Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Laundry Essentials

We picked up a few laundry essentials recently.  Once we were restocked I thought it would be a good time to talk about necessities in the laundry room.


One of the items we restocked was Febreze In-Wash Odor Eliminator.  I know, I know.  Your are saying to yourself, "The detergent will take care of odors in the laundry."  And, most of the time that is true.  But there are instances where you need a little extra boost to get rid of particularly strong odors.  Baxter recently had an upset tummy which lead to a soiled blanket and mattress pad in his condo.  We needed an extra boost of Febreze Odor Eliminator when we washed his blankets.  Cooking odors go everywhere.  I will many times use Febreze Odor Eliminator on clothes I have worn while cooking.


The next item we restocked was Calgon Water Softener.  Hard water is a problem throughout the United States.  Some areas are worse than others.  A capful of this added to the wash cycle helps remove hard water minerals which make dirt cling to clothes.


The third item we restocked was Downy.  Good old Downy.  I prefer the scent of original Downy over any of the exotic scents they have added over the years.  And I prefer Downy over any of the multitude of fabric softeners on the market today.  Tried and true and never lets me down.  I have been tempted to stray, but I have not.  You can never go wrong with Downy fabric softener.


Number one in our arsenal for in-wash stain fighting is Clorox2 for colors.  All colored clothing which may have set in stains can and should receive a capful during a regular wash cycle.  Maybe not every wash cycle. But every few cycles.


For whites, I use this tried and true Clorox bleach through the built-in bleach dispenser.  But I use this very sparingly.  Too much bleach will turn clothes yellow.  Too much of anything is not good.  The other reason I have read which causes clothes to turn yellow after bleaching is that there may be too much iron in your water.


Since we sometimes have trouble with yellowing from chlorine bleach, I use a product called "White Brite." This comes in powder form.  This is a wonderful product which does not cause yellowing of whites.  Just follow the directions on the bottle for the specific size load you are washing and your white clothes will look stellar when you remove them from the washer.


For pre-treating stains before placing the clothes in the wash cycle, I use this Shout Action Gel spray and Resolve in the form of a stick, in much the same style as a stick of deodorant.  I have had good results with both of these.


For Dry-Clean only fabrics with stains, I use Guardsman Professional Strength Dry Cleaning Fluid.  Just follow the instructions on the can and you will be fine.  I don't use this often, but it is good to have in your inventory just in case there is a need.


For the everyday wash, I use Cheer.  Years ago the advertising campaign referred to this as "All Temp-A-Cheer.  I have used Cheer for many years with great results.  I have recently stumbled on this Woolite Everyday.  The byline on this is "Keeps Clothes Looking Like New Longer."  Maybe.  Maybe not.  The jury is still out on this one.


And, of course, for fabrics which need special attention, there is Woolite and Woolite for Darks.  I have an antique tablecloth given to me by my aunt and it is washed in Woolite on the Gentle Cycle.


Finally, when all the laundry is done, it is sometimes necessary to run a cycle to clean the washer.  I have a top loading washer which is not one of the new high efficiency models.  The new high efficiency models have been know to emit a strong odor after several uses from the build-up of rinse water and detergent on the drum.  This can be a problem with top loaders as well.  I generally leave the top open after a wash cycle to allow the drum to thoroughly dry.  But after a few loads I will run a full drum of hot water and add the Washing Machine Cleaner to the cycle.  It helps to clean and remove build-up on the drum.

So there you have it.  These are the items we use at Crest Avenue in the laundry room to keep our clothes and washable fabrics fresh and clean smelling.



Laundry Essentials

We picked up a few laundry essentials recently.  Once we were restocked I thought it would be a good time to talk about necessities in the laundry room.


One of the items we restocked was Febreze In-Wash Odor Eliminator.  I know, I know.  Your are saying to yourself, "The detergent will take care of odors in the laundry."  And, most of the time that is true.  But there are instances where you need a little extra boost to get rid of particularly strong odors.  Baxter recently had an upset tummy which lead to a soiled blanket and mattress pad in his condo.  We needed an extra boost of Febreze Odor Eliminator when we washed his blankets.  Cooking odors go everywhere.  I will many times use Febreze Odor Eliminator on clothes I have worn while cooking.


The next item we restocked was Calgon Water Softener.  Hard water is a problem throughout the United States.  Some areas are worse than others.  A capful of this added to the wash cycle helps remove hard water minerals which make dirt cling to clothes.


The third item we restocked was Downy.  Good old Downy.  I prefer the scent of original Downy over any of the exotic scents they have added over the years.  And I prefer Downy over any of the multitude of fabric softeners on the market today.  Tried and true and never lets me down.  I have been tempted to stray, but I have not.  You can never go wrong with Downy fabric softener.


Number one in our arsenal for in-wash stain fighting is Clorox2 for colors.  All colored clothing which may have set in stains can and should receive a capful during a regular wash cycle.  Maybe not every wash cycle. But every few cycles.


For whites, I use this tried and true Clorox bleach through the built-in bleach dispenser.  But I use this very sparingly.  Too much bleach will turn clothes yellow.  Too much of anything is not good.  The other reason I have read which causes clothes to turn yellow after bleaching is that there may be too much iron in your water.


Since we sometimes have trouble with yellowing from chlorine bleach, I use a product called "White Brite." This comes in powder form.  This is a wonderful product which does not cause yellowing of whites.  Just follow the directions on the bottle for the specific size load you are washing and your white clothes will look stellar when you remove them from the washer.


For pre-treating stains before placing the clothes in the wash cycle, I use this Shout Action Gel spray and Resolve in the form of a stick, in much the same style as a stick of deodorant.  I have had good results with both of these.


For Dry-Clean only fabrics with stains, I use Guardsman Professional Strength Dry Cleaning Fluid.  Just follow the instructions on the can and you will be fine.  I don't use this often, but it is good to have in your inventory just in case there is a need.


For the everyday wash, I use Cheer.  Years ago the advertising campaign referred to this as "All Temp-A-Cheer.  I have used Cheer for many years with great results.  I have recently stumbled on this Woolite Everyday.  The byline on this is "Keeps Clothes Looking Like New Longer."  Maybe.  Maybe not.  The jury is still out on this one.


And, of course, for fabrics which need special attention, there is Woolite and Woolite for Darks.  I have an antique tablecloth given to me by my aunt and it is washed in Woolite on the Gentle Cycle.


Finally, when all the laundry is done, it is sometimes necessary to run a cycle to clean the washer.  I have a top loading washer which is not one of the new high efficiency models.  The new high efficiency models have been know to emit a strong odor after several uses from the build-up of rinse water and detergent on the drum.  This can be a problem with top loaders as well.  I generally leave the top open after a wash cycle to allow the drum to thoroughly dry.  But after a few loads I will run a full drum of hot water and add the Washing Machine Cleaner to the cycle.  It helps to clean and remove build-up on the drum.

So there you have it.  These are the items we use at Crest Avenue in the laundry room to keep our clothes and washable fabrics fresh and clean smelling.



Friday, April 25, 2014

King Sized Ice Cubes

It's time to take a look at how the new King Size Ice Cube trays are working.  And the answer is superbly.


We needed a tray which was large enough to accommodate these larger sized ice cubes and we found one at Walmart.


Here is the new ice cube tray we picked up at HomeGoods a couple weeks ago.  First set of cubes ready.


And into the ice cube tray bin.


And back into the freezer.


During the week we made several batches of ice cubes so we are well stocked for the weekend in case someone stops by for a beverage.  I think I want to make some tea ice cubes.  Those are nice to have for when having a glass of iced tea so that it doesn't get watered down from regular ice cubes.

King Sized Ice Cubes

It's time to take a look at how the new King Size Ice Cube trays are working.  And the answer is superbly.


We needed a tray which was large enough to accommodate these larger sized ice cubes and we found one at Walmart.


Here is the new ice cube tray we picked up at HomeGoods a couple weeks ago.  First set of cubes ready.


And into the ice cube tray bin.


And back into the freezer.


During the week we made several batches of ice cubes so we are well stocked for the weekend in case someone stops by for a beverage.  I think I want to make some tea ice cubes.  Those are nice to have for when having a glass of iced tea so that it doesn't get watered down from regular ice cubes.

Plant a Little Plant For Me

You will recall, back during the Christmas season, I posted about an assortment of seed packets which were given to me by my BFF, Bev.


We planted those seeds in peat pots and placed them under the Hydrofarm light and now, we must deal with what was produced.


Here is the peat pot tray.  I will endeavor to identify what is growing here.  We have Garlic Chives, Red Noodle Bean, Nasturtium, Love in a Mist, and Sweet Salad Pepper.


The red noodle bean and the nasturtium have gotten a little leggy.  So I have moved the peat pot tray outdoors.  I sat it atop two willow baskets which I ordered from Williams Sonoma.  These willow baskets have nylon inserts which are divided.  I have already filled the inserts with potting medium.  Over the next few days, all of these herbs will be transplanted into the baskets and from there I expect we will have quite a nice herb garden.  We will follow up on this as time goes on and the weather gets warmer.  We are still a bit chilly in the mornings and the forecast for next week is for temperatures in the sixties during the day.  This is a very different spring than we have had over the past several years.  But, you work with what you've got.

Plant a Little Plant For Me

You will recall, back during the Christmas season, I posted about an assortment of seed packets which were given to me by my BFF, Bev.


We planted those seeds in peat pots and placed them under the Hydrofarm light and now, we must deal with what was produced.


Here is the peat pot tray.  I will endeavor to identify what is growing here.  We have Garlic Chives, Red Noodle Bean, Nasturtium, Love in a Mist, and Sweet Salad Pepper.


The red noodle bean and the nasturtium have gotten a little leggy.  So I have moved the peat pot tray outdoors.  I sat it atop two willow baskets which I ordered from Williams Sonoma.  These willow baskets have nylon inserts which are divided.  I have already filled the inserts with potting medium.  Over the next few days, all of these herbs will be transplanted into the baskets and from there I expect we will have quite a nice herb garden.  We will follow up on this as time goes on and the weather gets warmer.  We are still a bit chilly in the mornings and the forecast for next week is for temperatures in the sixties during the day.  This is a very different spring than we have had over the past several years.  But, you work with what you've got.

A Special Treat

Guess what we are having at the office this morning.


Krispy Kreme doughnuts.  The girls at George Washington University were selling them at the Foggy Bottom subway stop.  The cause was to help "Women in Engineering."  A worthy cause, in my opinion.


Five bucks gets you a box of five glazed doughnuts.  I like to help out where I can.  Most of my charitable gifts during the year are to various animal protection organizations.  But a gift to the human cause is equally as satisfying.

A Special Treat

Guess what we are having at the office this morning.


Krispy Kreme doughnuts.  The girls at George Washington University were selling them at the Foggy Bottom subway stop.  The cause was to help "Women in Engineering."  A worthy cause, in my opinion.


Five bucks gets you a box of five glazed doughnuts.  I like to help out where I can.  Most of my charitable gifts during the year are to various animal protection organizations.  But a gift to the human cause is equally as satisfying.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month

April is Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month.  


Go orange to show your support for this most worthy cause.  


Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month

April is Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month.  


Go orange to show your support for this most worthy cause.  


Pill Pockets and Dingos

That would be a good name for an intriguing book title - Pill Pockets and Dingos.  We can work on that another day because today we are talking about these two items specifically.



Baxter takes one Trifexis pill each month.


They help keep him rid of fleas, heartworms and intestinal parasites.  So we have a reminder on the calendar that he gets his pill the same day, every month.  The pills are allegedly "flavored" in an effort to get the dog to take it like a treat.  That may work for some dogs, but not Baxter.  He was on to that in no time and he was having no part of it.  So, I tried hiding it in his food.  Nope.  He ate all around it.  So I went searching for something to help this process along and I found Pill Pockets.



These are made specifically to administer medications.  They have them for feline and canine.  The idea is to insert the pill in the beef flavored pocket, squeeze the ends together, thereby enclosing the pill, and then feed the treat with the pill inside to your dog.  Baxter was sneaky the first time we tried this just as a treat and he ate the treat and spit out the pill.  So we tried it again and this time I sealed the pill in the pocket and placed it in his food dish with dinner and it worked.  Not every dog will be this particular.  Most dogs are just going to take the treat with the pill inside and eat it and be done.  Not Baxter, of course.  In the end, they worked and so now we keep them in the refrigerator with his Dingo's.


Here we have Pill Pockets on the left and Dingo's on the right.  What a lucky little doggy he is.

So if you have had trouble getting your pet to take medication, try Pill Pockets.  It worked for us.