What Household Products Do You Use?

[cricketeen]

Lois, what does the vinegar do for dark clothing?

[Lois Lane]

Lois, what does the vinegar do for dark clothing?

I read in a magazine a few years ago that it helps "seal" the colors so it doesn't fade as quickly. Someone told me later that this treatment actually only works for the first wash (wash a pair of new blue jeans in cold water with some vinegar thrown into the wash). But it's a habit of mine and I swear it works. I'm a neat freak/cleanaholic and wash my clothes ALL the time, and my jeans are still almost as blue as when I purchased them. My husband sometimes says it smells more like I'm making a salad than doing laundry. But the clothes don't smell like vinegar when they come out of the wash, I promise!

[Muduh]

I like the Clorox that is Mountain Breeze, or something close, fragrance. I use less of it since I discovered OxyClean, though.

Does anyone have any weird cleaning habits? We have one that we've done for years. When we're leaving on a trip, no matter if only overnight, we pour clorox in the commodes last thing. Don't ask me why, we just DO.

Lois, I didn't want to jump in and answer the question asked of you, but you're right, it does set the color. I've only used it for the first wash but I'm going to continue with my new black jeans and see what happens.

[Lois Lane]

Does anyone have any weird cleaning habits? We have one that we've done for years. When we're leaving on a trip, no matter if only overnight, we pour clorox in the commodes last thing. Don't ask me why, we just DO.

Do you just leave it in there or flush it before you leave?

[Muduh]

Leave it there! Not sure why, but we leave it there. The commodes always look like new when we get back so I guess it's working.

[PWS]

One thing about flushing Clorox, etc., now the toilet...if you are not connected to a central sewer system you may have problems... it can kill all little bugs in your septic system that are breaking down your "biodegradables". As we learned, painfully. Then you have to buy bacteria to put back in....

[Muduh]

Yeah, forgot about that. We're on the sewer line so no problem for us. We built our house when there were still septic tanks out here. We paid over $2000 to have a septic tank installed and about a year later, they ran sewer lines and told us they would condemn out new house if we didn't hook on. Don't you just love being given a choice?

[combatcutie]

Lois, how much vinegar do you use? And any certain kind?

[Rattus]

Adding to the vinegar discussion, I keep a pretty bottle that used to contain L'Occitane's Verveine spray filled with vinegar sitting on my bathroom sink. While I'm brushing my teeth, I give the sink, the mirror, the taps, the toothbrush holder and the soap/lotion dispenser a bit of a spritz and a wipe down with a bit of toilet paper which I then flush. That saves me time when doing the full clean, keeps the bathroom looking relatively spotless, and keeps the cleaning supplies in easy, but attractive, access.

[PhoneGrrrl]

I'm totally in love with the Scrubbing Bubbles daily shower spray thing that hangs off the shower head. I have an old cast iron claw foot tub that is a utter pain to get and keep clean because the surface isn't exactly as smooth as tubs less than 100 years old. On Mom's recommendation, I got one of those sprayers and I'll be damned if my tub hasn't stayed clean and actually gotten whiter. They're about $20 to buy, but it's totally worth it (and usually coupons can be found for $5 off). Plus all you have to do is press a little button and it sprays the whole shower for you, and it doesn't bleach textiles.