Too much laundry soap

After I finished cleaning my washing machine (see my last post), I threw my family cloth into the washing machine for cleaning. I poured in my soap and then watched as my machine filled with water. Since I broke the value on my machine, the one that tells the machine to stop filling and stops water from entering the machine, I have to turn off the water line manually once it is full. As I noted in my last post, my washer is hooked up to a quick release value on my laundry tub so this really isn't an issue for me. Having well water means I don't start a load when I can't finish the load and throw it directly into the dryer. The excess iron in the water makes the clothes stinky if they sit in the washer for too long.

I digress...back to the story. Because of the broken value, I was still watching the washer when it began to agitate. I was surprised by what I found.



I thought...."ok, that is probably not a good thing." When the washer finished the first cycle, I turned the water back on to rinse and found this...



Well, the string of expletives that escaped my mouth made me glad my daughter was asleep already. All I could think of was that I was throwing money down the drain in the form of laundry soap because I was using too much to wash my clothes. Now, I purchased the soap I am using here, Gain powder laundry detergent, right around Christmas when I had too much going on with the holidays to make a batch of my homemade soap. I am still working off that same box I bought, but now realize that my laundry soap should be lasting much longer. When I added the soap to the washer, I had barely filled it to the first line on the scoop that came with the box, but that was still too much soap for my washer.

I reran the load again, using plain water, to rinse out the excess laundry soap out of the family cloth.



You can see how much soap was left in my family cloth after the first wash and rinse. I was extremely surprised and then concerned. Using too much soap in your washing machine is a problem for many reasons.

1. Waste of money.
I could have washed another full load with the soap that was left over in the family cloth. Such a waste.

2. Poor washer.
That excess soap leaves a residue on your washer, which can cause many problems over time, not to mention require extra cleaning. The residue can build up on the washer and cause problems for the spin bearing, causing hundreds of dollars in repair costs. The residue can also cause your washer to have a yucky moldy smell it from mildew build up. Yuck.

3. Poor clothes.
That excess residue isn't only on your washer, it is also on your clothes. This means that your clothes will look dull and fade much quicker. That means replacing clothing much sooner than we should have to.

4. Poor skin.
Laundry soap isn't truly "soap", not the definition of soap that we think. It contains surfactants to help remove the dirt and grime from our clothes. Surfactants can be skin irritants for some. My daughter has sensitive skin, just as I do, and there are times when she will get a little rash from some laundry soaps. I don't usually have this problem with my homemade soap, but we have run across it with using the Gain soap on occasion. The excess soap in the clothes can cause contact irritation to the skin of those with sensitivities to it.

Bottom line, it is important to use the correct amount of soap for your washer so you can keep your clothes and washer in the best condition possible. I know I tend to use too much laundry soap, so I will start lowering the amount of soap I use to see how much soap I truly need to clean my clothes without leaving excess soap residue in my washer and on my clothing. My homemade recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of soap in a full load of clothes, 1 tablespoon per load for a HE washer. My washer is a smaller, apartment size washer, so I will be using 1 tablespoon of my homemade soap per load when I make my next batch.

Do you use too much soap?

Happy washing

Danielle

Washing your washing machine

I realize how funny that sounds but it is also an important step in maintaining your washing machine. I try to do this every 6 months or so but I was looking at my washing machine and realized it had been some time, probably at least a year, since I had done it myself. Prepare to be grossed out because I know I was at how much gunk and grime had accumulated on my washing machine in the year or so since I had cleaned it.



The top of my machine wasn't too yucky since I do wipe that down fairly often with my fur covered friend always walking across it. I was photo bombed by Smoky while taking this picture. It wasn't until I opened up the machine and really looked at it that I was grossed out.



Gross right. Keep in mind that I have well water here, so the tinge of the water is the rust and iron that is always in my water, I don't have a water softener at this time. I took those pics while I was filling it to start the cleaning process, but the gunk around the rim was gross to me, considering I don't use any of the dispensers built into the machine.

I started by filling the machine with the hottest water I could and added 2 cups of straight bleach to the machine. I let it agitate for one minute, then shut it off and let it soak for one hour. I forgot to take pictures of the in between steps, since I broke a part on the washer while I was cleaning it. Never fear, the washer still is functional, but the valve that stops water from going into my washer no longer works so I have to manually shut off the water after it is full and when its not in use. SInce mine is hooked up using a quick release valve on my wash tub, it isn't a major deal to me.

Anyway, after the hour was up, I turned the machine back on and let it run through the longest wash cycle my machine offered. I didn't let it go through a full spin cycle, as there wasn't any clothes in the washer. I filled the machine again, with the hottest water I could again, and added 2 cups of vinegar. I did the same thing with the vinegar as I did the bleach, letting it agitate for one minute, then turning it off and letting it soak for one hour.

While the bleach was in the machine, I took a rag and an old toothbrush I keep for cleaning, and set to work on the machine itself. You can do this during the vinegar stage if you prefer, but I wanted the full disinfecting power of the bleach with as long as it had been since I cleaned my machine. I used the toothbrush to clean the tight areas, or areas that needed a bit more scrubbing, and used the rag to wipe out all the nooks and crannies of the rim, and barrel. I also took apart the fabric softener cup and cleaned that out well.

Here is my clean washing machine.



I do have some rust marks still on the machine that will take a special cleaner to remover, but overall I am happy with how clean the machine is now. I also have a greater confidence in how clean my clothes are when they come out of the washing machine now. I also learned that I use too much laundry soap when I wash my clothes, but that will be in an upcoming post. I have added cleaning my washing machine to my checklist at the beginning of every month to at least wipe out and check, that way it will never get that grimy again. How long has it been since you cleaned your washer?

I used the bleach and vinegar cleaners for two reasons. The first because both items I usually have on hand and are relatively inexpensive if I need to purchase them. The second is that while they sell commercial washing machine cleaners, those things are expensive (I think it was $10 for a box of 5) and with my hard water I would have to use multiple treatments based on the directions on the box. Whichever way you chose to go, it is important that you care for your washing machine so it performs well and lasts a long time.

Happy washing

Danielle

Family Cloth

I have seen a lot of videos on Family Cloth A.K.A. cloth toilet paper and was intrigued with the concept.

Now, before you freak out, just let me explain though I should probably give you a TMI warning.

I am not a survivalist, living off grid (though there is nothing wrong with that), and I don't try to recycle every item into something new (again nothing wrong with that).

There are a few reasons that I was intrigued with the concept and decided to try it out myself.

I purchased 2 yards of flannel material for just under $6.00 and two rolls of thread for $3 each.

I cut the fabric into 4" wide strips, then into 7" pieces so each piece measures 4 by 7. Then I took the time to sew around each edge to prevent fraying.

Here are some of the clothes as I was sewing them.



With the fabric I bought, I got roughly 90 cloths to use. I set them in a little basket that I already kept next to my toilet. I also made up a bottle of spray, using the same mixture I use on my DIY baby wipes, to moisten the clothes if needed for either cleaning up or for going number 2.



Once the cloths were dirty, I needed to find something to put them in and I wanted something with a lid on it. I had an extra 5 gallon bucket that I keep around the house, so I added a garbage bag to that to use for trash. I took my beat up garbage can and added a mesh laundry bag to the insert to use for the dirty cloths.



My garbage can has seen better days since I've had it for about a decade now. It has a big dent on the top and rust spots from my well water that no amount of scrubbing has been able to remove to date. Eventually, I want to get a small garbage can to use for the cloths but for now this will do since I was trying to see how well this worked before I invested too much money into the project itself. I did fill the insert about half full of a water and vinegar mix to soak the cloths and to prevent any smells.

There are a few reasons I chose to try this out.

1. Toilet paper is expensive. I have a difficult time with using an item once and then literally flushing that money down the toilet.

2. Cloths are reusable so they do help prevent extra waste and help sustain the environment.

3. I have sensitive skin. I don't care how soft toilet paper is, and the nicer ones are more expensive, it can irritate my skin.

4. I am a diabetic. I mentioned that I have sensitive skin, but the diabetes makes my skin even more sensitive. During Aunt Flows visit, my skin can chafe and feel like its rubbed raw. Toilet paper just makes that feeling worse. I explained this to someone not to long ago by saying that it was like having your sensitive bits rubbed raw with sandpaper and then having to put clothes on, touching those sensitive bits, and walking around like nothing was wrong. Talk about uncomfortable.

5. Cost. For what I spend in just one month of toilet paper, I have enough to last me for years. Yes, I will have to do more laundry but since I make my own laundry soap, that increased expense is nil compared to the cost of toilet paper, especially when prices just keep going up and up on everything.

6. Comfort. Have I mentioned that the cloth is soft. I was in heaven. It is soft, absorbent, and comfortable.

7. Pampering. I have also thought about adding a baby wipe warmer to the arsenal at some point in the future so that would mean the cloths would be warm and moist, a nice feeling on tender skin.

Yes, I will wash my cloths separately from my other clothes, similar to how cloth diapers are laundered.



Bottom line, I am thrilled. I still have toilet paper in the house. I am the only one using the family cloth right now. My daughter is still leary of the concept and I won't force her to use them. She did try one of them and commented on how soft they were so I may make a convert out of her yet. In the mean time, I will enjoy the soft feeling on my sensitive bits and encourage her to try them too.

Acknowledging your weirdness can be fun. I acknowledge mine and own it. lol.

Have you tried family cloth? What was your experience? Please let me know if you have any questions and I will answer as best I can since I am new to them as well.

Danielle

Pinterest Success or Fail....crock pot creamy chicken rice soup

I love Pinterest. They always have interesting ideas.

I wanted to try one of those ideas in the form of a post for easy crock pot creamy chicken rice soup.

I was planning on doing a blog post for this when I made the soup yesterday, so I didn't take many pictures.

if you want to try it yourself, you can find the recipe here.

I added all the ingredients to my crock pot.



My crock pot is super full at this point because I did double the recipe.

I let it cook until the chicken was done, then put the chicken breast into my stand mixer with the paddle on it to break up the chicken.

I added the chicken back into the pot and added the rice and let it continue cooking. About an hour before the soup was done, I mixed up the flour and water and added that to the pot. I let it continue to cook until the soup had thickened a bit more.

Once we ate our fill, I still had a full crock pot of soup, so I pulled it back out again and it is warming for dinner a second night. Here is it when I took it out of the fridge today.



My final thoughts:

I followed the recipe but mine didn't look like the pictures on the site. I did love the soup itself, though I think I would make a few adjustments if I make this again.

1. I am not a big fan of cumin, so I would lower the amount that I used in the soup.
2. I am not a fan of regular cooked rice. I grew up on minute rice so if I was to make this again, I would make the minute rice and stir it in right before I served the soup because I just didn't care for the texture of the regular rice.
3. I am not sure if mine didn't turn out exactly like the picture because I doubled it, so I would make a single batch next time to see if that helped get the correct texture.

Bottom line, was the soup was delicious even though it didn't turn out exactly as it was pictured.

My vote is for success on this recipe, with a few adjustments for future tries.

Happy Wednesday

Danielle

Vinegar....uses for the magical liquid

Vinegar is a magical liquid I keep in my house because its magical cleaning power is amazing.

Here are some of the things I use vinegar for along with some uses I found online as well.

1. Clean out my coffee maker.

I use equal parts vinegar and water and run it through the coffee maker. I usually will turn it on, then once it starts dripping, shut it off and let it sit for at least 30 minutes, then turn it back on and let it run through the brew cycle completely. If it is particularly dirty, or I haven't done it in a while (shame on me) then I may run it twice using fresh vinegar each time. Then make sure to run a couple batches of plain water through so your next cup of joe doesn't have a vinegar taste.

2. Odor remover

I have a dog, a cat and a kid. On especially wet and yucky days, I can smell the pets on everything, which is just gross. I will put equal parts vinegar and water in a spray bottle and mist everything with it. It is safe for the animals and will help eliminate the odors left behind. I also use it as a refresher on bed linens and blankets between washings. Yes, the room will smell like one big pickle for a while, but the smell will evaporate and take the yucky odors with it. I have used it on my couch, dog bed, my bed, and carpet with no ill effects. If you are concerned with color fastness, test an inconspicuous spot before spraying the entire item.

3. Urine odors

Kids and pets, I swear. That spray bottle that helps eliminate odors above is also good for eliminating urine smells from a potty training puppy or bed wetting accident. Saturate the area, then cover in baking soda. Once the baking soda is dry, vacuum it up and the scent should be gone. Though tough stains and scents may take a second treatment.

4. Laundry

I live out in the country area and have well water. This means that my washer tends to get a musty smell every once in a while. To help eliminate that smell, I will add vinegar to my washer with the towels, but I will also use it to help clean my washing machine too. My favorite video on cleaning my washer is here.

5. Fabric Softener

I also use vinegar in my homemade fabric softener. I got my recipe from here.


Those are just 5 of the ways that vinegar can be used in a household. Here are a few more.



How do you use vinegar?

Happy cleaning.

Society sucks

Society is very critical of people. I say that because women are not the only ones who suffer body image issues. Men do as well. The problem is that with a critical society, that creates critical members of society. This both concerns and angers me.

This concerns me because we are teaching the younger generations that no matter what, they are not acceptable as they are. We are teaching them that they are not good enough the way they are and never will be good enough. That to be considered even acceptable, they must change who they are to conform to what society deems beautiful.



I am sorry if this offends you, but screw that. This pisses me off. It is not the people that need to conform to societies way of thinking, it is society that needs to change its way of thinking.

Let me explain something. I am a big girl and this has nothing to do with trashing the population that is skinny or thin. If you are skinny or thin naturally, then more power to you. Not everyone's body is made to be model skinny. Hell, their bodies are even photo-shopped to be that thin in some cases.

In the past two years, I have lost around 70 pounds. Before you start snapping, let me finish. I started out at a size 26/28 and around 280 pounds (I don't know the exact weight which is why I say around 70 pounds). I didn't lose weight because I thought I was too fat. I didn't lose weight because I wanted to fit into societies view on women. Hell, I wasn't even trying to lose weight at all. I lost my job and instead of eating fast food, ordering lunch, or snacking all day long, I was eating at home, cooking all my own meals, and eating what I wanted. I am a diabetic, have been for the last 8 years or so starting with gestational diabetes with my daughter. I didn't even lose weight to help with that. My weight loss was simply because I was not eating out all the time.

I tell you all this because even after losing 70 pounds and 4 to 6 pants sizes, society would still deem me "too fat". My question is what does my size have anything to do with my self-worth as a person or as a woman?

Woman are made in all shapes and sizes, just as men are. We are all built differently. We are all beautiful. We are all sexy. We are all attractive.



All of those women weight 154 pounds. Every one of them and they are all beautiful.

I dislike and hate the thought that anyone is made to feel bad because of how their body looks. The fact that we have children as young as 10 questioning their beauty because of their body size is infuriating to me.

Marilyn Monroe is thought of as the most beautiful woman in the world. Here are her stats.



By today's society, she would be considered fat. What is wrong with us that we are judging a person based on appearance? What our we teaching our children?



Instead, we need to teach our children and each other to accept people they way they are, to accept ourselves the way we are, and to love ourselves the way we are. Now, that being said, I am not going to go eat everything in my fridge and say I am beautiful. That is not what I mean. I am talking about being healthy for yourself, whether that is a size 2, size 12, or size 18. I am talking about loving yourself the way you are, whether you like everything about your body or not. There are aspects of my body that I am still not happy with, and yes I can still stand to lose another 50 pounds or so, but frankly I accept my body the way it is. I understand the limitations of my body. I will never be a size 2. Hell, I probably won't ever be a size 8, but I am perfectly ok with that and I am beautiful the way I am.

Why I dislike using reward systems

Reward systems are one of the many things I have tried over the years. They can be as complex as a prize box point system or as simple as a sticker chart. Yes, I have tried both and more.

The prize box point system was one I created thinking if my daughter understood that things had to be completed over time, build up the reward type thing, that she would be more likely to do the necessary chore/behavior routine that was expected of her. I had set it up so that she had to earn so many points before getting a prize, a point each for specific behaviors or chores. This was after the sticker chart thing didn't work, of course.

Here is the problem as I saw it. She would do enough to get a basic prize, then didn't want to have to do anything else, until she wanted another prize again. It became a game of how many things can I get today if I do ...... (fill in the blank). If there were no "cool" prizes left, then she didn't care if she got it anyway. This was totally not cool with me and made me rethink the whole rewards system.

I will admit, I got frustrated real quick with what I thought of as dealing with a hostage negotiator every time chores were suppose to be done. It seemed to create more of a battle of wills than anything and really made me stop and think about what I was teaching her.

I was teaching her to only do what she was suppose to do when she was getting something out of it. Realistically, we all go to work in order to get a paycheck and most wouldn't go if there wasn't one, but there are plenty of things we HAVE to do that produce no true rewards, at least to a child.

Most people would consider having clean clothes a reward for actually washing laundry, but an 8 year old doesn't care about that. They figure mom will wash clothes regardless, so that point is mute with them. Which, honestly, it really is. I am not going to allow her to wear dirty clothes just because she refused to put them where they belong. In her mind, this logic also applies to putting dishes in the sink. Don't get me wrong, I would happily accept a prize every time I cleaned the bathroom, but I am still waiting for that to happen. All it did was leave me very aggravated and frustrated.

Not only that, but I had a serious problem with giving her a reward for doing something I expected of her anyway. To me, that was bribery. I was not going to give her a reward for behaving properly in a store, doing her homework, or helping with the few chores she was supposed to do. In my eyes, these were things that I expected her to do regardless of whether there was a treat at the end of it. Now, I am not talking about the occasional candy bar for behaving extra good during a busy or long shopping trip. I am talking about expecting a treat or prize every time she did something she was suppose to do. It got to the point where she was trying to negotiate for a prize per item picked up. This was my wake up call. I created the monster and then I was upset with it. That didn't seem right at all either. I refused to have a spoiled child that expected to get a treat for picking up her dirty socks.

I expected her to do her homework every day after school. I expected her to behave like she had some sense in her head, or like she had been taught all her life. I expected her to keep her room picked up, clothes put where they belonged, and for her not to throw a hissy fit every time we went to the store because she wanted a toy. These were expectations I had for her and I was not going to give her a treat every single time because I was concerned how that would back fire on me. The one time I didn't have a reward handy, would she throw a fit or have a melt down? No, this just wasn't cool with me.

I finally sat her down and talked to her. I explained that there were things that we had to do that we all didn't like. We had to go to work. We had to clean the house, to wash clothes, or do our homework and no one was going to give us a candy bar every time we did those things. I also explained to her that chores were a part of life, that I was having her do them now so she could learn how to do them properly. I also explained that behaving properly was required because her boss wouldn't let her get away with throwing a fit when she didn't want to do something. These were things she needed to understand and do to be a responsible adult herself.

I won't lie and say every day since then has been easier or that she always does her chores without a problem. Every day is still a challenge, but she isn't looking for the immediate reward for doing what is expected of her. I am also trying to teach her that there are consequences to her actions, whether good or bad. She does get the occasional reward, maybe a candy bar every so often, or having a friend sleep over, or even getting to stay up past her normal bedtime. These items are not a regular occurrence, but a special occasion item. That way, she appreciates them when she gets them (sometimes, anyway) but isn't demanding them.

How do you feel about rewards systems? Have they worked for you?

Danielle

Ice Cream in a Bag

It was a little warmer today here in Indiana and my daughter requested a fun activity to do with her friend.

So we pulled out one of our favorite resources.

I've posted different recipes from The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions before, but I think this was one of my favorites despite it not going perfectly.

What you will need:

gallon size zip top bag
smaller zip top bag to fit inside gallon bag
ice
salt (the recipe calls for rock salt, but I didn't have any so I used pickling salt)

Ingredients:

1 cup milk or half and half
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla or flavor of choice (we added a bit more than 1/2 tsp so I say add to taste)


For ease of adding the ingredients, I put the smaller bag inside a cup (I think I used a quart bag). Then had the girls add the sugar to the glasses.



Then they each added their flavor of choice. My daughter did the vanilla and her friend chose strawberry (sadly, we were out of chocolate syrup).



Then I measured out the milk and each girl poured it into their bag.



Then it was time for the ice. Each of the girls put one tray of ice cubes into their gallon size bags. The recipe says to fill half full but I don't have an ice maker so we made do with what we have.



Then I added 6 tablespoons of the pickling salt to each of the bags. Sorry, I couldn't snap pictures of this step and actually do it. While I did this, the girls mixed the ingredients in the small bag together.

After that it was time to zip the small bags up closed and add them to the gallon bags.



Then it was time for the fun. Shaking and moving the ice around the milk mixture in the small bags. The recipe calls to do this for 5 to 7 minutes so we set the timer and had fun shaking and squishing the bags.



My daughter's small bag ended up having a bit of a zipper issue and leaked a bit so her's didn't get as solid as her friends did. But they both ended up enjoying eating/drinking the finished product and we will try it again another day, hopefully with a more leak proof bag.



Next time, we will also try some chocolate flavoring since this is a chocolate house.

Happy snacking

Danielle

DIY Slushies

Slushies aren't only for summertime. They can be made anytime. This can be done one of two ways.

If you have an ice cream maker, you can make a homemade slushie in about half an hour. Without one, it does take a bit longer, but can still be done.

Today, we used my ice cream maker. You will want to make sure your insert is frozen before you start. I keep mine in the freezer so it is ready when ever I want to use it, but it needs to be frozen for at least 5 hours or according to your manufacturers instructions.



Here are the components of my ice cream maker. Next, you will add the frozen insert to the base and the paddle to the motor top.



Then you will need to assemble the machine together.



Next, you will need your beverage. You will want to make sure the beverage is completely chilled. This is our pitcher of cherry kool-aid I pulled from the fridge. I have done this with chilled soda before as well. Yes, mini-me photobombed me.



Then, with the machine running, slowly pour in your beverage.



Then let the machine continue to run.



This was the slushy after about 10 minutes or so.



After about 20 minutes or so, though I usually let mine run for about half an hour, your slushy is ready to take out of the insert. Here is the finished slushy.



Scoop it into a glass and you are ready to enjoy!




If you don't have an ice cream machine, you can still make this tasty treat, though it will be a bit more solid. Pour your chilled beverage into a pan. The size of the pan will vary depending on how much you are freezing at the time. The higher the liquid fills the pan, the longer it will take to freeze. Put your pan into the freezer. Every half an hour, take the pan out of the freezer and use a fork to scrape the liquid. Continue to do this until it reaches the consistency you like in your slushies.

Add your favorite alcohol to the mix to make your favorite adult slushy drink.

What is your favorite flavor of slushy?

Happy drinking

Danielle