Archive for the ‘clean it’ Category

The drain in the kid’s bathroom has been slow the last few weeks.

I wanted to find a solution to unclog the drain that didn’t include calling a plumber- too expensive.

And didn’t include Drano- too toxic.

I did a Google search on “How to Unclog a Drain Naturally” and found my old friends and cleaning champions-  Baking Soda and Vinegar at the top of the list.

I could hardly wait to give them a try.  This process works with a slow drain, I don’t think it would work with a drain with standing water in it.

Here’s what I did:

• 1/4 cup baking soda
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1 large pot of boiling water

(I removed my pop-up drain stopper first.) Carefully pour the baking soda down the drain.  Follow with 1 cup of white vinegar.  Let it stand for about 15 minutes.  Then I poured a pot of boiling water down the drain.

It was moving a faster, but still a bit slow.  So I repeated the process.

The second time worked like a charm, I heard a gurgling noise (which sounded encouraging) and when I poured the boiling water in, it really went down fast.  Now it drains as fast as when it was brand new.  Totally amazing.  And to think, I just used what was in my pantry, no $$$ out the door.

What is it about the new year that makes you want to deep clean?  I can’t wait to get the messiest and most frustrating parts of my house clean and organized.

I decided I needed to approach it like eating an elephant… one bite at time.  Ikks, that analogy is terrible, I love elephants… but you get the idea.  It’s a big job, not to be attempted in one sitting.  I need to take it in manageable projects.  So I’ve decided to clean one thing a day.  If I have time, it will be a closet.  If I don’t have time, it will just be a drawer or a shelf.

I really want to take advantage of the sales on organizers this month, but I am also using things I have on hand.  See that little blue topped lid in the picture above.  They are coming in handy.  I have those from when my girls where in the hospital as babies.  They are perfect for tacks, paper clips, and safety pins.

One of the biggest most frustrating messes, I couldn’t wait to tackle was my “junk” shelf.  In my old house this stuff was in a drawer… my junk drawer.  But at least in my old house it had a little organization with drawer dividers.

The home we live in now has very little drawer space, so all the things from the drawer went into a cupboard in their drawer dividers stacked on each other.  And as you can imagine, that didn’t work out too well.   Things really started piling up and getting mixed up, until the shelf was halfway full of a precarious mess.  More than once, I’ve had something fall out and crash.  I’m so mad that I didn’t take a “before” picture, which would have embarrassed me thoroughly.

For around $8 at Walmart, I was able to organize it as you see it now.  I threw a ton of stuff away and then grouped like things together.  Some of the things made their way to other spots in my home.  The rest of it went back onto the shelf, but now in the little drawers or containers that are labeled to make finding what I need easy.

And I have one thing to say.  Happiness is a clean shelf.

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(Yes Joyce, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree… actually, my mom would never have had a shelf as messy as mine was for all the gold in Fort Knox…)