Another Natural Stain Remover - Club Soda

Just what is club soda, anyway? A quick bit of research reveals that club soda is a wonderful addition to your cleaning kit, since it's basically carbonated water with a small amount of salt. (Originally, this was apparently added to the bubbly drink to give it a taste that more closely replicated natural mineral waters.)

Add some bubbly OR stale club soda to a cleaning spray bottle, and add a splash of fresh lemon juice to it. I know this sounds like a pretty tempting beverage, but in fact this cleaning cleaning duo will really help bleach away stains - on clothing, and more! Plus, it'll leave a fresh scent wherever you clean.

Have you used club soda to clean with? Do tell....

5 Ways to Use Q-Tips to Clean

No, not your ears! (Did you know that you're not supposed to use Q-tips to clean out those gunky ears? I still do...but I've heard that using a watered down concoction of hydrogen peroxide or even slightly warmed olive oil will do the trick more safely.)

Q-tips are handy little cleaners for around the house. Here are 5 ways to use Q-tips to clean things OTHER than your ears:

1. Clean jewelry - those little grooves and edges can be a nightmare to clean! Use some jewelry cleaning solution and a Q-tip swab to clean out even the tightest areas of your favorite jewellery.


2. Clean around the edges of sinks - Ewwww...looked at that edging around your sinks lately? It's gunkville! A soft Q-tip dislodges the dirt, and then a clean cloth will just wipe it all away.


3. Clean between keyboard keys - Another disgusting area for dirt, grime and certainly germs to gather. Use a Q-tip to get to hard to reach areas of your keyboard. The tapered end type of cotton swabs would be especially useful to get into those really tricky spots.


4. Use Q-tips to polish silver. No, not Grandma's old and overly large platter! Those little areas on tiny trinkets that are otherwise hard to reach will do very well with a bit of polish smeared on a Q-tip. And yes, I think this might be the first time ever on this blog that I've ever mentioned polishing silver. (I'm not a polishing silver type, you might say. Oh, or an owning silver type either.)


5. Use Q-tips to clean up oopsies with nail polish. This is more a cleaning up YOU tip than a cleaning your home tip. When applying nail polish, it's so frustrating when you get that gorgeous bright red smeared messily beyond your nail. A cotton swab dipped in nail polish remover is a quick and easy solution for this messy situation.

Have another Q-tip cleaning tip to share? Comment!

What is the ONE cleaning product you can't live without?

We're all about homemade and natural cleaning formulas around here, baking soda, vinegar, salt, lemon and all kinds of other natural cleaners leading the list.

But, what is the ONE cleaning product you can't live without? Is it an ultra cool mop? A broom that works amazingly well? A Dyson?

Please post your comment!

What's mine, you ask?
Little scrubby pads called 'The World's Greatest Scrubbie' is the one product I seriously don't think I could live without anymore. I've used them for years, and they come in a small, thin pad size that lasts for months. They're awesome at safely scrubbing everything from pots and pans to (ahem, a different scrubby for this purpose I admit) cleaning the grout and tiles and tub in the bathroom. These little miracles can often be found in specialty kitchen shops, so look around and stock up! You can clean them in the washing machine or dishwasher, and they do literally last months before they get worn down and need replacing.