Solving All Life's Problems One Pin at a Time

I've found some really great household solutions on Pinterest.  This week's post is dedicated to a few small pins I've tried that are worth sharing but don't need full posts to themselves...first up, cleaning those laminate floors!

Homemade Floor Cleaner

I have wood laminate floors throughout a good portion of my first floor.  Yes, they are easy to clean but depending on what cleaner you use, it can be tough to restore their original shine.  I've found that a lot of cleaners leave streaks and/or water marks even when using a microfiber damp mop.  With that said, this pin was a must try!

Originally found on Nature's Nuture, I followed the instructions that came with the original pin.  Here is her recipe and instructions:

Homemade Cleaners

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup vinegar
• 1 cup alcohol
• 2-3 drops dish soap (Castile, Dawn, etc.)
• 5 drops lavender essential oil
• 5 drops orange essential oil
• 3 drops peppermint essential oil
• Fine-mist spray bottle – 24oz

Instructions

1. Add all ingredients to spray bottle and shake to combine.
2. Sweep/vacuum the floor.
3. Spray cleaner on the floor.
4. Wipe up with a microfiber cloth.
5. As with all cleaners, please do a spot test to make sure this will work on your floors!

The only modification I made was cutting the first three ingredients down to a 1/4 cup of each and that was enough to do my kitchen, dinning room, half bath and hall.  I make a new batch each cleaning because I like to use hot water.  Instead of using a spray bottle, I bought a Colorox mop that had a microfiber washable pad and a bottle that you could fill with your own cleaner.

I went to Walmart and bought two oils, a vanilla scented and an orange scented. I use these very sparingly maybe two or three drops of each at the most.  I mainly use it to mask the smell of the vinegar.  I bought vinegar and alcohol from the dollar store.

I didn't post my photos because my camera didn't capture the results the way hers did, I had a lot of sunlight in the room when I took them but I will tell you that her before and after is dead on the same results I got!  Awesome right?

I spent about $30 total when I first did this because I purchased the mop that was over $20 and the oils which where a few dollars each, but now that I have all the stuff, it's pennies to clean the floor each time.  This gets a PIN!

Battery Organization

Anyone with kids knows that it requires a million batteries to power all of their toys.  I was sick of batteries floating all over my "junk drawer", so I tried this pin.  Originally found on Better Homes and Gardens, this is a great way to organize your batteries.

I bought a container like this from JoAnn Fabrics and with my coupon is was about $5.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I typically "go big or go home" and so unfortunately I bought a container that is a little too big. Once I find another use for it I will buy a smaller one, but otherwise, this is a great idea and worked well for me.  PIN!

Other Problem Solving Pins for the Home

I've done several other posts about pins that solve problems in the home.  In case you missed them, here are links to the others I have tried.

How to Clean a Microfiber Couch

Using Shower Curtain Hooks to Organize Scarves

How to Keep Throw Rugs in Place

Also, feel free to visit my board "Pins I've Tried."  I have done everything on there and would be happy to tell you more if there is something on there you are interested in but I haven't posted about yet.

Up next...another summary post like this one but about few kid pins I've tried.

How to Clean a Microfiber Couch

I'm embarrassed to admit that is my couch.  It was once a very nice couch until two little people entered my house.  Since, it has become a magnet for spills and spit up.

I've had it professionally cleaned several times.  Each time I was content with the results but not happy.  Stains still remained and at $75 to $100 a cleaning, it just wasn't worth it.

For a while I just gave up.  I figured we'd just keep it until spills and spit up ended in our house and then we'd buy a new one.  Well anyone who knows me knows that thought was short lived because there is no way I'd invite a guest in to sit on this disgusting disaster.  It's MY kid's mess and I even hate sitting on it!

So when I came across a pin from 551 East, I one, didn't feel so bad anymore because someone else's couch was as disgusting as mine and two, couldn't wait to try this for myself.  Here's her before picture.

I followed her instructions exactly.  I went to the Dollar Tree and bought rubbing alcohol, a spray bottle and a white bristle brush to use.  I actually bought a pedicure brush that was meant for nail cleaning because that's all they had with white bristles.  Then I went to Target and got sponges that were the same color as my couch as she recommends.  With my couch being so light I bought the Scotch Brite sponges that are made from recycled material and have a beige tone to them.

From there, I filled the spray bottle with pure alcohol and soaked the cushions as you see here.  

Once it was saturated, I took a dry sponge and scrubbed.  You need to put a little "elbow grease" in to it, but nothing major.  As you are scrubbing the sponge will start to get dirty and saturated as well.  I used about two dry sponges per cushion.  Once you have scrubbed and scrubbed, let it dry.  Here is the end result after it dried.

Not bad right?!?  If you look closely you can see there are two spot that didn't come completely out but I think a second run through the process would remove them.  Truthfully, I'm not going to bother because it is going to need a total cleaning again in a week, so I'll just wait until then :-).

The original pinner recommended you take the white bristle brush to refluff the couch after it dried.  I didn't need to use it.  Mine looked ok with just letting it air dry.  One thing to keep in mind, the room and couch will smell like alcohol for a bit.  If you can open a window that would help, but in the winter, in Buffalo, New York that wasn't an option so I just in the other room for a bit.  Not to worry it will go away within a few hours.  

The good news is, I wouldn't be embarrassed for someone to sit on my couch now and instead of $100 to clean it, I did for about $5!!! This is a definite PIN for anyone with a Microfiber Couch and messy kids!