Win A $50 Visa Gift Card From Home Ec 101 And Scott Common Sense!

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Ivy says:

That’s right, Home Eccers, it’s time for another awesome giveaway! Up for grabs is a $50 Visa gift card you can spend on anything your little heart desires from Scott Common Sense. Scott Common Sense is a neat website with lots of cleaning and organizational tips submitted by users like you.

How can you win the $50 Visa gift card? It’s easy. The folks at Scott Common Sense want to hear what we Home Eccers have got for cleaning and organizational tips. So leave a comment on this post with your best cleaning or organizational tip. I will choose one lucky winner with the handy dandy Randomizer. (Because I know your tips will be so fabulous, I’ll never be able to choose just one.)

Because I love rules and regulations, here are just a few:

1. This contest is open to U.S. Residents only. Sorry, international Home Eccers!

2. This contest is open from now until midnight Central time, Monday September 15th.

3. One entry per email address, please.

And that’s it! Hurry and enter to win, and be sure to check out Scott Common Sense for more great tips and ideas, or to submit your own!

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102 thoughts on “Win A $50 Visa Gift Card From Home Ec 101 And Scott Common Sense!”

  1. My favorite trick is to clean as you go- I fill up a sink full of dishwater when I’m cooking and then throw things in and wash them up as necessary! Saves a lot of time!

  2. My best tip is to do a little everyday. If you wait and let things stack up until the weekend, or once a month, or “whenever”, then the monster will be hard to tame. If you do just a few minutes everyday, then it never gets out of control and never becomes a chore.

  3. I have had enormous success at stain removal with Spray and Wash with Resolve. It works really well, even on things I thought I was going to have to pitch.

    Thanks for the chance!

  4. Here’s how I stay organized with my cleaning routine: I usually do a daily maintenance in every room of the house, spending about 5 minutes in each room, but focus on only one main room each day. So on Monday I focus on the livingroom, on Tuesday I focus on the kitchen, etc.

  5. Bathroom Tip: steamed up mirrors can be cleared immediately with a dot of liquid soap on a scott towel, which is then wiped across the mirror … (the soap acts to break up the surface tension, holding all the individual water molecules apart, as a fine mist on the cold mirror, allowing the towel to sweep them all clear.)

  6. I’ve learned that since there are specific cleaners I use in the bathroom, different cleaners for the kitchen, etc… to have a few different spots to keep my things – all bathroom cleaners are in one basket… That helps me find what I need faster!

  7. I keep double sets of all my bathroom cleaning supplies – one under the sink in the downstairs bathroom, and one upstairs. This means I can do a quick cleaning of each bathroom (wipe the counters, sink, faucets, toilet, doorknobs, and lightswitches, and then swish out the toilet bowl) in under five minutes. It makes my heavier cleanings on the weekend so much faster!

  8. Give each of the little kids a spray bottle with water and a touch of vinegar so that they can “work” along with you. Make sure they wipe up everything they spray. Keeps the entertained and gets them into the idea that they can help out.

  9. Each night, straighten up the living room (or whatever room you spend the most time in). Pick up the toys, straighten magazines and books (or put them away), recycle the newspaper, put used drinking glasses in the dishwasher, straighten the pillows and blankets, etc. 5 minutes a day and the room stays clean–and welcomes you in the morning!

  10. Have a kitchen floor rag. I throw an old dish towel on the floor and use it to wipe up spillage with my foot when it happens. Just throw it in the wash once a week. Keeps the floor from getting any spots crusted onto it, and makes it easier when I finally get around to mopping.

  11. Excellent! I keep a travel pack of baby wipes in the car…they are good for wiping the dashboard down while I sit in traffic, cleaning up spills, and of course, tidying up the baby before we get out of the car.

  12. I often fail at clean as you go. But my favorite thing is cleaning like things. For instance when a room is “trashed”, I’ll get the clothes first, then the shoes, legos, blocks, etc. That way you’re making single trips for each category instead of multiple trips.

    The other thing I love is diluted vinegar in a spray bottle for cleaning counters, surfaces, and just about anything.

  13. I keep only 4 items under my sink. I use them to clean my entire home.
    1. vinegar
    2. baking soda
    3. rubbing alcohol
    5. original Dawn dishsoap. (not the new stuff with the new scents, just the original.)

    I mix 1/2 cup Dawn with vinegar in a spray bottle. I use this to clean my tub, toilet, sinks, frig. etc.. I use the baking soda mixed with vinegar to clean my stove and counter tops. Thirdly, I use the rubbing alcohol to clean mirrors, counter tops, and I spray my shower with it after each use. It cuts bactiria and mold. I also make two jugs of laundry soap using 1 empty jug and 1 full one. I pour half of the laundry soap into the empty one, then add a 1/2 cup of Dawn and 3 cups water to both. Bingo! Two jugs of laundry soap for about half the price.
    You can use 1/4 cup vinegar in your washer’s rinse cycle instead of expensive fabric softeners.

    This is just a few of my frugal hints.

  14. I like to use vinegar as a rinse agent instead of Downy for my towels. I add a bit of essential oils to the vinegar, too. The vinegar strips out all the soap, and allows the towel to be more absorbent.

  15. fold a scotts paper towel in 4ths and then use that to wipe the algae off from inside your fish tanks, fish bowls, and flower vases. Keeps them looking fresh and sparkly in between big cleanings.

  16. As I’m pregnant right now and it’s hard to lean over, in my living room I gather everything up off of the floor and put it on the coffee table when I’m tidying. Then I can lean over (or sit down) just a few times. I scoop everything onto the table, then work from there taking like things to their homes.

  17. We keep a sharpie on a string taped to the freezer, that way every single thing that goes in is labeled and dated. Before that, it was mystery after mystery coming out of the freezer.

  18. I like the simple old fashioned advice for organization – a place for everything and everything in its place. You really can’t go wrong if you’re following that one!

  19. WOW! Lots of great cleaning tips already. Here’s an organizational tip that helps to keep the clutter away. Make a conscious effort to dispose of a similar item when you bring a new one inside the house. Buy a new shirt? Give an old shirt away. Bring in 8 pieces of mail? Deal with those 8 immediately…or if you there are a couple you must wait to handle find a couple of other old papers that are ready for the trash bin.

  20. I like to prepare school-lunch snacks on the weekends. I have a basket where I keep snack bags of pretzels, goldfish, or graham crackers. In the fridge there is another basket with snack bags of carrots and celery, or grapes. This makes lunch prep so much easier in the mornings!

  21. Clean the shower while you’re in it. I spray, go get undressed giving the stuff time to work. Rinse around, then scrub anything necessary – me & the tile. Cuts down on cleaning it later…

  22. I absolutely HATE doing the dishes, and my husband works so hard at work he doesn’t usually want to do anything but veg when he gets home. So, I get up a little early in the morning, since my hubby leaves before me anyway, and get my kitchen clean so it’s ready for dinner when I get home! Spreading out the work seems to make it less overwhelming.

  23. I have a few:

    Use a cleaning apron and a tray or bucket. That way you don’t have to make multiple trips back and forth for your stuff while you’re cleaning.

    With two small children, it’s difficult to do all the deep cleaning in one day, so I split my house into two categories: “wet rooms” and “dry rooms.” Wet rooms are anything with access to water or floors that need to be mopped. Dry rooms are floors that have carpet and need dusting. I clean the wet rooms one day and the dry rooms the other.

    To help your houseplants without making them susceptible to the weather outside, put a big bowl outside while it’s raining. Use the rain water, which has nitrogen in it which is wonderful for greenery, to water your plants right away.

    If you don’t like menu planning because you end up not feeling like eating what you had planned for that day, just make a listof seven meals (or however many days in advance you want to plan), and then you can pick them off the list. I make sure to include a fast one/easy one for nights that might be busy.

    Hope these help someone.

  24. I have started using equal parts washing soda and borax (NOT baking soda!). I use a tablespoon or two with each load of laundry and then I only need a drizzle of tide on the baby’s clothes up to perhaps 1/3 cup on my husband’s work clothes.

    It also works well as a scouring powder, and in a pinch, you can use it in the dishwasher. With my hard water, Cascade still works much better but if the dishwasher is full and it’s a few days before a trip to town, I don’t mind using it once in a while.

  25. My organization tip is CUPS/GLASSES: use them to put extra toothbrushes in, or that huge mess of ponytail holders youhave, the possibilites are ENDLESS!!!

  26. Clorox Clean-up wipes are great for spills and messes that need to be cleaned in a hurry when you have your hands full with 2 kids and dinner. I use them every where in my house for those quick messes that need to be cleaned in a hurry.

  27. My one and only cleaning tip; DO NOT GET CATS. EVER.

    I love mine, but I can only imagine what our floors and carpets might look like without them. And then I cry a little inside.

  28. I keep a 2 pocket folder with me any time I’m clipping coupons or shopping. As soon as I find a mail in (or e-mail in) rebate that works for our family, it goes in the folder. When it’s waiting for our household to complete it, it goes on one side. Copies of the finished and mailed ones go on the other… until we get our fun in the mail!

  29. My tip is to train your kids to help you while they are young. Help them learn simple chores so that eventually they can do them by themselves and you can do other chores while they work beside you.

  30. Put it away! A clutter-free home looks neater and is easier to speed-clean when company comes. If you have glass doors and a shower enclosure, use a squeegee after every shower.
    Lori

  31. One organizational thing that helps me is that I made my own “cook book” with a binder. I have it filled with recipes from the Internet, magazines, and even scanned copies of handwritten recipes from family members. I love it, and it’s so easy to find recipes, since most of my favorites are in there!

  32. I guess mine would be start teaching your kids young. My kids are incharge of two rooms and they have to keep those rooms clean or no computer, yes the two year old even likes playing on the computer once in a while. Also baby wipes, they are great at quick clean ups in the bathroom.

  33. I have a file folder with several zip-lock bags stapled in that I use to organize coupons by category so I’m not stuck shuffling through an entire stack. I also have one fastened to the front of the folder that I put the coupons in at the store as I add the items to my cart. (Only staple one side of the bag to the folder, or you’ll defeat the purpose.)

  34. If you have a dog that gets a little “stinky” when he gets hot (like mine does) take a dryer sheet (or in my case, 2 or 3, he’s 92 pounds!) and rub him down…it absorbs the oils in the fur and leaves a great smell!

  35. I have two things, actually:

    Wear an apron while doing your housework. It really will save your clothes, & cut down on more difficult laundry to deal with.

    “A place for everything, & everything in its place.” If you have a home, so to speak, for your tools, utensils, ingredients, cleaners, you will save so much time by not having to look for them. Insist that others in the household follow this pattern. There is nothing “anal” about it, either! I’ve mentioned the time savings connected with creating this habit, & it also saves money.

    Brenda

  36. One of my favorite cleaning tips is a way to remove baked on grease/food ickies. Fill the offending pan with hot water, then place a used dryer sheet in it and let it soak. This works really well on my pan I make meatloaf in!

  37. My best organization tip is to put a dry erase board on the inside of the door to the garage. I can write myself or my husband reminders about things that we need to bring with us the next day, etc. It helps us to remember things that are not part of the normal morning routine.

  38. To easily remove pet hair from carpet, furniture, etc…
    Dilute 1/2 cup liquid fabric softener with 2 cups water in a spray bottle. Spray on carpet and let set about 10 minutes then vacuum.

  39. My tip: Get off your butt! Do a little (or a lot) every day and it won’t pile up. My brain starts to hurt when the house is cluttered and yucky, but when it’s clean I feel great!

  40. When I use the dryer (wintertime) I use the dryer sheets. When the laundry is done, I end up either re-using the sheet in a small load or using it as a duster for electronics (tv screens, cable box, sound system). So – recycling and cleaning in one swoop!

  41. I’m really into yummy smelling candles, but I’m also a borderline pyro, always playing with the wax, so the wax ends up on clothes and stuff. I put whatever it is in the freezer (big storage freezer fits big stuff) and in like 2 days tops it hardens and comes right off.

    Because I can’t help but share another: I rotate my 2 year olds endless supply of toys from 3-4 cycles. He thinks he has new toys every month and I don’t have to wade through the sea of toys on the floor when I run in there from his loud nightmares, thus falling and banging my head. Good stuff for everyone involved.

  42. I’ve been a lurker for a while, but for a contest…I’ve gotta come out of lurkdom for a post!

    I love using items for a use other than which it was intended. Especially for organizing things. If you creatively think outside of the box, you’ll be amazed what you will find in your own home!

  43. I keep an Excel spreadsheet listing everything in my stand-up freezer. I keep the freezer packed full, and if I don’t keep an inventory, I may waste money buying something I already have!

  44. I have a shredder by the door where I bring in the mail. Anything that isn’t a bill goes right in there. Recently, I got a side by side refrigerator/freezer. Amazing how little room there is in the freezer compartment. Couldn’t find a thing. Measured the width and depth, bought three plastic bins. One for meat, one for veggies, one for misc. So much easier. Also, dryer sheets: one in each dresser drawer, makes clothes smell good, use to take the dust off TVs and computer screens,I keep a couple in my car, so when stopped at a light, I can clean off the dashboard, and the car smells good, also helps with cat hair pickup on furniture (anybody want a cat? Want two cats?) I am a lousy housekeeper, so thanks to everybody for the great tips.

  45. When my kids were babies, I seemed to lose their socks at a faster-than-normal rate. Being so small, they’d always end up inside other things! So, I left a lingerie cleaning bag by the changing table and would put all of the small (and easily lost) things in there.

    I never lost another little sock again!

  46. Keep a stain stick in the kid’s room and treat clothes before they go in the hamper. Makes stain removal a little easier.

  47. It’s sometimes hard to stay organized about getting laundry done when it’s needed. Something that makes it easier is having separate bins/baskets for whites and colors. That way I know, just by looking at the laundry hamper, that my husband must be almost out of t-shirts because there are a lot of whites.

  48. Fill an empty tissue box with plastic bags (ones from the grocery work fine) put the box full of bags under your car seat….then when you have to wait to pick up a child from school, or practice, or a train you can quickly clean out the inside of your car….God Bless, Pam, South Bend

  49. A great way to get rid of some junk mail that has a newspapery feel is to use it to line animal cages. I use it in the bottom of both the bird cage and under the shavings in the guinea pig cage. It makes cleaning both of those a breeze.

    Also, making sure that the dishes are done before going to bed each night reduces the chance of insect invaders and lets to wake up to an empty sink.

    Ase for organization…my house eats socks. So when I fold laundry and I have odd socks, they all go into a small plastic storage bin that sits under the guinea pig table. When I come down to those clean odd socks after all the others have been matched up, I whip out the container, see if I have mates and then add and take away. At least this way all my odds are in one place!

  50. We have one room where we are allowed to throw all the junk that we don’t want to deal with right away. Every couple of months, we dig into it. That way the rest of the house is tidy and organized, and The ROOM absorbs the mess.

  51. My best tip is to clean one room at a time. Don’t walk away until it’s done and you’ll never skip something you don’t like to do. By the time you finish all the rooms in your house, it’s time to start all over again! Thanks for the great contest!

  52. Easy-Off Fume Free Max Oven Cleaner. Yes, it’s a dangerous chemical – but it’s the best thing I know of to get that stubborn, baked on mess off of your glass bakeware. (You know, like when your lasagna bubbles onto the handles of the dish?)

  53. My baby just “graduated” to stage 2 foods. The plastic containers are handy, but take up a lot of space in my pantry. And, I needed a quick way to get them ready to go to day care. My solution:

    When I stock up on baby food, I bring it home and immediately remove all the cardboard wraps. The packages are still labeled on the side. I printed sheets of labels with my daughters first name, last initial. I label ALL of the containers and then swipe the label on the fruit-based foods with a highlighter. I stack them in my pantry in two rows: one for breakfast (fruit-based) and one for dinner (veggie-based). Then, when it’s time to restock at daycare, it’s easy to grab and go because they are already labelled! It’s also easier for my DH to know which food is which without trying to read the tiny print on them. And if something gets returned to the pantry or moved around, it’s easy to tell which foods are fruit-based and which are veggie-based. Works for me!

  54. Do what I did… hire a friend to help. She needed some cash as she just left her husband and I needed to clean before the mother-in-law came home. Fortunately, I received some unexpected cash and was able to pay her. Win win all around!

  55. I clean up everything before I sit down to relax in the evening – then I can go to bed without having a dirty kitchen, etc, hanging over my head – and I don’t have to stay up until midnight to get it done!

  56. I make all of my house cleaners, better for the enviroment and they work so great without harsh smells. My biggest thing tho is cleaning my drains out once a month. I use 1/2 cup of baking soda with 1 cup of vinegar. Pour in drain and let it sit 15 mins. Follow it with really hot water and your done. Cleans out the drains and helps control that nasty stale water smell.

  57. My organization tip is to plan what you’re going to eat before you go to the grocery store. Create a calendar, and figure out which nights you’re out, which nights you’re in, which nights you may want to go out to eat, and then search websites like http://www.tastespotting.com, or http://www.foodgawker.com for recipes.. bookmark them in your browser, and assign each meal to a night. When you go to the grocery store, only buy what you need and you’ll never have to throw away perfectly good food that just didn’t have its due. It keeps your fridge cleaner too!

  58. I always put away any drying dishes on the counter before turning in for the night. there’s nothing like waking up to a perfect kitchen.

  59. I keep a container of inexpensive wet baby wipes at the back door to give a quick wipe to the dogs paws when they come inside. It’s convenient and quick enough to do every time. The baby wipes don’t dry out the skin on their paws and it prevents needing to clean muddy paw prints of floors and furniture. Why clean when you can avoid making the mess?

  60. My favorite tip is: Hire a professional! 😉

    BTW…You do know that rule three could easily be exploited, right? A person can create an unlimited number of email accounts with their own domain.

  61. Keep a small spray bottle of vinegar and water in each bathroom, and spray the sink after brushing your teeth at night–that way the sink is always clean.

    Also, keep cleaning supplies in a plastic tub under the sink–that way, you can pull out the tub when you need to get something, and it’s easy to see (I was going to leave a comment, too, about how you don’t actually need a lot of cleaning products, but people have already covered the joys of vinegar above).

  62. I love Scott products. Just had to say that right off.

    My cleaning tip — I use a small chamois type cloth in the shower (like the towels that the Olympic swimmers use to dry off) to dry off my shower walls. No scrubbing, no cleaners, very few, if any, spots. I use a nylon poof with a little shampoo on it to actually clean the shower, while I’m in it showering, when it does need cleaning. I use a magic eraser for the tub.

  63. Don’t throw away socks with small holes in them. Use them to dust. Just slip on your hand and dust away.
    Add a cup of vinegar to your load of laundry to take away odors.

  64. My best organizational tip is to leave no drawer without an organizer tray in it. People often use them for their silverware drawer but for other drawers, they throw random thing in haphazardly creating the dreaded “junk drawer.” Every drawer in my kitchen/office has an organizer to hold various things from decks of cards to thumbtacks to batteries. I find them a very inexpensive way to keep the clutter under control!

  65. My vacuum would always emit this weird “warm dust” smell whenever I vacuumed the house; not only did it linger long after I was through vacuuming, but it even managed to overpower my candles at times! What’s the point of cleaning if the end result doesn’t even smell nice, right?
    My solution? I took half of a paper towel, doused it in scented oil (mine is vanilla from The Body Shop… yum) and tucked it inside the vacuum cleaner right next to the filter. Now when I vacuum, the lovely scent of vanilla comes happily drifting out and diffuses itself as I go—and as a bonus, sticks around for awhile after I’m done, too!

  66. We have a Family Notebook. It’s a 3-ring binder that holds all school, medical, and household information. I refer to it several times a week. Now I don’t have to wonder where I put the reading list or the medicine dosage chart. It’s all in the notebook!

  67. Make a point of going through your mail every day – at the very least, throw out/shred the junk each day. That way, you won’t have a huge pile to sort through all at once.

  68. I’m in love with Borax 40 Mule Team. On stains I make a paste with the powder and water and apply to stain, it work wonders! Wet the fabric first, apply the paste and gently scrub with an old soft toothbrush., then wash as usual. Works fab on ring around the collar.

  69. As mom of 3 boys 5 and under, my cleaning goals are simply maintenance, not deep cleaning. My top priorities to keep this going: 1. Beds fixed and bedrooms tidied as soon as breakfast is over.
    2. Clean the dishes after each meal.
    3. Major toy pickup happens after kids are in bed (some of this is done by them before bed). That way I don’t spend my entire day trying to pick up toys that keep getting pulled out, but we start fresh with each new day.
    4. Disinfect countertops every evening.
    5. Bathrooms get wiped down everday other day.
    To sum up, I guess my biggest tip for those with many young children is make a priority list, do it and leave the rest for later in life. 😉

  70. My biggest organization challenge lately has been the pile of papers each kid brings home from school everyday. I work 12 hour shifts and don ‘t always have time to go through each one with a fine tooth comb.
    I’ve devoted a corner of the dining room to all their school things. I have a small dresser with 2 baskets in the top drawer for each. I look through the papers quickly each day to see what needs immediate attention and put the rest in their basket. I come back to it when I have more time, within a couple of days.
    I also have a small bulletin board for each kid that I can pin up reminders for special days.

  71. My favorite tip:
    Enlist little hands(and big hands) to help and don’t expect perfection. It is going to be messy again!
    It will all stay clean and non-messy when they all leave eventually.

  72. My best cleaning tip is for working moms. Commit to tidying in the house for 10 minutes every morning before you go to work, and for 10 minutes as soon as you get home. This will keep your house from looking embarrassing until you have time on the weekend to do a more thorough cleaning!

  73. My biggest organizational tip is for storing toddler and baby clothes. We keep one of those plastic shoe organizers hanging on the back of the kid’s door. Then we store one outfit (rolled, to prevent wrinkles!) in each spot. It works great, and we love having the big clunky dresser out of the play room!

  74. We have a spot in our kitchen that has 3 separate bins. It’s right above the mail drawer and when we bring the mail inside we sort it right away. The three bins are labeled menus/coupons, stamps/envelopes, and bills. We sort the mail and if it’s flyers for restaurants or coupons for pizza/whatever we put it in the first bin. If it’s one of those charity organizations that sends you free address labels we toss it in the 3rd bin and if it’s a bill obviously it goes right in the last bin. Anything that’s left can either be tossed out or put away in the mail drawer until we get to it. This helps us stay organized and saves us lots of time looking for things when we need them since we put it away right as we come in the door with the mail.

  75. We try to put things away right when we’re done with them. Even little things make it a pain to do real cleaning when you first have to just clean up the clutter.

  76. Peel veggies like potatoes onto a Scott Towel. Then just toss the towel when you are done. There is no cleanup at all.

  77. This is my mom’s tip but I think it is totally brilliant.

    To prolong the life of your kitchen sponge, run it through the dishwasher and then microwave it for 1-1.5 minutes on high. Not only will your sponge be clean (both visually and microbially) it will also no longer have that “used sponge” smell and thus can be used for a longer period of time.

  78. My family uses vinegar to clean everything. We clean windows, mirrors, and even bathtubs, sinks, and floors. The only thing we’ve found doesn’t accept vinegar is… Marble. We pitted our whole floor and had to have it replaced.

    All vinegars can work, but white vinegar is the best because of a lack of color, and less of an odor.

  79. My favorite organization tip is to use containers to keep stuff straight-sort of like the way the silverware organizer in your kitchen drawer works. I call it the “divide and conquer” method 🙂 For example, in my makeup drawer I use all sorts of regular boxes cut down to size to keep the different stuff “in it’s place”

  80. I have about 30 emails.. those rules make me giggle.

    My favorite tip for organizing is to quit buying stuff. When everything has a place, something must go if you buy something. I haven’t mastered this, so I don’t buy it unless we can eat it, use it, or just have to have it.. which breaks the rule every time. 😛

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