Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Things I Love.

I'm not big on conventional cleaning products. Yes, paper towels are helpful and those disinfecting wipes can come in handy, but I'm not big on buying them if I can make do without. And, most of the time I can.

There is one item, however, that I cannot find an alternative for and that I keep buying and buying.

I love these. Here's why. My boys ALWAYS have dirty hands. Their fingers are always full of marker, paint, dirt or food. They come in from outside, try to pry off their shoes while holding onto the wall for balance and get fingerprints all over. Their hands may not look soiled when they grab each white railing on their way up the steps, but after a day or two, oily smudges appear all over the railing and trim.

(note to any home-builder: Never, ever, ever put white trim in your home if you plan on having children. Oh boy!)

Basically, our walls and trim and doors always look filthy, and these sponges work like...you guessed it...Magic! I also use them to scrape soap scum off the bathtub, and yesterday they successfully removed oil-based paint from wallpaper.

So, while you may see me making-do with baking soda and vinegar, these I cannot do without.

9 comments:

Sarah said...

Me too!!

Abby said...

And to think, I always wanted to trade our oak trim for white. Scratch that thought!! :)

Mallory said...

Re: white trim
It's really pretty, especially in the bathroom and up the stairs, but seriously, it get SO SO SO dirty. Really, it just never looks clean, because all someone has to do is touch it to make it dirty again. And then, with the stairs, the boys throw their empty laundry baskets down, and an occasional car or monster truck down the stairs, and the paint chips. It's a mess.

Beige walls and dark woodwork for us, if we ever get to decide :-) . Until then, Magic Erasers and Bleach!

Little stay at home momma said...

You are so right. These are definitely a mommy NEED. And they do work amazingly in the bathtub. :)

Detta said...

LOVE. And, I have been doing my share of scrubbing the "white trim" in our rental the last few days...enough said.

Anonymous said...

Me too, can't live without them. I love the ones for the kitchen too! They remove junk from baked on pans like you can't imagine! Mimi S.

Erin said...

My favorite feature on these babies is that Claire LOVES them, she begs to clean the walls. Somehow wall cleaning holds her attention longer then any one toy, no complaints.

Erin said...

If you don't buy papers towels, what do you do when you make bacon? I've been terribly curious since the last time you mentioned it.

Mallory said...

Erin, the bacon thing is tricky (maybe I'll blog about it...) BUT, I always cook bacon in the oven on a roasting rack, so it's much less greasy to begin with.

Don't write me off like I'm a crazy tree hugger now, I'm not from Oregon or anything, but instead of throwing them away, I collect napkins from our bags of fast food and take out and use those for bacon. They don't work nearly as well as Bounty, but I HATE spending money on paper towels. And if I do buy them for some sacred occasion, they are seriously gone in a day or two.

Google