Ivy says:

Yesterday, my mom came over because she had a little time to kill before going to work. There wasn’t any time to clean up because she called me as she turned onto my street. Thanks, mom. “Ah, Ivy,” she said, “Your home is a bastion of cleanliness.” We both laughed because, to be honest, my house has been quite a disaster lately. I would undoubtedly receive the Home Ec 101 Seal of Disapproval if we were handing out seals.

When my grandmother died, my uncle started giving me her stuff.  I have a small garage that was nearly full of our own things.  Grandma’s stuff has spilled into my living room and now in the space of less than 6 months, my house has reached full on disaster status. Let this be a lesson, the minute you let the mess creep in, the mess multiplies like Tribbles and the next thing you know, you have a messy house. The irritating part is, I already knew this, but depression over losing my grandma and the sheer amount of stuff I got went a long way to helping me ignore my own advice.

I’m telling you this not because I think it’s fun to tell y’all about my house being a disaster, but because I suspect at least some of you are in the same boat. Your house is cluttered. If it’s anything like mine, it’s fairly sanitary (pay no attention to those cat boxes behind the curtain!), but clutter has set in, it’s overwhelming, and you’re not even really sure how to get started.

Never fear! Mess and chaos spread, but so does clean. The key is to leverage the momentum. Normally, when cleaning, I like to set a timer. But with remedial cleaning, I like to do this “by the job.” For example, this morning I cleaned off the top of the kids’ toy cabinet. I had to be ruthless- did I really want to keep all 8,447 pictures my daughter had drawn? I picked my 2 favorites and hung them up.

Make a plan for your remedial cleaning. Now that the top of the kids’ toy cabinet is cleaned off, the next job is to clean the inside of it. Someone hold me, I’m scared. Make a list and enjoy crossing off each task!  A sense of accomplishment helps move things along.  Eventually, your house will be the “bastion of cleanliness” it once was. And so will mine.

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It’s Retro Saturday where we post a blast from the Home Ec 101 past.

Dear Home Ec 101,

I have cave crickets in my house. These things are nasty. Luckily, the cats make sure they are quickly turned into cave cricket carcasses. I’m wondering, though, if this indicates a problem of some kind with the house (gaps that need closing, etc.).

Signed,

Lemony Crickets

Ivy says:

I had to go look up cave crickets, because I don’t believe I’ve seen them before. Yo, those suckers are nasty. I also read somewhere that they are a good source of protein. Keep that in mind if you are ever starving.

At any rate, they are likely coming into your house through little gaps or cracks somewhere. The most common places pests come into your house is through service conduits like cable, phone, electricity. Check those areas where they come into the house and if there are any gaps there, seal them up with caulking or expanding foam.

Remember to check your dryer vents, and if you have a window air conditioner, check to be sure there are no gaps or cracks. I have read that cave crickets like cool, dark areas like basements. If you have a basement, examine the walls and windows carefully to make sure there aren’t any cracks or spaces where they are coming in.

Finally check the seals on your doors. My back door has a small gap where ants like to come in every now and then. It’s on Mr. Ivy’s honey-do list, but it has low priority, so we will probably move before we get that gap sealed. Hopefully Mr. Crickets will be better at tackling his honey-do list than Mr. Ivy is.

Please submit your questions to helpme@home-ec101.com

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Ivy says:

If you’re anything like me (and hey, you might not be, I’m strange), you have too many books. Go on, admit it, you have more books than you really need. Go through them. Keep the ones you want to read over and over, and keep the ones you plan on reading in the next 3 months, keep the reference books you might really refer to and get rid of everything else. I promise, it won’t hurt. Much.

What to do with all those books?

Give them away on Freecycle

Post an ad on Craigslist, either giving them away or selling them for a very nominal fee

Donate them to Freecycle

How many Bibles do you have? More than you need? Contact your local church to see where they can be put to good use.

Contact your local library to find out where you can donate books to worthy causes.

Set up a book swap with your friends. But don’t get too many or you’ll be in the same boat!

Once you’ve purged all those extra books, resist the urge to get a whole lot more! That’s going to be my problem.

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Dear Home Ec 101:

I don’t use softeners or softener sheets and every piece of clothing we own is being ruined by these grease stains. I have no idea what it is but I can only assume its from the dryer. And I know, with kids, stains are highly likely but even their brand spanking new clothes are coming out with these stains (as well as my clothes and the hubby’s) Any ideas? At this point, I’m ready to just buy a new dryer because by the time I pay for a service call, labor and parts, it costs the same (if not less to replace!!) Crazy!! Any ideas??

~Spittin’ Mad At These Spots

Heather says:

There are several places from which spots may spring.

Dark spots of grease may be caused by a problem within the washer itself. Occasionally the transmission will leak oil, creating spots on clothing.

• Light spots of grease may have several sources.
  • • There may be something, such as last week’s chapstick, in the dryer’s drum spreading grease to the clothing. To check, dampen a spot free towel or rag and dry. Once dry check for spots.
    • If the dryer is the culprit thoroughly clean the drum. If you have an electric dryer, it is safe to use a solvent, but those with a gas dryer should not take the risk and are stuck using good old non-flammable elbow grease. Sorry, I am not going to be responsible for house fires.
• Oils from towels and rags used to clean up spills may transfer spots to other articles of clothing. Do not wash your kitchen rags with clothing.
• As mentioned in the question both liquid fabric softeners and dryer sheets may also leave spots.

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Ivy says:

Who would have imagined that I would be so knowledgeable about killing things?  We had a couple of commenters wondering how to get rid of various pests, and your Auntie Ivy is at your service.

First, commenter Denise wanted to know how to get rid of fire ants. I had a terrible problem with fire ants both this summer and two summers ago. Two summers ago, I called the county extension agent because I wasn’t entirely sure we would have fire ants this far north. Turns out, we do have fire ants this far north.

What we use that works to kill fire ants (and kills them for at least the entire season) is Amdro.  I normally look for natural, non-chemical ways to kill pests, but I’m not gonna play when it comes to fire ants. Someone could get hurt, most likely me since I’m terribly clumsy and will step in any hole within 5 miles of me. Amdro works very well and is not hard to use.  I highly recommend it.

Commenter Amber wants to know how to get rid of fruit flies. I wrote a post about getting rid of them, but have more information for you since I recently had an attack of drain flies in my own home.

With those tiny flies, the best way to get rid of them is to figure out where they are coming from. In my case, they were coming from the drains. I figured this out by taping a plastic baggie over one of my drains. It filled up with flies, and that’s when I figured out they were coming from the drains.

I spoke with a bug man who told me drain flies usually come from either a broken drain line or a broken sewer line. If several of your neighbors are having the same problem with the flies, it’s a broken sewer line. If it’s just you, then it’s a broken drain line.

Luckily for my pocketbook, it was not a broken drain line, which I would be responsible for repairing. I called and harassed the city until they finally came to my house and poured something down my drains that was supposed to kill the flies. It either worked, or the hard freezes we’ve had of late have killed them. If they come back when it gets warm again, it’s back to calling the city to get them to fix their broken sewer line.

If the bugs are not coming up from your drains, look high and low until you figure out where they are coming from. Be sure to check your houseplants, as often fruit flies or gnats or whatever kind of tiny flies they are will lay eggs in the soil of your houseplants. If this is so, you may need to replant your plant with new soil.

Also, thanks to the great drain fly invasion, I have found red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar attracts the flies better than white vinegar.  What worked best for me was putting the vinegar and about 3 drops of dishwashing liquid in a coffee cup, and putting them out all over the house. My house smelled vinegary, but that’s a heck of a lot better than having flies all over the place.

Hope that helps you guys!

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