Clean Your Lint Screen

As much as I love the idea of being one of those awesome off-the-grid type survivalist home makers, I am not.  I love my appliances.  I know that I probably COULD get by without them, like in a nuclear war type emergency, but barring the zombie apocalypse, I do enjoy labor-saving machines.

For instance, my dryer.

I know what you're going to say.  I should line dry clothes and save money and energy, but I'm not there yet.  We have an itty bitty little yard, and I will try to set up a clothes line this summer.  In the meantime, I am in love with the dryer.

As with anyone I love, I want to see it happy and healthy.  The lint screen is super important for this.  I clean it out after every load...but is that enough?  Some times we use dryer sheets, and I have heard that this can leave a film over the lint screen that makes air move through less efficiently.  Let's check.

That's not good.

If the water is having a hard time passing through the filter, so is the air.  That's unfortunate.  It means that the dryer is not able to work as efficiently because it is not getting proper air flow.  This can BREAK YOUR DRYER.

(I can't handle that thought.  Did I mention that I love my dryer?)

Thank God and the internet that there's an easy fix!  Coincidentally, it's the same fix for most of the build-up issues in my house: white vinegar.

I sprayed the filter down with vinegar, and gave it a quick scrub.

The water runs right through now!  My nice, clean lint screen is back in my dryer, catching lint like a boss.  Hopefully my dryer will work even better for it, and lasts for years to come.

Did I mention that dryer service calls start at $147 through Sears?  I just hopefully prevented a problem for less than a penny.  Sounds good to me.

'No Poo" Saved My Hair

I HAVE FINALLY SOLVED THE PROBLEM OF MY FRIZZY HAIR!

Don't believe me? How about some before-and-after pics?



Seriously.

So what did I do? Did I find some new shampoo? Start some crazy beauty ritual? Did the olive oil treatments start really paying off?

Nope. I stopped using shampoo.

Seriously.

Greatest Home Made Fabric Softener

We don't often use fabric softener. Here are the main reasons why:

1) We have enough aggregate allergies for any two other families, so the less stuff on our clothes, the better

2) Fabric softener can leave a residue that makes towels less absorbent, and clogs the lint filter on the dryer

3) I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I'm kinda cheap about buying stuff.

I kept seeing recipes for home made fabric softener showing up on Pinterest. Some use herbs, some use hair conditioner, most use vinegar.

I love vinegar. As it turns out, you can use PLAIN VINEGAR TO SOFTEN CLOTHES.

Here's what you do. Go get a Downy Ball.

You can see that I got mine for $2.26.

Now just put fill to the line with vinegar instead of fabric softener, and chuck it into the wash. It will open during the rinse cycle.



Here's the benefits:

1) Soft clothes

2) Super cheap

3) Removes the residue left behind in your washer by soaps and other fabric softeners

4) Removes residue on towels that can make them less absorbent over time

5) Deodorizes clothes! (This is REALLY helpful if you forgot to switch the wet wash over into the dryer before going to bed last night. Like me).

There's only one drawback: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, EVER DO THIS IN A WASH WITH CHLORINE BLEACH.

You will create chlorine gas and possibly poison yourself. Read this post for more information.

I like you people. I wouldn't want you to get hurt. Let's stay safe out there.

Happy laundering.

Why I Am Giving Up Bleach

I grew up in a bleached world. For a while, during my adolescence, I lived with my grandmother. She was an old-school true believer in bleach. She would dilute it in a bucket and scrub down the counters, the cutting boards, the sinks, the toilets, the tubs, and the floors. As my white socks turned a grimy dark grey from my refusal to wear slippers, she would corral me and show me how to scrub them out in a tub of a strong bleach solution, then let them soak overnight until they were an acceptable shade. I thought bleach could clean everything.

I'm not denying that bleach is an excellent cleaner and sanitizer, but I really have to stop using it. You see, I have studied enough chemistry that it sort of makes me nervous.

When I use the word 'bleach' I am referring specifically to sodium hypochlorite, like what is in Clorox. (The actual definition is anything that can remove the color from something else. Technically, the sun qualifies as a bleaching agent).

Sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) likes to react with other chemicals, including other common ones that might be in your cleaning products, including ammonia and vinegar. Unfortunately a lot of these reactions can have products that are toxic to people and pets.

1) Reacting with ammonia can produce hydrazine. HYDRAZINE IS TOXIC.
Don't believe me? Read the material safety data sheet (MSDS). Go right to section 3.

2) Reacting with vinegar or other acids can produce chlorine gas. CHLORINE GAS IS TOXIC.
Feel free to read the MSDS for this one, too.


For the longest time I have used bleach or bleach products to clean my home without a major catastrophe. What makes me so nervous now? Simple. I have two little boys. As I am doing the laundry, or cleaning the kitchen, or scrubbing the bathrooms, or mopping the floors, my sons are following me and trying to help. If there is even a little hydrazine or chlorine floating around, do I really want it in their lungs? On their skin? Stinging their curious little eyes?

No. Never.

So, I'm going bleach free. I'll let you know how it goes.

Clean That Coffee Maker

I love my coffee pot. It's this totally awesome Mr. Coffee one but in white.

Well...it used to be white. Sadly, I have abused my coffee maker. I cannot imagine how, over 6 years later, this thing is still running like a dream. Someone told me recently that you really should clean your coffee maker regularly. I think I cleaned it once about three years ago....is once every three years "regularly"? Doubt it.

Apparently coffee can leave oils that can turn rancid and make your coffee taste gross. I love my coffee way too much to allow this to happen.

Some quick research on the internet resulted in lots of coffee maker cleaner kits like this one. Seeing as how I don't feel like leaving this house or spending money, I found a way to clean it with my standby helper: vinegar.

Here's the before picture:


I hadn't realized how bad it had gotten. In my defense, when I see the coffee maker in the morning, I am usually in my bleary-eyed, grumpy, pre-caffeinated state, so you could probably smuggle a gorilla into the living room and I wouldn't notice it. Unless it did something annoying. Then I'd say something snarky and glare a lot.

To clean a mess this horrible here's what you do:

1) Fill your carafe all the way with a 50/50 mix of water and white vinegar (for a 12 cup coffee maker, six of water and six of vinegar).

2) Run it through as though you were making a pot of coffee, filter and all (but no actual coffee, for obvious reasons).

3) Dump the water, allow the coffee maker to cool

4) Wipe down every grubby part with a wet washcloth.

Lookie!!



5) Use cotton swabs to get into any hard to reach spots.

6) Run through a pot of plain water.



7) Celebrate your much cleaner coffee maker! Possibly by brewing a pot of coffee!




P.S. I have to add "clean the coffee maker" to the monthly chore list, because in the muck on the underside of the lid, I unearthed this writing. It says, "IMPORTANT: CLEAN COFFEEMAKER AT LEAST ONCE A MONTH. SEE INSTRUCTION MANUAL"

Um...whoops.