Washing wool socks

A while back, I finally finished the other sock, the mate to the one I made earlier this year. And I've been wearing them often enough to have one of my kids asked if I had needed to have them surgically removed to wash them. Yeah, it's cold in this house, they're warm. Back AWAY from the socks and no one will get hurt!

I've heard so many cautions about washing wool and how easy it is to felt the wool that I was just plain scared to wash them. However, it's been in the 60's for the last week, warm enough that I did worry about wanting to wear them and so I decided to bite the bullet and wash these bad boys.

Here's what I did. First I cleaned out the bathroom sink - washed the toothpaste and dog hair (how DOES dog hair get in the sink? 12lb Chihuahuas are NOT tall enough to get to the sink!). Then I got the water just barely warmed. I mean it was just enough to take the chill off our mountain water, but still cool to the touch.

I then plugged the basin and put about 3 drops of "Dr. Bonner's liquid Castille soap" into the water. Not enough to cause suds. I set the socks into the water and let them soak for about 2 mins, GENTLY squished them about 5 times. Kinda poking them into the water. Yep, they WERE dirty. I pushed them up and down a couple more times gently, pushed the water out of them and supporting them well, let the water run out. After the water was out, I repeated the process without wringing or twisting the fabric. I just pushed down on top of the socks, trapping them between my hand and the sink bottom to squeeze out the excess water a bit. The second verse is same as the first, with the same results. Ok, they WERE dirty. (dog hair, grrr)

Then I got a bright idea. I mean, how do I wash MY hair? Uhmmm...wool is just sheep hair, right? When I wash my hair, I put a tablespoon or so of plain old sodium bicarbonate a.k.a. baking soda into one 16oz. cup and 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar into another 16oz. cup, fill both with warm water. (do NOT put both in the SAME cup unless you like science project volcanos!) I then pour the baking soda laced cup of water over my wet head, work it in - sort of like I was using soap and rub my scalp. Then I rinse that out and pour the apple cider vinegar laced water over my head and work that in. (Prepare these before getting into the shower! lol) I then rinse that out of my hair. And no, it doesn't leave your dried hair smelling like vinegar!

Anyway, I got the bright idea of using the baking soda in the water for my socks. It did pull more dirt out of them. By that time, I was nervous about how I had squished my socks some and they were looking a little "rough" - some of the fibers were standing up away from the yarn. But, I was committed. So I drained THAT small basin of water and refilled with the same temp water and this time added the vinegar. It pulled a little soap out of the socks. Again, I pushed them up and down a couple of time gently, pushed the water out of them and supporting them well, let the water run out of the sink again. I wrapped them in a couple of towels and stood on them to get more water out. (Uh, if it's a very large item, do this in the tub - so the water runs down the drain and not all over the floor.)

I next gently picked up the socks and supported them - I didn't want to stretch them out and tried to figure out where I was going to put them so they'd dry - and besides, I don't own a "drying rack". But I DO own several cooling racks. The kind you put baked goods on. hahaha. Yep, got one of those bad boys out, arranged my socks on it and then took a good look at them. (Happy dance begins!)Not only were they clean, but the fibers that had formerly been standing up were all laying down. NO FELTING! wooohoooo. And as a bonus - they are SOFT!! Seems that the baking soda "melts" off the dirt on socks and the vinegar closes the open hair shafts on the wool just like it does on human hair. Less itch and feels soft to the touch. My well-worn socks look new - except on the bottom where I can see a couple of wear spots from not wearing slippers with them. (These were worsted weight yarn knit with #3 dpns.)

Now how does one repair a pair of knit bottoms on socks? How does one darn socks? Me thinketh I'm going to learn to do double knit on the bottoms of my house socks so they wear longer.


By the way, you can clean hair brushes and combs with baking soda and hot water - with out having to "work" on them. I put about 1 tbs of baking soda into the 16oz. cup, run some hot water into the cup, stir to dissolve the baking soda, add my brushes and combs and finish filling up the cup. Let them sit about 5-10 mins, dunk up and down 10 times or so and then rinse. Mine are clean - even the ones that live in the bottom of the purses/backpacks that only get washed once in a blue moon, hence are caked with gunk.

New, free computer organizers to end CHAOS.

I'm TIRED of missing appointments, being late and chaos. CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) Well, we're neater now, so it's not complete chaos, but there are still patches that I need to deal with and couldn't figure out how to do it.

I downloaded several programs over the last few days. I had downloaded WASEO's calendar, and found a program called DiaryDominator on their website. I love the fact that I can keep weather, mood, health with the click of an icon. I can type and edit on the fly. I can keep a weather journal and what I've planted in the garden in a separate panel that I can format.

The only thing I don't see is a spell-checker. Since I almost always have a blank Doc. (Open Office) open for saving things I find, I just type the suspect word on it and check it there. I can also copy all the text, paste it to the Doc., check it and repast it to the edit window.

DiaryDominator is sort of like my old 3x5 journal cards, but I don't have to write anything and worry about a bunch of little cards getting lost. Plus, I can save, backup and print it. Wooohoooo.

I found Mozilla Sunbird and replaced WASEO's calendar with it. It's an even more comprehensive calendar. I had to mess around with it a bit and downloaded another program, The Wonderful Icon, to allow me to make it go to the tray, instead of the task bar and to start the calendar on startup. Other than that, Sunbird is working very well.

I've spend the last few days looking for a desktop calendar wallpaper. I couldn't find a free one. I tried WASEO's for a day, then stumbled upon Sunbird. I already have Firefox, so I figured Sunbird would be an excellent program too. I really like Sunbird, so I'll do without the wallpaper feature.

I also downloaded a timer from WASEO. I haven't used it yet. I haven't had time.

I'd also downloaded FreeMind and LOVE that program. It allows me to plan things out and then switch them around. You start with a base node and then add children out from it. Add children to children, etc. Then when you're ready to organize it better, just grab and drop the children to where you want them. LOVE IT.

I was up until 9am this morning working on menu planning and organizing some of my life. I've never been able to wrap my mind around some aspects of organizing in a useful way. But plotting things out on a FreeMind page helped me to arrange things and then it clicked! For example, the menu problem. I mean I did get the part about where you're supposed to say what meals you were going to fix each day and writing that down. It was putting all the parts together that stumped me. You know the variety of foods, what's in season, who likes what, who's home on what day, assigning each day a theme - pork, beef, vegetarian, etc.; that has always stumped me. So I just didn't do it. We eat whatever, whenever. Not conducive to good nutrition nor maintaining a decent weight, not to mention that a fly-by-the-seat-of-you-pants approach kills the budget (ever heard of carry-out? sigh)


I also downloaded a bunch of files from one of my Yahoo! groups. I belong to a group called Creative Control Panel. It's to help me setup and maintain a Control Panel/Journal. There are several ways to set up your housekeeping. Make a list on computer, paper or 3x5 cards. Well, for me, I use all three ways.

I have my daily chores on 3x5 cards so that I can sort them around when "life happens". But I also need stuff on the computer. Hence my looking for a calendar for my desktop.

I'm sick and tired of "forgetting" appointments. I'll remember it right up to the day. I'll remember it that morning. But, during the day, it slips away from me. Next thing I know, I've missed something.

Well...my desktop calendar has an alarm, MULTIPLE alarms. And they're set off to GO OFF multiple times a day. So now I should have a handle on THIS problem too! lol

Then there's some stuff that needs to be on paper. And that paper needs controlling. (As in right now, there's no place on my desk top that isn't inundated with STUFF. Paper STUFF. And cleaning it off 3 times a year and stuffing it into a box to go ???; isn't working. Hence my joining the CCP group. (I'm a backsliding Flybaby, too)

I used my FreeMind program to get my mind wrapped around the Panel/Journal too.

I guess I'm a visual person. I can work with the stuff in my mind,I've done it for years. But putting a major thought in a base "node" and then spidering ideas outward, adding "children" as I go, then being able to drag and drop the ideas around, lets me see the big picture.

There have been so many things that I just "didn't get", stuff I couldn't work with, things I couldn't figure out; no matter how much I thought about them. I'm finding that doodling on FreeMind collects all the tangents and lets me put them in an order that works for me.

I don't know why I didn't do this earlier. I've known for years that my mind "sees" in pictures, not words. And that for me to understand something, I have to be able to "see" it. Once I "see" it, I've got it. I think that the greatest problem that I've had with math all these years is because I couldn't "see" it, well that and I'm dyscalculate. Then one day, a few years ago, someone showed me a manipulatives movie. Suddenly, I "got it". Four times I've taken Algebra 1. I've NEVER understood what was going on. I'd ask my teachers how you know what formula to use and they would say, "you just know". Uhmmm, NO, I didn't "just know".
After watching the clip on factoring, I "got" what was going on!

The nicest thing about all these programs is that they are all FREE.

Ideas to cut expenses, Part 2

One of the biggest budget busters around here were eating out and the kids wanting to rent movies. We've had to learn to make our own stuff, though lately, we've slipped back into some bad habits - courtesy of an income tax return that made us temporarily "wealthier" than we've been in a while. We're having to break that eating out habit again. It only took a couple of times, and we were wanting to eat out all the time. That's WAY too expensive for most of our budgets. So we've had to relearn to tell ourselves no. The movie rental we've solved with the Netflix I mentioned last post.

Which brings me to organization and keeping all the things we juggle up in the air instead of falling down around our heads.

Sometimes we don't "feel like" doing a certain thing. As Pam Young of "Side-tracked Home Executives" calls it, we have a Brat in us. And it's that Brat that causes a lot of problems. The child that gets fed up being "grown up" and wants to play or run away from problems. I've really enjoyed her website http://www.thebratfactor.com

I've also enjoyed her other website: House fairy. I wish she had had it when my kids were younger. She's good at motivating them to clean up their rooms. That has been the biggest problem for me was getting and keeping kids' rooms cleaned. I tried everything from doing it myself, to getting them to help, to trying to make them do it themselves. I've put stuff in boxes in the closet (supposedly out of reach - they'd climb and get it down) to bagging stuff up and putting it in the attic to actually giving stuff away. None of it seemed to do any good. Of course, a carrot is ALWAYS better than a "stick". None of us likes to be forced to do anything. Her ideas are really fun for the kids and gets them eager to go clean. It appeals to their sense of fun.

One of the thing that has helped me get a lot more organized is another website called Flylady.net

Over the years, I've used Pam and Peggy's Book "From Pigpen to Paradise". It was a 3x5 card file system. Sometimes I will still get it out and sort the cards. But I've also found Flylady to be a big help too. Just the get up, get dressed to your shoes and make sure that before you go to bed, you've shined you kitchen sink. You can sign up for daily email reminders of what to do.

All these sites are interrelated. It all started with Pam and Peggy's book, went to Flylady - who they quote and then to learning about and parenting our own inner "brat" to House Fairy (sister to Santa Claus. lol)

Beware of thrift stores and yard sales. It's not a deal if you really don't have the money to spend. I see so many people overspend for junk at thrift stores and yard sales. It seems that "only $2" isn't much, but it adds up quickly. Especially if you go "shopping" often. It may be a "great deal", but is it really in your budget? Do you really "NEED" it, or is it something you're justifying by saying you need it? It seems that kids' clothing and small household appliances are the biggest purchases at these places. Before you bring it in, ask: DO I need it? Do I have a place to STORE it? Will I REALLY use it or will it sit and collect dust, be tossed out later as clutter or end up in my own "yard sale" later? Truth be told, most people don't make money buying stuff to sell at a yard sale "later".

My kids usually have 5-6 pairs of pants and 5-6 shirts, a pair of PJs, 1 or 2 Sunday outfits, a pair of Sunday shoes, a pair of play shoes, flip-flops, and a package of underwear, and one of socks. When they were very young, they'd go through 4 sizes of shoes and clothing a year. When they got to be school-age, it was 2 times a year. Now that they are nearly grown, it's been about 1 size a year. However, this is still pretty much the extent of their wardrobe. They do each have a "grungy" set of clothing and shoes to paint, get greasy or go camping in. And right now, my son only has 4 pairs of decent pants. He's grown too fast and I haven't have the money to buy more. Plus, we're having a hard time finding his size now. We FINALLY found a pair of dress pants that matches his black suit. They were $20 at Walmart, but will last him a year or so of wearing them every Sunday. They had a matching suit jacket, but I'm going to have to wait until the child support comes in to get it for him. (Ex was supposed to have paid in $500 in April and again in May, June, and July; but as yet, none of its been paid. So we'll have to wait and see what happens in the next month or two. I guess Child Support Recovery will catch up with him sooner or later and this time, they'll probably throw him in jail until it's all paid back. Who know?)

Personally, I don't think kids need a closet full of clothing. They don't appreciate it, don't wear most of it, it causes laundry pile ups (many people tend to run out of clothing before anyone does the laundry) or it's left laying on the floor, it's an expensive habit, and leads to clutter. (and I'm the queen of clutter all on my own. I don't NEED any help making more! lol) So don't go crazy at the thrift store/yard sales "saving money". If you've spent $10, you haven't necessarily saved money. Yes, it may have cost someone $100 at the regular store, but YOU have still spent $10. It's only a good buy if it's needed now or in the near future. (or unless you have a LOT of storage space that is well organized so that the clothing you bought "for next year" can be FOUND next year. No matter what a great "deal" it is, if you can't/don't use it or can't find it, it's just wasted money no matter HOW much you "saved". That's NOT "thrifty".

Also, my kids wore hand-me-downs. When he was younger, my son has worn some of his sister's clothing and his sisters have worn some of his. Not anything that was too out of their gender, I didn't want them being made fun of; but some t-shirts, jeans, etc work for either gender when they're little. And my babies all wore the same things, except for Sunday, when I put a dress on the girls and a little suit on the boy. He hasn't been permanently scarred from wearing the occasional pink onsie or sleeper, nor the girls from wearing a blue one. Babies don't much care about color, only that they're comfortable and loved. Besides, it didn't seem to matter WHAT my girls were dressed in, people always commented "what a cute boy". And they would be in PINK RUFFLED shirt with pierced earrings! And once I even had someone say "what a pretty girl" about son, who happened to be dressed in a BLUE shirt and jeans! Now the girls were rather bald until they were about 2 1/2. But the boy had a haircut at 9 months old, just to get the wispy ends off his neck. I've never let him wear his hair long. So go figure. lol

Also, I let people know we would love their outgrown things and we've passed ours on to others.
I have two girls that as they got older, had two completely different body types. Older is 5'2, and 105 lbs, wears a size 2/4. Younger is 5'7 (and still growing), 150 and wears a size 14. It wasn't too many years before youngest was larger than oldest - and you can't pass clothes down that way. So when you're buying stuff for kids, make sure you take into consideration their body-type as well as clothing size. And of course, most of you know that some things look better on one body type than they will on another, so take that into consideration when buying them clothing too.

to be continued.

Window cleaning made easy

It's that time of year again. Here in the Northern Hemisphere, we're getting ready to do the Fall cleaning, while in the Southern Hemisphere it's gearing up for Spring cleaning.

I'm employed part-time as a custodian for my church. Like most churches, we have a lot of glass that needs cleaning. I had to learn to do it quickly and efficiently.

There are a number of ways to clean windows. From getting out buckets of water, lots of rags and/or rolls of paper towels or newspaper, to spray bottles and a squeegee. This is my favorite way, to clean windows. I think it's quick and cleanup is a breeze.

Here's what you'll need:
A cleaning liquid
A spray bottle
A squeegee (I got mine for $1.00 and it works just fine.)
Preferably an old rag, but paper towels work too -they're what I have to use at work.

Here's how:

First mix up your favorite cleaner. Some people swear by vinegar and water, others like ammonia and water, others nothing but 4-6 drops of "Dawn" dishwashing liquid in a quart of water. And some just buy window cleaner. You need a recipe or product that will cut the grease - which is most of what is on dirty windows. At work, I have a commercial cleaner I have to use. It's a product that is water and hydrogen peroxide with a stabilizer in it. I like it so much better than the ammonia-based cleaner we used to have to use. At home, I'm going to more green products. I've found that vinegar and water will clean well. If the window is heavily soiled, a drop or two of liquid soap can help, but don't overdo the soap, you don't want a filmy residue.

Once you have your liquid, we're ready for the next part. Oh, by the way, you don't need tons of the recipe. How many windows you have and whether you're cleaning them inside/outside only or inside and outside and how often you clean windows, will determine how much cleaning fluid you need. At church, a quart will clean all the door glass and entry area glass inside and out. We have 12 doors, plus the floor to door-top glass "picture windows"on both sides of each door. I only refilled the bottle about every two weeks. A little goes a long way.

Next, I put the cleaner in a spray bottle. This is so much easier than using a rag and dripping water everywhere. The spray bottle makes the job quicker, keeps your solution clean and helps the little go a long way. Also, I wear an apron so I can hang the trigger of the bottle on the waistband. This lets the bottle hang while I'm working with the squeegee and rag.

It doesn't matter if you do the insides or outsides first, you just don't want to wash the window with the sun blazing straight through it. The cleaning solution will dry too fast and it streaks badly.

On the outside, you're going to need to remove the screen and wash it. When I was a child, we would need to use a screwdriver to loosen the screws that held the brackets that kept the screens in the window. We'd remove all the screens, fill a bucket with soapy water, lay the screens flat on our lawn and use a scrub brush gently to clean both sides of the screens, then rinse with the spray nozzle on the hose. We'd then stand the screens up along a dry side of the house and let them dry while we washed the windows. That doesn't work in this house. The screens are attached to the top of the window frame. And I only have to pull two L shaped handles to release the bottom of the screen. I can wash the outsides of the screen, rinse it, prop the screen open (window closed ;) ) wash it and then rinse it.

Once you've taken care of your screens, if you're washing them, you're ready for the windows themselves.
I generously spray the window. If there are a lot of smudges or sticky stuff, use a corner of a rag or towel to moosh the cleaner around to break up the gunk. Next, take your squeegee and start at one of the top corners. I usually start at the upper left-hand corner. Draw your squeegee down following the seal of the window, making as straight a line as you can. Next, using your cloth or towel, COMPLETELY DRY off the squeegee. All you have to do is hold the squeegee in one hand and the towel in the other. Place a dry spot of the towel over the wet blade and pull the cloth down the edge of the rubber blade. This is what keeps the squeegee from streaking and keeps it from making a wet spot at the top of the window
.
Next, go to the wet spot, towards the center of where you just squeegeed. Overlap a little - so that you've got about an inch or so of window that you just squeegeed and is now dry, under the blade. Pull as straight down as you can. By overlapping, you won't end up with a wet spot between the first and second strips. People then try using the towel to rub the wet spot = streaks! Dry the blade again and repeat until the window is clean. Remembering to dry off that blade between each pass of the squeegee and to leave a dry margin under the blade so that if you "dog-leg" a bit, you don't have that wet spot to deal with.

Most of the church doors require 3 passes with the squeegee, a couple of them only require two. It's better to make an extra pass than to miss a spot and try to correct it. It WILL take more time to try and correct that streak than to make an extra pass with the blade!

Now you're almost done. The last thing to do is to take a dry section of the rag and carefully wipe the edges of the window - where the seals are. You don't want all that fluid running down the window and puddling on the ledge. I start at the top left and carefully go down the edge to the bottom, then I go to the upper right side and again go straight down. Last thing I do is wipe off the window sill. This may take several rags - you don't want water getting on that clean glass!

I have been known to not do a section of glass until the sun has changed directions later in the day. Too many times I tried cleaning glass with the sun directly hitting it. It's hard to see - the sun is in your eyes, the fluid dries before you can do a complete window, it's terribly hot, and it streaks something fierce. Just wait until later in the day - even if it's sunset - or do that side early in the day.

Reinstall the screens, put your equipment away, toss the rags into the laundry and you're done.
Well at least with the windows. lol I'm not sure if Mom is ever DONE?!!?

Washing dishes

When I was a child, we had to "do" dishes in a certain way, or it wasn't "correct" and we'd have to redo them. I always thought this was a waste of time, but as I've gotten older, I realized that the womenfolk of the family knew more that a thing or two. I still don't made my kids rewash dishes because they didn't "do it right", but I do try to teach them to be organized in what they do.

How do you wash dishes?
This is how I'm try to get my kids to do them and the reason why I wash in this order.

First collect all the dishes that need washing. Seems like a simple idea, but hey, how many times have you gotten to the pots and someone shows up with more dirty glasses?

Second scrape and quick rinse the very dirty. I don't prerinse all my dishes. There's no point in rinsing an empty glass unless something is molded in it. On the other hand, if you don't rinse the grease and ketchup (a vegie in my house. sigh) off the plates, your dishwater will be dirty very quickly. So anything with a heavy coating of gunk get's rinsed, especially greasy things, preferably as soon as you're done using it so the gunk doesn't harden. You really don't need to let the water run, just fill a sink with hot water and swish off the majority of it. You can rinse a lot of dishes in a small amount of water. The idea isn't to clean the completely, just get most of it off.

Then clean out your sinks, with your cleaner of choice. For years I used Comet cleanser, because...that's what mom and Nana used. Then I learned that baking soda and water will do the job. So will a little soap on a wet cloth or sponge. Rinse well and then make sure that you rinse the cloth or sponge out well, hand wash with a little soap, rinse again or use a clean cloth - otherwise the grease you just cleaned out of the sink will be back in the soapy water you're about to run.

Next, I put in the plugs. I have one plug that doesn't work all that well. So when I've stoppered the sinks, I put a little water in it and make sure they're sealed. I've left too many a sink filled with water only to come back and find that the plug wasn't tight and the water ran out. So put in just enough to cover the stopper. Give it about 3 mins. If it's leaking, you'll see it.

After I'm sure the plugs are tight, I start stacking my dishes in the sink. I put the large plates on the bottom, then the small plates, then any med bowls, then small bowls. I put the flatware on the left side of the plates and put the glasses around on top where there's room. Obviously, I don't have a huge family. There are days the dishes get backed up and I can't fit all that in the sink. Then it's just plates, silverware and glasses. Also, if I have any plastic zippy type bags I'm recycling, they get priority.

With the stuff in the sink, I start running the water and add the detergent or my homemade soap. For detergent, unscrew the cap from the neck of the bottle and use one capful. That should do it. I know there's a squirt top. Just like there's a line on the cup for your laundry detergent. Unless you have VERY, VERY hard water and oily, mechanic clothes, you're using too much. (Found this out when I moved here to soft water and a washer that drained into a utility sink!) Anyway, they want you to open the top and squirt. Don't, the dishes will be easier to wash. You don't need all those suds.

I asked my friend Rhonda Jean over at http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/
answered some of my questions on using home made soap. Here are her instructions:

To use homemade soap, just rub some soap on your rag, get it a little soapy, and let the water run over it as you run dishwater. You won't get soapy suds, you don't need soapy suds to get the dishes clean. Also, as you wash, your dishwater will look milky. If you're used to using store detergent, it's not going to look right. It may even look "dirty" to you. But if you've rinsed them, then the water's fine. If something is especially greasy, then rub some soap on the rag and use it.

So first I wash the recycled bags, turning them inside out - this is the only way I know of not having greasy, recycled bags. I also rinse them first and set them aside until I've washed the glasses - which I do next. Then I prop open the plastic bags so they can dry. With the bags inside out, the outside drys first. Then I turn them right side out to finish drying and put them away.

After glasses, come bowls, small plates and then large plates. They get rinsed in reverse order - plates to small bowls. This lets me get the most from my drainer space. Last in the load is the silverware. (I have a separate plastic mesh container that I toss the dirty ones in. Then from that I dump them into the sink, swish the container and then put the clean silverware back into it to drain.

Next to go are plastics, any big utensils - tongs, wooden spoons, sharp knives, etc. I don't usually leave those laying around in the water.

If you've done a lot of dishes, you may want/need to run another sink of hot water. Here is usually a good point to do that.

Then it's on to the lids, pots, pans, skillets or roasters. From smallest to largest.

I then wipe down the counter tops and cabinet fronts, the back of the faucet/backsplash area, microwave inside and out, stovetop (around the eyes, the drip pans and the rings) and any appliances that need a wipe down. This keeps the mess from building up. Don't forget the tops of the trash can, and fridge/freezer door(s). Go from the least greasy areas to the most greasy ones.

In fact, this whole method takes you from the least greasy to the most greasy and from the most likely items to pick up grease (plastic bags and glasses) to those that are easier to get clean.

Drain the soapy side, rinse the rag out in the rinse side and let the water out - use it to rinse the soapy side down with or water your plants with it. Wipe out the sink again with a soapy rag, rinse well, hang the rag to dry, and you're done.

Now, print this out, hang it by your sink and tell the kids that this is how I said to do dishes. You can blame me. lol I'd put some contact paper on it or laminate it, otherwise, it might have an "accident". kwim?