Monday, August 26, 2013

LSU Chancellor's Welcome 2013

Here are all of the videos I took yesterday at the Chancellor's Welcome in the PMAC.
Sorry for the shakiness.. I was trying to video over our happy dancin' 3 year old!
  Enjoy!













This next one is of colorguard.  Taylor is standing directly to the left of the drum major, in the back row of colorguard.


This one of pregame is from a member of the LSU Tiger Band Family Facebook page, Rose Guillot Childress:

Saturday, August 24, 2013

The scum of the earth.. soap scum, that is

So the shower in our master bathroom is a glass shower, and the scumminess of the doors has been bugging me since we moved in..And of course it has only gotten worse. So today I decided to look for a homemade cleaner to get rid of it, because the ones in the stores are so chemically and strong. First one I came to was a winner because I had all of the ingredients...

Here is the one I used, from Fabulessly Frugal.

Vinegar, corn starch, and dish detergent.. I used Dawn as used here.
The corn starch is obviously the agent that holds the vinegar and soap to the wall to keep it doing its job longer.

Now, if you stand in the shower like I did, you will feel like you are in a pickle jar. :)

But 10 minutes later, I used a sponge and wiped it all down, then I sprayed it clean.

I wish I had taken before and after pics!  WoW!
I tried a magic eraser a few weeks ago with no results..
This just cut through the grime!!!  I need to do another application, as some spots were missed.

Anyway, had to share!  Happy frugal cleaning!

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

UPDATE: Homemade cleaners

So I have been using my homemade cleaners for about 4 months now, and thought that the info I posted about them could use an update.

Laundry Soap:  So I never did try the liquid version of my laundry soap because frankly, that took way too much time.  So I now create my powder version in about 5 minutes.

  • 1 bar of Ivory soap, grated fine (small holes on my hand grater- the whole bar)
  • 1 cup Borax
  • 1 cup Arm & Hammer washing soda
That is IT!  I use a 1 1/2 tablespoon measure that we saved for some reason from Miracle-Gro.  Most loads get one scoop.  Some bigger loads or dirtier loads or stinkier loads get 2 scoops.  
This recipe makes about 15 regular loads.  I honestly have never taken the time to count how many.  

Fabric Softener:  Super super easy and so much cheaper than the regular brands.  If you are addicted to the smell of Gain or Downy or whatever, well, this won't fill that void.  (I have started adding a dryer sheet to big loads for more static cling fighting power.)
Recipe:
  • 1 cup of hair conditioner  (ANY kind... I now use V05 because it is 75 cents a bottle at Walmart.)
  • 1 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar
  • 3 cups water
I now don't even bother with a bowl and whisk.  I pour all of this in my saved fabric softener bottle from my Downy days, put the cap on, and shake to mix.  A bigger bottle will hold a double of this recipe.  
I use a capful of the stuff for every load.  Sometimes I add 10 drops of lavender oil to the mix also, for extra freshning power.  (Running low and need to locate this in our new town!)

Dishwasher detergent:
  • 1 TBL Borax
  • 1 TBL Kosher salt
  • 1 TBL Washing Soda
This is enough for one load.  I usually put about 4 loads worth in a small container under my sink and swirl the contents to mix well.
About once a week I squeeze a lemon into the dishwasher (no seeds please!) to get the freshness of lemon in there as well.
And my rinse aid dispenser is always full of white vinegar.

Toilet Cleaner:
This is probably the most "fun" because of the bubbles that remind me of volcano experiments as a kid :)
Sprinkle baking soda in the bowl.  Pour white vinegar on top to get the bubbly action going.  I probably use about half a cup of baking soda and a cup of vinegar.  Again, sometimes I sprinkle in some drops of lavender oil, but the vinegar smell goes away after a little bit.
Let sit for about 10-15 minutes.
If you need some more scouring power when scrubbing, sprinkle more baking soda in there.

I did go back to buying all purpose cleaner, as I felt like the vinegar and water wasn't cutting through the grime on my countertops.  I love the smell of Method cleaners from Target (pink grapefruit is my fave right now.)

Shower Cleaner:
I tried the Method shower cleaner and low and behold, it is not doing as good of a job as my homemade stuff, which is mostly vinegar and water with a little Dawn dishsoap.  (See my previous blog post for the link).  

All this homemadeness has enlightened us to making our own foot scrubs and foot soaks and lots of other things.  Next blog post will share some of those.  Happy cleaning!