Bounce Bar - Gets the bounce.

Ok, so a few months ago I thought I would try the new Bounce Bar. You affix a plastic holder to the inside of your dryer, slide the Bounce Bar in and don't have to use dryer sheets.

I thought this was a great idea for several reasons:

1. Not having to remember to put a dryer sheet in every load.
2. Not having used dryer sheets roaming all over the house.
3. It is supposed to last up to 4 months.

That being said, I can't say I was that happy with it. I liked not having to put a dryer sheet in every load. I liked not having used dryer sheets roaming all over the house.

BUT:

It did NOT last 4 months. I tried it several times and none lasted a month.

The other thing is that I didn't feel it softened quite as good as the dryer sheets.

The final straw was when cold weather really hit. It did NOT control static at all.

So, out of frustration, I went back to Bounce Dryer Sheets. I noticed that our clothes were MUCH softer and the static was gone.

Oh well, live and learn.

Why I May Never Go To Wal-Mart Again

Ok, I will still probably go to Wal-Mart. But, I've just discovered an amazing way to avoid it as much as possible.

I subscribe to www.flylady.net for home/life organization. Today, the post was how planning can save you money. For instance, if you plan your shopping list carefully, you won't forget something and have to make a second trip to the store.

I was scrolling thru the comments (not something I normally do) when I saw a pattern. Several people mentioned www.alice.com. I had to go check this out.

IT IS FREAKING AMAZING!

You sign up for a free account. Choose some categories of items you typically purchase (very much like your Wal-Mart list) and then you can go thru, check the category, look at the items offered and order from them. If there is a coupon for an item available, they will automatically tag it and deduct it from your total.

The prices are around the Wal-Mart price range . . . and, here's the best part . . . SHIPPING IS FREE!!!! No minimum order!

I had started a Wal-Mart list this morning and went ahead and tried www.alice.com with my list. Altho there were a few items not on it, the bulk were on it and it will cost me no more than Wal-Mart would. And, I won't be spending gas money or buying 5 things I saw in the store but really didn't need.

HOW COOL IS THAT?

I figured that shipping would take 2-4 weeks since this was such a good deal, but the checkout showed 1-2 business days.

If this really works like it says it does, I'm in love!!!!

The Start of Something New

I'm always for starting new projects. I just never seem to finish them because of my short attention span.

But, for several days I've been seriously thinking of "going green" in household cleaners. I'm not doing it to save the world. I'm doing it because I have over a dozen different bottles of cleaners in the house. It makes remembering what I need to buy hard to keep track of and it can get expensive.

So, for the last few days I've been researching non-toxic and "green" cleaning products. I pulled out several that I want to try. In the meantime, I'll keep my store bought stuff to finish it up (so as not to waste money) and just in case the green ones don't do the job.

It's always best to take baby steps so I started with just that. Lately, my dishwasher hasn't been cleaning the dishes as well as I would like. And there tends to be a greasy feel to the dishes even when there wasn't anything greasy in the dishwasher.

The proposed solution? Vinegar. Yup, plain white household vinegar. It's a disinfectant and degreaser. So, I gave it a try. I poured about a cup of white vinegar in the bottom of my dishwasher (with no dishes in it) and ran it.

The next load of dishes I had included a greasy pan so I thought this would tell me whether or not the vinegar worked. Not only did the dishes come out completely clean, there was NO greasy feel to them.

The BBC show "How Clean Is Your House?" suggests doing the "vinegar treatment" on your dishwasher once a month. Apparently the trap at the bottom collects bacteria and grease and the vinegar disolves it.

Ok, one experiment down and it was successful!