Domestic Goddess?

I've been wanting to share some helpful things I've learned recently. I may be the last to know about all this but if not, here's to sharing:

Ant Bites:

We had an ant problem coming from a hole in the corner of the baseboard in our pantry. Typical.

I hate ants. Seriously. Once when I was pregnant with Valette and there was an ant problem in our bedroom I think I literally scared Eric for my sanity with the stress-to-the-point-of-tears as I vacuumed them up while Eric ran to the store for ant killer.

Since then I've had a fondness for vacuuming ants.

Anyway, I learned on this recent occasion that vinegar makes ant bites stop itching. It makes them stop bothering you altogether. I just use a cotton ball and tip the bottle to get it wet. Seriously. White vinegar makes it all better instantly.

Insert Praise for Pinterest Here.

To Kill Ant Colonies:

This is a recipe to attract all the ants and then they take home the poison that they drink and drink and kill their colony. (Like Amdro, but you can use it inside.)

The recipe didn't seem clear to me about how much to put in, but the reviews suggested using baby jars for a nice sized small container, which I liked. And you don't just soak the cotton balls, you fill the jar with the liquid. The cotton balls are in there to take up space so it won't take as much of the recipe to make the jar seem full.

Homemade Shout:

I found this recipe over a year ago. and I've been using it ever since. It's really easy and I think it works great. Unfortunately it clogs every spray nozzle I've ever tried. (Which is probably at least 5.) My recent attempt has been to buy a regular shout bottle and when it's empty I'll put my recipe in it. We'll see how it goes.

Homemade Laundry Detergent:

I heard about homemade laundry detergent the first time shortly after we moved into this house. The lady who was explaining said her recipe came from a woman who is a bishop's wife. Her point was that obviously this lady needs her whites to come out white. And she was very successful with the homemade detergent.

I was interested then but never did anything about it because I couldn't find super washing soda at my Walmart. (Hint, if you try this, don't look for supplies at the Stapley/60 Walmart, they are lame.)

Here is the recipe I used. I found everything I needed at the Walmart on Country Club/Baseline. Some Targets have it too. Mine only had the borax.

All of the supplies for this detergent (I skipped the purex stuff because I still use dryer sheets) cost me less than two boxes of Tide. But it made so much that I won't have to make it again for a good year. Also, I have this amazing food processor that made "shredding" the Zote soap super easy and fast. I highly recommend not using a hand cheese grater. If you want to use mine let me know. I'd be glad to save you that stress.

Cleaning the Bathroom:

I'm sure you can clean the kitchen this way too...

Okay. I pinned this for the tip with the lemon, which I tried and didn't feel like it worked. Or I did it wrong, definitely a possibly. But when I read the rest of the post and her main point about cleaning with baking soda and vinegar. I was super excited.

I am not going to show you pictures. You do not not want to see what I used to shower in. But let me tell you, basically the whole time we've lived in this house one shower wall has been orange with mildew. Why is it orange and not some dark black color? (well, let's be honest, there was that too) but really, I dunno where the orange came from. It was gross, okay? I know. Don't judge me too much. (You can judge Eric, he cleaned it less than me ;)

Okay, I seriously spread out some baking soda, sprayed it with vinegar in a spray bottle, listened to the cathartic fizzing of killing the grossness and wiped on it, then rinsed it all down the drain. The worse areas I scrubbed with a grout brush and that was really helpful. My shower is awesome looking now. I am so happy I discovered this. Also, the sink looks amazing after this treatment too. Especially the plug.

When Eric came home from work the first time I tried this I was SO EXCITED to show him our shower. (Easily pleased?) His first reaction was "you were using harsh chemicals while pregnant with our baby?" No. No I wasn't. Baking soda and vinegar, my friend. I am not a crazy organic-only products kind of person or anything close to that. But this worked better than anything I've tried. So the bonus of not worrying about the fumes, I'll take it.

I have loved Pinterest. I find helpful things on there all.the.time. 

I hope some of you can benefit from these tips like I have.