Simple Cleaning Tool - Bathtub

When I figure out a new solution to a problem, I feel like everybody else already knows about it.

I recently bought a pack of dish cloths that have netting on one side.  It is so nice to have the scrubber built right into the cloth and this works well in the kitchen for cleaning the sink, scrubbing baked/cooked on messes and counter tops.

But, then I found another great use for these cloths.   Since I want to be careful about scratching the tub when cleaning it, I thought the scrubber side of these cloths might be good for getting off the soap scum that accumulates.  In the past I have used a sponge that has a scrubber side.

The scrubber dish cloths work great!  First I spray some "Scrubbing Bubbles" bathroom cleaner all around the tub, let it soak in a couple of minutes and then do just a little scrub with the scrubber/net side of the cloth.  The tub comes out sparkling clean!  This was the easiest way yet that I have found to clean the bathtub.  These cloths are easier to clean than sponges because they just go in the washing machine and dryer.

Its a good idea to mark the cloths that are going to be used in the bathroom with a permanent laundry marker or buy a different color that would only be used in the bathroom.  I wouldn't want to use the same cloths in the kitchen or launder them together.

In case you are wondering, I found my scrubber cloths in the kitchen towel and cloth section at Walmart.

So there you have it!  Another exciting adventure at Homemaking Dreams!

Homemaking Tools - Floors

Since this is a homemaking blog, I thought it would make sense to actually post about homemaking every now and then!   I would like to occasionally show some things I use for homemaking.

So in order to do that, today I will show you the tools I use to maintain the wood floors in our home.

We live in a 1940s farmhouse with hardwood floors throughout.  Not one bit of carpet.  Our previous home was built in the early 80s, so had lots of carpet. When we moved here I had no idea how to take care of wood floors. I also never realized how much dust was accumulating on all that carpet until I saw first hand the dust bunnies that were dancing around on the wooden floors!

Here you have it. A broom, a dust mop, a flat mop with removable, washable cover and a small vacuum. The small shop vac is only used for sucking out the dryer vent and vacuuming off the A/C/Heater return thingie and things like that.

The little yellow vac is my main squeeze for floor cleaning.   I have had this one for years and used it for the few non-carpet floors in our previous home.  If I clean out the filter before vacuuming and then check it afterwards, I am always amazed at all the dust, etc. that it picks up. I don't understand where it all comes from, but the proof is in the pudding.

After a quick vacuum I will go around everything quickly with the dust mop. It allows me to get the edges and under things without having to move all the furniture. Of course if I was doing a more thorough cleaning I would move furniture, etc. 

After dust mopping, I can shake it outside and see even more dust bunnies that have been removed.  This one isn't too big and swivels every which way.  You can get the floor boards, under beds and all kinds of nooks and crannies with it.   I only recently started using a dust mop and I don't know how I ever got along without it.

The flat head mop is used in conjunction with a spray bottle of cleaning solution made specifically for wood floors. You just spray a little on the floor and mop. When finished, the removable cover is laundered in the washing machine.

Keeping the floors free of dust bunnies is a nonstop job.  I'm afraid I don't stay on top of it as I should.  I wear socks in the house in the winter time and if you saw the bottoms of my feet you would not be impressed with my homemaking skills!

But, quilting often seems more important to me.....

Homemaking ... the little things

Do you place your toilet paper on the thing "just so", so that it rolls off from over the roll, or from under the roll? Do you care one way or another, or does your family care?

At my house, no one cares!

I think that the little things in homemaking are important, but the little things shouldn't revolve around things that don't really matter in the long run. Who cares how the toilet paper rolls off the roller?

In a few years, if you look back, what will you remember?

Here are just few small things that do matter. I'm sure you could think of lots more.

1. Everyone needs clean underwear at all times...
2. If you get it out, put it away!
3. Be as polite to your family members as you would to a stranger or your minister.
4. Overlook those things that you yourself have been guilty of...
5. Be ready to forgive
6. Keep a cleaning schedule, but don't obsess over it. Some things really do need to be kept clean but if "it ain't dirty", don't clean it.
7. Every family member deserves their favorite meal occasionally.
8. Figure out what you can do to reduce the stress at your house and then do it. Maybe you should get up earlier so that you get where you are going on time.
9. Make a regular habit of decluttering and bring less clutter into the house to begin with.
10. Its nice to greet family members when they first come home and spend a little time with them, no matter what you are doing.
11. Buy as many healthy foods as you can.
12. Take care of the most important things and then if there's time you can do some of the less important things.

Ok, back to the toilet paper question. If its important to someone in your house that toilet paper roll a certain way, then put it on there that way! That's one small way to show you care.

Have a wonderful day of homemaking!

*****

My Quilting blog: AngelScraps Quilting

My Etsy Shop: Homemaking Dreams Etsy Shop

Practicing Hospitality

Offer Hospitality to one another without grumbling 1 Peter 4:9

Offering hospitality is a part of homemaking and there are references to it throughout the Bible.

Here are some ideas for simple ways to offer hospitality from my home recently.

If someone is having a birthday, its so simple to make it special. A little decorating goes a long way. Imagine how special you would feel if when you came into the room there were streamers, balloons and "Happy Birthday" banners.

Its so easy and inexpensive. I spent exactly $1.25 to make my kitchen look like this. I already had balloons left over from a previous celebration (I think it was a baby shower or wedding shower). I reuse the "Happy Birthday" banner, so already had it. I purchased one roll of "happy birthday" crepe paper (streamers) for $1.25.



I made a list of all the things I needed to do and accomplished as much as I could the day before. For example, I set the table, decorated and planned the menu the day before. The food was served buffet style.



And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers Philemon 1:22

We recently had overnight guests which was such a joy. A little planning ahead is helpful to both you and your guests. Try to anticipate their needs. Ask yourself what kinds of foods do your guests like. What would make their room comfortable? Some ideas for the guest room are: a box of kleenex, a nightlight, of course clean linens, clear a place in the closet for hanging clothes, put out bath towels, hand towels and wash cloths. A basket of trial size toiletries would be a good idea too.

For breakfast we served country ham biscuits and cantaloupe.



It would be nice to invite guests over for dessert and coffee. It's so easy to buy a frozen pie, pop it in the oven and present your guests with a delicious dessert.



I hope to be alert to ways I can offer hospitality to someone. You never know when unexpected guests may show up or you might feel inspired to invite someone over on the spot. So its a good idea to have some ways of showing hospitality in mind ahead of time.

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in. Matthew 25:35
Hebrews 13:2

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:1-3

What other ideas for practicing hospitality do you have?

Laundry Chores at the Farmhouse

Since doing laundry is an important part of homemaking, I thought I would share with you how I do my laundry chores. This is what my cheerful little laundry room looks like on an average Saturday morning with piles of sorted laundry all over the floor. I have some ideas for decorating it, but for now it serves its purpose as it is. I enjoy looking out the window while folding laundry.



The laundry room also serves as a half bath and the place the hot water heater is installed. There is a potty behind the door (blushing) and the small window.



My hubby had this shelf installed for me for storing my cleaning supplies. You can see my stockpile of laundry detergents. I only buy them if they are on sale for an unbeatable price and/or with a coupon. I'm not brand loyal as you can see. Our clothes don't get very dirty, so most any detergent will work for us.



I hang out some laundry when times allows. There are some things that do nicely on the clothesline, such as sheets, and certain types of clothing. I am trying to combine these things together in order to make good sized loads so that its worthwhile to hang them on the line, saving the electricity that each load would have used. Every little bit helps!



This is the first clothespin bag I ever made. Its quite different from the ones I now make that I sell in my Etsy Shop, but it works great.



A laundry drying rack comes in handy too. I like to sit mine over an A/C/Heat vent to multipurpose that electricity a little bit.



This decorative basket sits on the floor in our bedroom and is used as a dirty clothes hamper. I take it to the laundry room, dump it and return it to the bedroom. I have a more practical plastic rectangular laundry basket that holds the clothes I am hanging on the line and also the folded clothes from the dryer and the line. I use it to carry the folded clothes to our bedroom, stack the clothes on the bed in piles by type and my hubby and I then put away our own clothes.



Since I do use the dryer most of the time, I need fabric softener sheets. I find that 1/2 a sheet works just fine. These sheets are $1.00 for 40 at Dollar General. Sometimes I have found 50 for $1.00, but most of the time its 40. I have never found a name brand sheet that was this cheap, even if it was on sale and bought with a coupon. The difference in quality may be a hindrance to you, but for me its fine. You can always use a whole one if you think a particular load needs it. When my son did laundry at my house in the past, he would throw in 2 or 3 halves! :o)



Just cut them in half like this. By the way, scissors are a great tool to keep in the laundry room. They come in handy for cutting loose threads and strings, tags and also for cutting your fabric softener sheets in half.



I liked the picture on the box of the sleeping kitty so much I taped it onto the front of this old tupperware container to make a cute fabric softener sheet holder.



A couple of laundry room funnies:

1. After moving into the farmhouse I found myself scrubbing the inside of the toilet in the laundry room which had rust stains. The only way to clean it was to stick my hand into the water and scrub with a scrubber. I noticed that the water felt warm and got hotter each time I flushed it. The plumber has hooked up the hot water to the toilet!

2. I once had a friend who had 2 teenage stepsons. She did their laundry and took the folded piles of clothes to their room, very nicely placing them on their beds and asked them to put them away. She headed back to the laundry room and just as she entered it, she heard a "kerplunk". It was the stacks of clean clothes being thrown down the laundry chute to be washed again. It turns out they didn't want to put them away and this was how they tried to get out of it! Talk about lazy....

Hope you are enjoying the lazy days of summer!

Strike While the Iron is Hot

Since this blog is dedicated to homemaking, I thought I'd occasionally post a homemaking tip.

Today's tip:

If you are doing any sewing at all, you know the iron is hot a lot! My ironing board and iron stay set up all the time in my sewing room. So, any time the iron has been turned on for pressing some sewing projects, I try to iron at least one item of clothing. This way the hot iron is put to additional use, while its hot, and just ironing one item of clothing at a time helps to keep the ironing pile monster under control. No marathon ironing sessions for me!

Some Frugal Ideas for Groceries

As a friend recently reminded me, when we start trying to be frugal, we seem to put a lot of emphasis on food! I think this is because grocery spending is one area we can cut back on easily.

I want to share a few frugal things I have been doing lately to cut our grocery bill.

1. The Discount Bread Store. You might think it wouldn't be worth it to go to the discount bread store, but its all in how convenient it is, what the prices are, and how much bread you buy. There is a very nice Sunbeam Discount Bread Store that I pass on my way to work. It opens at 8:00 A.M. and I pass right by it at 8:15 or so. It takes me 5 minutes at the most to stop in. The good brand whole wheat bread is $1.29 a loaf, compared to almost $3.00 at Food Lion. They also have wonderful hoagie buns, the large sandwich buns and more for 85 cents, compared to almost $3.00 a pack at Food Lion. I check the "sell by" dates very closely and always buy bread with several fresh days left.

2. Sale priced and marked down meats. I never buy meat that isn't on sale and/or marked down. When I find a good deal I stock up and immediately put it in the freezer. One secret I have learned is that finding marked down meat with several days left on the "sell by" date is timing. I buy most of my meat at Food Lion. Food Lion's sales run from Wednesday through Tuesday. So, Tuesday afternoon is a great time to find good deals on meat. The meat department people want to get rid of the meat that was on sale so they can get ready for the next week's sale. Also, Tuesday is a slow day at the grocery store, so more of the meat is unsold at the end of the day. I have found great cuts of meat on sale and then marked down twice. I am accumulating a nice stash of meat in my freezer this way. Its so nice to be able to come up with a good meal at any time because you know there is always plenty of meat in the freezer.

3. When I have plenty of meats in the freezer and my pantry is well stocked, I can stay on a weekly grocery budget easier. Right now I am trying to spend $50.00 a week for a family of 4. If I stock up on meat on Tuesdays, I typically spend about $30.00. That leaves $20.00 for milk, bread (see no. 1!) and for stocking up on other good sale items. I don't do a big stock up on meat every week, so some weeks I can put more of the $50.00 on pantry staples that are on sale, bought with coupons, which helps keep the pantry well stocked. Of course, I could go without going to the grocery store at all a couple of weeks if I need to, since I am keeping the freezer and pantry stocked with items bought on sale and with coupons.

I realize that I can't keep the grocery budget at $50.00 every week, but many times I can, using frugal skills.

Please check back tomorrow for Frugal Friday. I want to share one of the biggest money saving ideas I have come across lately. Oh, and its not related to food!

Have a great Thursday! Its a beautiful sunny morning here in North Carolina and I'm off to attend a work related seminar. I will moderate any comments tonight. Thanks for visiting!

Blowing in the Breeze

I hung two loads of laundry on my clothesline today. It was cold at 9:00 this morning!

The laundry blowing in the breeze:



First I had to clean all the pollen and winter's grime from the lines. I did this by walking back and forth several times holding a wet paper towel on the line like this:



One lucky person in my household with have clothesline dried sheets on his bed tonight! Won't that be nice?

How to Hang Out Clothes

I haven't had much time for hanging out clothes lately, but enjoy doing so when I can. There's also the benefit of saving on the electric bill and helping to save the earth. I thought you might enjoy looking at the "Cleaning Cents" blog which has a great series on how to hang out clothes.

Click here to read more: How to Hang Out Clothes