Newsletter: Kitchen Renos, The Book & Carpet Powder

No-Hassle Housecleaning for

January 17, 2011

5 Surprising Cleaners You Already Have at Home
I admit - two of them are vinegar and baking soda - but one in particular is one I don't think I've EVER suggested before except for here: 5 Surprising Cleaners You Already Have .

Reviews and Opinions: Cascade All-in-1 Dishwasher Detergent Pacs
Watching the commercials of a woman bent over her dishwasher, stashing in a lasagna pan that's baked on with gook (who DOES that anyway?), and then shortly thereafter removing the same pan - now beautifully clean - made me want to try Cascade All-in-1 dishwasher detergent pacs. They come in little science fiction-worthy gelatin capsules with swirls of bright yellow and green, and claim to wash your dishes that even have stuck on, baked on food. While I didn't leave any baked on food on the dishes (I'm a stickler for rinsing dishes off before loading), I was hoping that this detergent would work decently even with the hard water that we have.

The Grade: B
The Verdict: I'll probably buy these little cleaning pacs again.
Pros: So very easy to use! Just open your main detergent receptacle, and pop one of these in. I believe they work slightly better than regular Cascade powdered detergent, which was my favorite before. I tried the lemon scent, and really liked the fragrance. Overall, they cleaned well. Cons: I still wish my glassware would come out without a bit of residue. And, these do tend to be pricier - so convenience costs! (Try them out with a coupon to make it more affordable.)

Your Turn: Have you used this product? If so, please email me YOUR opinion - send emails to christina@happyslob.com. Big thanks in advance for your input!

The Dream Behind The Book
The whole reason I started http://www.happyslob.com/ was to sell my original ebook, The Happy Slob's Guide to Housecleaning. Since then, my dream has come true and my published book is available at About the Book . If you've never had a chance to, I'd appreciate it if you check it out - and tell a friend while you're at it! And, if you're curious about my story, read the original idea at: About Me - the Happy Slob

Reader Woes - Surviving Kitchen Renos
Reader Question: "How do you survive kitchen renovations? Do any of your readers have tips or hints to help??"
If you have ideas to share, please email me at christina@happyslob.com and I'll share them on the site or here on the blog. :) While never having experienced renovations of any sort, I've heard it's dreadfully stressful...

Homemade Cleaner du Jour: A wonderfully simple carpet powder that will naturally soak up lingering unpleasant scents. A particularly great idea for pet owners who want to freshen up the floors! Freshen Up the Carpets Naturally .

Happy Slob's Housecleaning - Product Review - Dirt Devil Spot Scrubber (Mini Portable Carpet Cleaner)

Product Review of:

Dirt Devil Spot Scrubber - Mini Carpet Cleaner for Spots

I was really fed up with some nasty stains in our carpet (ahem...let's just say that one of our pet cats has a real affection for finding the most obvious spots to barf up her furballs!). No matter what I did, I couldn't budge those stains, and in fact seemed to be making them worse with every attempt to clean them! Whenever I looked at one of those stubborn stains, it seemed to grin and chuckle at me, or wave as if to remind me of its very presence. As if I could've forgotten it!

So...hubs and I decided that it was time to finally buy some sort of carpet cleaner. But, we live in a modest 2-bedroom apartment without much storage space at all. Even our closets are just sort of wanna-be's with not much room for anything other than the absolute essentials. (And don't get me STARTED about our linen closet...) Wow, I'm in a cranky mood today, huh?

Right - back onto the topic at hand: our lovely new portable carpet cleaner! It's tiny and meant for spot removal as opposed to large carpet cleaning jobs. Just what we were looking for! Here it is:

We had planned on buying the "Little Green" spot cleaner, but both stores hubs went to were out of stock, so he purchased this one instead. And I'm very glad that he did! Our little Dirt Devil Spot Scrubber (the exact model shown - I've read that the smaller hand vac type doesn't work nearly as well) works like a dream. We used it on an old tea stain (that one was entirely my fault - I was climbing into bed one day with a full cup of hot tea, and well, I ended up in the bed, but the tea didn't make it onto the nightstand. It splashed dramatically all over the carpet!) and a few old kitty-tummy-upset stains with much better than expected results.

On the oldest, most stubborn stains, I think it will take 2-3 runs of the machine to get the stain out entirely, but we were both impressed by how it slurped up the old messes. The dirty water container got muddy-looking very quickly! I was thrilled to see those old stains start to disappear before my eyes. And relieved to see the demise of my old, mocking enemies...

Good Points:

• Large tank size! We would only need to fill this and empty it occasionally. Considering it's just for spots - you could do a LOT of spot removal before the tank would need refilling.
• Worked great with just hot tap water, about a quarter cup of white vinegar and the tiniest drop (literally) of liquid laundry detergent. I think you could very easily get away without even adding the detergent, but I knew these stains were particularly tough ones.
• Powerful suction - you spray the solution on (in our case, vinegar and water and a drop of detergent - I didn't even bother with the freebie cleaner solution that came with the unit), scrub it with the brush and at the same time it sucks all the mess away. The suction was impressively powerful - better than I'd expected for this price.
• A great bargain! Ours was on sale for $59.99, but is on regularly for $69.99 at Amazon and other online vendors. I thought it was well worth it...

What I Would Change if I Could:

• Make the brush bigger - it's about 3 inches in length, and it would be nice to have a slightly larger brush to cover a larger area more quickly. It's not a serious flaw, though.

All in all, I really love this little gizmo. Now, when my beloved kitty has a stomach upset, I won't be in a tizzy to get the stain out, because this machine on fresh stains I think will be a true powerhouse. (And on old stains, it's proven itself already!)

A Groovy Shaker for Your Baking Soda Cleaner

Say goodbye to toxic old powdered cleansers, and hello to your baking soda in cute shakers! I got this brainstorm last night when I was decluttering a cupboard containing spices and baking supplies. I used the salt shaker, but didn't really need the pepper shaker since I'm a big fan of freshly ground pepper from my trusty pepper mill.

So...I rescued the pepper shaker, let it soak in the sink in some soapy water for a bit, gave it a good scrub and it's now my all purpose baking soda shaker! It just feels better to shake baking soda out this way, instead of from a boring box.

If you have an old pepper shaker that is similarily ignored, bring it back to life as a new addition to your cleaning kit! Or...here are some of my favorite shakers for baking soda...(I prefer slightly oversized shakers, so you won't have to be refilling it all the time.)





Okay, your baking soda is beautifully presented - now use it, slobbo darlings! Here are my favorite baking soda tips for cleaning (from the happyslob.com website & this blog):

Baking Soda Uses Database
Baking Soda as a Natural Air Freshener
Baking Soda Carpet Powder Recipe
Use Baking Soda to Clear Clogged Drains
All Purpose Baking Soda Spray Cleaner
Baking Soda for Cleaning the Walls
Baking Soda for Washing Dishes
Baking Soda Crayon Stain Removal Tip