I felt “pressured” to answer this question ;)

Dear Home Ec 101,

My husband has finally agreed to have our house and granny annex professionally pressure-washed. There’s quite a bit of pale green mildew on the vinyl siding.

Is good ole’ bleach and water the best cleaning solution? Should soap be added? If so, what kind (dish? dishwasher? laundry? hand?)?

Any other tips with regard to pressure washing?

Signed,

Green in Greeley

Ivy says:

Fear not, Home Ec 101 is your one stop pressure washing information station! Okay, not really, I just wanted to write that.

What you’re going to want to do is a pre-wash of your house before you get to the pressure washing. Using bleach in the pressure washer could be bad for the plants that surround your house, so use a scrub brush or sponge on a stick and a solution of 10 parts water to 1 part bleach. Rinse that off carefully and then you’ll be ready for the pressure washing.

I usually use a commercial pressure washer solution in the pressure washer, just whatever you can buy at Lowe’s. I’ve not found any certain brand that I find better than others, to be honest. Follow the manufacturer’s directions and wash from the bottom up to apply the detergent, then rinse from the top down. Make sure you’re not using too much pressure- too much can damage your siding. Spray carefully around- not on- doors, windows, and electrical stuff.

Have fun pressure washing, I think it’s kinda fun to watch your siding come clean!

This Porridge is too Hot for my Acidophilus and Omega-3s

Dear Home Ec 101,

If I put flaxseed oil and yogurt in my hot oatmeal, will their beneficial qualities be destroyed by the heat?

Signed,

Goldielocks

Heather says:

If you allow the oatmeal to cool to a temperature comfortable for eating before adding your flax oil and yogurt you should be just fine. Now, there may be an exception, if you were one of my regular customers who required their coffee hot enough to melt their dental work, learn what 115F - 120F feels like.

Flax oil has a very short shelf life. It must be refrigerated and used within six weeks of pressing. Flax seeds offer the additional benefit of fiber, but must be used immediately after grinding, so there is definitely a convenience factor to consider. Several readers have recommended keeping a cheap coffee grinder on hand just for grinding flax seeds. Never use flax oil for cooking as high temperatures not only destroy the beneficial properties of the fatty acids, but turns them into harmful fats.

Now let’s learn a little about yogurt. L. acidophilus is not in all brands of yogurt in the United States. It is added after Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus. There is a program developed by the National Yogurt Association that tests yogurt at the end of its stated shelf life for a minimum presence of bacterial cultures. (L. Acidophilus competes for the sugars and may be overwhelmed by the S. thermophilus and L. bulgaricus) If the brand passes the test it may carry the seal for Live and Active Cultures.

If you make your own yogurt it is important to remember that you must add your own cultures of L. acidophilus to ensure its presence in significant quantities. This probiotic may be purchased in capsules or powders; please store it carefully according the manufacturer’s directions to reap full benefits.

There is still plenty of debate on the proof of the health benefits of probiotics. As always, I am not a medical professional, seek the advice of your doctor or nutritionist before attempting to treat any conditions.

Enjoy your breakfast.

Submit your questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

You know you’re awesome when your mom needs your advice

Dear Home-Ec 101,

In thirty five years of doing laundry, I have never made a mistake. That’s right, I have found the perfect way of doing laundry through a very complicated method of washing clothing by color and weight.

Except…well, today I did a load of tablecloths. One of them was red and another was white. They were both new, but I figured modern methods of dying surely would keep the red tablecloth from bleeding onto the white. Right? Wrong. Now I have a pink tablecloth and a red tablecloth. It’s a lovely pink tablecloth and not blotchy at all, but still. What should I do?

By the way, Ivy is not a great name. I Your mother named you [redacted] because it’s a beautiful and wonderful name. How was I your mother to know that every other mother in 1975 would also think it was a fabulous name? I Your mother wanted to name you [redacted] since I she was a wee little girl. Everyone else just stole my name from me. I mean, well, you know what I mean.

Oh, well, I your mother loves you anyway.

Signed,

Mystery Lady X

Ivy says:

Mom, I can tell it’s you by your email address. That’s okay, though. I Your daughter loves you anyway.

With any luck, you haven’t already dried your tablecloth. Both Rit and Carbona make dye removers. Rit’s is called Rit Dye Powder Color Remover and Carbona has the awesomely named Carbona Color Run Remover. Both can usually be found in the same section of a store that you would find dye. Usually this is by the laundry products although at one very random KMart I was at, the dye stuff was by the hardware. Both products will almost definitely work if you haven’t dried the tablecloth.

If you’ve already dried the tablecloth you can try these products, but your best bet would be just to enjoy your new pink tablecloth. It works for both Valentine’s Day and Easter! Congrats on your first laundry mistake, Mom.

Where to put the, um, cat box scoopings

Ivy says:

We get some great questions in email (have one? email us!) and occasionally comments. These questions came from the comments.

Commenter Jane writes:

I used to use very expensive cat litter (I have three cat boxes), but realized that using the cheapest cat litter and emptying the whole thing every couple of days is the most economic way to go. Does anyone out there know of a litter that is flushable, doesn’t track on the floor?

I was just mulling over the cat litter issue this morning over at Animal Shak.  I use Arm & Hammer Super Scoop, but after finding out about the strip mining issue with cat litter, I’m thinking about using something different as well. Whaddaya think, Home Eccers? Do you have a good answer for Jane? Do you have a good answer for me?

Commenter Liz writes:

This is a little off topic, but the problem I always have is the garbage can. Since I scoop into the garbage can, I change it pretty frequently, but it still reeks. Anyone have any good ideas about how to manage this? It always smells awful in this part of the house, and it isn’t the litter box.

You could try to find a litter that is flushable, but if you live in an area where water conservation is a must like I do, that may not work for you. Here’s what I do. I always use plastic bags that I get from the grocery store* to scoop the cat boxes into. Then I take the tied up bag out to my outside dumpster.

I’ve also seen this litter locker at my local PetSmart that looked like a neat idea. The only  problem I can forsee with that is that you have to buy the bags that are used with it, and that seems a tad on the wasteful side to me. Not to mention expensive. However, it does look like it would do an excellent job of keeping the smell away.

And to prove we don’t talk about poop all the time at Home Ec 101, commenter Karen wants to know:

I’ve been reading your blog for weeks now but I just now noticed that both of your names are names of plants. pseudonyms?

That’s an astute observation, Karen! I never even noticed that myself.  Heather is really Heather’s name. Ivy is not actually my real name, but it is the name I have been using online since 1994. My real name is a name I really don’t dig for myself**. I have gone by nicknames for most of my life, and when I started going online, my dad told me to come up with a fake name because he claimed only crazies, stalkers, perverts, and us were online. So it was Ivy, and I’ve been Ivy ever since.

Eventually, I intend to legally change my name to Ivy Hogan, but I’m afraid it will hurt my mom’s feelings. Mom says she wanted to name me this name since she was a little girl. I still hate the name. Sorry, Mom.

And no, I won’t tell you what the name is. Some things are just for me.

*I use my cloth bags about half the time when I go to the grocery store and I get the plastic bags the other half of the time for this very reason.

**It is a very, very common name for women my age. It’s fine for other people, it’s a pretty name with a nice meaning. It just has never, ever suited me.

Case of the Curious Crisper Drawer

Dear Home Ec 101:

Every refrigerator I have ever seen has a crisper drawer, yet I have never figured out what to put in mine. What is the slidy thing for?

Signed,

~Vexed by the Vegetable Bin

Heather says:

Refrigerators do two things simultaneously. First and most importantly they keep everything cool. Their second function is to moderate the humidity. If the air in your refrigerator became too humid everything would be covered with condensation, too dry and anything perishable would quickly mummify.

As soon as fruits, vegetables, and herbs are harvested they begin to lose water to the surrounding atmosphere. Some items such as citrus fruit lose moisture slowly due to their thick skins and smaller surface area. Others like spinach lose water rapidly. Generally the more surface area the faster the produce will wilt or spoil.  Remember spheres present the smallest surface area to volume ratio.

The crisper drawer has adjustable vents, that are usually controlled by a slide or lever. To create a more humid environment more suitable for most vegetables the vents should be nearly closed. To keep leafy greens as long as possible, wash, then wrap with a slightly damp paper towel.

Fruits will generally spoil faster with increased moisture. Either store fruits on the shelves of the fridge or be sure the vents on the crisper drawer are wide open.

Enjoy your fruits and veggies.

*EDIT* Home Eccer JayMonster raises a good point. Berries are the most delicate of fruits and need special care. They need to be wrapped in vented plastic bags or stored in the plastic boxes they are sold in. Do not wash them until just before consuming. Regardless of how gently you treat them, berries have a very short shelf life in the refrigerator, typically 3 or 4 days at most. (A little more if you picked them rather than purchasing from a store, as they didn’t spend time in transit)

Submit your questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

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