Castile soap is a plant-based soap that loosens grime and dirt from surfaces.  It is more gentle than soap, so it won’t dull surfaces.  Castile soap can be used in many different ways:

For washing the car, mix ¼ cup liquid Castile soap with hot water in a bucket, filling the bucket almost to the top. Rub a generous amount of the solution on your car’s exterior, windshield, hubcaps, and tires with a large sponge, then thoroughly hose it off.

To clean your floors, make a solution of ¼ cup liquid Castile soap and 2 gallons warm water. If the floors are greasy, add ¼ cup distilled white vinegar to the bucket.

For cleaning my leather couch, add 2 drops liquid Castile soap to 1 quart warm water. Apply to the leather with a barely moist sponge.
 
Stir 1 tablespoon liquid Castile soap into 1 quart warm water. Dampen a cloth with the solution and wipe down countertops.  Rinse, then dry with a clean cloth.
 
Create a homemade soft scrubber that you can use to clean sinks, showers, tubs and tile, by combining 1 tablespoon liquid Castile soap and 1/3 cup baking soda.
 
Add a few squirts of liquid Castile soap to 2 cups hot water and apply to your stovetop.  You can also use Castile soap to clean the grease off of the burners, and the vent hood.

Although you can buy products with castile soap, here is a video with how to instructions for making your own liquid castile soap:

Heart disease is the number one killer of women in the United States. February is a month set aside to focus on heart disease and ways to be more heart health conscious. The American Heart Associations invites groups, organizations and neighborhoods to plan a “Wear Red Day” to raise awareness and donations to help fight this disease.

The American Heart Association has put together a series of marketing and promotional materials to help you with your grass roots effort. Click here for the marketing kit.

From now until February 23, the American Heart Association invites groups to show their support and post updates on their Wear Red Day. Visit their Wear Red Facebook page and post pictures and information about your efforts to build awareness.

• Wash on Monday
• Iron on Tuesday
• Mend on Wednesday
• Churn on Thursday
• Clean on Friday
• Bake on Saturday

Now with more homes than not having both partners working outside the home, this daily task list has been totally abandoned. Never mind the fact that we no longer churn our butter or that baking consists of a trip to the bakery section of the grocery store, we are often so tired at the end of the day that the thought of cleaning is enough to make us groan.

And yet the dust continues to collect, the floors need mopping and the laundry needs to be done.

Real Simple magazine offers a quick and detailed checklist for cleaning your home. Each task is “bite sized” so that it can easily be delegated to other members of your family. Real Simple says this list can be completed in 30 minutes, but if everyone chips in, the load should be much lighter.

Here’s just the kitchen section of the list;

Kitchen

• Clear out and wipe down the sink (5 minutes). No piles of dirty dishes! Move them into the dishwasher, and wipe the sink with a sponge.
• Wipe down countertops and stove (1 minute). Clean splatters and spills with a damp cloth or sponge and an all-purpose cleanser.
• Wipe problem spots on the floor (2 minutes). You can save a full-floor mop for the weekend, but use the same cloth (once you’ve finished with the countertops) to quickly clean any spills or sticky spots, which will attract dirt and get more noticeable if left alone.
• Fold or hang dish towels (30 seconds). Even if they’re clean, a jumble of dish towels on the counter can look messy. Take a few moments to fold or hang them.

For the complete list, click on the Daily Quick Cleaning Checklist.

Is 30 minutes still too long? CNN Living offers this article on How to Clean Your Home in 19 Minutes! 

On your mark, get set, CLEAN!

Of course, you can always call Northeast Ohio Maid Brigade to keep your home clean – weekly, every other week or as needed.

Answer the 7 yes/no questions and then receive a detailed guide for your home. The guide offers such suggestions as:

• Tape small area rugs to the floor to avoid trips and falls
• Learn to use a fire extinguisher (have one handy for kitchen fires)
• Have grab bars in the shower and non slip tape on the floor of your tub
• Have a fire escape plan for your family
• Call the 1-800-222-1222 if someone takes poison. This number will connect you to emergency help in your area. Keep the number by every phone.

Some of the information is familiar while other suggestions are new; but the entire list is filled with great value to keep you and your family safe at home.

Check it out. Home Safety Personalized Checklist.

TO CLEAN Good news: Some containers are dishwasher-safe (check manufacturers’ sites). If yours is, put the vessel over the tines in the top rack; place the lid in the flatware basket. For hand-wash-only bottles, fill halfway with hot water and a squirt of dish liquid. Cap; shake; then empty the sudsy water through the drinking spout. Open; rinse with hot water, flushing the threads of the rim. Dry.

TO ELIMINATE SMELLS With daily use. these bottles trap odors, even if thoroughly cleaned. Whenever that happens, add 1 teaspoon of baking soda and ‘ 2 teaspoon of chlorine bleach to the bottle. Fill halfway with hot water, shake to mix, top off with water and screw on the cap. Let sit for 30 minutes then empty, wash, rinse and dry. Scrub lid with a toothbrush and baking soda. Rinse well.

 

Something like 33 million live trees are sold every year! That’s a lot of evergreen to recycle. Here is an article by Trey Granger that offers five tips to recycling your tree.

Here is one of them:

Recycle It Yourself

If you’re completely opposed to paying fees, or are worried about getting your tree to the curb on time, there are plenty of ways to take care of the tree on your own without a recycling program:

• Chop it into firewood and kindling—A standard Noble Fir tree can be turned into more than 13 pounds of firewood to keep you warm this winter. The needles can be used for art projects or as mulch in your backyard.
• Improve water quality—If you have a pond or other body of water in the backyard, tossing in your Christmas tree actually helps the fish by providing shelter and nutrients. Many communities have drop-off locations near bodies of water for this purpose. If you do not officially own the body of water (such as beach-front properties), you must get permission before disposing of your tree in this way.

He also offers a link to the national directory of recycling centers. Earth911′s Christmas Tree Recycling Directory. So this year, be green and recycle.

I found an article by Amanda Formaro offering 30 tips to quick cleaning. Some involve being prepared by having supplies close at hand and others are great tips to add to your daily routine. Some you can even delegate to other members of your family. Here is just a sampling of her ideas:

In the Kitchen:

• Use baking soda to clean the kitchen cabinets and counters. The stove and refrigerator will come out sparkling. Baking soda is a mild abrasive, so check for wear on “soft” paints and varnishes.
• Do a quick mop or floor wipe-down daily, to make it easier to do your weekly mop.
• If you use a dishwasher, load dishes as you use them. Don’t allow your sink to become full of dishes.
• If you have pets, especially those that shed, use a hand held vacuum or sweeper to suck up animal hair before sweeping. Sweeping doesn’t collect animal hair; it simply moves it around.
• Change your kitchen cleaning rag regularly. Be sure to rinse and wring it out well after each use and hang it to dry, to discourage bacterial growth and an awful smell.
• Toss your dish cleaning sponge into the dishwasher on the top rack.

For the complete article of 30 Quick Cleaning Tips. Keep in mind that your local Maid Brigade office is on hand to come clean your home to prepare for a party or on an on going basis.  Visit us at Maid Brigade Northeast Ohio. 330-453-6000

I found this article and instructional video for making felted acorns. It is a clever way to use the acorns laying on the ground outside your door. Not only that, they are different from anything I’ve seen before and can really be used in a variety of decorating examples. 

Check out Becky Striepe’s article and how to video for making your own felted acorn ornaments.

Banish colds, flu, and H1N1, and boost your immune system this winter with these natural remedy foods.

Sunflower Seeds.   Two tablespoons give you more than a third of your daily requirement of vitamin E.  This vitamin helps you resist the flu and upper-respiratory infections by boosting production of T-cells, a type of white blood cell that fights infection.  Other sources of vitamin E are almonds, wheat germ, hazelnuts, and peanuts.  

Brazil Nuts.  A single Brazil nut has 95 mcg of selenium, nearly double the amount you need in a day.   Your body uses selenium to produce those infection-thwarting T-cells, which in turn destroy bacteria and viruses. Studies show that this antioxidant instigates the good bacteria in our intestines to attack bad bacteria and parasites like E. coli.

Too much selenium can be bad for your health; a small handful of nuts every few days is all you need.

Other sources of selenium are tuna, beef, cod, crab, oysters, chicken, turkey, whole wheat flour, and garlic.

Oysters.  High in protein, iron, calcium, and one of the most environmentally friendly types of seafood you can buy.  Six oysters provide 32 mg of zinc, four times the recommended daily amount. Zinc is so crucial that a deficiency in this mineral causes your body to function as if it’s older than it really is.

Other sources of zinc are beef, crab, pork, chicken, cashews, beans, fortified cereals, and grain products.

Sweet Potatoes are a great source of beta-carotene.  The lining of your lungs and digestive system are the front line of the infection war (which is where it is converted to vitamin A), and depend on this antioxidant to function properly. Vitamin A protects the thymus gland, the body’s production site for T-cells in children. 

Other beta-carotene sources are carrots, spinach, kale, brussel sprouts, pumpkin, apricots, papaya, and mango.  

Read the complete article for even more food suggestions.