Entries Tagged as 'Cleaning Products'

Ivy Reviews: The Little Green Clean Machine

July 7th, 2009 5 Comments

retrochick.JPGIvy says:

Remember this disaster? Well, I decided to just let my uncle have my carpet cleaner (since we’re pretty short on carpeting at Chez Ivy) and I bought myself a Little Green Clean Machine instead. Obligatory transparency statement: I was not paid to or asked to review this item. This is all me, kids.

So, let’s talk about the Little Green Clean Machine. (Henceforth to be called the LGCM since typing the whole thing out takes some effort.) As you all know, I had a heinous mess to clean up, so instead of what I’d usually do, clean up the mess with rags and then use some Spot Shot on it, I wanted something to be able to suck up the mess as well as clean it.

What I liked about it:

The LGCM does, in fact, suck. In the way you want it to. I wondered how well the suction action would work on such a small machine, and I’m pleased to report that it works very well. I’d say it sucks up about 80% of the water that I used on it- not bad at all. Now, in order to get all that water sucked up, you need to be sure to push down hard on the cleaning head. Because of that, I’m not sure how well it would work on a carpet you can’t do that to, like Berber.

It was easy to use: setup required attaching two hose clips, only one of which needed to be screwed in with a screwdriver. Within about 5 minutes, I was ready to clean. The instructions were written fairly well and were not confusing.

The sprayer works well. In fact, a bit too well. (See “what I didn’t like” for more) It covered the area I was cleaning and then some. I also really liked being able to see the dirty water that was being sucked into the machine through the clear head in the cleaning head. Though, I was a bit grossed out to see what I had been sitting on lately, ha. But by being able to see what was coming in, I could clean an area until I was satisfied that it was really clean- an option that my full sized carpet cleaner did not have.

I was able to clean the mess up quite well and very quickly, which is really important to me. I don’t want to be there all day setting up and taking things down, and setup and clean-up was very quick. Awesome.

Now, let’s talk about the things I didn’t like.

What I didn’t like:

Like I said, the sprayer worked too well. Like, it sprayed about twice the size of the cleaning head, which would be fine except that it went everywhere when cleaning the arms of my couch. I’d like to be able to control the amount of spray coming out of the sprayer.

Also, the hose was awfully short. I don’t have any stairs, but if I did have them, I’d like to use something like this to clean them, but I could imagine that this would be a pain when cleaning stairs, as I had to keep the machine close at hand while cleaning my couch.

The other thing I don’t like about it is that it seems that the only product you can really use on it is the stuff designed especially for the LGCM. I’d like to have an option of one to remove pet stains, since I doubt it’s specifically designed to remove the enzymes that need to be removed when cleaning up pet messes.

Overall, I really liked the LGCM and am glad I bought it. The pluses way outweigh the minuses. Next, I’m going to use it to clean my car. I can only imagine the nasty water that’ll come out of THAT! I can hardly wait, haha.

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Using Bar Keepers Friend

February 18th, 2009 10 Comments

Hi Ivy and Heather,

Long time reader, 2nd time emailer.  ;)

I was squealing with delight when I saw Barkeeper’s Friend at my local Bed Bath and Beyond.  I know in many of your posts, you recommend using it for cleaning various things.  Of course, now that I have it, I can’t think of one of the uses.  What should I use this miracle cleaner to clean?

Signed,
Bar Keepers New Best Friend

Heather says:

You have definitely come to the right place. Here’s a list of seven places to try out your new toy. One would think the fine folks behind Bar Keeper’s Friend would be banging down our door to sponsor us.

  1. Clean grungy grout.
  2. Remove mildew from showers.
  3. Remove grease from oven windows.
  4. Clean stainless steel cookware
  5. Remove burnt food from ceramic stoves.
  6. Remove ink from a laminate counter.
  7. Clean Corian

If this isn’t enough to get you going, you can check out the Bar Keepers Friend Suggested Uses page or I am sure some of our Home Eccers have found plenty of ways to keep you busy.

To keep you out of trouble remember, you should never use BKF to clean silverware, real marble, pewter, the kids, or the family pet.

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Inky dinky doo

July 14th, 2007 6 Comments

Dear Home Ec 101:

The other day, I set a wet a receipt on the bathroom counter to dry. (The
cat has gotten a bunch of things wet.) It was one of those older
fashioned ones with purple ink. The next morning, I discovered I’d put
it ink side down and now had a nice copy of the receipt on the
countertop.

I first tried Basic H, from Amway I think is, something my Mom used
when I was a kid. Although my bottle is probably 20 years old now so
that might have been a problem. Between that and just putting a wet rag
on it for 24 hours, it’s a bit lighter. Unless you know it’s a receipt,
you probably wouldn’t guess. I also tried a magic eraser, having read
in other posts some of the amazing things it can clean up. It didn’t
seem to affect it at all however.

I’m wondering if you have any other ideas for me?

~I said I wanted a copy of the receipt, but this is ridiculous!

Heather says:

I have been in your shoes before.  I would first try blotting with rubbing alcohol.  While alcohol is great for removing fresh ink, I have had limited success with dry.  This is when we pull out our old pal Bar Keepers Friend.  Of course you will want to test this in an inconspicuous area.  Make a paste and spread it it over the stain, give it a few minutes to work before wiping with a damp rag.  Use a back and forth motion to rub out the mark, you may need to use some elbow grease.  In my experience there are few stains that this product won’t fix.

Send your domestic questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

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Borax and washing soda and where to find it all, oh my!

May 15th, 2007 13 Comments

Dear Home-Ec 101,

I have long wished to use washing soda and borax–suggested in all
sorts of green home guides for everything from dishwashers to washing
machines–but I cannot find them locally. Internet searches have been
to no avail either. Do you know where I can buy them online?

Thank you!
New reader of your blog

retrochick.JPGIvy says:

I had a hard time finding Borax too, until I knew where to look.  The original plan for this post was, I was going to zip all over town and take pics at WalMart, Target, KMart and a couple of grocery stores of Borax and washing soda for you. The problem with that plan was, my 13 year old failed to mention that 1. the band concert was tonight and 2. he had outgrown all his black dress pants and therefore we needed to buy a new pair. So, we got a picture of Borax at KMart, since that’s the closest place to my house that sold both black dress pants and Borax.

Borax and washing soda both are found in the laundry aisle at most major discount stores and grocery stores. Washing soda is harder to find as is evidenced by my picture:

concert-001.jpg

Look for it by stuff like OxyClean and that sort of stuff. I’ll run around this week and take more pictures of Borax and washing soda. And readers, if you have any Borax or washing soda sightings, post a picture!

If you still can’t find it locally, Amazon’s your next best bet. Here’s a link forborax
, and a couple for washing soda here and here.  You can also find Nellie’s All-Natural Laundry Soda at their website right here.

I also hear you can buy washing soda at pool supply stores. It’s also called soda ash, so be on the lookout.

I’ll post more pictures of Borax and washing soda sightings when I find them!

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Sodium percarbonate? What is it again?

May 11th, 2007 No Comments

Dear Home Ec 101:

Where can I get sodium percarbonate?

Thanks,

Short and Sweet

Heather says:

Sodium percarbonate is the generic name for the active ingredient oxygen bleach poducts like Oxyboost, Oxiclean, or Clorox Oxygen Action. When dissolved in water it creates hydrogen peroxide and soda ash.  The bleaching action is accomplished by the hydrogen peroxide; soda ash is an environmentally safe byproduct.

You can find products such as Oxiclean on the laundry aisle at most large discount stores.  To get the most bang for your buck check the ingredient list and avoid those loaded with fillers such as sodium chloride (table salt).  Oxyboost has a list of their distributors on their website and the products are available online.

Sodium percarbonate is replacing sodium perborate in many laundry products due to its more environmentally friendly characteristics.

Good luck and happy cleaning.

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