White Sinks are [Im]possible to Keep Clean

White Sinks are [Im]possible to Keep Clean

  We have a white kitchen sink.  I’m really not sure who in their right mind would think that would be a good idea.  Although, the area we live in is notorious for extremely hard water, so stainless steel may be just as painful to keep looking squeaky clean.

There are a few products I have found to remove stains from our white sink that always seems to mock me.

  • Mrs. Myer’s Clean Day Kitchen Scrub or Comet scrub
  • Soft Scrub
  • Fixodet denture cleaning tabs

Below is the process I use to clean and remove stains from our sink.

  1. Give the sink a good scrub using any scrubbing cleaner of choice.  I like Mrs. Myer’s Clean Day products, but I sometimes use Comet if I want the power of bleach.
  2. After using a scrub and a sponge and rinsing the sink thoroughly, I pour Soft Scrub over stained areas and let it sit for several hours.  Once the Soft Scrub has dried, I scrub the area and rinse thoroughly.
  3. Before heading to bed, add one to two Fixodent denture cleaning tabs to the sink, plug the drain, and run hot water.  Let the sink soak overnight.  Drain the water and rinse thoroughly in the morning.
  4. Voila!  Clean sink.
Advertisement
Diaper Deals

Diaper Deals

  Best diaper deals?  Target.  Have I mentioned I love Target?  Oh… I have?

Target frequently has great deals on everything baby.  Here are some helpful hints on diaper buying at Target.

  • $25 off or $25 gift cards on $100 or more purchase of baby products.  They have this deal every month or so and it’s a great time to stock up on diapers and wipes.
  • Free gift card with diaper purchase.  Target usually has a deal for a gift card with the purchase of 2 or 3 jumbo boxes of diapers.  I normally wait until the gift card is $10 or $20 to get the most bang for my buck.
  • Cartwheel.  Pampers tend to be on Cartwheel more frequently than Huggies, but it’s great when there is a Cartwheel deal, a gift card offer, AND a coupon.
  • Mobile coupons.  If you have the Target app on your phone, there are often coupons right on your mobile app.
  • Printable coupons.  Google “Target coupons” and use the first link that appears.  There are usually Pampers and Huggies coupons you can print and use with all of the other offers Target has.
Diapers-the Bottom Line

Diapers-the Bottom Line

  Ahhhh, diapers, wipes, and diaper rash creams.  There are so many brands, so many fits, so many absorbancies, and sooooo much money.  If you’re looking for great diaper deals, check out my Target deals in my Diaper Deal post.  Here’s a little breakdown of what we’ve tried, what worked, what didn’t, and what was most cost effective:

Huggies

Huggies have by far been the best we’ve tried. We used Little Snugglers and Snug and Dry when our son was a newborn and Little Movers as he began to crawl and walk.  We original had a lot of leaks from any diaper we tried. Unbeknown to me, his diapers were a little too small.  They gapped in the top when he would sleep causing them to leak.  No diaper stopped this from happening, but the least leaks occurred with Huggies.

Warning on the wipes: DO NOT use Huggies Natural Care wipes.  They gave our son the most horrible diaper rash I have ever seen.  I thought maybe we were alone on this one and it was a fluke, but our nephew had the same problem-horrible, open rash as a newborn after using only a few of the Huggies Natural Care wipes.  We normally use Huggies Simply Clean and they have been our favorite so far-no rashes from these wipes and they seem to take the least amount of wipes to really get him clean.

As for cost, there are usually a lot of promotions for Huggies, so the cost can be comparable to cheaper brands.

Pampers

We have tried Swaddlers, Baby Dry, and Cruisers and all have been pretty good overall.  The fit of all Pampers seem to be a little larger than Huggies, so if our son seemed to be a little too big for his Huggies sizes, we used the same size in Pampers and this seemed to solve the problem.

We’re really only used Pampers Sensitive wipes and they’ve been pretty good-I prefer Huggies Simply Clean over Huggies because they’re thicker and seem to stay moist longer, but overall Pampers passes the test.

Pampers also usually have promotions and coupons, so the price of Huggies and Pampers are usually fairly comparable.

Luvs

I DO NOT love Luvs.  At all.  They gave our son a horrible, horrible rash and we had to give away the rest to someone we knew who already used them.

Babies R’ Us

Same as Luvs-horrible, horrible rash and had to give them away.  I wanted to like them-we received a free pack as a promotion and their prints are adorable, but no luck.

Boudreaux’s Butt Paste

Winner, winner chicken dinner-FINALLY a diaper rash cream that works.  This one has it all… it prevents, it protects, and it heals diaper rash that is already under way.  It healed the worst rash my son ever had-I mean broken open, painful, reoccurring rash.  It healed the rash and kept it from coming back.  We used the maximum strength for the horrible rash, but we’ve had great luck with the original as well.  It’s well worth the price!

A+D Ointment

This ointment is also great-it also helped heal a pretty bad rash our son had.  Although it didn’t heal the rash as quickly as Butt Paste, it did the job when others failed.  We like the original ointment in the brown and yellow packaging.  As it says, it’s an ointment rather than a cream and does a great job at healing.

Desitin

Desitin is a great everyday, affordable diaper cream option.  We use it every day to prevent any rashes from creeping up on us.  It doesn’t really heal the horrible rashes, but it helps ward off any future rashes.

 

Gotta Start Somewhere…

Gotta Start Somewhere…

I think. I think a lot. I think too much… or is that possible? I figure those thoughts have to go somewhere and if they can help someone else in the process, why not post them? I find myself discussing parenting, work, food, and life in general with friends and coworkers. Things get crazy, things get hectic, so this is a space for all of those thoughts.

I’ll begin with the title of this blog… Engineered Mama. I am a Biomedical Engineer. I’m a mom. The two are VASTLY different, but they’re both me. I like to think I’m fairly eclectic. No, not my fashion sense or choice of music, although I’m sure you could consider those eclectic as well. My life is eclectic. I love art, music, clothes (man, do I love clothes…), but I also have an analytical, logical, and serious side. At times I feel engineered. Hence, the title. I love great deals, I love finding products and methods that making cleaning a little easier, and I love discussing parenting. Hope you enjoy!

Dirty Washer? Clean it Up!

Dirty Washer? Clean it Up!

  I’m sure you know what I’m talking about… your high efficiency washing machine.  You know what I’m talking about, all you HE washing machine lovers.  I’ve had a love/hate relationship with mine for about four years now.  Never has four years seemed so long.  I love my HE washing machine, don’t get me wrong, but the smell… the gunk… the washing machine cleaners.  Really??? I need to WASH the appliance that washes my clothes?  No… I’m not ok with that.

So, after just tolerating the stink for four years and using the washing machine cleaning tabs (yeah… those things that are full of promise but always leave you disappointed, kind of like all of the chocolate that could’ve been dark chocolate that didn’t quite make it there), I finally found a few methods that actually cleaned my washing machine.  I mean ALL of the gunk and stink gone.  Want to rid yourself of the stench?  Follow these simple steps:

  1. Throw away all of your washing machine washing tablets… they don’t work.
  2. Run a tub clean cycle (if your machine doesn’t have the cycle, use the hottest cycle your washer has) with 1/2 cup of white vinegar in the detergent dispenser and 1/2 cup in the tub with 1/2 cup of baking soda.
  3. Grab a deep baking pan and an old towel.  It’s time to clean that nasty filter and drain pump tube thingy (yes, that’s it’s technical name).  There should be a small door toward the bottom of your washer.  If not, you should be able to take the bottom panel off of your washing machine to access the filter that can be removed (righty tighty, lefty loosey).  Rinse the filter and remove all of the gunk from the inside of the filter portion.  Next, remove the stopper from the drain pump tube thingy (there’s that technical name again), and drain it into the pan.  Doing this once a month (let’s be honest, do it whenever you can… ain’t nobody got time for that) should prevent a lot of buildup or stagnant water from backing up.
  4. Keep your washer clean so you don’t have to do the previous steps (yes, this IS possible!).
    • Add 1/2 cup of Borax to the tub with every load of laundry.
    • Whenever you wash towels (I usually do this about once a week), use the sanitary cycle with 1/2 cup of Borax.  If your machine doesn’t have a sanitary cycle use the hottest cycle your machine has.

I noticed a white film after using baking soda and vinegar in my machine.  If this happens, use a sponge dampened with white vinegar to rub the film away.  Sometimes laundry has a funny smell even when the washing machine is clean.  If this happens, add 5-10 drops of tea tree oil to a washcloth and toss it in the dryer and add the stinky culprits.

Happy cleaning!