Mar 30 2025 - Time for Cleaning Hacks

 

When does Spring Cleaning end? It seems to have no end date.  There seems to be lots to explore this year on the topic.  Maybe it's that AI retrieval on google.. My mind turned to baking soda - how many uses are there for baking soda?  I am prepared for surprise.  There are many and here's the silly one:  minor indirect effects on weight loss.   "Claims abound that baking soda, when combined with water, apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice, is especially effective at helping you shed excess body fat. However, there’s little science to back this up." My Guess:  drink a glassful of this quickly and you will throw up everything you ate. Do this after each meal and weight loss will avalanche your way.  I don't think any science is needed here to prove this theory. Will you be alive? That's another probability. Their Guess:  "Another theory suggests that adding baking soda to your bathwater will help you lose weight by replenishing your levels of magnesium and sulfate — two nutrients touted to boost your metabolism and eliminate toxins. Yet, this theory is not backed up by science either." So we move on from the silly to the more interesting. Here are the uses of baking soda: 1. mouthwash 2. teeth whitener 3. deodorant 4. fridge odour neutralizer 5. air freshener 6. whitening agent for laundry 7. kitchen cleaner 8. garbage odour eliminator 9. carpet stain remover 10. multipurpose bathroom cleaner 11. pesticide remover for fuit and vegetables 12. silverware polisher 13. scorched pot cleaner 14. oil and grease fire extinguisher 15. homemade weed killer There are more uses than this - another article outlines it as a face exfoliator, foot soother, splinter remover, itchy skin relief, and so on. There are medicinal benefits of various sorts - in all Dr. Axe's article outlines 34 uses  HERE.   And when the weather gets warmer, you can wash your car with it.

The pansies are sitting in the greenhouse waiting for warmer weather to come out.     Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Aug 27 2022 - Grandma's Cleaning Tricks

 

I don't remember my grandmother being a cleaning expert, giving all kinds of advice on cleaning tricks.  Somehow grandmothers have become the experts of  housekeeping and cleaning.   They start with 'back in the day' and end with 'hacks that still work today'  and pretty well all of them want you to wash walls from the bottom up.  I browsed through them to find some strange ones and here they are: 'I remember watching my grandma pour plenty of dried tea leaves over the entire rug or carpet, then waiting 15 minutes before clearing them away with a vacuum to get rid off all the dust and stale odors." 'Notoriously hard to clean, the inside of bottles can be rinsed out with a mixture of sand and water. After a good shake, the abrasive combination will clean out all those hard to reach corners. Just make sure to rinse out the bottle afterwards and leave it to air dry." "After cleaning windows with your usual cleaning spritzer, or better still, a diluted white vinegar solution, use an old sheet of newspaper to wipe away streaks on the window pane glass. The paper and ink act as a light abrasive when you wipe in a circular motion and the results are flawless." Once you have your house clean with these old-fashioned methods, you can engage in old-fashioned slang sayings such as: That's My Cup Of Tea  "Kick Up Your Heels "I'll Be There With Bells On "I'm Head Over Heels "You Look Happy As A Clam "Pardon My French  "Bring Home The Bacon Next, I went over to Mental Floss for some thoroughly strange old slang sayings: "Happy cabbage" is a sizeable amount of money to be spent on self-satisfying things. You know, like cabbage.  "Pang-Wangle" is to live or go along cheerfully in spite of minor misfortunes, like Mickey Mouse who goes along cheerfully despite having a dog who's a friend and also a dog who's a dog. "In the ketchup" means in the red or operating at a deficit "Whooperups" were, quote, "inferior noisy singers."

As I browsed through these websites with all kinds of "cleaning" content that ranges from stupid to the absurd it made me want to find an image that matched the sentiment. So here it is.  Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

April 8th 2020 - How Clean is Clean Enough?

There's a book with the title The Germ Code and the same author has written The Germ Files.  Jason Tetro is a microbiologist. The Germ Code's Amazon Intro: Since the dawn of the human race, germs have been making us sick. Whether the ailment is a cold, the flu, diabetes, obesity or certain cancers, the likely cause is germs. Our ancient enemies have four families - bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa - and many names: Ebola, E. coli, salmonella, norovirus, gonorrhea. Human beings are engaged in a "war on germs," in which we develop ever-more sophisticated weapons and defensive strategies. But it is a war we can never win. Our best plan for staying as healthy is to choose our battles carefully, and try to co-exist with germs as best we can.  In comparison, The Germ Files will answer your questions about everything from preventing flu to selecting probiotics, while constantly surprising you with revelations about the miraculous workings of the microscopic world. Here's some of the everyday advice we can take from him in an article HERE. Towels:  It depends on the room. Bath towels become loaded with bacteria (including staph and fecal) and if your towel doesn’t fully dry, that bacteria can grow. Plus, dandruff-causing fungi can also grow in them, Rapinchuk recommends swapping out bath towels every other day. Your kitchen towels collect bacteria every time you handle food and wash your hands. Tetro recommends washing those weekly, unless you handled raw meat. In that case, wash the towel immediately. Doorknobs:  Once a week (in some rooms). Though doorknobs accumulate a lot of bacteria, they need only need to be washed infrequently, says Rapinchuk. However, doorknobs in the bathroom and the kitchen are bound to catch a lot more bacteria, so disinfecting them at least once a week might be a good idea, especially if there’s an illness in the house. Sinks:  Every day. Even if they look clean, sinks can get really gross — Tetro says the bathroom sink accumulates fecal matter (from washing your hands after you use the bathroom). Also, bacteria from food, like E.Coli and Salmonella, can contaminate the kitchen sink, especially if you’ve been handling raw meat. When water splashes back up onto your hands, they’re contaminated, too. To stay on the safe side, wipe down your sinks daily. Today's picture comes from Fine Art America, where I have a gallery.  It was taken at Salt Spring Island, where sand and stone meet at the beach to create an abstract image.

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