The Clean Routine: Part 1

Now that the school year is back upon us, it’s time to roll up our sleeves and get down to the nitty gritty. I am busily homeschooling my kiddos, but I thought I’d jump on here quickly to give you two helpful hacks when cleaning.

The best scrubbing recipe you’ll ever use:

Heat up 1/2 cup of vinegar in the microwave for 45 seconds. Put 1 1/2 cups of baking soda in a bowl along with 1/8 cup dish soap (dawn is great, but Palmolive works well too).

Slowly incorporate the hot vinegar to the baking soda and dish soap. And stir like crazy. I go slowly with this and add little bit by little bit, stirring often. It will turn into a magical goodness that only the unicorns speak of.

This recipe is enough to do both my bathrooms. I lather it all over the bathtubs and inside the sinks. Let it stay on there for about an hour if you can. Any hard water, any goo, any disgusting bathroom junk you can think of scrubs right off. It’s inexpensive to make and your kids can use it. It WILL change your life!

The second hot tip: laundry sorting.

This is how I sort my laundry and why:

I sort them according to their material. That’s right! This tactile Mama gets my hands on everything, if it feels like permanent press (dress shirts, church clothes, etc) it goes into one pile. T-shirts get their own pile. Jeans and other tougher/thicker fabrics get their own pile. Sweatshirts, sweatpants, sweaters and socks get their own pile.

Why do I do this? Because the soap is evenly distributed among the clothing. The socks aren’t absorbing all of the soap and they aren’t hogging it all for themselves from the t-shirts who’s armpit areas severely need it! Also: things dry evenly. There’s nothing worse than folding clothes and finding that the jeans are still damp while the other articles of clothing are hot to the touch. You have even washing and even drying. I promise it will save you time in the long run, it will save you money from needing to turn the dryer back on 2 more times, and it will preserve your clothing and make them last longer. I promise!

That’s all the life altering wisdom I can give you for now. Hope your day is productive and joyful, hope your clothes stay clean and your bathroom is shiny for as long as possible (who am I kidding?)

Love,

Mama J, the Hygge Homemaker