{ A DIY hack for my Swiffer mop }

A few months ago, I purchased a Swiffer Power Mop.  I wanted something easy, because my previous mops were the usual twist and pull and whatever, and with my osteoarthritis, my hands sometimes hurt and the wringing action was putting tremendous strain on my joints.

 

I knew I didn't want a very expensive mop, I just wanted something inexpensive, but something that would do the job.  I've had multiple swiffers over the years and they were never great for mopping, at least I didn't think they were.  So, when I bought this one I was a little apprehensive but just thought no matter what it would help my hands and that's what I needed.

 

I have now had it for a few months and will say that I love it, it's easy to use, it does a great job, but I did have to hack it so to speak, in a few ways.  In other words, I had to change and DIY a little for it to be even better.

 

Because this is a homemaking blog and I always share my tips and tricks that I have found, that help me around my home, I of course had to come and show you as well.  What's the point of finding something great and a tip that will save money, if we don't share it with others right?

 

The first thing I noticed that I didn't like, were the cleaning pads that came with the mop, and the ones that you have to buy, obviously.  They can be a bit pricey and honestly, I found them to be a bit flimsy and easily fall apart, they also don't have any kind of rough surface to get hard spots out.

 

I was looking online and came across these re washable pads for the Swiffer Power Mop.  They were very inexpensive, I got them on Amazon and I must say, I LOVE them.  They clean so well and go right in the washer when needing a refresh.

 

They don't fall apart, they cling right to the mop bottom, they wash really well and come out looking like new.  Definitely a must purchase if you have one of these mops.  The package comes with 7 pads, and was just $9.99.  

 

Just for you to compare the two.  At Walmart the Refill pack is $9.94 for 5 refills which you can't wash and have to throw out.  In my mind the reusable and washable ones are much better quality, work well and can be washed, so it's a winner to me.

 

7 Count Reusable Mop Pads for Swiffer PowerMop

  

 

The next thing I wanted, was to be able to refill the cleaner solution myself with a homemade one, or another type of cleaner.  Each of the refill bottles is around $6, but it will be much cheaper if I don't have to keep buying it.

 

Getting around this was a bit more difficult, because it doesn't have a lid per say.  Of course it has a lid but it's not one that you can easily pop off or twist off.  It took a bit of digging around online and ultimately I ended up asking Chat GPT to help me, and it did.  

 

So, the way to refill these.  You need to boil some water, pour the water into a bowl, then take the empty solution bottle, turn it upside down and place it, lid size down in the bowl.  Leave it in for about a minute.  

 

 

The hot water loosens the plastic tabs inside and makes it easier to remove it.  The next step is to take a butter knife, pop it under the purple lid and lift gently all around.  

 

I then just slide the knife up and into one of those holes at the top, pushed gently and it popped right off.  

 

 

I usually make my own solution but I did have a bit left in the Lysol bottle, so I poured all of that into the container, filled the rest of the way up with water, and replaced the lid back on nice and tight.

 

Popped it back into my mop and it works perfectly.

 

 

As soon as this solution ends, I will be making my own.  Usually I do:

 

2 cups warm water

1/4 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup rubbing alcohol 70% 

1 teaspoon of dish soap (I use Ivory)

Optional:  essential oil (I don't do that very often, but sometimes I will add a few drops of lavender) 

 

I hope you find these tips helpfu, as I said above, when I find something that works well for me, I immediately want to share it with all the other homemakers out there.  

 

It has saved me quite a bit of money, and I love that I can make a safer solution without all the added chemicals. 

{ Home, garden, a tip and a recipe }

Good morning everyone, hope you're having a great start to your day.  

 

It is Friday, and I for one am so happy.  For one reason because it's the start of the weekend, and also because Curt and I plan on doing a little date tomorrow morning.  You know those kind of dates that you start appreciating when you're older?

 

In our youth a movie and a dinner was what we considered a good date, but the past few years, in our fourties, we realized that the kind of date we enjoy is a Saturday morning, thrift store browsing, book shopping, hitting up either Lowe's or Home Depot, and a little lunch before heading home and relaxing the rest of the day.

 

It may sound a bit boring to some of you, maybe the younger ladies, but I think for us ladies around my age and older, it's exactly the kind of moments with our husbands that we appreciate.

 

Before I start talking to you, I must say that I'm proud of myself this week, for keeping my camera glued to my side, taking pictures, and making a conscious effort to blog every day.  It has felt so good, it's like meeting an old friend.

Thank you also for the kind comments on my last post about old fashioned blogging, I knew you all would understand what I mean.   Kristina from A Pioneer Woman mentioned that she is most likely ending her blog she doesn't want to be boring, and doesn't get many comments.

I completely understand what she is saying, and I used to feel this way too, but I was reminded by no doubt God, that I'm not blogging for anyone other than myself.  That this is my little corner to jot down my memories, to keep a record online of my life and that although comments are wonderful and I certainly love receiving yours, they are not a must have for my blogging.  The minute I changed that way of thinking, I felt such pressure off of me to blog, to continue just writing as if I'm journaling.  It honestly frees you up.

Now do you want to see what I did yesterday?  Come on with me, I promise I will even give you a cup of coffee or tea.  However I don't have any cake or sweets, because I haven't been eating them, although talking about it now makes me want some.  Oh no LOL

I wanted to show you my garden real quick.  We opted for container gardening this year, save for a few things like potatoes, rosemary, basil and mint which are in the ground, but everything else is in containers.  I wasn't sure how that would work, and I've always envisioned my gardens in the ground, as I've done for years now, but hubby convinced me this year to try it this way, and I'm very glad that I did.

Everything is thriving and I've harvested a few a couple of times, and as you can see they are growing again.  I have quite a bit of chili peppers this year because I use them a lot and also want to can some for later in the year.

The only plants that I have had no luck with this year, have been my tomatoes.  I have 5 tomato plants and none have grown, given me any tomatoes.  I thought it was just me but I've seen multiple people complaining about the same, so I am stumped.  Not sure what happened.  Oh well, maybe next year.

I pottered around the house, doing what needed to be done, but also taking a few moments between washing laundry, or waiting for my instant pot to finish cooking, to read a few pages in my book.

 

The book I need to mail off was wrapped, and I have to remember to get it out by the 14th so that I get my book credit.  A little frustrated at the moment, because even though I placed it in my mailbox yesterday, the mailman didn't take it and it's still sitting there.  If it is not taken by the end of the day, I'll have to physically drop it off tomorrow morning when we're in town.

I know, it's not the end of the world but it's a little annoying especially since I tried to get it out as quick as possible, after the request came in.

 

 

Also cooked up my chickpeas for the next week or two.  I buy the dry chickpeas and then cook them, divide them into ziploc bags and freeze them.  I just remove a bag as I need it and it saves me a ton of time during the week.

 

Now, let me show you a little tip.  I shared it I think last year on my Instagram stories and it was one of the tips that got the most reactions from my followers over there.  

 

It's something that is so simple but oh my gosh, I wish I had known this years ago, it would have saved me from frustrating when dealing with Tupperware that is stained with any kind of tomato sauce.  You make a yummy tomato sauce based meal, you save it in the Tupperware and then it's stained orange for the rest of it's life.   

This trick will stop that from happening and it really does work.  I learned it through a Brazilian older lady that I saw on Youtube.  You will love it.

 

Basically, you are going to take your Tupperware, and it's best to do this right after you remove the food, don't let it sit for too long, although I have had success even with those stubborn stains.

Pour a little hot water into the bottom, add some dishwashing liquid, and then add a small paper towel.  Close the lid tightly, then shake, shake, SHAKE it.  I usually just shake it hard for about 30 seconds or so.  That's it.  Open it up, toss the paper towel and be amazed.  It's crazy, really!

 

Try it and let me know what you think.

 

Ok, now just quickly wanted to share this super easy recipe that makes a perfect breakfast or lunch, and it uses up leftover roasted vegetables.

 

Just take your leftover veggies, or cut up some vegetables if you don't have leftovers.  In a casserole baking dish, add salt, pepper, whatever else spices you want, then add in some eggs.  It will depend on the amount of vegetables you have, I only added 4 eggs to mine. 

 

Give it a good stir, pop some shredded cheese on top, and bake at 375 for about 20 minutes or until the egg is cooked and toasty and brown.

 

That is it.  It's healthy, it's delicious and like I already said, it's a great breakfast or lunch.

 

How yummy does that look right?  

Anyway, that was my Thursday, I didn't get to workout yesterday, wasn't feeling 100%.  I started feeling like I was developing a UTI, so immediately started drinking cranberry juice and upped my water intake too, although I already drinking seas of water.  I did my walking, didn't even hit my 10k steps, only made it to 7000, but that's ok.

I feel so much better today, and the UTI is practically gone.  So I will be back to working out today, thankfully, I actually missed it and feel so weird not doing it.

This post is much longer than I anticipated, so if you've managed to make it all the way here, thank you for hanging in there.  My word, I can talk when I get going.

Whew!

Right, I'm gonna end this post, but just quickly, the pictures I just posted above, are of what I am currently reading in my bible.  I felt like I needed to reread the book of Revelation.  Some people dislike it, some fear it, some love it.  I am in the love it camp, though I won't lie and say that some of the things don't freak me out or make me a big anxious, but I think overall the message is not to cause fear, but rather to inspire and to motivate us to walk closer to God knowing that at the end of this craziness that we call world and life, we will be in Heaven with our loved ones.

Now, with that said, I feel like even though I'm already on verse 18 and there are only 22 verses in Revelation, I am stuck.  I can't leave, and just have this overwhelming feeling of needing to dive deeper, to understand better and to stay in this book until I feel that I can move on.

I am currently looking for a good Bible study on Revelation, so if you know of one, or have studied it yourself, PLEASE leave it down below.  

I will look for a good one when we are downtown tomorrow, but in the meantime I am going to finish reading in the Bible, then I'm going to start again from verse 1, but this time I will read it, then read the commentary by J. Vernon McGee which my wonderful late mother in law Pat gave us for Christmas, many years ago.  It is the whole commentary for the entire Bible so it's a great study resource.

I honestly can't wait to dive deeper and understand a bit more.  There are just things that don't add up to me, especially timelines and so on.  

Alright, now I've babbled enough.  It's time to jump off here, get some steps in, do my workout really quickly, then finish reading Revelation and probably take a little break.  I need to lay down, I've got a horrid sinus headache brought on from the terrible allergies going around right now.  

I hope you all have a wonderful Friday.  I will show you what I get on my outing tomorrow, so come back for that.  

Have a blessed one friends,

xoxoxoxo

Getting those kitchen towels super clean!

On yesterday's post I mentioned how I get my kitchen towels nice and clean, using a mixture of cleaning supplies and letting nature help out with it's heat from the sun.

I spent many a year just doing what everyone else did, going to the store, buying this and that product, trying bleach and all sorts of chemicals to help me with my housework.  I didn't really think about it, I just went with it like so many others.

As my homemaking journey continued, I started wanting to be more independent and self sufficient.  I would sit and wonder how our ancestors got by, what did they use, because we know for sure that they didn't have all of these hundreds of products at their disposal.

We know that they had to use a lot of what was available to them, and use it to the maximum of their advantage.

The tip I'm about to share with you, is one such way to make use of products you already have on hand, but also to make use of nature and what God has put at our disposal.

But let's gather your grimy kitchen towels, and get going.  The first thing you will need is a big tub.  I use my dish tub for this and it works just great.

You're going to start by mixing in 3 to 4 tablespoons of baking soda, 2 cups of vinegar and about a cup or so of powdered detergent.

Give it a good mix, you will notice that it will bubble up as the vinegar and baking soda combine.

Boil some water, I use a big pot to boil quite a bit because I want enough to cover all the kitchen towels.  This is where you can judge for yourself, if you're only going to do a few then cut back on the ingredients, but I tend to keep my towels and wash them all once a week, using this method.

Also, I don't just put in white or light colored kitchen towels, I put in my colored ones as well, and they get nice and clean too.  This mixture and way of washing them, takes out grease and even stubborn stains.  I've never had an issue with it and always get great results.

Pour the boiling water into the tub, and then start adding your towels pushing them down with a wooden spoon so that you don't burn yourself in the hot water.

Once all the towels are in and covered completely with water, just set it out in a nice sunny spot and leave it.

I do this first thing in the morning and leave them out until about 5pm or so.

After it's been sat out all day, the water will still be warm, but you'll be able to grab the towels with your bare hands.  Go ahead and give them a ring, and then pop them in the wash.  Once done, hang out to dry.  You can use your tumble dryer, but I always hang mine out because I find that the sun helps again with the last whitening that I need.

I tell you nature is your best friend when it comes to getting things done, especially if you use it the correct way.

Look how bright and white they look?

How to whiten kitchen towels in the sun:

One big tub
Boiling water, 1 gallon
Baking soda, about 4 heaping tablespoons
Vinegar about 500ml  (2 and a half cups)
Powder detergent, 1 cup
Plastic bag to cover


Mix the baking soda, vinegar and detergent well, then pour in the boiling water.  Carefully add in your kitchen towels, be careful not to burn yourself.  I use a big wooden spoon to stir the towels into the water.

Place a plastic bag over the tub to cover. You're basically going to give it a nice steam bath, or a sauna if you will.  You don't have to cover with the bag, if the sun is hot enough, you can leave it as is, and that is what I did today.

Let it sit in the sun for a couple of hours.  It's best if you place them out in the morning and leave them until later in the day, or even overnight.

Wring them out really well, then throw in your washer.


I now have a fresh pile of towels ready to be used in the kitchen.  They smell good, they look amazing and I know they're clean and sanitized.  Next week Friday I will again repeat the process, once I've used them up in my day to day kitchen chores.

I do hope this tip helps you, and if you decide to try it out, do let me know how it worked for you. 

Bad allergy day

I don't know what happened, or where this allergy attack came from, but halfway through the afternoon, my eyes and nose started itching, I started sneezing and it was just downhill from there.

Even after I took my Allegra and Singular, plus the nasal allergy spray, the attack continued.

I haven't had such a bad allergy flare up, in many many months, so something must be aggravating me, just wish I could figure out what and remove it.

For now, I'm just sitting, trying to contain my sneezes, stopping myself from scratching my nose and eyes to oblivion, and listening to a crime documentary on YouTube.

I started my day with driving Jasmine to work, and then came straight home to get started on my housework.  More clothes were washed and set out to dry, I'm taking full advantage of this warm breeze heat we've been having.

The clothes go on the line and within 10 minutes tops, they are fully dry.  Isn't that something?

My soapberry tree is producing hundreds upon hundreds of these beautiful little green balls. Soon they will start changing color and that is when I'll collect a ton and use them to make all sorts of homemade soap.

I'll have to do a post on that when the time comes.  I'm all about using things at your disposal and this tree in the back yard, sure provides a HUGE amount of beautiful soap berries which will be turned into dish soap, shampoo, multi purpose cleaner and many other things.  Did you know you can even wash your laundry using these???  Crazy!!!

But, I'm very excited to dive right into the world of soap nuts and their amazing cleaning and medicinal properties.

I was able to catch up on my reading for about an hour this afternoon.  This is the next book on the review list and I'm enjoying it a LOT, can't wait to tell you all about it.

In the meantime while I wait for my soap berries to turn color, I'm resorting to simple tried old fashioned ways of cleaning the most stubborn of stains, especially in my white kitchen towels.

All I do is get a big plastic tub, fill it with boiling water, add in vinegar, baking soda and some powder detergent, pop the towels in and give it a quick swish then set it out in the warm sun for a couple of hours.

How to whiten kitchen towels in the sun:

One big tub
Boiling water, 1 gallon
Baking soda, about 4 heaping tablespoons
Vinegar about 500ml  (2 and a half cups)
Powder detergent, 1 cup
Plastic bag to cover


Mix the baking soda, vinegar and detergent well, then pour in the boiling water.  Carefully add in your kitchen towels, be careful not to burn yourself.  I use a big wooden spoon to stir the towels into the water.

Place a plastic bag over the tub to cover. You're basically going to give it a nice steam bath, or a sauna if you will.  You don't have to cover with the bag, if the sun is hot enough, you can leave it as is, and that is what I did today.

Let it sit in the sun for a couple of hours.  It's best if you place them out in the morning and leave them until later in the day, or even overnight.

Ring them out really well, then throw in your washer.  That's it, simple and again, we are letting nature help us out.

I am going to do another bunch of towels tomorrow and I'll show you the whole process and maybe even do a separate post to help you.   I'll also show you how much cleaner and whiter the towels turn out.

That is it for today.  I worked on the budget.  I actually sat down and wrote out any debt that we have, the amounts still owing and then went month by month until it was paid off, rolling over money from one paid off debt to the other and so forth.  I'm going to snowball the bejeebers out of our debt and we will be completely debt free in 2 years.

Definitely looking forward to that.

I'm about to enjoy a latte and watch some Star Trek with the hubster before bed.  I hope you've had a fantastic week so far.  Mine has been pretty quiet and I've enjoyed that, sometimes no action is the best thing you could wish for, right?

I'll be back tomorrow with the kitchen towel post for you all, have a good one :)