Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Works For Me!

When we re-did our kitchen floor, we got this great laminate wood flooring ~ which I've been very happy with! What I have not been so excited about is purchasing the $5-$6 per bottle of cleaner for keeping it nice and clean! So, in an effort to be more thrifty, I researched some other options and found this one works just as well as the "store-bought" kind!

Pour 1 tsp. baby shampoo into a spray bottle and fill with water. Use as you would use the "laminate floor cleaner" by spraying and wiping with a rag! I also thought that the bottle should be cuter and why shouldn't my cleaning supplies look cute and homey too? So, I hot-glued some toile fabric around the bottle and voila!

Another thing I have found very helpful is to cook several packages of bacon at one time (only clean up the mess once!) and crumble it. Put it into the freezer and whenever you need some for a BLT Wrap, salad, scrambled eggs, etc... it is all ready to go! One 16 oz. pkg of bacon will make approx. 1 3/4 c. crumbled bacon.

And, on the subject of food, my Mom taught me a great trick for keeping lettuce fresh in the fridge. We don't usually eat the entire head of lettuce fast enough to not waste some of it, but since trying this - we haven't wasted any! After washing and towel drying your head of lettuce, wrap in a very slightly damp paper towel and place in a large ziploc bag. Seal bag and place in the vegetable drawer - our head lasted for nearly two weeks this way!

Visit Shannon's blog for more ideas!

19 comments:

Barb Szyszkiewicz said...

I'm definitely trying that lettuce hint. Thanks!

Unknown said...

Wow--three for the price of one. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your tips, I appreciate them. What a fun idea to decorate your homemade bottle of floor cleaner.

Joy @ SAH Missionary said...

Look at you! Even your cleaning bottle is cute! You're amazing!!

Have a great day!!

Amy said...

Great tip and BTW- your floors are amazing!

Thank you for sharing your three ideas!

Beck said...

I like your toile bottle - very cute! The lettuce tip is brilliant - I've been really frustrated with lettuce only lasting a day or two in my fridge!

Aunt Murry said...

I;m gonna have to try that lettuce trick!

Full Contact, Savior-centric Livin said...

So many ideas--I especially like the bacon one--I especially like bacon!

WarriorWife said...

I really like the lettuce tip. I've not bought lettuce in 3-4 years becaue I hated how quickly it went bad--but if it lasted 2 weeks, Lettuce and I might have a good relationship. :)

Thanks!

Jennifer said...

Great ideas! My mom taught me the lettuce trick as well. Does it work for all types (romaine, green leaf, etc.)?

T!ff@ny said...

Great tips!

Mine is up now at: www.garrettscorner.blogspot.com

Such a cute cleaning bottle! :-) Great idea about the bacon - I really don't like the clean up of that!

Sandra said...

Those are some great ideas....definitely trying the lettuce one too :)

Mine is up :)

Susie said...

Wow! We just installed laminate flooring in our new kitchen! So glad to see this tip as well as your other two very good ideas!
My WFMW is up :-)

the lizness said...

Girl, these are great tips. You have material here for 3 WFMW tips! :) I will definitely use the lettuce thing.

Monica Wilkinson said...

Thanks for all the great comments - I give all the credit on the lettuce tip to my Mom! :)

aggiejenn - we only use green leaf lettuce, so this is what my experience is with. But, my Mom also uses iceberg - so it should work with that too. I would think it would work the same with romaine as well...

Paula said...

What wonderful tips! I've been looking for something new to use on my laminate floors, so this post came at the perfect time!

Mary Ann said...

I try to do this with my bacon too!

Brenda said...

I'm definitely going to try the lettuce tip. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Monica:
I just finished cooking up a pound of bacon. I left some in strips, as it's time for BLT sandwiches, but the rest I crumbled & put in a container in the freezer. Do you cook yours in the microwave? Also, thanks for the tip on the floor cleaner. I just got my new laminate flooring laid this week. They told me to use vinegar & water, but I like your idea better. Will smell better too!
I wonder if your Mom got the lettuce idea from Aunt Louise. She used to do that with a lot of her raw vegies.
Good ideas on the junk drawer too. :)

Love, Grandma