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.

A Quick Fix For Your Moving Throw Rug

I have been loosing an ongoing battle with the rug in my downstairs bathroom for quite some time.  Sitting on the laminate floor, it slides every where!  I tried the mat that went underneath but it would still shift and then you could see the mat, so the mat went in the garbage.  Then I tried the things you stick to the back and those helped but they came off after a few washes.

So, for the past few months it's been sitting, a fall waiting to happen as my 3 year old runs at warp speed to get to the potty, with nothing to stop it from sliding.  Most days it ends up bunched against the wall.  It looks messy and like I said, it's an accident waiting to happen.  

So when I found this pin project I was excited to give it a try and I'm happy to report, I think I'll be saying good-bye to moving throw rugs from now on with this simple fix!  Originally found at This Crazy Life, the author took caulk and applied it to the back of the rug.  She suggested putting the stripes every 6 inches but I did mine much closer together.  My rug was smaller than the one she was working on and I really wanted to make sure it wasn't going anywhere!  After applying all the stripes, I let it dry overnight just to be safe.  

The next day I put it out and the end result...a rug that stays where I put it! Victory!  This project took about 5 minutes to complete and was free for me because we had caulk and a caulk gun.  If you had to buy the supplies, it would still be relatively in-expensive.  One thing to note, the smell of the caulk was a little unpleasant for a few days.  If you try this and it smells, not to worry, after about 3 days the smell went away and now there is no odor.  This pin gets a huge PIN from me! 

Up next...Look What I Made, a pin project to display all your child's artwork.