Sunday, March 17, 2013

Jerk Soap

Yesterday, as I contemplated life in the shower, I came to a revelation. 

The kiddos have it made with their soaps and shampoos, et all. At what age do the Batman, Princesses, Spiderman, and Madagascar disappear from our self cleaning supplies? 

Could you imagine if we continued with themed products in the shower for us Mommies and Daddies? You may see something like Edward and what's his name for the Vampire Lovers. Or, Beard Face, Duck Calling Guy for the macho man out there. Or, why not Steve Martin for the older generation: "Jerk Soap." I could go for "Magic Martha" if it cleaned my shower stall while I bathed. And "Moscato Shampoo-O" for evening showers.


I have to admit looking at all the bubbly, (pun, snort) colorful, fruity-licious smelling soaps, body washes, and shampoos made me a little bit jealous. 






I'm stuck with basically the blues of adult shampoo-ige. Heck, even our toothbrushes and his razor are blue! That can't just be my OCD at it's best. 





 


While staring at the differences in even the shaving mirrors of the parents vs the kiddos, one more thing came to mind of what the kiddos have over me when it comes to the almighty shower....








HOT WATER!




Saturday, March 2, 2013

How to clean up the kitchen after Friday Pizza Night



By a Man:

Throw leftover pizza in the fridge, in the box
Leave rest of pizza boxes on counter
Leave Pizza plastic do-hickey-thing on counter next to dirty plates, dirty cups, dirty napkins, atop the empty dishwasher



 


By a Woman:

Place left-over pizza on paper plate
Slide into a large ziplock bag
Place in refrigerator
Empty refrigerator of old left-overs
Rearrange refrigerator shelves and wipe clean
Scrape left-over food into trash can
Notice trash is full, empty and rebag
Rinse left-over containers
Fill dishwasher with left-over containers
First rearrange dishwasher to fit more dishes
Add dishes from sink
Add dishes from living room
Add dishes from computer desk
Run dishwasher
Put dishwasher soap back and tidy cabinet
Walk empty pizza boxes to garage trash
Wipe down counters 
Wipe down sink and faucet
Wipe down trash can lid
Wipe down kitchen door handle and door jam
Wipe down microwave door and handle
Clear remaining seconds from microwave
Wipe down stove
Wipe down refrigerator handle
Sort through school paperwork
Sort through mail
Update Family calendar
Start grocery list
Sort, organize, tidy pantry
Clear off kitchen table
Wipe down kitchen table
Fill dog's water dish
Refill empty paper towel roll 
Take dirty dish towels to laundry room
Fold dryer contents
Empty lint trap
Sweep floor with the dryer sheet
Transfer wash to dryer
Start new wash load
Return clothes to closet
Pick up dirty clothes on the way
Gather empty hangers
Gather dirty bath towels

Wait! What was the original objective?


Airing Our Dirty Laundry

It's no secret the Mack-ly Family has a lot of dirty laundry. We've been dealing with it for years. It's a never ending battle. Sometimes, dare I say, an emotional roller coaster.

But a few months back Hubs and I got a small reprieve at this Wardrobe Mountain we hold behind these four walls of our house. 

Hubs set out to save a little dough and, ironically, in doing so, the Dirty Laundry seems less like that huge mountain we scale every day. It's that satisfaction of knowing we're making progress while saving that gives a little crooked smile with every load.

The Google produces so many recipes for your own homemade laundry detergent your head spins like the spin cycle. Hubs settled on a simple one (that ends up almost all on the same store shelf in the local Wally World) and made a few minor adjustments based on his liking. With each next batch I'll be altering between lavender, tropical, fresh spring, and maybe even a baby scent.

The recipe claims to be a 6 month supply for a "normal family of four." (Let me know if you personally know one, I don't know what that is myself) 

So Hubs bought these...

















And mixed it like this...

And then I rationed it like this...

















This bottle here is 30 loads. It only takes about two tablespoons per load. In fact, the Oxy scoop is what we use and that's a smidge less than two tablespoons. The rest of the batch is in a sterlite container on the shelf in the laundry room. The batch made holds 7.5 of these! That works out to 225 loads.

Hubs made this batch at the end of December. We're now two months later and have not used a third of the container (which is where we expected to be). The entire container cost us less than 25 buckeroos! ELEVEN CENTS per load! ELEVEN! 

In comparison, those name brands (like Tyd, A&H & Gane, and Awl) come in at 34cents, 28cents, and 20cents. Whoa! Big difference, wouldn't you say? 

I'm a picky laundry gal and had my doubts, but this recipe is great. The clothes don't smell musty, dingy, dirty, or overly perfumy. They come out clean and fresh. And I, for one, am happy at the cost!

Let me know if need us to make YOU a batch.