It has been a very long week at our house. Hurricane Dorian and a newborn* worked together to ensure we are all very short on sleep and patience. While I’m glad that our state government orders evacuations in plenty of time, the wait can get very stressful. There’s only so many times you can refresh…
What Causes Spots on Clothing?
Dear Home-Ec 101, I saw your email reply to someone who was asking about why they were getting grease like stains on their clothing after washing them. Your reply said it was from liquid fabric softener. The problem is I don’t use fabric softener and I get these grease like spots on my clothing quite…
Pillowcases and Oily Skin
Dear Home-Ec 101, We’ve been married for nearly 25 years and for about 7 or 8 years now his pillowcase and [upper] part of the sheet reeks! I DON’T SEE how he can stand it. I’m not sure if its oil or sweat; he does have very oily skin. I read your advice to someone…
Overwhelmed by Mess
2019 Update: I’m in the process of digging through the months of insanity that is an inbox with a published email address. For every legitimate email, there are 500 fake, but not quite spam pitches. While I work finding the actual questions, I’m going to update a few Home-Ec 101 classics. This one was originally…
How to Menu Plan When You’ve Done It a Long Time and You’re Tired of Making All of the Decisions
Personal update at the end, skip to it if you prefer. Home Ec 101 has been around a long time, almost 12 years. I have shared many weekly meal plans, but the ones on the site are by no means the only ones I’ve made. When you’re feeding more than a trio, not having a plan…
Menu Monday Week 44 – Another Week In the Books
I hope you guys are all doing well. So, my boss repeats an old saying about no plan survives first contact with the enemy. (A quick Google shows that this is from a Prussian military leader, Helmuth van Moltke). This pretty much sums up last week. The sausage skillet was fine, the tuna cakes never happened…
Menu Monday Week 43 – Starting Again
I hope you are all doing well or as well as you can. Last week was one of those eye-opening reminders of how I should stop, take a breath and focus on the basics before trying to do everything (that will never happen, but to be honest, I don’t learn). Routines make a busy household…
Why Does Light Fabric Turn Yellow and What Can I Do About It?
Hello, I have a set of embroidered, cream-colored Christmas towels that are only used for decoration. They have never been washed and reside in my linen closet. I recently took them out of the closet, and they have yellowed in certain places. I am extremely upset as these towels are my favorite and were pretty…
How To Remove Dried Dog Poop (Feces) From Fake Wood Flooring
Dear Home-Ec 101, My dog had a runny tummy and couldn’t make it outside during the night. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice the accident until it had hardened. How can I clean it up without damaging the floor (it’s a rental place, the floor looks like wood but isn’t – I don’t think its linoleum). Thank…
How Can I Remove a Hard Water Stain on Enameled Cast Iron?
This question is from the comments on How to Clean Stained Enameled Cast Iron Q: I just used my Tramontina dutch oven for the first time to attempt to cook some peas. Steam from the simmering beans condensed and ran down the outside of the pot and left what looks like hard water stains. No…
How to Dry a Damp Mattress
Dear Home-Ec101, We have had our pillow top mattress for two years. I tried a new spot cleaning vacuum on the surface, however, the mattress only absorbed the mixture of water and chemical cleaner. Consequently, the vacuum was unable to suck up any moisture. Now I am concerned the moisture and chemical is stuck in…
Why Is My Chicken Stock Greasy?
This question comes from the comments on Why does my chicken stock taste like water? Q: Why is my chicken stock always greasy and watery? When making chicken stock, it is perfectly normal for there to be fat and grease in the stock. To remove this, cool the stock completely in your refrigerator. Because chicken…
How to Clean Hardwood After a Toilet Overflow
Q: How do I clean up my hardwood floors after a toilet overflows. This question appeared as a comment on How to Clean Up After a Toilet Overflows The difference between cleaning up toilet water on your typical bathroom flooring e.g. vinyl or tile and cleaning up hardwood is the hardwood is porous. The advice…
Digging In to Dig Out
Dear Home-Ec 101, Well, I am probably the worst person when it comes to checking out-I did that literally for 2 years when my husband left me 3 years ago for almost a year. The result has been devastating I am constantly consumed by guilt and serious insomnia. I wasted two years of life and…
It’s May Day, and We’re Doing Fine
Life goes on, as it always does and things are settling back into a routine, an exhaustive set of tasks, but a routine nonetheless. Of course, school will soon be out for the summer and we’ll have to find our next new normal. I started back to work full-time this week. I’ve been working toward…
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