My newest Norwex favorites

Ok, so I know I talk about Norwex a little bit.  Ok maybe a LOT, but I really love it!  And no, I don't sell it.

This past January, I hosted a Norwex party and got a TON of free stuff.  January is the Hostess Free Mop month, and yes, I got enough sales and got my free mop!  But the mop isn't what I want to talk about.

Along with the free Antibac Cloth, and window cloth, and lint mitt, and hand cream, I got a few fantastic items.  The Optic Cloth is amazing.  I used it a few days ago to clean my glasses and OMG it was like seeing the house with new eyes.  Like seriously clean.  And I've been wearing glasses for almost 25 years!  I did the same yesterday with my sunglasses and was SO impressed.  I got one for my hubs for Christmas since he always used our window cloth and I could never find it.  Great stocking stuffer and now he has his own cloth for his glasses.  Well when I needed a few more dollars to get the free mop, I added the Optic Cloth so I could have one of my own and I'm SO glad I did.  AMAZING!

I also got the dust mitt.  Makes dusting SO easy.  AND I got the kids package, that comes with a kid-sized antibac cloth, window cloth and dust mitt.  M LOVES cleaning the windows with her own cloths, and dusting.  In fact, sometimes she'll make fingerprints all over the windows just so she can clean them up.  I don't mind, since she's cleaning them!

One item I've been very skeptical of is the cleaning paste.  I've heard great things about it, but I found that baking soda worked so well that I didn't want to invest in that.  BUT when I had free money to spend, I decided to give it a try and OH.MY.GOODNESS!  So I won a bath mitt at the party, and whipped out the paste to clean the shower last week.  AMAZING!  When I would have to clean the shower again about 5 days later after cleaning with baking soda, I don't have to do it yet with the paste. And the mitt makes it so easy.  Norwex was genius when they decided to make the cloths in a mitt form.

Keep an eye out for a review of the Norwex mop, and maybe a Norwex giveaway!!

Shower Cleaning

Thought I'd post another natural method that I'm still using.

When we moved into our house, you might remember that we got the bad news that we had possible water damage behind the shower in our ensuite.  And you might also remember that we had that EXACT same issue in the townhouse.  That we fixed RIGHT before we moved, so we never got to enjoy our brand new renovated bathroom.  Well, we partially renovated our new bathroom before we actually moved in and I LOVE my new tile and my fancy glass enclosed shower.

But I HATE watermarks.  You might remember from the Norwex Product Review, some pictures I posted.  And I said that the Norwex Antibac Microfiber Cloth did a great job of cleaning the glass.  But I did have to put in some elbow grease.

Well, my faithful followers, I've found an all natural and EASY way to clean your glass showers.  Get a bowl from the kitchen and add some baking soda.  Take that into your shower and keep it as dry as you can.  Run the water and get comfortable.  Then take your wet fingers and get some baking soda on them.  Rub that onto the glass.  Seriously, THAT easy!  You can literally FEEL the residue coming off of your shower.  I have a hanging shower caddy and can leave a little bowl of baking soda in there for a few days.  As long as it doesn't get wet and rinse it down the drain.  Most of the time, I'll do this about once/week and rinse the baking soda off with my Norwex cloth, but even rinsing with water works great.  It takes me about one minute at the beginning of my shower.  And if one section still has residue, I can just clean that the next time.  No bleach down the drain.  No bleach in my shower.  No awkward trying to clean the shower while dressed and not getting bleach everywhere.  Easy peasy!

Sometimes I feel like I have two ways to clean my house.  Norwex cloths and baking soda!  Oh and sometimes vinegar!


Happy Cleaning!

Ashleigh

The sun is shining....

and it's raining.  And WOW I need to clean my windows.

Since I'm apparently not very good at keeping up this blog, I'm going to do a quick review of which methods I'm still using.

Cleaning windows/mirrors: I'm still using my Norwex Anti-bac Microfiber and window cleaning cloths.  This combination works great, no chemicals, super fast and super clean.

Countertops/tubs/dusting: Still using the Norwex Anti-bac Microfiber cloth.  This is a great multi-purpose cloth for cleaning jobs all over the house.

And now it's hailing....and sunny.

Toilets: I use baking soda and vinegar.  You might remember I tried a few of those 'new and improved' toilet cleaning products but they just don't work as well as baking soda and vinegar.

Carpets: I also use baking soda and vinegar.  I recently bought (or redeemed with points) a Bissel Green Machine.  After mixing up the solution, I thought why am I using this in here, I could just fill the tank with my 50/50 vinegar/water solution.  So sprinkle your stain with baking soda and spray with the vinegar/water.  Let your kids help, they love the bubbles!  If you don't have a carpet cleaner, let it dry, remove as much of the baking soda as you can, then blot out the rest.  If you do have a carpet cleaner, use the brush/vacuum to remove the baking soda and the stain along with it.  I love this, so easy and fast and SAFE!

I have a few reviews coming up to do and have had some trouble finding time, but will get to it now that my store stuff isn't as crazy, and is just steady.

Happy cleaning!

Spring Cleaning-Busy Busy!

Over a month. WOW, that's a long time. But I have to say that good things have happened over the past month.

To start, I haven't posted about in on here before but I run a work at home business. Yup, I'm the face behind Mommy Loves Maddy. I make cloth diapers and accessories, and other baby items like bibs, burp cloths and just started making some fun art things. I have more information about my products on my Facebook page. Things with my business have started to really take off! I've had a lot of custom orders, and am trying to keep my store stocked, but organic bamboo diapers are REALLY popular. Not that I'm complaining or anything!

It really is a good thing that the store is so busy because a few weeks ago my maternity leave ended (thank you Canadian government for giving us ONE YEAR!) and I made the difficult decision to quit my job. We had made changes in our budget so that things wouldn't be as tight, and with daycare being so expensive for two kids, it really was the right decision for our family. Since I've been so busy, I've had to find a balance between work, family and housecleaning and I'm not completely embarrassed to say that most of the time, my family comes before the house. We've had a few barbeques and gatherings over here, and that forces us to clean up the house, but the day to day maintaining has been put on the back burner. I try not to completely ignore my kids so I can get my work done, and most of it happens while baby K is asleep and M can come downstairs and watch Dora (who said Netflix couldn't be a business expense?). So if I can't tidy or do something quickly while the kids are awake, it doesn't get done as soon as it should.

 But I have found a few new cleaning techniques that I need to share with you guys!

The first one is for Diapers! While we do have a diaper sprayer downstairs in the utility sink in the laundry room, I've been using the removable shower head in the bathroom again. It's easier to spray the dirty diapers right away and not wait until I have a few minutes to run downstairs. I always spray with COLD water. But instead of throwing the sprayed diapers right into the diaper bin, I leave them in the tub. Then the next time I have a dirty diaper to rinse off, I re-spray the last one and that removes any leftovers that wouldn't rinse out before, and most of the time, any leftover color in the diaper. Enter no stains!

The next one is for a homemade air freshener, mostly due to those diapers! I found this on Pinterest! Take an empty bottle (the Pinterest link used a jar, but I didn't have any with a lid, so I used an old sport drink bottle). Poke holes in the lid. Fill the bottle/jar 1/4 to 1/3 full with Baking Soda and add a few drops of your favorite essential oil, I used Lemon. The baking soda will absorb the smell and the EO will lightly scent the room. IF you notice the smell is stronger, simply shake the bottle a bit. Super easy with items I already had, and smells great. And WORKS! I rarely notice any smell in the bathroom, where we keep the diaper pail. I also found a link where you can use this same Baking Soda and EO combination to freshen up your mattress. Simply shake over a kitchen sifter onto the mattress and leave for an hour or so before vacuuming up.

The baking soda helps draw up any moisture and deep dirtiness. It deodorizes and leaves the mattress smelling fresh and clean. I also love the faint scent of lavender left by the essential oil.

A few weeks ago I noticed a bunch of ants outside our front door. Ugh. I hate bugs inside the house and unfortunately I live in the boonies (ok, not QUITE the boonies, but we have green space next door where BEARS live, and bugs, EVERYWHERE! So I took M outside and we drew on the cement outside the front door with CHALK. Simple and FUN! And ants HATE it. I actually drew a circle around one ant and it would take a few steps onto the chalk and then move backwards, and strategically tried to find a way out without touching the chalk.

And finally, I found a new app. It was recommended to me by a fellow blogger mom, Jeni from Joy and Woe (Hi Jeni!) The app is called Home Routines. I haven't used it much yet, but so far I like it. It's linked with FlyLady and gives you the same zones that she uses. And it's very user friendly and you can set up your own lists, your own tasks, etc. Looking at it now, it has timers, routine reminders. I haven't looked at how to use those, but setting it up was super easy since you synch your phone with your account on the computer and typing on the computer is MUCH easier than setting it up on your phone.

Wow, I need to update more often, this got long! Ok, kids are done eating, time to go build some train tracks and make some chocolate chip cookies! YUMMM!

WOW, I can't believe it's been almost a month since I've written in here. I really go through stages where I'm ON IT and post often, and also, interestingly, my house is cleaner, and then there are periods where I don't post very much, and my house is an overwhelming disaster. Interesting correlation. I guess when I post more, I feel more accountable for the state of my house. We did have a few weekends with a bunch of visitors, and that definitely helps me keep it tidy, but I hate that I can't just do it for myself. I deserve to have a neat and tidy house, don't I? Why do I only clean up for other people?

So what's gone on over here in the last few weeks? Well I tried the vinegar and blue dawn shower cleaner trick. People claim that this kills soap scum. I heated up 1/2 cup vinegar in the microwave and them mixed it in a spray bottle with 1/2 cup blue dawn. As claimed, it did turn into a gel. I sprayed it in my shower, waited a few hours and then wiped it off. Well, the glass parts didn't come THAT clean. I mean they did, but I could still see water marks when I squeegeed them. I was more impressed with the baking soda paste I used a few months ago on the glass walls. But what this mixture did do was kill the pink stuff that grows in the grout. It's been well over a week since I cleaned it and the pink stuff is NOT coming back yet. THAT impresses me. The fumes were a little overwhelming, so I had the fan on and stayed out of that bathroom while it was soaking.

To continue my spring cleaning, I've been purging some of our household items. I went through my kitchen cupboards last week and got rid of some bakeware we don't use. I have some pregnant friends and will be lending/selling/giving them some of the old baby stuff to clean out our playroom and the kids closets. It's crazy the pile of clothes I have in baby K's room that he's grown out of already. I've also gotten together some of M's art from the last year and will be putting it in a scrapbook to keep it organized. No more random paintings floating around the house.

On top of all the deep cleaning that I've been doing, the most important part of keeping the house organized is really simple. Tidy every day and STAY ON TOP OF LAUNDRY. The most overwhelming task is catching up on overflowing laundry baskets, dirty clothes all over the house, etc. Even if it's one load every day, something to keep it going.

Hope you are all enjoying nice spring weather where you are. Here's a cute sign I need to make for my entryway.

courtesy of Etsy via Pinterest.

Shampoo/face wash follow up

It's been about 7 weeks since I tried the un-shampoo and about 6 since I started using oil to clean my face. I know some people were inspired by my posts and tried them out, but didn't have the same results I did so I'm going to take a few minutes to do a follow up on how it's going, and potential changes that can help it work better.

Baking soda as shampoo

At first, this was fantastic. My hair was clean, shiny, but not greasy, the color looked so bright. When my bottle ran out of my first 'batch', I started just eye-balling the baking soda and I noticed that my hair started getting greasy faster. When I finally took a one tablespoon measure into the bathroom to mix my 'shampoo', it was an instant change. Back to super clean and non greasy hair.

So to those who tried this out but didn't have success, maybe your hair needs a more concentrated solution. If you want to try again, experiment with the amount of baking soda, and try using apple cider vinegar as a conditioner, if you normally use conditioner.

Oil cleaning method for my face

This method calls for castor oil mixed with olive oil, but since I didn't have olive oil, I used canola. I free poured a small amount of each oil into a small bowl and just dip my fingers into the mixture and massage onto my face before steaming off with a hot facecloth. After the first few weeks, I didn't have any breakouts and no dryness, which is important to note with our below freezing temperatures and wind. In the past 6 weeks, I have noticed a few pimples, but they are normally quite small, and are gone the next day. This has been surprising to me. I assumed that slathering my face with oil would create a teenaged-style zit-city. But it hasn't. I haven't used anything except for my oil mixture to clean my face and I also haven't worn make up over much of the past two months.

So to anyone who wants to try either of these two cleaning methods, or two wants to try again, be patient. You might need to tweak your combinations a few times before they work well for you. But I can say that I haven't used, or bought, shampoo or face cleanser for myself for two months now. A box of baking soda might last me a year, as would a container of castor oil, if not longer. So that means I can wash my hair and face for around $10/year. I don't think that's bad at all.

Un-Shampoo update and Oil Cleaning Method for my face

It's been almost three weeks since I stopped using shampoo and my hair is looking great. In fact, when I had my shower today, I noticed that I didn't really need to wash it, but it had been more than a few days, so I thought it might be best to give it an un-wash. I really doubt I'll ever go back to shampoo. And I'm wondering if any of my readers have given the baking soda method a try. If you have, let me know how it's working!

On top of the baking soda shampoo method, I started using oils to clean my face. I mentioned it in the Un Shampoo post, and after I bought my castor oil, I gave it a try. Simple Mom talks about it here Simple Mom: How to Clean your Face Naturally

Instead of olive oil, I used canola oil, since we didn't have any olive in the house and it seems to be working fine. I poured a little bit of canola into a bowl and about the same amount of castor oil. I then mixed them together, got a bit on my fingers and massaged into my face for about a minute or two. Then, as directed, I wet a face cloth with hot water, as hot as I could handle it, and let that sit on my face until it cooled to room temperature, about another minute. Then I used that face cloth to remove any excess oil from my face before hopping in the shower. After almost two weeks of this, I've surprisingly had no horrible acne breakouts and haven't needed to use lotion or even makeup. My face is super soft and really clean, and like the baking soda on my hair, my face feels cleaner for longer. It doesn't get super greasy and feels and looks amazing.

So I ask my husband to feel my face. He does, and then kind of looks at me. I said well, I haven't used soap on it in over a week and he says 'well then I should wash my hands'. Then he says 'well it's not my face' and I asked him to elaborate. He said it's not shiny. DING DING DING! I said, nope and it's not zit city, which, as we're taught as teenagers, is the sign of a dirty, oily face. Oils trap dirt in your pores and that causes pimples. So if I don't have a zit city living on my face, I can say with a fair amount of confidence, that this works!

So, anyone willing to try this out with me? I never thought I'd be so into all these natural things, but a two minute facial before every shower, not having to decide which face soap, scrub, toner, moisturizer, etc, OR which shampoo, conditioner, etc to buy, what's not to love about all of that?

Product review and giveaway: 'Natural Household Cleaner Recipes' ebook by The Peaceful Housewife

When my daughter was born, I had the wonderful opportunity of making some fabulous friends online, who also had children the same month. These friends live all over the world and have many different backgrounds and interests. One of them was Captain Fussybucket's mom. She started a blog and recently introduced me to another wonderful blogger, The Peaceful Housewife. Now The Peaceful Housewife just released an ebook called 'Natural Household Cleaning Products'. So what better product to review and offer for a giveaway? I'll do the product review first. Please read the rules for the giveaway before entering.

Product Review: 'Natural Household Cleaner Recipes' ebook
As a mom with two small kids and two annoying cats, it's important to have cleaners that both work well and are safe for my family. Being able to make them myself with products around the house is a huge bonus since it offers a huge savings. The Peaceful Housewife's ebook is fantastic. She offers recipes for laundry products, household products, even a makeup brush cleaner and pest spray. So I decided to pick a recipe and try it out, and I chose the carpet cleaner. Now you all know we recently bought a house. And this house came with horrible, stained, faded and PINK carpets. K and I like carpet since our kids are little and it's better for crawling, falling, etc. So we've always planned on just keeping this floor and installing hardwood once the kids are a bit older. But that doesn't mean that I don't care about the way they look. So I chose a stain just outside the kitchen and decided to give it a go. I'm pretty sure this stain was not caused by our cats and was here when we moved in. So it's been there for at least 6 months.



I used the carpet cleaner as directed in the ebook and the stains came right out. It was so easy, using a top secret combination of baking soda, vinegar and water. These products are already in my pantry and are super safe for everyone. Sorry I can't post the recipe, you guys gotta buy the book! It's only $3 through The Peaceful Housewife.

OR....enter my giveaway!

So here are the rules. Read them carefully, this is my first giveaway and I want to make it really easy!

This giveaway is open to: EVERYONE!
Giveaway open until: Monday August 22nd. I will draw a winner at 9am PST. So you have 10 days to enter.

Mandatory Entry:
Comment on this post telling me what kind of natural cleaning product you would most like to try out. Make sure you include your email address so I have a way to contact you if you win!

Additional Entries:
1. Follow my blog!
2. Like The (not so) Clean Mommy on Facebook
3, Follow The Peaceful Housewife (http://thepeacefulhousewife.com/)
4. Like The Peaceful Housewife on Facebook
Each time you make an additional entry, make sure you comment below again telling me that you completed those requirements. You could receive up to 5 entries. I have TWO copies available to giveaway so spread the word.