside windows.

I use a mixture of warm water and white vinegar to clean the windows, and I have a cloth applicator and a squeegee to remove the water.

I clean the inside windows with Windex and paper towels. I buy the cheap paper towels for this job.

When I lived at home (before married) we had to clean the windows every other week with Windowlene, and cloth dusters. We had a window cleaner who came around and cleaned the outside windows.

I can only clean the outside of the upstairs windows with a big ladder, and I need dh to help me move the ladder from window to window.

Why are Clean Windows Important?

"Windows allow light into your home which helps heat your home in winter, helps keep electricity bills low as they brighten your home, and provide your own little picture boxes of the world. You sit at them to read by natural light, you watch your kids play outside, and you place your plants next to them to grow. They bring warmth to your home in many ways. "

Windows - Cleaning with Vinegar

"Many different vinegar cleaning solutions have been used for dirty windows. Here are two of the easier ones:

1) Use a 50/50 white vinegar water solution for normal dirt.

2) Use full strength warm vinegar for very dirty windows or windows that have dried paint or hard-water mineral spots. Spray on the vinegar solution then wipe dry with a paper towel. Alternatively, some people use crumpled up newspapers dipped in or sprayed with vinegar solution to wipe the glass, followed by a dry paper towel or crumpled up newspaper. Why newspapers? Because they don't leave any lint behind, they are readily available, cheap and recyclable. Another widely used vinegar formulation that is my favorite for cleaning windows, involves mixing white vinegar, water and rubbing alcohol(70%) as follows:

2 cups Water (500 ml)
1/2 cup Vinegar (125 ml)
1/4 cup Rubbing Alcohol (60 ml)

Those who use it claim that it works just like expensive commercial products."

So do you clean windows?

ABC's of Homemaking.....

A ~Aprons--y/n If y, what does your fav. look like?
Once in a blue moon, and its a grey and white stripey one, a full body one.

B ~ Baking--Favorite thing to bake?
Cookies, cakes, actually anything!!!

C ~ Clothes line?
Always had a clothes line or whirly gig. I am one of very few people, if not the only one on our street with a whirly gig.

D ~ Donuts--Have you ever made them?
Never, why bother when we have Tim Horton's down the road!!

E ~ Everyday--One homemaking thing you do everyday?
I make my bed before I do everything else, also wash the dishes.

F ~ Freezer--Do you have a separate deep freeze?
Yes, I have a chest freezer, always have had one and its full!!

G ~ Garbage Disposer?
No, never had one, wouldn't know what to do with it.

H ~ Handbook--What is your favorite homemaking resource?
My mother's advise and instructions over the years.

I ~ Ironing--Love it or Hate it? Or hate it but love the results?
I don't actually mind ironing, its actually quite therapeutic.

J ~ Junk Drawer--y/n? Where is it?
No, I don't have a junk drawer. I remember we had one in our home growing up.

K ~ Kitchen--color and decorating scheme.
Pale coloured, builders standard cupboards, though we did add our own brushed nickle knobs onto them, The walls are a milky coffee colour with Burgundy blinds.

L ~ Love--what is your favorite part of homemaking?
Knowing that I have a clean and tidy home and if someone pops in the house is always welcoming for them.

M ~ Mop--y/n?
I mop, as I can't get on my knees anymore to wash it by hand.

N ~ Nylons, machine or hand wash?
I very rarely wear them, when I do I throw them in the washer, I am lazy!!

O ~ Oven--do you use the window or open the oven to check?
Cakes, wouldn't dream of it, otherwise I will take a peek.

P ~ Pizza--What do you put on yours?
I can tell you what I won't put on it - Pepperoni, I can't stand the stuff.

Q ~ Quiet--What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment?
Read, or read my favourite blogs! :)

R ~ Recipe Card Box--y/n? What does it look like?
Yes, I use a recipe box. It looks like a house and I have had it a long time. I also have a Ziploc bag full of recipes as well, that so needs to be organized.

S ~ Style of house--What style is your house?
Two storey, five years old, your regular sub division house.

T ~Tablecloths or Place mats?
I have a small tablecloth on our kitchen table all the time. I remove it when we eat and we use place mats then.

U ~ Under the kitchen sink--organized or toxic wasteland?
Organized, and reasonably clean. I have a special cupboard where I keep all my cleaning things.

V ~ Vacuum--How many times per week?
At least 3 or 4 times per week, it all depends on what we have been doing.

W ~ Wash--How many loads of laundry do you do per week?
I do about 5 - 6 loads per week. There are only two of us in the house now.

X's--Do you keep a daily list of things to do that you cross off?
It depends on how much I have to do that day, if I have a busy day, then I will do a list.

Y ~ Yard--y/n? Who does what?
I do it all, though dh will help me with any of the heavy work.

ZZZ's ~ what is your last homemaking task for the day before going to bed?
Putting the newspaper in the recycling and turning on the house alarm.

I saw this at, Niki's Rural Writings, who saw it at Pieces from Me, who saw it at Coffee Time At Home. Please play along on your blog!!! Let me know if you do, so I can visit.

Homemade Fabric Softener Recipes.......

is something I want to make next. I do have a couple of bottles of Downy left, so will use that up first. I have found a few different ones online, so wanted to post them, and wanted to ask if any of you had tried one of these recipes, and with what results?

As an update: I am loving the homemade laundry detergent, so that's a keeper. Hoping to have the same success with the fabric softener.

The first one is from Recipe Zaar

Ingredients
1 cup baking soda
6 cups distilled white vinegar
8 cups water
10-15 drops orange essential oils (optional) or lemon essential oils (optional) or essential oils, of choice (optional)

Directions
1You will need a one gallon container.
2First add the baking soda to the plastic container.
3Next add 1 cup of water to start with.
4Slowly add the vinegar to the bottle as the vinegar and baking soda will start to fizz.
5Then add the rest of the water swirling around & cover venting the top a few times.
6Last add the essential oil.
7Add 1 cup in your final rinse cycle for each load but give the bottle a good shake to stir up the essential oil if using.

***IT SAYS USE 1 CUP BUT IF USING A DOWNY BALL YOU ONLY USE 1/4 CUP***

Here is another one from Tip Nut

Homemade Fabric Softener Recipe:

1 part Vinegar
1 part Baking Soda
2 parts Hot Water

Place a pail large enough to hold double the amount of ingredients in the kitchen sink or bathtub. Mix the baking soda and water in the pail, stir till the powder is dissolved. Then add the vinegar. Remember that baking soda and vinegar reacts with fizzing, so use a big pail to account for this. Once it’s stopped fizzing, pour into clean bottles, cap, then use 1/4 cup per rinse cycle.
Updated Info: The baking soda won’t be completely dissolved, just shake the bottle to mix the batch up before adding to the rinse cycle.

This one has a video that you can watch, which is really neat, but you do have to have a Downy Ball, so that could be the downside to this, here is the link.

2 Cups White Vinegar
2 Cups Baking Soda
4 Cups Water

Combine slowly and carefully over sink.

Pour into plastic bottle, cover, and shake.

Use 1/4 cup in the final rinse or in a "Downy Ball".

So if anyone has used any one of these recipes please leave a comment. I will try and make a batch of this and will report back.

*********I made the first recipe and used it on my darks and it works. Because I have a front loader machine I had to use a "Downy Ball", but am pretty pleased with the results. I didn't add any essential oils, so there is no smell. My laundry seemed soft and I hung it out to dry and it was fine.

I will say it cost approximately $1.50 to make (I am guessing) and there were at least 14 cups of liquid and if you use a 1/4 cup of liquid per load you have at least 56 loads per batch. Which works out at just over 2.5 cents per load. I will keep using this to see how it goes. I had meant to make the last recipe, but forgot about it.************

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I made my own Liquid Laundry Detergent today for the first time. I used the recipe from Down-To-Earth and it was very simple.

Here are the ingredients:



You can buy the sunlight laundry soap anywhere, and the borax is relatively easy to come by, but I did have a job finding the washing soda. I got mine in Wal-Mart, along with the Borax. The total of all three ingredients including taxes was just over $14.00

Here is the recipe for the liquid detergent:

Ingredients :

1½ litres water
1 bar Sunlight or generic laundry soap or any similar pure laundry soap, grated on a cheese grater
½ cup washing soda – NOT baking or bicarb soda
½ cup borax

This is what the soap looks like when grated:

Method:

Into a medium sized saucepan add 1½ litres of water and the soap. Over a medium heat, stir this until it is completely dissolved. Make sure the soap dissolves properly or the mixture will separate when cold.Add the washing soda and borax. Stir until thickened, and remove from heat. It sort of resembles a very thin lemon pudding mix now.



Pour this mixture into your 9-10 litre bucket then fill the bucket with hot water from the tap. Stir to combine all the ingredients.

The laundry liquid will thicken up more as it cools. When cool, store in a plastic container. Use 1/4 cup of mixture per load or monitor to see what works well for you.

I had to buy a container so spent another $8 there. However for the amount of ingredients I used I will get pail upon pail of this detergent for very little money.

Here is the recipe for the dry mix:

CONCENTRATED LAUNDRY POWDER

4 cups grated laundry soap
2 cups borax
2 cups washing soda

Mix all the ingredients thoroughly and store in a plastic container with a lid. Use 2 tablespoons per wash. This powder will not make suds and this is perfectly okay.

*****Evelyn asked about Borax and Septic Systems, as we don't have a septic system it's not a concern for me, so have no idea about that. I did look up on the Internet and came up with a couple of things.

From this site: • Use mild detergents or baking soda, borax, vinegar or rubbing alcohol rather than the stronger and potentially system-damaging chlorine and commercial household cleaners.

From this site: 20 Mule Team® Borax is made of 100% Borax, a naturally occurring mineral composed of sodium, boron, oxygen and water. 20 Mule Team® Borax is not harmful to washing machines, plumbing or septic tanks and does not contain phosphates or chlorine.

From this site: Consider using biodegradable alternatives for routine cleaning chores. Oxidized bleaches, borax, vinegar, and baking soda are less hazardous alternatives to common household cleaning products.

Hopefully this will help you make up your mind. :0)