Merry Microfiber Blog

This weekend I had some kids from a church group stay with us overnight, and one of them had a nose bleed. I didn’t get excited that I had blood on my sheets and pillow case, because I knew Oxy-Boost would take it out.

I just soaked them first in a solution of hot water and Oxy-Boost first before throwing them in the washer, and it can out. Oxy-Boost is a solid form of hydrogen peroxide which is an excellent cleaner for removing blood.

You can also soak the articles in a solution of salt water, since our blood plasma is like salt water,  will help release the blood cells without causing them to break.

Cleaning up your flowers after blooming is faster and easier with a pruning shears. They have longer blades making clipping quicker and easier.

I like to “dead head” all my flowers to keep them from “walking”. Plus it just makes the gardens look neater. So yesterday I used my pruning shears to clip off the dead flower remains from my peonies and irises. It went allot faster than clipping them off individually with a smaller hand clipper.

So if you want to save time and energy and who doesn’t these days, use a pruning shears to clip off your flowers, when they are finished blooming.

I also have been using them tool in the fall to clip everything off when putting my garden to “bed”  for the winter.

Are you tired of towels of constantly replacing your hand towels, especially during hot humid weather? Then you need to try a microfiber hand towel, they absorb more than a cotton towel but dry out quicker.

Microfiber’s structure allows it to absorb more, but the open structure also allows it to dry quicker, so they are ready to reuse sooner. Thereby reducing the number of towels you are laundering weekly.

My daughter made a comment to me this morning, that the cotton towels she uses for the kids stayed wetter longer, than the one microfiber towel, she was using. She is thinking she needs more microfiber, in order to go through fewer towels. As a daycare provider she uses lots of toweling, so this would help her out on reducing her laundry. 

Need hand towels, kitchen towels, bath towels, sport towels, facial cloths check out our site at www.MerryMicrofiberBath.com.

In today’s Mary’s Cheapskate’s Newsletter was a comment from a lady who used to put her washed lettuce or vegetables in a plastic bag before adding them to her veggie bin. But she discovered that they stayed fresher longer, when she wrapped them in paper towels, eliminating the plastic bags.

Not only will this help save you money on veggies, but paper is a sustainable product and plastic is not. Paper will decompose readily in a compost pile and at the garbage dump whereas plastic takes almost forever to decompose.

So I really liked this tip, plus the fact that plastic, which is made from petroleum, increases our dependence on foreign oil - which is definitely an issue today.

So if any of you have any other ideas where paper can plastic, please leave me a comment.

I have connected with “LetsGoGreen.biz, they have biodegradable silverware, plates, cups, bowls, garbage bags to use when camping, going on a picnic or just having a quick lunch. Then dispose of your trash in biodegradable garbage bags.

They also have green laundry detergent, dish soap, cleaners, and all sorts of interesting “green” products.

Use the following code and get 20% off every order. Help yourself and help our environment.

In this weeks copy of the Bloomer Advance (Bloomer, Wis.) was an article about a couple, who have turned an old barn into a “organic fertilizer factory” using earthworms.

They grow the worms in a special mixture of peat dirt and feed, in pails,  for about 2 weeks in a special room where the humidity, temperature and lighting are controlled. During this time the worms eat and digest the organic matter in the mixture leaving them worm castings.

Then the worms, worm cocoons and castings are separated, using a trammel (which is a large cylindrical machine with 2 different screens), into three separate containers. When this process is completed, the worms are returned to buckets with fresh feed and bedding to begin the process again.  

Now their “older” worms are sold for fish bait under the name “Tasty Bait Crawlers” at area bait stores. These worms having the ability to thrive in warm temperatures,  and do not require refrigeration. They are active and make a great fish bait.

Earthworm castings (poop) makes for an excellent organic fertilizer, it is:

• odor free                                                                                        
• it improves soil structure and it naturally aerates the soil
• does not attract insects
• will not chemically burn plants
• does not carry larva, insects or worms you don not want in in your home
• you can easily make an inexpensive worm tea using it
• does not contain insecticides, herbicides or other toxic compounds that can be in compost
• it naturally releases nutrients slowly to plants
• continued use does not build inert elements contained in commercial fertilizers
• helps the soil maintain proper acid levels
• it promotes biological activity in the soil
• it has auxins and cytokinins - which help to promote healthy root development
• you can use it on your gardens, lawns in planters, containers or where ever plants need an effective, natural fertilizer
• a little goes a long way

More facts on worm castings click here and here.

These products can be purchased locally at Bloomer Hardware and Klinger Farm Markets as well as stores in other nearby communities or by contacting Lowell & Kathy Jacobson at lkjacobson@bloomer.net,  calling 1-715-568-4426, or by writing to them at 20876 State Hwy. 4o, Bloomer, WI 54724. (They are licensed growers and dealers for this product.)

They sell the Wiggle Worm Soil Builder Organic Fertilizer in 1 lb, 4 1/2 lbs, 15 lbs, 30 lb and 100 lb bags. The also carry 1 ton bulk totes. They can ship the product to you if  you cannot pick it up locally.

Jacobson’s also carry 100 lb bags of potting soil, screened peat, production compost and Chic n’ Worm Poo, plus bait worms, composting worms, lawn and garden worms, night crawlers, breeder worms & worm cocoons, worm bedding & worm food.

So if you are looking for an organic, more natural fertilizer for your house plants, container plants, gardens and/or lawns etc. try worm castings. It has been shown that a great way to improve your lawn is by adding compost to the lawn, so feed your lawn with worm castings, a natural compost.

The Green Christian Network’s June 1st newsletter had an article called “Compost Anyone”  and some of “weird” things you could add to your compost pile.

Here are somethings that she had that you could put in your compost pile:

• pet hair
• lint
• old spices and herbs
• coffee grounds & filter (a comment was that Starbucks will let you have used coffee grounds for your compost pile)
• egg shells ( I have regularly added them along with all my vegetable peelings, stems etc.)
• kleenex tissue
• stale potato chips
• moldy cheese (this I might throw out for the “creatures, along with stale bread crusts)
• shredded cardboard cereal boxes
• hair and beard trimmings (these also you can put by plants as deer deterents)
• old plain pasta
• liquids from canned fruit or vegetables (the juice can also be collected and saved and used when making soup;  also save your liquids when cooking fresh and frozen vegetables - or drink it)
• pencil shavings
• cotton swabs w/cardboard sticks not plastic sticks
• grass clippings, weeds that you have pulled from your garden, pine needles, leaves,

Things you shouldn’t put into your compost pile:

• dog poo
• diseased plants
• weed seeds (unless the pile gets very hot, it will not kill the seeds, and you will be replanting them into your garden, when you use the compost. I don’t put grass clippings in that contain allot of dandelion seeds, I just make another pile for them)
• no meat scraps

Composting is a great way to make nutrient rich material to add to your garden or flower pots. It adds moisture absorbency to sandy soil, and “lightness” to heavy clay soils; with any soil type it is the perfect additive.

photo credit: Carly & Art

We are down to one Guinea, we started with 6 in April and are now down to one. The first 2 were killed by dogs, the next one we think a weasel got it, the third possibly to a raccoon, and the 5th we have no idea, possibly an owl.

They have been roaming throughout our yard and the neighbor across the road. The neighbor didn’t mind if our guineas came over and ate his bugs too. Many other neighbors have enjoyed watching them out “working”. They are quite an interesting bird. But they have many predators.

We have wolves, coyotes, fox, bear, raccoon, fishers, eagles, ravens, owls, weasels, dogs - lots of “creatures” in our area. We live in a township that is about half farm land and half wild land/lakes. So there is allot of natural habitat left yet for the many wild creatures.

We are sad that our guineas haven’t lasted longer, but we knew the risk when we started. We had hoped to have had them at least till fall, when our gardening season was over.

We would still encourage people to try gardening with guineas, they are a joy to watch “working” the yard. Hopefully they had depleted some of our tick population the time they were here, and we hope to have at least one till fall.

I got an email with information on uses for peroxide. Be safer, use peroxide or peroxide based cleaning products, instead of bleach.

Did you know peroxide is safer and healthier than bleach!
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This was written by Becky Ransey of Indiana (a doctor’s  wife) and I want to share it with you. She was over recently for coffee and smelled the bleach I was using to clean my toilet and countertops. This is what she told me I would like to tell you of the benefits of that plain little old bottle of 3% peroxide you can get for under $1.00 at any drug store.�
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My husband has been in the medical field for over 36 years, and most doctors don’t tell you about peroxide. Have you ever smelled bleach in a doctor’s office?  No!! Why? Because it smells and it is not healthy! Ask the nurses who work in the doctor’s offices and ask them if they use bleach at home. They are wiser and know better.

Did you also know bleach was invented in the late forties? It’s chlorine, folks! It was used to kill our troops in World War II.. Peroxide came into popular use during and after WWI. It was used to save and help cleanse the needs of our troops and hospitals. Please think about this:

1. Take one capful and hold in your mouth for ten minutes daily, then spit it out, I do it when I bathe. No more canker sores and your teeth will be whiter without expensive pastes.  Use it instead of mouthwash

2. Let your toothbrushes soak in a cup of peroxide to keep them free of germs.

3. Clean your counters and table tops with peroxide to kill germs and leave a fresh smell. Simply put a little on your dishrag when you wipe or spray it on the counters.

4. After rinsing your wooden cutting board, pour peroxide on it to kill salmonella and other bacteria.  

5. I had fungus on my feet for years until I sprayed a 50/50 mixture of peroxide and water on them every night and let dry.  

6. Soak any infections or cuts in 3% peroxide for five to ten minutes several times a day. My husband has seen gangrene that would not heal with any medicine but was healed by soaking in peroxide.  

7. Fill a spray bottle with a 50/50 mixture of peroxide and water and keep it in every bathroom to disinfect without harming your septic system like bleach or most other disinfectants will

8. Tilt your head back and spray into nostrils with your 50/50 mixture whenever you have a cold, plugged sinus. It  will bubble and help to kill the bacteria. Hold for a few minutes and then blow your nose into a tissue.

9.. If you have a terrible toothache and cannot get to a dentist right away, put a capful of 3% peroxide into your mouth and hold it for ten minutes several times a day. The pain will lessen greatly.  

10. And of course, if you like a natural look to your hair, spray the 50/50 solution on your wet hair after a shower and comb it through. You will not have the peroxide-burnt blonde hair like the hair-dye packages but more natural highlights if your hair is a light brown, reddish or dirty blonde. It also lightens gradually so it’s not a drastic change.  

11. Put half a bottle of peroxide in your bath to help rid boils, fungus or other skin infections

12. Add a cup of peroxide instead of bleach to a load of whites in your laundry to whiten them. If there is blood on clothing, pour it directly on t he soiled spot. Let it sit for a minute then rub it and rinse with cold water….repeat if necessary.  

13. I use peroxide to clean my mirrors. There is no smearing, which is why I love it so much for this.

Need an oxygen based cleaner: try Oxy-Boost for your laundry, cleaning your pool furniture, it is made from a natural form of hydrogen peroxide. Find other oxygen based cleaners manufactured by Natural Choices on our new site: www.MerryMicrofiberNaturalCleaners.com