Keeping Floors in MINT Condition

For Valentine's Day, my husband told me that I was still in "Mint" condition and gave me a floor cleaner called "The Mint."  I had never heard of it but since our tradition has been candy in the past with funny puns, this was a pretty cool gift (that I learned wasn't as cheap as the candy I got him!).  What it is, is a robot that sweeps/ mops your floors BY ITSELF using GPS.  I place this cube on my counter, set the Mint on the floor, choose mop or sweep and then off he goes!  When he's all done he sings a few notes and returns to the place he started.

 Now we have two dogs who LOVE to shed and four young (messy) kids at home, so cleaning the floor regularly is something we need to do (regularly as in every day or every other).  This can be hard being full time workers with busy kids but it is necessary... especially on the hardwood where all the dog hair seems to pile together and form a third animal (sigh).
The Mint can actually navigate under and around chairs and stools, but once or twice a week, I get them off the floor to make it easier.  I used to put them into our family room but then realized that it's better to just flip them upside down and then wipe down the legs of the chairs (which sometimes have splatter of milk or other spills from my youngest).  I have no idea what took me so long to figure THAT out.  It's much faster to flip up the stools and chairs than drag all twelve into another room (which is what I used to do).  I am a slow learner sometimes...

 I actually wipe down the stool and chair legs while the Mint is working so it's like I'm doing two things at once.  We have a pretty large kitchen and if we leave our walk-in pantry door open, he'll go in there too!  Our family room drops down a step from our kitchen and somehow the Mint knows where to stop.  My only gripe is that sometimes he goes onto the carpet in our dining room or living room and gets stuck, so we have learned to put something down to stop him.

Overall he's saved us A LOT of time and keeps my floors looking good.  He came with two blue mop cloths (that you dampen and an attachment that you can add water to) and two white sweeper mop cloths.  I guess you can use Swiffer stuff with him, but I prefer reusing these since it's better for the environment (and of course, cheaper).  I still love my Shark Mop to clean up spills or if I want to work quickly to get the floor done before people come over or something.    It takes him an hour or so to do our kitchen when he mops... he's quicker when he sweeps.
So my husband did well... he saved me from eating more candy and freed up more time.  Now I just need to find the robot who dusts, vacuums, cleans bathrooms, picks up toys and does laundry... a girl can dream!

You can read more about this little guy on Amazon by clicking HERE.  You may be able to find him cheaper at other stores that carry him.  My hubby got him for half off!

Loving Laundry (when my kids can do it)

 I sometimes feel quite passionate about things I like and was recently thinking about how thankful I am for these Tide Pods. They are just little pods filled with detergent.  I know it sounds silly... it's just laundry detergent, but it truly has made my life so much easier.
I know that there are great ways to save money on detergents (and make your own), and I'm usually 'that girl', but these little lovelies have changed the way laundry is done in my house... in that it's done by MY KIDS!

 My 7 and 9 year olds are able to wash their own clothes and that has been wonderful. We had tried having them do it with detergent but things became messy and I felt I should still oversee the whole process...  Now, they bring their own clothes down, throw the clothes in the washing machine, throw in a pod, start 'er up and voila!  One less load for us to do.
Of course we were still doing laundry for the Littles and then we realized our 5 year old wanted in on the game (he will probably regret this later). Sure enough he was able to start and do a load all by himself (probably from watching the Bigs).  The only problem is that he sometimes wants to wash just one item (at a time!) which isn't too great if you have a septic (not to mention water bills).
I think anyone with kids needs to get these pods! It will make your life easier trust me!

Cleaning Liquid Chalks off a Chalkboard

I was one of those teenagers who had quotes from songs and books all over her room.  I am no longer a teenager, but I still have favorite quotes that swim around in my head.  We recently remodeled our kitchen and I wanted a chalkboard on our pantry door, not for shopping lists~ but for words I love.

I got the chalkboard and bought some liquid chalks (because I think they look nicer and I liked the bright colors).

I loved it!!! Until it came time to clean it... (Ehhh!)

I tried cloth (awful), water (not much better) and then I tried google.

No one had any great ideas to clean liquid chalk off chalkboards.

I found everything from using lemon juice, Dawn detergent, ammonia, vinegar... 

AND I TRIED IT ALL!

Nothing worked and I was so upset.

Then I saw they sold a special "liquid chalk remover" on Amazon and when I read the comments someone said, "Don't bother!  Just use Windex.  Same ingredients!"

I was so excited because now that I use just soap and water to clean my windows, I had PLENTY of Windex, just sitting in my cleaning closet.

I tried it.

It wasn't wonderful, but at least it got it off.  I had to use some pressure but I did get the vibrant colors off.  You could still see it though, so I thought perhaps I should use some chalk the way one would to 'prime' a chalkboard.

I let it sit for a while... and prayed some...

Then got the Windex back out and...

MUCH BETTER!

So now I can "Write On"

and not be afraid it will stay on!

Window Washing & Penny Pinching

 Those who know me well, know that I am always looking to save money.  Some of my friends at work always ask me for some of my money saving tips so I thought I would share this one.
I loved Windex, but it costs money and I used it with paper towel (also money).  This is all you need to wash your windows quickly, easily and with little money.


You will need:
a bowl or tub
Dawn dish soap
a sponge
a squeegee
and a dish towel (whoops, forgot to take a picture of that)

 Fill up your tub with water and a few drops of dawn dish soap and soap up your windows with your sponge.

Then squeegee off the water.  I prefer to go top to bottom (not side to side).  You will need to wipe off the squeegee between passes with your towel (so you don't have any streaks).

Warning: Washing windows with sponges can become a family affair. Suddenly I had to get more sponges (but thankfully I only had one squeegee, so I kept it).

It works great and better than Windex (in my opinion).  I took this picture through my door. Another reason to be in love with my squeegee.  Now I use it on my counters, my stairs and my windows. You should go get one.  You won't be sorry!!

Goodbye Dog Hair on Stairs

We have two Humane Society Specials, but sometimes it feels like we have more. They drop fur so much that I sometimes wonder if they snuck another dog in here! We have to vacuum every day but one place that ALWAYS seems to need extra attention is the stairs. I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought before I 'pin' it anywhere, I better make sure it works.

All you need:

Animals who drop fur

A squeegee

The reason I hate the stairs is because simply vacuuming them is not enough.  I need to get my fingers in the grooves to really get the hair that gets tucked back there (and I often wonder why it always seems to go back there). I took the squeegee and it was AMAZING! It took me no time to clean the stairs and my fingers weren't aching when I was done.

Bonus! I showed the Bigs how to do it so I can add it to the "Oh No" can!