Stove Ring Stains Begone

Anyone else love makeovers where they do half of one side and leave the other as is? And before/afters? Well this is one of those! I'm a pinterest "addict" and decided it was time to try some oft documented hints from the DIY. Well the tip was useless as intended -- it said my horrid old cookie sheet was going to sparkle like a brand new diamond! All I had to do was to mix hydrogen peroxide with baking soda and watch the magic work! Sadly all my effort was to no avail! It did not work at all.

But I did have some dirty burner rings and thought I'd use the leftover solution on that and to my surprise it was amazing - almost effortless. Much easier than stainless steel wool pads! Not as messy and hardly any scrubbing required! The magic continued with the burner pan (see pic - before/after)! Baking Soda has always been my number one friend in the kitchen and bathroom but I've never used hydrogen peroxide before. After this experiment I plan to always keep some in stock right alongside my baking soda!

Nasty "Scales" of a Toilet!!

Well today was the day when I finally could no longer stand to look at the scaly lime deposits growing on my toilet bowl!  I had had this container of a well known Calcium, Lime and Rust remover kicking around for some time. Since it was labelled as having no phosphates and that you could use it to clean your coffee maker I naively assumed it was rather benign.  Wrong!  Clue #1 -- it does warn you to use in a well ventilated area and normally that's always enough to freak me out!  Regardless, I thought to myself, really how bad it can it be if it's all good to clean our coffee makers with it, right?  So I proceeded to cautiously pour some into my toilet bowl (with window wide open) and prayed for a toilet bowl miracle!  My prayers went unanswered!  Big surprise hey!  And for my troubles I got to feel like I was eating something nasty - indeed even with massive ventilation the fumes still managed to find their way deep into every tissue of the lining of my mouth!  The only up side was I now had a great excuse to go have a piece of chocolate to chase the nasties away! It worked and I settled back into my computer chair to scan the internet for a healthier way to take care of business.  I came across several remedies and what I decided upon was a combination of several and several is what it took! Lime scale deposits are amazingly resilient.  But with effort and time they eventually wore down - literally and I'm pretty pleased with the result!  No nasty fumes so no ventilation required nor chocolate I'm sorry to report!  Well, perhaps a small piece -- as reward for a job well done!! Go on, you deserve it! It's not called the "Nasty Scales of a Toilet" for nothing you know -- it's going to require putting out some physical effort - no two ways around it! 

PROCEDURE REQUIRED TO ATTAIN A ''RELATIVELY" PRISTINE TOILET BOWL!

I emptied my toilet bowl first - I threw down a bucket of water (ice cream pail size) real fast and that made it go down significantly. There was still a fair bit left though so I had to use a small container to scoop out the remainder as well as a rag to get the last dregs of water from the back. Time consuming but necessary. I then made a paste of vinegar and baking soda and let it soak for about 20 minutes. I then wet a piece of sandpaper thoroughly - scrunched it up to the size of a scrubby and started scrubbing away on the stains. I would occasionally chip very lightly with my small, dull-bladed, flat-head screwdriver to break it up a wee bit here and there. Then I scrubbed some more with the wet sandpaper and finally to my delight a sparkling clean toilet bowl emerged!! One that won't make me cringe with horror every time I have to look at it!

P.S. My husband was truly horrified when he heard I used sandpaper but hey it didn't do any damage whatsoever! I read to use pumice stone but I didn't have one and I did read others had used sandpaper with no ill consequences and since that's what I had available I went with it! Also don't believe other sites that tell you to turn off the valve and flush till there is no water left -- it does not work! I tried! Obviously they had not! Only sure fire way is method above!

The Journey Begins -- the quest towards a greener lifestyle.

•             No One Can Do Everything.
•             Everyone Can Do Something.

With that in mind I'm going to take a deep breath and calmly go forth and make some changes. I need to pull back a bit as once I get an idea I prefer to throw myself into it with a  category 5 rated frenzy! Unfortunately I, like many of you,  cannot afford to replace everything outright. Instead as an item comes up that needs to be replaced I will have to look at it with a critical eye and see what can be done to make it an item that will win as many green points as possible on the eco-friendly scale! My number one concern is to decrease indoor air pollution for the benefit of my own health and those around me.  It's hard because indoor air pollution is such an abstract entity -- after all how do you really see formaldehyde, asbestos, radon or any other chemicals that may be lurking in the corners of your home? One thing that I do go on is by smell!  I detest over-perfumed anything!  I hate even going down the cleaning products aisles of your average supermarket and I absolutely detest going into candle or incense shops. I find it hard to believe but statistics say that 3 out of 5 canadians use some type of air freshner in their home and the market is worth $200 million!No wonder the rate of asthma has doubled since 1980.

Greener Lifestyle Step #1 - eliminate artificially scented indoor airfreshners - whether in the form of candles or electric plug-in's - they are toxic.

The chemicals they spew into your living environment are suspect for many medical concerns (long term and short term) so do yourself and those you love a favor and look for better ways to freshen the air. The number one way is to throw open some windows! And if you really love smells wafting through your house -- save a few apple peelings, add a little cinnamon and boil in a pot on your stove. A potpouri crockpot would be a wise investment (approximately $10 new or scout around second hand stores for one) if you enjoy scenting your home on a regular basis.  If candles are your thing it sounds like beeswax is the way to go.  I was surprised to read that beeswax is the only wax that is proven to emit negative ions that clean the air when burned.

"Breathing the fumes from burning paraffin candles
is essentially the same as breathing the exhaust fumes
from a diesel engine."

Bill Reno Entomologist/writer
Alive magazine #218
December 2000 issue

I'm thinking I should order a case of beeswax candles and give them out throughout the christmas season to everyone I love and care about.  I'm also going to order some beeswax birthday candles for the little prince's third birthday coming up soon! Especially after I learned how paraffin candles are made. Did you know that paraffin is the wax that forms inside the pipes at oil refineries? I had no idea where it came from actually. It is collected, chemically cleaned, then often chemically scented before being sold as candles. Sounds like a recipe for disaster if you're trying to keep your indoor air as pure as possible.  I'd say nix the paraffin and look for some beautiful beeswax or soy wax candles made without artificial colors or scents.

Click on this link if you want to delve a little deeper into the hazards of scented indoor air freshners.