Steam . Amazing . Everyday

Courtesy of Tumbler

Find it hard to believe it is the end of April and the Wisteria is in bloom. Most people asked if we named the company after Desperate Housewives of Wisteria Lane and the answer is "NO". Wisteria, the flower, starts out as a small vine and needs support to grow but once it takes root it is evasive and can grow for hundreds of years.....so you can see why we named our company Wisteria Cleaning. A metaphor for success! Today's blog is not about flowering wisteria... so onto the real topic of the day.

Recently, a few twitter friends tweeted me questions on how to resolve simple household problems. I am flattered when this happens, so thank you! But what really struck me was my answer to each question was the same...use a steamer.  I will tell you I am not being paid to endorse any steamers only relaying our experiences.

The virtues of using steam to clean your home are endless but I will give you a few facts.

• Kills 99.98% of surface germs and bacteria
• Environmentally friendly - you use only water
• No cleaning products necessary
• Cost for steamers are around $130 and will pay for themselves quickly
• The list of what you can clean with a steam is only limited to your imagination 

Don't stop reading yet... let me make a believer out of you.

The tile entryway is in my sister Rosemarie's house and is about 5 years old. During this time she used traditional cleaning methods and products and the grout is discolored.

\

Now do have your attention? This is the same entryway after she used a handheld steamer. The grout is white again and the silver trim is even shinning. If you think she scrub awhile the answer is no.  Steam quickly loosens the dirt and grim and then wipe with a rag.

I swear this is my favorite use...because trying to get price stickers off of vases, mirrors, glasses or china has ruined many of good manicures. Steam will take the sticker right off and the adhesive too. 

Hand held steamers come with a variety of attachments. So I felt compelled to try each and every one.  I was a steaming machine! Window screens, gas grill, stove top, micro waive, glass window on oven door, glass shower door, bathroom tile, toilet seat and base, sliding glass door track, door knobs, tile floor and freshen drapery and pillows. Carpet - Steam will get rid of impression marks in carpet left from furniture or the Christmas tree stand. Hit with steam and fibers will pop back into place.

Steam cleaning is addictive and I rank it right up there with my IPhone and IPad. Can't live without them.

Olive Oil . Amazing . Everyday

Olive Oil especially Extra Virgin variety, now commonly known as EVOO,  can now be found in most family’s pantries today. When I was growing up it was not the case unless you were Italian or Greek.

Our grandparents were immigrants from Sicily. Olive oil was always in the kitchen, on hand, ready to fry meatballs or cutlets, drizzle on salad; vegetable oil was not in the pantry. My grandmother often used olive oil for other purposes. If we had earaches she got out the olive oil. Stomach ache? Nothing a couple of teaspoons of olive oil couldn’t fix! I am embarrassed to say as children it sounded crazy!

After doing a little research I learned my Grandmother was correct! Olive Oil is more than food staple it is tremendously useful and has many applications. Seems olive oil does it all.

Olive Oil as a Moisturizer

It was stated, beautiful Sophia Loren baths in olive oil once a week! I imagine Sophia knows olive contains 4 different antioxidants which minimizes wrinkles going deep into the skin and reverses skin damage.  She is still fabulous today! So if it worked for her who am I to say otherwise.

Use it as bath oil or moisturizer. Here is a recipe to make it a little more special… infuse the olive oil with flowers from your garden. Fill a glass jar with fresh flower petals or buds, pierce 6 Vitamin E Capsules and squeeze the oil into the jar. Heat 1 ¾ cups of EVOO in micro wave and then pour over petals. Seal and shake jar gently to mix. Place jar in sunny location and turn it over daily for 2 weeks. Then strain to remove all petals and pour in a sterilized container. Lavender, Marigolds, Rose Petals are good choices however do not use flowers that have been sprayed with chemical.

Olive Oil for Hair – Warm a few tablespoons of olive oil in micro wave for 30 seconds and then rub into your scalp and hair. Wrap in a towel for 30 minutes and then shampoo as normal to reveal a beautiful mane of hair.

Olive Oil for Earache – I know…Grandma! Some folks swear by this natural remedy. Very carefully use a cotton swab to apply the olive oil to the outside of the ear cavity to help earaches and excess wax.

 Olive Oil for Diaper Rash – Gently wipe olive oil on your baby’s bottom to relieve diaper rash.

Olive Oil for Polishing Furniture – It helps remove dust and gives a nice shine. Add a teaspoon to a quarter cup of lemon juice, and you have a non-toxic, petroleum free polish to gently clean wood surfaces.

Olive Oil for Polishing Hardwood Floors – You can bring hardwood floors to a shine with a little bit of olive oil and lemon. Use a ¼ cup of olive oil 2 TBS cider vinegar and 3 TBS of vodka. Or 1 TBS of olive oil mixed with 1 TSP of lemon juice. Apply to clean dry mop and wipe on floors. 

 

Polishing Stainless Steel and Brass – Simply pour a small amount on a soft cloth and wipe in a circular motion to restore a shine to stainless steel or brass.

 Lemon Chocolate Olive Oil Cakeby www.saveur.com/

Oil For Cakes - Baking with olive oil has been done for centuries. It gives cakes and cookies a light texture and can be used in lieu of butter. 1 Cup of butter converts to ¾ cup of EVOO. It does not convert if the recipe calls for a solid form like icing.

Olive Oil for Lanterns – Don’t you love these little lanterns? I can just see them in the backyard on a summer’s evening.

The list goes on to include polishing shoes, fixing squeaky door hinges, removing paint from hands, personal lubricant, treatment for head lice, cleaning up garden tools and exfoliating your skin with a mixture of olive oil and sea salt. With all the uses I have covered in this blog, I will let you in on a little secret… I have 2 favorites.  

Party Favors

Olive Oil as Party Favors - Absolutely love this idea! Plan to use at my next dinner party. Print your own labels to personalize.

 

Olive Oil Soap

Olive Oil Soap – This is a splurge item for me. I have used the soap and body lotion for the past two winters and at times I am surprised at how soft my skin feels. But I should not be because my grandmother skin was so soft to touch. Again…she knew something about olive oil.

Sources and inspiration from Huffington Post, The Daily Green, The Tip Nut, Olive Source, Pinterest and Google Images

Deep Clean your Kitchen: A Guide

This article, first appeared on the Housewife Bliss website in October 2011. Reprinted with permission by Coryanne Ettienne.

The holidays are now behind us and for the most part we'll slow down on our entertaining and cooking for large groups. Our pantries are leaner; our refrigerators are no longer jam-packed and 

as the cold, dark days of winter remain with us for a while there is no better time to really go through your kitchen and give it a top to bottom scrub. Sooner than we can imagine, the weather will be warmer, the days will be longer and we will want to spend our time outdoors on our decks or in our gardens. 

###

Kitchen deep-cleaning guide 

The kitchen is, now more than ever, the heart of the home, and with that lofty title comes the heavy foot traffic and mess that hides behind corners slowly building up into a shocking sight that would send even the cleanest of home owners running from shame.  It might seem like a huge task but deep cleaning your kitchen is good for your health and for your soul.

Roll up your shirt sleeves, put on your cleaning gloves and spend the day (gasp, yes probably a day) making your kitchen sparkle and shine just in time for the holiday season to arrive and messy it up again.

Scrub your walls, skirting boards, back boards and floors.  Start from the top and work your way down, the daily dirt that has been piling up is no longer noticeable to you, but the difference you will see from a light scrubbing will make your kitchen brighter and more inviting.  Don’t forget to move all large appliances and large furniture away from the walls to ensure that even those hidden areas are given a deep clean.

Clean out your refrigerator and freezer.  Frozen food diminishes after 6 months, and odours can penetrate the surface of even the cleanest fridge, so take the time to follow my guide to loving your refrigerator and freezer.

Clean your dishwasher.  One would think that an appliance that cleans for us would not need cleaning itself, but alas, that is not the case. If your glasses have ever carried a musty or sour smell, washing your dishwasher will put a stop it by following this simple 30 minute deep clean routine:   use 1 part vinegar, 3 parts warm water to wash the inside of your unit, clean out the filter (usually located at the bottom of the unit), wash the racks in warm soapy water and then place a 1/2 lemon on the top rack and run a high temperature wash.

Wipe down your cupboards and drawers.  Any number of undesirable elements can collect in your drawers and cupboards, vacuuming them and then washing them down with a damp cloth can turn a drab storage area in to a sparkling clean one.

De-clutter your pantry.  Spices, if stored well should last up to 6 months in  your pantry.  Your pulses, grains, rices and pasta that have not been stored in air tight containers may be ready for replacement, and those condiment jars that you had to have 3 years ago, if not yet used are just taking up space.  Check the expiration dates on everything and only keep items that are usable. Once done,  make a list of what you need to replace and restock your pantry using this pantry guide.

Examine your cookware.  Warped baking pans, scratched non-stick pans, mismatched lids and chipped serving platters, no matter how well loved, have lived a good life and need to be replaced.

Sharpen your knives.  A dull knife not only wastes time in the kitchen, it is dangerous. Your knives should be sharpened every 6 months.

For more fabulous household tips please visit Coryanne Ettienne at her blog HousewifeBliss

How to clean your pantry in 5 simple steps

This article was originally published on the Housewife Bliss website, on October 2011. Reprinted with permission by Coryanne Ettienne.

After the holidays my pantry looks as though it's been ravaged by a tornado - perhaps even two! This is the perfect time to clean out the pantry by taking advantage of our emptier shelves. Soon Spring will be here and we will, once again, find ourselves in the thick of entertaining, hosting garden parties and barbecues. 

###

Peaking into someone’s pantry is a bit like peaking into a private diary of daily life, there is always a story to tell and not always one that you want everyone to read.  Like those candied gingers that you bought last Christmas but never had the time to create the magazine recipe that called for them; the hidden packets of ramen noodles that you swore you would never buy, but keep hidden away for emergencies; and the 17 tins of tomatoes that you buy each time you go the store because you can’t remember if you need them or not.  Cleaning out the pantry is not something people do often, but when it is done, it makes you feel fabulous and you can’t help but show it off …yes I have been know to be so delighted with my sparkling clean and orderly pantry that I could not help but ask a friend to “be a dear and hand me the sugar in the pantry, the bowl seems to be running low”.

5 Steps to a cleaner, prouder pantry

Step 1 |  Purge :   Place a large rubbish bin by your pantry and start purging everything expired and all those half empty cracker boxes that are no doubt stale by now.  Flours, spices, and dried herbs will only last for 6 months, be ruthless now to avoid disaster when you use them next.  Sugars and syrups have a long life and may only need to be tidied up.

Step 2 | Clean: Fill a bowl with warm sudsy water and wipe down all the shelves and walls.  If you use lining trays or baskets, give them a good clean too.  Once done, sweep your pantry floor and vacuum the corners. Before placing everything back into your pantry, dust your boxes and wipe down your cans.

Step 3 | Donate:  Take stock of your tinned goods.  If you are bursting at the seems with canned goods, place them in a donation box to drop at a food bank later …..and make a mental note of your tendency to over stock on your canned goods.

Step 4| Organize : There is a method to everyone’s madness, here are my 2 cents on organzing a pantry….

• Use old jars to store flour, salts, sugars, rice, pulses and other loose items that need to remain airtight.
• Everyday items should go at the most accessible levels;
• Excess & seldom used items should go at the top;
• Periodic items should go at the bottom;
• Cluster your items by type so you always have a view of what you have;
• Use baskets to keep track of smaller items and for those easy access items that you are forever needing (like snacks);
• Be creative with  your space, pantry doors are fabulous storage areas.

Step 5 | Restock: Make a list of everything you purged that will need to be replaced, and if you feel like a complete re-organziaition is in the future, think about what you want to store, how you want to store it and what you need before heading to the shops…there is nothing worse than coming home with organizing supplies to find that none of them really work for your pantry.

For more fabulous household tips please visit Coryanne at Housewife Bliss!