Clean the Air in Your Home, Naturally!

Ok, so in the debut issue of Mother Earth Living, a wonderful magazine btw, they had an article discussing a home that had an atrium in it. The owner’s testified to how the oxygen levels in the home cured asthma and allergies. Yes, we are all a bunch of Earth loving hippies. The thing is, I thought there might be something to that. We all know plants put some much needed oxygen into the air.

But did you know the extent to which plants actually filter out harmful chemicals? Think chemicals from the paint on your walls, the chemicals in your carpet, and those awfully smelly (and toxic!) cleaning supplies. And our homes are so well insulated these days that these harmful pathogens (no I am not a doctor so I may have used this word incorrectly) just hang around in our homes until the get trapped in the air filter.

My solution? Fill your house with plants! According to those genius people at NASA (yup! Geniushood is required for employment at NASA), house plants are AMAZING!

Here’s why:

The plants listed below filter out benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, and carbon dioxide. Some plants filter different airborne bad guys better than others, so be creative and mix and match! Also, Boston Ferns act as natural humidifiers! How cool is that?!

For those of you lacking a green thumb or are serial plant murderers, FEAR NOT! At least one plant on the below list is impossible to kill, short of setting it on fire and dancing naked around it while chanting, of course. Please do not do that. In fact, please do not do anything I suggest. Except give houseplants a try. They need homes too.

               Some of my plant babies, mmmm, smell that clean air!

 

Ok, so NASA studied plants:

(not sure if there are any pet/child toxic plants on here-double check before you buy!)

English Ivy (so pretty and low maintenance!)

Spider plant (also very low maintenance)

Golden Pothos

Peace Lily

Chinese Evergreen

Snake Plant (If you kill this plant, well nevermind, you CANNOT kill this plant. That’s why it’s commonly called a “mother-in-law” plant—no kidding).

Heartleaf Pholdendron

Selloum Philodendron

Red-Edged Dracarna

Elephant Ear Philodendron

Cornstalk Dracaena

Janet Craig Dracaena

Warneck Dracaena

Weeping Fig

Now, those are the ones NASA focused on. If you are a serial plant murderer, I am going to suggest the snake plant, spider plant, and English ivy combo. These are very easy to keep alive even under the harshest, most neglectful conditions. Also talk to the employees in the garden center where you shop, they are there for a reason and plant knowledge is that reason. Ask them what plants you can’t kill, what plants will do well in bathrooms, kitchens, low light, highlight, and so on.

Also, very very important note: For optimal results in cleaning air, it is recommended to use 1 houseplant for every 100 sq. ft. of house. So you live in a 1200 ft apartment? You need 12 plants.

Happy House Planting!

Yours Truly,

Isabelle

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Some information taken from  http://www.extension.umn.edu/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/h110indoorair.html,specifically.

Google search NASA study on houseplants and clean air and a plethora of results will come up. J

Easy At-Home Fixes for Scratched Tables and Water Spots

I know I promised a post on houseplants, but something more pressing came up. So, the other day a friend asked if I had any homemade tricks to get rid of scratches on the table top. I completely understand her question, sadly, as I also have two children and nothing that stays “new”.

Ok, I am not sad about having kids themselves, I am sad about the side-effects of kids. Kids are a joy. You should have a couple, really. It will be fun!  (Have a kid they said, it will be fun they said…) Yes, that was a bad joke. Have a kid or don’t, not my business and definitely don’t base your decision on anything I say. Back to the table:

Well, honestly, I did not have any little tips or tricks. I kind of let my table go off the deep end. It is stained, nicked, scratched…you name it, from its former life as a kid buffet of paints, coloring, play-dough, food, dirty diapers (once upon a time), toys, vomit, birthday parties, and really, this list never ends.

And that is when the inspiration hit! What a wonderful post! I decided to Google my way through multiple, natural-like methods of repairing scratches on table tops and share this journey with the world!

 Please note, the following solutions are a collection of Google search results and Pin-spiration! I found a lot of the same solutions; therefore, I’m not listing specific sites.

Ok, so here are nine methods I tried:

Equal parts olive oil and lemon juice (buff)    

Equal parts olive oil and vinegar (buff)

Brown Crayon (color)            Eyebrow Pencil (color)

Toothpaste(buff)                   Tea Bags (left on 1 hour)

Coffee (Left on 1 hour)          Mayonnaise (left on 1 hour)

Walnuts (rub)

 

Doesn't the mayo look like yummy icing??? I just want to sprinkle those walnuts on top of it and pretend its cake.

Everything but the coffee, mayo, and walnuts was a fail. The tea bags actually left water spots- so frustrating.

That said, the coffee grounds were a big mess. Finished product kind of worth it, but the mayo was just as great and much easier to clean. The mayo also made quick work of some annoying water spots! Yaya!

Walnuts were AMAZING on those white scratches!! (Bottom right corner of pic below)

 

               Wish I could take a better photo of the entire table, sorry!

Final Thoughts:

Don't try these when you are hungry. I craved every smell, from wanting to eat coffee to a roast beef sandwich drowned in mayo, among other slightly odd and alarming cravings concerning said materials.

I really wish I had just rubbed nuts all over the table first, then slathered on a thick coating of mayo.

I am happy to say that my table has mostly recovered from its former life as a child’s play thing! Rehab was an interesting experience, but I am hoping with the support of a table cloth and my Aunt Betty’s vinyl table cover style, Table will stay on the road of recovery. We remain hopeful, as always, and hope the table in your life finds the same happiness.

Yours Truly,

Isabelle

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Cleaning hardwood floors, or, Homemade Floor Cleaner

I have wood floors. I hate hate hate wood floors. Yes, they are pretty. Yes, spills clean up nicely from them. Yes, they don’t collect the dirt like carpet. So why do I loathe wood floors so intensely? They are impossible to keep clean and streak free! Really, I vacuum and mop and then catch streaks of cleaning solution in a glare or infinitesimal crumbs everywhere .

Enough! I decided to try two things to combat this. First, I dumped my old mop (both of them, a Swifter mop and a steam mop) and tried Hoover’s Floormate(It was a lovely anniversary gift from my darling, thoughtful, and caring husband ). I will get to a review on the Floormate in just a bit. Second, I made my own floor cleaner. Again, I will get to this in the next few paragraphs.

Back to the Floormate. The Floormate has three settings: Vacuum, Mop, and Dry. After opening the box and setting up, I tried a dry vacuum. Ultimate fail on the after-lunch mess from my kids. I set it aside with every intention of returning it. Interestingly enough, I was also babysitting my neighbor’s kid around the same time and always mopped right before she came over.

Wait, you don’t frantically clean your food-covered, kid infested floors before witnesses arrive? You also don’t require visitors to provide you with a specific arrival time so you can ensure maximum cleanliness when they show up? Ok, so I like to pretend that I have it all together, it is like a grown-up version of dress-up and playing house in one. Getting side tracked, back to the Floormate.

 So one random day before my neighbor friend came over, I decided to give the Floormate mop setting a chance (I hadn’t gotten around to returning it yet). I threw some homemade floor cleaner in it and went to town. Again, I was not really happy. It felt like it took forever, just like shampooing carpets except wood floor version. HOWEVER this same day my friend compliments how great my floor looks. Really, she had never done this once before. Not one compliment after many visits on my freshly and laboriously cleaned floors until this day. I was sold, hands down, on the Floormate mop.

 

               My floor before mopping tonight. Gross right? What is that????

                              Ahhh, much better. Post mop.

Some things I enjoy about the Floormate after using it for a few months:

#1: Automatic drying feature-not perfect but still fantastic!

#2: Seeing the dirty water tank. Yes, it is gross but I love seeing all the crap that is permanently off my floors!

#3: This machine sucks up the little particles my dry vacuum misses while I mop!

#4: The numerous compliments I get about how great/clean the floors look!

#5:  I do not feel like mopping takes forever. I feel like it takes the same amount of time as steam mopping.

 

       Dirty water ONE DAY since last floor cleaning. Another EEEWWWW!

Ok, so back to the homemade floor cleaner. I don’t have an exact recipe. If I did measure, this is what I guess it would be:

5-6 cups water

1-2 cups white vinegar  (My go-to cleaner for just about everything!)

¼- ½ cup rubbing alcohol (completely optional-I do this because alcohol helps dry up moisture. I feel this reduces mopping streaks)

3-4 drops peppermint oil (Hawaii has lots of bugs, this is my natural bug deterrent)

5-10 drops (possibly way more than that) lavender oil (antibacterial, anti-fungal, and so much more!)

And that is it. I put it in an empty juice container, shake, and use! The essential oils mask the vinegar smell (my husband hates this smell) and I kind of enjoy the peppermint/lavender combo.

  All the ingredients to a great floor cleaner!

Another note, I am not a wood flood expert. I don’t know if our floors are laminate or real wood, or if that makes any difference when using this cleaner. To be safe, I recommend finding a small test area to mop before taking on your entire floor.

Needless to say, after several wood floor mopping fails, I am excited and happy to mop now! I hope you find this information useful and that it helps make your own life a little easier, cleaner, and greener!  Happy Mopping!!

Don’t miss next week’s post about houseplants and cleaner air! I promise it will be worth the wait!!

 As always, if you enjoy please share, follow, and talk about it!
                                                          Yours Truly,
                                                             Isabelle

Hello! I think it appropriate to introduce myself in the first blog post. As you can see from the description, my sister and I share this blog. My sister can introduce herself later.

My name is Isabelle. I am a stay at home mom of a four-year-old and a three-year-old. If you think that's rough, wait until you meet my sister! We grew up (mostly) in an extremely rural area. Backwoods does not begin to describe it.. For example, a "Farmer's Market" is the off-chance that someone you know planted too many tomatoes and begs you to take some. No sidewalks, one school PreK-8th grade in a small building, one gas station, and yea, that about covers an entire 20 mile radius.

                            Just a little pic of where I live now <3

As adults, we both relocated to more urban areas. I use this term loosely, urban means any place with an actual population and more than one store. I admit that I often feel a little out of place, or extremely sheltered, in that I am often completely oblivious to the wonders of civilization. That said, I am still learning a lot about healthier living, raising children, and finding my place in the world. It is quite a journey!

With that in mind, we created this little blog to share our experiences, survival tips, and possibly epic fails that make our lives incredibly rich. We hope you enjoy what we have to offer! And if you do, please share!