Archive for March, 2007

March 1, 2007 | Being Green, Cleaning products, News

This month’s issue of Real Simple magazine has a pretty good article on air quality - both indoors and outdoors. There’s a supplement to the article on their website, here. They have a section dedicated to links for more information as well as links to earth-friendly cleaning products.  It doesn’t really qualify as hard-hitting journalism, but it’s a decent overview with some good tips on essential oils and natural cleaning remedies.

Laundry, Kitchen, Cleaning tips

From the trenches of motherhood… Finger Jell-o may keep a toddler occupied for enormous stretches of time, but there should be a warning on the box. Never leave small children unattended with Jell-o. Or blink. The ensuing mess (it takes no longer than the blink of an eye) is ridiculous. I’ve just cleaned Jell-o from my tile, hardwoods, carpets, walls, light fixtures, and now I’m off to remove it from their clothes. And yes, they were in the their high chairs when it happened. Thank goodness it’s water soluble! So, here are my tips:

1. Clean the mess right away, while the Jell-o is still solid. At that point, you can use a dry paper towel - it acts like duct tape for Jell-O, whereas a wet paper towel just spreads the mess around.
2. If it gets into your carpet, remove as much as possible with a dry paper towel. Spray any remainder with water and blot up. You may have to do this in several stages.
3. In clothes, soak any Jell-O affected clothes in cold water. Hot water may set the color in, depending on your type of fabric and type of Jell-O. Soak in cold water, and check after 30 minutes to an hour. If there’s still some color left from the Jell-O, add some detergent to the water and swish it all around a bit. Give it another 30 minutes, and at that point you can use stain remover if necessary. Then wash as usual.

Don’t underestimate the dry paper towel though - it works wonders. And again, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Don’t even blink when toddlers have finger Jell-O!