clogged drain and tough stains - be gone!

I had a clogged bathroom sink recently. This picture really doesn't do justice to how bad the clog was.


I found a great recipe to unclog it that worked really well:

Recipe for a Shaklee Drain Cleaner

1 oz Basic H2

1 Tbsp Scour Off

1 Tbsp Dish Wash Liquid Concentrate

1 Gal Water

Boil 1 cup of water-add first 3 ingredients-pour contents into a clogged drain-follow up with approximately 1
gallon of water.

Boiling the water

After I added the 3 ingredients

after I poured the mixture down the drain

and after! no more clog! It worked really well and the best part was that the ingredients I used were all natural. There weren't any harsh chemicals or fumes. It was awesome and SO easy! Love that!

I also found another quick recipe for really, really tough stains. I haven't had a use for this recipe yet, so I don't have pictures. But here it is:

1/4 cup Fresh Liquid Laundry

1/4 cup Nature Bright Laundry Booster

Mix in a pail of hot water, add your soiled items and let soak up to 5 days!

I have heard that this works REALLY well and completely safe even for fabrics which are not supposed to be washed like a wedding gown.

I hope these easy and completely safe household tips are helpful to you! Thanks for reading!

Oh, and please stop by my friend Rebecca's Blog for your chance to win FREE Basic H2 - enough to mix one bottle of all purpose cleaner and one bottle of window/glass cleaner! It's easy to enter! :)

Thanks and have a great and healthy week!

Rebecca

Shaklee Basic H2 Giveaway and Review!!!

This giveaway is now over.



I am so excited that Rebecca over at Know-it-all-mama, put her blog up today reviewing Basic H2. She is hosting a FREE GIVEAWAY of Basic H2. Please head over to her blog for your chance to win enough Basic H2 Super Organic Concentrate to mix one bottle of window cleaner and one bottle of all purpose cleaner! You can also find more info about Basic H2 and why I love it SO much in my post about how I went from 20+ cleaners to only three!!!

Good luck and thanks for reading:)

Rebecca

Shaklee Review

My friend, Rebecca, wrote a great green cleaning and Shaklee review on her blog, Know-it-all-Mama. Stop by her blog and check it out. Thanks for writing this, Rebecca!

And be sure to watch for her upcoming review and giveaway of Shaklee's Basic H2 Organic Super Cleaning Concentrate!!

What is your favorite green product?

Rebecca

airing the dirty laundry

After my first post on how I replaced all of the 20+ toxic household cleaners with just THREE Get Clean products seen here , I had some of you ask about Shaklee's laundry products. So here is my promised post to those of you who asked.

When I started researching laundry products, I was surprised to learn about the different chemicals that many laundry detergent manufacturers use. These chemicals can be the reason your laundry smells nice, but they can also be something that can harm your health. This can be especially true for children, who have extra sensitive skin. I had never thought about that before. According to the EPA, chemicals in laundry products could be a cause of asthma and other skin irritations and allergies. You can read about that in this EPA article. I had also learned that because these chemicals are absorbed into the skin through your clothing and bedsheets, a chemist may be able to determine what type of laundry soap you use simply by testing your urine! gross, I know but something to think about.

Like the Basic H2 , Scour Off, and Basic G that I talked about in my first post, all of Shaklee's laundry products are non-toxic, safe for your entire family and work really well. I have some before and after pictures below showing you just how well they really do work. WARNING: some of the pictures are graphic examples of how having a very small baby can severely soil clothing, towels and other garments. These pictures are not for the weak at heart:)





Here is a picture of my 5 month old's outfit after a bad diaper explosion recently:
(I told you it wasn't going to be pretty!)

And here is the after picture, after I washed it with Fresh Laundry Concentrate .
I did add a scoop of Nature Bright to the washer. And that's it! It came out perfectly clean. Nature Bright is a great alternative to bleach. It isn't harsh and I love how it whitens and brightens my laundry so well.

Nature Bright was shown to remove grass stains 60% better then OxyClean!!

Here's another example of more baby diaper explosions. This time, I soaked both the outfit and the towel in Nature Bright first and then washed the items with Fresh Laundry Concentrate

Before (obviously!):
And after the soaking and washing:
And here is the towel before picture. This one I had waited a few days to wash. I had put a little Basic H2 on the stain first and rubbed it in before soaking and washing.
And after:
I was really happy with how well it worked.

In addition to the products mentioned above, Shaklee also has a wonderful powder laundry detergent that we also use seen here. (note: if you have a HE washer, then the liquid concentrate works best) One 5.5 box of the powder will wash 88 loads of laundry! You can see how this can save you money as well by looking at the cost comparison info here. Just use one oz. for a regular load of laundry. Both the liquid and the powder come with a fragrance free option as well as a slightly scented option.

I have really sensitive skin that gets itchy when I am around other types of detergents (for example, when we travel and stay in hotels). I didn't always have this problem. It started in 2001 while I was in grad school, after I used an inexpensive off brand of laundry soap. Once I had exposed my skin, I developed an allergy known as contact dermatitis, which flairs up whenever I am exposed to soaps, lotions, etc that have dyes, chemicals and perfumes in them. I don't have that issue with the Get Clean line of detergents however. I can even use the Soft Fabric Concentrate as well as the Dryer Sheets with no problem. The dryer sheets are veggie based and biodegradable, so you can just throw them in your recycle bin when you are done. And they can double as duster/sweeper sheets, like ones that you may use on a swiffer duster. I love that! In an article in Natural News, many household cleaners/laundry products and their toxicity is discussed. The article talks about how dryer sheets can leave chemicals on your clothes that are absorbed into your skin, which could be cancer causing. You can check out the article here.

Wow! That was a lot of info but I hope it was useful info to you. I hope you have a good and healthy week! Thanks for reading!

Rebecca

Automatic Dish Detergent Stopped Working?

Have you noticed a difference in how your automatic dish detergent performs lately? Cloudy dishes? Food not cleaned off? Well you are not alone! In July of 2010, automatic dish soaps went phosphate-free due to new laws banning phosphates in 16 states. People are up in arms about it! Phosphates were responsible for keeping a lot of the leading dish soaps working so well, but they are also responsible for polluting our lakes and streams and having adverse effects on fish.

I did not notice the difference in the dish detergents myself, because around that time I was getting involved with Shaklee products and had already made the switch to Shaklee's Get Clean Dish Washer Automatic Powder Concentrate. If you are concerned about phosphates and other harsh chemicals that can harm you, your family or the environment, you will be happy to know that none of Shaklee's product do that. When I started my Shaklee business over the summer, I noticed right away that the automatic dish detergent was a big seller. I had so many people asking me about Shaklee's auto dish soap because they were so unhappy with their current soap's performance, esp. where I live where we have hard water. I didn't realize at the time that the change for them was probably because phosphates were recently banned. Leading automatic dishwasher detergent manufactures are now looking to the chemical industry for help because so many of their customers are very unhappy with the change. That is how I actually found out about this - from my chemist husband who showed me a recent article in Chemical and Engineering News on the topic.

So why do I love Shaklee's automatic powder concentrate so much? Well, first and foremost - it works really well! Not only for me, but also for the many Shaklee customers I have that use it and love it. You really don't have to pre-rinse your dishes (unless the food is really baked on). I have always been in the habit of pre-rinsing however, so I am slowly getting out of the habit and realizing that I really don't have to do it! Another reason to love this product is because it will save you money!!! Who doesn't love that? Esp. with the economy being as hard as it is right now. Shaklee's automatic dish wash cost 19.8 cents per load, where Cascade Complete costs 28.4 cents per load. (You can see a full cost comparison of many of Shaklee's Get Clean products to other leading brands here.) As I said in my first post about how I de-toxed my home by going from 20+ cleaners to only THREE Get Clean cleaners seen here, Shaklee's household cleaners are very concentrated, so you use so little to do so much. That is true for the automatic dish detergent too. One 2 lb. bag of Shaklee's product is equal to more than 2 1/2 boxes of Cascade powder detergent! It will clean 48 loads of dishes with just 2 tsp. (one scoop) in each dispenser cup! It is safe for septic systems and does not have any chlorine or fragrance, which can pollute the air that you breathe. It is natural, concentrated, uses biodegradable surfactants, does NOT have phosphates (never did!) and it does not have chlorine. It's good for you, your entire family and also the environment! Shaklee is the first company in the world to be certified Climate Neutral™ (totally offsetting our carbon emissions resulting in a net zero impact on the environment). Pretty awesome, huh?

The automatic dish detergent comes in this resealable and biodegradable pouch, which also makes it great for the environment. Each pouch uses 80% less packaging then a hard plastic container.

And if you wanted to, you could also get this nice container to keep your detergent in.

You could even keep it in a mason jar or something like that that you currently have or just keep it right in the pouch.

Like I mentioned above, the area where I live has very hard water. Although we do have a softener, one thing that I like to add to my dish washer, once or twice a month, is a little Basic H2 Concentrate to the rinse aid compartment. This is in place of Jet Dry, but without any harsh chemicals. Basic H2 is one of the three cleaners that I use to clean my entire house and has so many uses. It really helps to keep my glasses clean and clear. I love that!

And for all of you out there who wash your dishes by hand, here is another product that I also love for dishes - Hand Dish Wash Liquid Concentrate. Talk about highly concentrated! This soap will last you a VERY long time! Just a couple DROPS in your sink is all you need. I like to put a drop on my sponge too. And this product carries the same clean credentials that I love about Shaklee: nontoxic, natural, hypoallergenic (so gentle on your hands that you will not need to wear gloves to wash dishes with this stuff!), biodegradable surfactants and NO phosphates! :) Oh, and it is a degreaser, so when you have a greasy pan, just put a drop or two with some water in it to let it soak. When you are ready to wash it, the grease will just slip away. Because of this, it's good for your pipes (as is the Basic H2). You won't ever need to use chemicals to declog your sink again. Regular uses of some of these products will do the work for you. Love that!!

If you are interested in trying Shaklee's automatic dish detergent and some of the other Get Clean products that I have talked about in my blog for free for a week, you can do that if you live in the West Lafayette, Indiana area, Milwaukee, Wisconsin area, or Minneapolis, Minnesota area. Just send me a note and let me know that you are interested in the Bucket Brigade!

I think that covers everything I wanted to say about dish soap! I was planning on posting about laundry products this week since I had a few requests, but will do that next week. I wanted to share this info since I just saw the article about it this week. If you have any experiences to share about dish detergents and the new formulas companies have come up with, I would love to hear!


Thanks for reading and have a healthy week! Oh, and don't forget about the awesome Cinch inch loss promotion that ends tomorrow! New Shaklee members can get a Cinch Sampler Pack (over a $100 value) for Free!!!! Ask me about the details if you are interested. Cinch is a wonderful product line of inch loss products to help you lose the fat and keep the muscle. Good stuff!

Thanks!!

Rebecca

Vitamin C - not just for the common cold!

For the past several weeks, I have been seeing post after post on my facebook account, of friends near and far who are being taken down by the stomach flu. My house was not immune to this either! I had the nasty bug over New Years and let me tell you I was NOT happy about it! You know the signs - it starts with a little stomach ache that quickly moves to serious nausea. I will spare you the details, but I was pretty sick. My husband watched me go down hill fast as he helped with the kids and let me rest. And then several hours later while I was enjoying some rest and thinking how great it was that I had a husband to take care of me and our 2 boys, he came to me and said he wasn't feeling well at all. Ugh. So it was time for me to be recovered and take over with the kids so he could go through the horrible events that I had just experienced. The only difference was - he didn't! He was spared! How could this be, I thought? Why did I get so sick with the vomiting and diarrhea and he got off so easy with some nausea and a few hours of mild diarrhea? The next day we talked about it and he told me his secret.....

Vitamin C!!!!!

Really??? Vitamin C????! It was that simple? Well, the research isn't exactly conclusive on this topic, but there is evidence that vitamin C can actually be taken for several different things and have therapeutic effects. My husband is a research scientist, so he was aware of this and after he saw me go down with the flu, he took immediate action at the first sign of his symptoms. He took 3 or 4 of the chewable C that we give to our toddler here - chewable vitamin C


Each of these has 100 mg of C in them. He had also taken his usual sustained release C in the morning with 500 mg before his symptoms showed up - seen here sustained release C and he repeated this the following day. One Shaklee chewable vitamin C is equal to eating 1.5 organic oranges! good stuff!

Like I said, the research on this isn't conclusive but taking a higher dose of C sure did seem to work for my husband! And our toddler didn't get really sick either. Just a little bit of diarrhea. During flu season, we give him a chewable C 2-3 times a day plus he takes his chewable multivitamin once a day here Incredivites As a side note, our toddler has never had an ear infection and very rarely gets sick. We attribute a lot of that to the Shaklee supplements that he takes.

My original intention for this post was to help people with symptoms of the stomach flu to stop it in its tracks. But after I started researching Vitamin C a bit more, I was surprised at all of the additional benefits it could have!

Vitamin C is an immune booster, a vital antioxidant. It fights free radical damage and promotes strong bones, healthy gums and teeth, cartilage, fights infection, is anti-stress, builds red blood cells, prevents radiation damage, protects against allergic responses, helpful with arthritic symptoms, boosts good cholesterol, and the list goes on. I was surprised to learn that smokers rapidly use up vit. C with each cigarette they smoke! Vit. C is water soluable so we need to continually replenish our supply daily. Animals can actually produce their own Vit. C but humans cannot. Most people just don't have enough of it in their diet. It is recommended that adults get 500 mg a day of vitamin C, and no more then 2000 mg per day! Vitamin C can help with immune system deficiencies, eye disease, cardiovascular disease, prenatal health problems, helping us to live longer and even with our skin as we age. Vitamin C is even being used to treat cancer and diabetes!

Vitamin C is found in a lot of the fruit and veggies that we eat, but the problem is that most people just aren't eating enough. I know I am guilty of that, esp. in the winter months in the midwest when it's just not as easy to get. The farmers markets are all closed in the winter. The produce prices increase and the quality seems to decrease in the winter. The result? More sickness.

Here are some natural sources of Vitamin C:

• Cantaloupe, 1 cup (8 ounces): 59mg
• Orange juice, 1 cup: 97mg
• Broccoli, cooked, 1 cup: 74mg
• Red cabbage, 1/2 cup: 40mg
• Green pepper, 1/2 cup, 60mg
• Red pepper, 1/2 cup, 95mg
• Kiwi, 1 medium: 70mg
• Tomato juice, 1 cup: 45mg.

Frozen produce is another good option for getting some vitamins. Frozen produce is picked and frozen at the optimal time in order to contain the most vitamins and nutrients. And by freezing the produce, bacteria and pesticides are killed in the process. I still prefer fresh myself, but we have started buying more frozen lately and it isn't that bad.

If you are not getting enough C in your diet, I do think it is a good idea to think about a good supplement. Last week, I talked about a few of Shaklee's wonderful natural cleaners. I didn't mention though, that they also make a wonderful line of food supplements. They are all sourced from nature and have gone through the ringer with scientific testing, looking at the purity of the product. Dr. Shaklee created one of the first multi-vitamins back in 1915 in order to "fill in the gaps" in our nutrition. It was called Vitalized Minerals but today is Shaklee's Vita Lea. This is the most complete multi vitamin on the market and you can get it with or without iron. Shaklee also makes it for people who are over 50 or for children. Dr. Shaklee was very much ahead of his time as he knew that the best source of vitamins and minerals came from natural sources. He used to say that when you go to the grocery store, only shop around the perimeter, where all of the fruits, veggies and natural foods usually are. I think that is more true today then ever as we live in a fast food society and so many of our foods are processed, have additives, dyes, added sugars, etc. My thought is that if God meant it to be that way, then it would be.

So I hope you learned a little more about the many benefits of Vitamin C. I know I did! And I hope you will remember this post at the first sign of the flu, so you can beat it before it beats you!

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a healthy week!

Rebecca

Crayon and Ink stains - Be Gone!

My goal is to put a blog post up once a week. So just think of this post as a little bonus. :) Thanks to my 2 year old and my husband, I have something to share today.

My 2 year old son really loves to draw us pictures. Unfortunately, he decided to really expand on his creativity the other day and colored all over our refrigerator and on the wall next to it with crayons! You can imagine how shocked I was to see this. What was the first thing I did? I took a picture! lol. And then I got to work with the Basic H2 degreaser mix (1 1/2 tsp. of Basic H2 to 16 oz of water) seen here along with my Shaklee microfiber sponge seen here. It worked like magic for both the wall and the fridge. Here are the before pictures from my little artist:


it's a little hard to see on the white refrigerator.

And here are the after pictures when I used the Basic H2 degreaser with the microfiber sponge:

So nice! It came right off. I originally tried using a paper towel and that didn't really work well at all. When I switched to the microfiber sponge, it came off easily.

Here are the before pics of the wall. Again, it is a little hard to see since the wall is white.




And here is the after picture of the wall. Again, I used the Basic H2 degreaser with the microfiber sponge. Awesome!




So after I dealt with that, my husband came home and told me that he put his work shirt in the laundry because he got red ink on it! (an occupational hazard of being a professor I suppose:). He wasn't concerned about it though because he knew that I would "work my Shaklee magic" and I did. I actually didn't get around to doing anything with it for over a day because I had forgotten about it. When I remembered, I rubbed a little of the Basic H2 concentrate on the stain and then forgot about it again until I was ready to do laundry, which was the next day. Here are the before pictures:

The picture is not that great. It was hard for me to get a good one that really showed the stain, but it is in the middle of the picture and was a few inches long. Here's another before:
And here is the after. No more stain. I took the before pictures in the laundry room but did the after in our bedroom where there is more light. I guess that is why the color looks different. I need to get better at taking my before and after pictures but I am hoping you get the idea from this that it really worked!:) After I had put the Basic H on the stain, I had washed it with our regular Shaklee liquid laundry detergent seen here. Shaklee also makes a powder detergent, which we also use and love.
So there you have it! I actually enjoy when I have tough stains to work through. It's a good challenge, not that I want my 2 year old coloring on all of the furniture and walls! But when the next time occurs (and I am sure it will!) I know I can get it out easily!

Thanks for reading! Look for my next blog post that I am working on for next week on the many uses of Vitamin C! (it's not just for the common cold:) Have a great and healthy weekend!

Rebecca