I’m one of those people who love anything that makes my life easy so this thread is up my alley! I try new stuff on a regular basis and have for years.
Some observations and notes:
If the e-cloths are anything like my wonderful As Seen on TV cloths (and I think they are) the one caveat is to NOT use any fabric softener. And yes, all microfiber is not created equal! Wet and clean with one cloth and dry with another of the cloths. Once your drying cloth is damp–get another. LOVE these. GREAT window/mirror cleaners. Works on soap scum too. Great dusters too.
Downy Wrinkle spray is not magic–the magic is in the very fine spray. I found a little spray bottle in the travel section at Wal-Mart and don’t travel without it. Fill it with only water and spray and smooth with your hands. The trick is that it produces a spray closer to mist (like steam). I recently found a slightly larger mister bottle (one you pump) in the camping section that I’ve “ironed” clothes with. Don’t get carried away and over wet the fabric. The spray must be very FINE. Works great for table cloths and bedspreads that have those creases you can’t stand but hate to iron out even more. Added bonus–no perfume and it’s only water.
Not only that–it’s small enough to keep in your purse to cool yourself off on a hot day. Major great. Try it with your
e-cloths for mirror cleaning and you’ll be a convert forever.
The first Mr. Clean Magic Erasers actually worked great. The newer ones aren’t as good (especially with the sponge backs) and knock-offs (even from brand name companies) are worthless.
Boiled egg peeling–go from hot to ICE cold water–make a BIG difference in temp. Just running cooler water won’t work. Take a bowl of water–add ice cubes to it–add your hot boiled eggs. The egg in the shell contracts from the sides of the shell and makes it easy to peel. You must do this when the egg is still HOT–don’t let your eggs sit and cool in the water on the stove.
Only bring eggs to a boil and then remove pan from heat, cover and let sit 10 to 15 min. Then put them into an ice bath. No rubbery eggs, easy to peel. That’s sort of how the Nordic egg maker works!
Got a 48 inch straight edge metal ‘yard stick’ at Harbor Freight for $3.99…metric one side, imperial other side. Use for hobbies I do where regular 36 inch yard stick is too short to measure easily…
For hard boiling eggs. I use ‘older eggs’ - I make sure I have a little indicator to know which side of my egg tray has the ‘older eggs’ - my tray holds about 2 dozen. Agree with the other poster about using older eggs - they fall away better from the shell after boiling.
I put the eggs in the pan and fill my small covered pan from my instant hot water tap to have enough water to have the eggs covered (don’t have the hot water go directly on an egg because the quick temp change may cause it to crack prematurely during cooking). After the eggs are vigorously boiling on the stove, turn the heat off but keep the pan on the burner and set your timer to 10 minutes. That way the egg yolk is done but not turning grey/black.
Empty the hot water and pour cold water in the pan. Set. Can drain and pour more cold water. I crack the shell at the spacious round end. Usually peels very nicely.
Mr B and I are liking our Green Works yard tools! The trimmer I bought on Thursday (delivered by the evil Amazon on Friday) took care of the hedges perfectly. And no cords, no gas, no stench, no noisy motors!
I also have a corded dethatching machine from them, and I can thatch the entire lawn (5000 sq ft) in a few hours. The job takes less time, but the dethatcher’s motor needs a cool off time because the lawn is a bit big for it. I just let it sit for a few minutes while I rake up the dead grass and moss it took out of the lawn
I like my collapsible colander. Takes less space in the cabinets AND is dishwasher safe. (I was when the compact / flat ). I can’t recall my brand, but here is a link from Walmart
Well the baby foot is not working as advertised.
I originally left it on for 1&1/2 hrs, and soaked my feet before and everyday since.
It started peeling a little bit 5 days later, but then it stopped.
I will have to check out the socks, always need more wool socks. I have Smartwool and Foxriver, which are also made in USA. I don’t know what happens to all my socks in the summer. They migrate and don’t make it back!
I have a ton of right handed gloves though. ?
Also, about hb eggs. After you’ve drained off the hot water and kept adding cold to the pot til it stays cold, I let them sit a few minutes. (Just so they aren’t too hot to hold.) Then I crack the shell all over with a sturdy teaspoon, slip the spoon under a bit off the wider end, twist the spoon and pronto presto. There’s an air bubble at the wider end, so you have a little more working space. Can’t explain it better, but saw it years ago in some cooking article.
Well, it is 10 am on Sunday… A few minutes ago, the evil Amazon delivered the egg cooker and the other junk I ordered on Friday. Mr. B. inspected the cooker and declared it “bull…t.” I told him that my people highly recommended it. I am testing it as we speak using large Costco-sized eggs in my 1200 watt Panasonic MW.
Oh wow! Perfect. 6 min, 4 eggs - firm white, slightly undercooked yolk. Mr. approved!!! Eggs peeled well. I think dipping the tray with hot eggs under running water is key.
My mother always used vinegar to clean her toilet bowl instead of toilet bowl cleaners. Got to let the vinegar stay in the bowl for at least an hour before scrubbing. Her bowl really is clean.
My dentist recommended Sonicare toothbrushes to me years ago, but only recently bought one. I wish I bought it earlier.
I started using Neilmed Sinus Rinse for my allergies. The relief I feel is pretty close to taking OTC allergy pills.
My “it’s been around so long, why didn’t I try it sooner” is Scrubbing Bubbles for the tub. I’ve been in a conversion to more chemical free products and organic foods, but sometimes a gal has to get the job done. We had a tub that had some intense grime (after the beach? Dunno.) The cleansers just moved it around. This stuff I just sprayed, waited a bit, rinsed, and the mess wiped right off. GHS, good head smack. Now I need to try that Awesome for the grout.
BB you have to have Mr B out when you get deliveries. Since almost all consumption is with DDs (on track with finishing college 2016 and 2018) Mr SOS is low key. Now that the one DD that was home for summer is now back at school, Mr SOS continues to be happy on his hobbies on his non-working hours. Was happy with DD home, but is happy with his free time too.
for grimy bathtubs, I have found mixing blue Dawn (concentrated) with water and bleach in a spray bottle can work wonders. Spray it on, let it sit for awhile…spray again if needed, if not, rinse with hot water. (In a spray bottle, add water to about 3/4 full, then add a nice scented bleach, then squirt in some blue Dawn)
That said, once someone here on CC told us that bar soaps have wax in them, I stopped buying them and we only use body gel type products now. They leave far less residue.
^ @mom2collegekids - I remember that post, too. I stopped buying bar soaps and went to body gel and when H asked for his bar soap back, I said “Of course, as long as you agree to scrub out the tub…” He hasn’t asked again
