Wisk: The Then and Now of Fighting Stains
Do you ever sit around and watch old commercials onYouTube? I do. I think they’re quite hilarious and honestly, they take me back to my childhood. Sometimes I show the old commercials to my kids and they get a good giggle from watching. Of course then, I have to hear the questions like, “Did they have electricity when you were a kid?”. haha
Here’s an old commercial from Wisk. Wow, does that take me back! The thing back then was ring around the collar. It would have been a terrible thing for a woman’s husband to show up to work with stains on his collar. It would have been a reflection of her ability to keep house.
I know that my mom always kept a bottle of Wisk in our home. We referred to it as “the good stuff”. Many times we would use the other detergents to wash with and then we’d get out the Wisk for the tough stains. We’d apply the detergent directly to the stains and rub it in.
Detergents have come a long way over the years. Check out this new detergent from Wisk. I’m excited to try it.
I think moms today have just as many stain worries as they did back then. Kids will be kids. Children will still get grass and chocolate milk stains on their clothes. Many times I feel badly for getting on to my kids so much. I’m just so worried about ruining another outfit with their stains. Hopefully, the new Wisk with Stain Spectrum Technology can help me to put my worries aside and let my kids have a good time.
What do you think . . . do you think the stains you tackle today are the same as the stains your mom faced?
Disclaimer: This post is being sponsored by Wisk and I am being compensated for this post, but all ideas and opinions are my own.
July 12, 2010
Cleaning Challenge: Clean Your Coffee Maker
You may be wondering why people say you should clean your coffee maker. Clean water is the only thing that goes into the machine, right? The problem is, the water causes deposits inside the coffee maker. The deposits can slow the flow of water inside the machine and they can alter the taste of your coffee.
Cleaning your coffeemaker is easy.
To clean your coffeemaker, simply brew a pot of vinegar water. Use equal amounts of each. I filled up my pot to the 5 cup line with vinegar and then to the 10 cup line with water. Next, let the vinegar water run halfway through the coffeemaker and then turn off the machine. Let it sit for a while (may an hour or so, depending on how hard your water is) and then turn the machine back on to finish the cycle. If you have never cleaned your machine before, then you might want to run the solution through your machine twice. After the cycle is complete, run a few pots of fresh water through it to get rid of the vinegar smell and taste.
Have you cleaned your coffeemaker lately?
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June 22, 2010
30+ Ways to Clean with Vinegar
A few years ago I decided to make a big change in my life. I had used all sorts of cleaners. Many of them had caused me to break out, inflamed my eczema, and given me headaches. I knew the stuff wasn’t good for me and with two small children in the home I wanted to do something different. I began using white vinegar and water to mop my floors. It wasn’t long before I was hooked on the natural and safe cleaner and began to clean the majority of my home with it.
Now I keep a spray bottle under my kitchen sink that has equal parts of vinegar and water. I use it to clean just about everything.
Before I get started on this list, I wanted you to know that some folks don’t like the smell of vinegar. If that’s you, feel free to add a tiny bit of lemon oil or some other fragrance to your vinegar.
Here are some uses for cleaning with vinegar:
Kitchen and Dining Room
- Use vinegar to mop your floors. I keep a spray bottle with equal parts vinegar and water. Just spray on your floors and mop. Or you add 1 cup of vinegar to your mop bucket. I think the spray method uses less vinegar though.
- Refill your Swiffer mop cleaner bottle with vinegar and water. My hubby used some plyers to pull the lid off the bottle so that we could refill it.
- Spray vinegar in your sink and on your counters to kill germs.
- Wash your windows.
- Boil some vinegar and water to take away unpleasant smells.
- Clean your kitchen table, chairs, and hairchair. The vinegar will kill germs without being harmful to foods or your children.
- Soak or simmer stuck-on food in 2 cups of water and 1/2 cup of vinegar. The food will soften and lift off in a few minutes.
- Deodorize your sink drains: Pour a cup down your drain, let stand about thirty minutes, then run cold water.
- Appliances sparkle if cleaned with a vinegar and borax cleaner. Mix 1 teaspoon borax, 1/4 cup vinegar, and 2 cups hot water and put it into a spray bottle. Spray it on greasy smears and wipe off with a cloth or sponge.
- To loosen food grime and clean the microwave, place a microwave-safe bowl with 2 cups water, 1/2 cup vinegar inside the microwave and microwave on full power for 3-4 minutes (it needs to boil). Keep your microwave closed for a few minutes to allow the steam to loosen the grime, then open your microwave, carefully remove the bowl, and wipe clean.
- To remove grease from kitchen walls, put straight vinegar on a dishcloth to wipe grease off kitchen walls, or the stovetop.
- Fill your water reservoir halfway with vinegar to clean your coffee pot. Follow up by running 1-2 pots of clean water through to remove the vinegar.
- If you have fruit flies, put some vinegar in a jar on your counter.
- Adding a cup of vinegar to a dishwashing cycle will help clean your dishwasher and will also help prevent spots from forming on your glasses.
- Use vinegar to clean your garbage disposal. Run a tray of ice cubes with 1/2 cup vinegar poured over them.
Bathroom
- Use vinegar to clean the outside of your toilet. Simply use your diluted vinegar spray bottle and use as you would a regular cleaner.
- Add full strength vinegar to the inside of the toilet bowl. Allow to sit for a few minutes and then clean.
- Spray the shower curtain to help get rid of mildew.
- Spray to kill germs in the shower inbetween regular cleanings. (I prefer to use Soft Scrub, Scrubbing Bubbles, or something like that to clean the shower. Vinegar helps for those inbetween cleanings.)
- Clean your mirror.
- Mop the floor.
Laundry room
- Add vinegar to your whites to help whiten the load.
- Add vinegar to your rinse cycle or softener dispenser instead of fabric softener. Vinegar prevents your clothes from getting that waxy build up on them. Vinegar is suggested for using to rinse cloth diapers to keep them absorbent.
- Add vinegar to your wash to kill athlete’s feet bacteria.
- Soak smelly clothes in vinegar and water. The vinegar will help to get rid of smells.
- Soak stained clothes in vinegar and water. The vinegar helps to lift the stain.
- Remove ink stains from clothes by soaking them in milk for 1 hour. Then cover the stain with a paste of vinegar and cornstarch. When the paste dries, wash the garment as usual. Do not heat dry the fabric until you know the stain is removed.
- After washing your whites with bleach, run another rinse cycle with vinegar. The vinegar will help to remove the bleach smell.
Other
- Clean vaporizers and humifiers by soaking unit in vinegar. Soak base of unit in a shallow bowl of vinegar and then run water through it. I got this tip from the actual directions that came with my vaporizer, but it really does help to remove the deposits and also to sanitize.
- If your puppy (or child) has an accident on the carpet, apply full-strength plain white vinegar for about 10 minutes and then blot dry. I have never had any problems with the vinegar fading carpet, but you may want to test an inconspicuous spot first.
- Use vinegar and water to clean your baby and children’s toys. You don’t have to worry about harmful chemicals this way.
- For laminate floors, mix 1/3 part white vinegar, 1/3 part rubbing alcohol, 1/3 part water, and 3 drops diswashing liquid. Mix this into a (recycled) spray bottle and you have the equivalent of the Pergo floor cleaner. Just spray and mop. Laminate floors are better off when water doesn’t sit on it too long; the alcohol is added to make it dry faster.
- When rinsing your reusable filters, spray them with vinegar first to kill mold and bacteria.
I know that this only covers a portion of ways to clean with vinegar. What are some ways that you clean with vinegar?
