How I Pinch A Penny

Yesterday we had a baptism at church.  For some reason we had it in our heads that we NEEDED a silver bowl for the baptism.  I got a call looking to borrow a silver bowl that I had on my shelf.  They were welcome to borrow it.  Problem was it was sooo tarnished!  But they were just thankful to find a bowl they would take on the challenge of getting the tarnish off.

Turns out she hit the internet and found a super simple way of getting tarnish off that requires no goopy paste or rubbing for hours on end.  There is a scientific way of getting tarnish off!  Here we go!

2 Tablespoons EACH of Baking Soda and Salt

Aluminum Foil, shiny side up, in your vessel.  In my case my kitchen sink.

Pour in steaming hot water into your vessel along with the baking soda and the salt.  It will be STINKY but think of the elbow grease you are saving… never mind your pennies!

Then go ahead and submerge your tarnished item.  

See the line where it is shiny and then tarnished.  I will be generous and say I submerged it for 30 seconds.  Awesome!  Once your item is shiny take it out and dry.  Then buff with a soft cloth or for a super shiny finish use a silver jewelry polishing cloth.

See the before, 30 seconds and after? Awesome!

My mom has a recipe for glass cleaner that is awesome! Gets windows and glass clean as a whistle and is very penny pinching friendly. Remember THIS post? This project is what I was referring when I had mentioned the bottles on the left.

Mom’s Glass Cleaner

• 1 part Amonia
  
• 1 part rubbing alcohol
  
• 1 part distilled water
  

Combine in a recycled spray bottle and use crumpled up newspapers for best results.

*I think the reason it calls for distilled water is if your tap water has minerals in it they may show up on your glass as a deposit. Distilled water is mineral free. It is also great to use in your iron. It keeps the steam pours from getting clogged with mineral deposits.

My mom has a recipe for glass cleaner that is awesome!  Gets windows and glass clean as a whistle and is very penny pinching friendly.  Remember THIS post?  This project is what I was referring when I had mentioned the bottles on the left.

Mom’s Glass Cleaner

• 1 part Amonia
  
• 1 part rubbing alcohol
  
• 1 part distilled water
  

Combine in a recycled spray bottle and use crumpled up newspapers for best results.

*I think the reason it calls for distilled water is if your tap water has minerals in it they may show up on your glass as a deposit.  Distilled water is mineral free.  It is also great to use in your iron.  It keeps the steam pours from getting clogged with mineral deposits.

The time has come to make more laundry detergent in my house.  It is actually one of my kids favorite things to help me with.  They love using the food processor to grate the bar soap, stirring the detergent and then watching it ooze back into the  detergent jug I have used over and over again. (Reduce , Reuse, Recycle! ~ Bob the Builder)  

I am  still using the first purchase of laundry ingredients that I purchased back in October.  I love pinching pennies!

HERE is the link to my original post.  Let me know what you think and how it worked for you.  I know you are going to LOVE it!

** A note ~ This time around I ’skimmed the scum” once it has cooled enough for the bubbles to congeal.  You will recognize it when you see it!  I am thinking this will make the detergent more pourable.  These chunks of scum have made my detergent just that, chunky in the past.  Also this time I got my hands into the whole batch and really mixed it up.  Not just with a whisk as I have done in the past but I used my fingers to really squeeze the clumps apart.  I am hoping this will help make it more fluid coming out of the pour spout.  But I have also come to grips with the fact that it is either going to be chunky coming out of the spout or I am going to have to tip it out of the fill hole.

Speaking of fill hole her is how I got my latest batch into my container.  This is the 16.9 oz Mt. Dew bottle with the bottom cut off.  Perfect fit!  

For some strange reason I got motivated today to clean my bathroom. Upon inspecting the mirror, in desperate need of attention, I reached for my glass cleaner. Low and behold I was out. (I wonder if that I why the mirrors were so bad? Probably not. I am just lazy.) So as not to loose my momentum I hit the internet in search of home made window cleaner.

Here is what I found:
Step 1
Mix 2 cups of water with two cups of rubbing alcohol and 2 tbsp. dish washing liquid. Shake or stir until the mixture is well blended.

Step 2
Pour the window cleaning solution into a clean spray pump bottle. It’s fine to reuse bottles from other cleaners as long as you wash them out well.

Step 3
Spray the solution just as you would commercial window cleaner. Wipe dry with newspapers until dry. Newspaper cleans best and it leaves a lightly protective film that causes water to bead.

Step 4
Remove stubborn spots by using vinegar. You can spray it full strength on the spot or dab it on. Wipe the stubborn spot away and then clean the area with the window solution if you need to remove streaks.

Step 5
Wash the inside of your windows in one direction and the outside in the opposite direction. If there are streaks you will see whether they go from side to side or up and down and you’ll immediately know which side needs further cleaning.

Step 6
Don’t clean windows in direct sunlight because the windows can dry from the sun before you’ve had a chance to clean them thoroughly. Make sure to clean on overcast days or move around the house washing the windows not facing the sun.

I found that if I crumpled the newspapers up and flattened them out, crumpled up again and repeated a few more times they were easier to handle. This way they were ’softer’ and more cloth like. So pinch a penny and clean a mirror!

Our upstairs bathroom sink drain has been slower than molasses forever! I blame it on the builders whom built the house. In my mind they did not put enough of a slant on the drain pipe so that the drain will empty properly. But much to my chagrin it was just clogged.

I started my using tweezers to pull hair and gunk out from the open drain. I was quite disgusted with this step. Next I dumped about 1/4 cup of salt down the drain. I did have to kind of shove it in with my fingers. Next I poured about a 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain. I did have to do more shoving of the baking soda down the drain. Next came the fun part. I poured about 2 cups of white vingar down the drain. I did this slowly. Then I plugged the drain and took a shower.

After my 15-20 minute shower I ran hot water down the sink drain. The sink now drains much better than it did before.

The salt acted as an aggregate in the pipes and the baking soda/vinegar mixture had a chemical reaction acting as a vehicle to agitate the salt.