Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Yay Vinegar!

I made the switch to vinegar over the weekend. I refilled all of my spray bottles with a mixture of water and vinegar and went to town spraying everything down. It worked best for me to spray things down before bed or before we went outside to play. The smell is a tad unpleasant for an hour or so, but it's worth it. I really felt good about making the switch. Who knew vinegar could make one person so happy!

Yesterday I did a little more research on vinegar just to see what all it could be used for etc. Turns out it isn't supposed to be diluted. Whoops! Tonight I will refill all of my spray bottles. I am glad I bought the big, economy size bottle of vinegar.
Below is a helpful paragraph I found at http://www.care2.com/. I assumed vinegar kills germs since it has been a staple in households for so long, but I wanted to find out for sure.

"Vinegar is a mainstay of the old folk recipes for cleaning, and with good reason. The vim of the vinegar is that it kills bacteria, mold and germs. Heinz company spokesperson Michael Mullen references numerous studies to show that a straight 5 percent solution of vinegar—the kind you can buy in the supermarket—kills 99 percent of bacteria, 82 percent of mold, and 80 percent of germs (viruses). He noted that Heinz can’t claim on their packaging that vinegar is a disinfectant since the company has not registered it as a pesticide with the Environmental Protection Agency. However, it seems to be common knowledge in the industry that vinegar is powerfully antibacterial. Even the CBS news show “48 Hours” had a special years ago with Heloise reporting on tests from The Good Housekeeping Institute that showed this. "


Below are a few more helpful links. The list of uses for vinegar is endless. I decided to post a few links rather than list out all of the uses.








To some, vinegar may be a boring topic. To others, its just the bit of info you are interested in. What is your favorite use for vinegar?



Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Reformed Goddess of Bleach






I love bleach. At least I did until yesterday. I spray my house down with bleach water daily, put a little bleach in the sink when I wash dishes, add it to the laundry.....the uses are endless. I'd like to think I am pretty savvy about ways to clean your home using natural products and the like, but somewhere, somehow, I missed the memo.
Thank goodness for Katie at Kitchen Stewardship http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/. There was a really good post yesterday on soap in general and on bleach. I am now trying to convince myself that I knew bleach was bad, but somehow got "mom brain" and forgot. I'd love for you to take a look at the post


http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2010/03/22/spring-cleaning-carnival-get-the-antibacterials-out/





Here's another good link on soap in general http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/02/21/my-relationship-with-soap/




Ironically, I have recently become a huge fan of vinegar for its many uses. Turns out, vinegar does a great job of disinfecting! I will be posting more about vinegar in the next day or two...


Upcoming topics:

Deodorant, Coconut Oil and Unfinished Crafts....exciting much.






Read more: http://www.mylivesignature.com/mls_wizard2_1.php?sid=54488-111-CFDE760CFFE951304492C44691120B12#ixzz0ie1gvf4t

Friday, March 19, 2010

Hoping my signature works...

I've had a blog going in my head for almost 30 years now. I finally have the interest to start typing though! Ideally, I will be posting on my journey to domestic bliss! I have a passion for crafting, and all things green. My husband calls me his little tree hugger. I like to think of myself as a repressed tree hugger waiting to make my debut! If I can get in the hang of this, you'll find that I include many links to resources that I've found. If I dont get the hang of this, you'll probably just see this post...

Peace and Joy-
Marisa