Merry Microfiber Blog

photo credit: LadyDragonflyCC – Hearts on Fire <3

Be green this year when you give to those you love!

You know hugs are green nd replenishable!

If the economy has you on a tight budget, give some quality time to those you love. Guys do a job, your wife has wanted done. Be creative on doing something special for her. (and wives don’t say it is about time – appreciate it that they did it).

I know roses are the “thing” for Valentines Day, but what if your wife isn’t a rose person and loves to garden. Maybe a plant she can put out in her garden would be more appreciated. (I am talking from my own experiences. I say don’t spend money on roses – buy me a plant, a lily bulb, something I have been wanting for my garden that will give me flowers year after year.)

Guys think out of the box, be creative! Wives too!

Here are a few sites that can help you think green and out of the box.

• http://www.greenamericatoday.org/guides/valentines/index.cfm
• http://www.organicbouquet.com/c_155//Valentines-Day-Flowers.html?src=google&gclid=COPQ78qk458CFRMNDQodU2GvGw
• http://www.theultimategreenstore.com/
• http://www.pristineplanet.com/green-valentines-organic-valentine-eco-friendly-valentine-organic/valentine-gifts/15625_a_0.html
• http://www.greenandmore.com/eco-gifts.html
• http://www.naturalhomemagazine.com/tips/10-date-and-gift-ideas-for-a-green-valentines-day.aspx

Last night I made up another batch of homemade laundry detergent.

It is quite easy to make and is more economical than store bought.

I had some bars of Octagon soap that I had previously bought online, and I grated them up. (I also recruited my husband to help in the grating process). I just used my Pamper Chef hand held cheese grater to grate up the soap.

One bar of Octagon gave me the necessary 2 cups of grated soap. (I have used Kirk’s castile, Ivory, Fel Naphta, and Octagon before. My sister-in-law thought the Fel Naphta soap – really helped to remove the barn smell from their clothes).

To the 2 cups of grated soap I added 1 cup of washing soda (not baking soda) and 1 cup of borax, mixing it together. I used Arm & Hammer Washing Soda and Mule Team Borax. You may have to look around in stores to find them, but they are available. I “rubbed” the grated soap in my hands to break it down further into smaller pieces, so it would dissolve better in the laundry. Sometimes I have even blended it finer in a regular blender; this works  to blend it all evenly together as well. I stored it in a plastic covered container, so it would remain dry.

When doing laundry I add 1-2 Tablespoons of the mixture per load of clothes. It doesn’t seem like alot, but it is enough. I believe we use too much laundry detergent. When my daughter got her new water purifying system, the installer, told her not to add any laundry detergent for the first few times she did laundry. He said there was enough left over inside the fibers of the fabric to get them clean. (And we wonder why we are getting more sensitized to chemicals).

If you like making your own homemade hand soaps, you could probaly 2 cups of grated soap in your laundry soap as well. Just be careful when laundering microfiber with a high fat soap, as it has a tendency to clog or coat the fibers over time. I like to use an oxygen based laundry detergent when washing microfiber.

Be creative and make your own soap. Most of the bar soaps out there will work, it really depends on how much fragrance you want in your laundry detergent. I actually prefer little or none. When I blended the batch of Ivory detergent, I found it was the most “choking”. It seemed to give off finer particles on blending than the others, but it was the easiest to grate. The Kirk’s Castile seemed to require the most “muscle” power in grinding.

The dark green and navy 20″ x 40″ microfiber waffle weave towels have arrived. I have included them in a new Waffle Weave Cleaning Sets, the European Spa sets, and have added a new Green Clean Super 8 Set with the dark green one included; or if you want just the towel, it is available singly as well.

These are great for bathing or cleaning. Many people like the dark colors for cleaning especially since they show stains less. To remove stains just soak in hot water and an oxygen cleaner.

So if you have a person, who is a “grub master”, as is my son-in-law, and when they come in to clean up,  have them use these dark colored waffle weave towels. Then they won’t be ruining your light colored towels.   

They are great when washing the car, for they are superabsorbent, and will make quick work of drying off your car after washing, or use when washing the windows.

A number of years ago I was able to purchase a medium blue 20″ x 40″ waffle weave towel. I use when washing my windows. I wash them with a 16″ x 16″ all purpose towel and dry them with a the waffle weave. I can dry pretty much almost all my windows with just this one towel.

Take them camping with you. They dry out quickly, yet are superabsorbent, and don’t take up allot of space; so they make great towels for the RV or camper.

In Northern Wisconsin we are in the throes of winter and cold weather.  So if you also are trying to save energy but still wanting to stay warm, try some of these suggestions:

1. dress warmer, by wearing more layers, or wearing heavier clothing
2. by adding a blanket to your bed
3. by using an afghan, when watching TV or reading
4. using blinds on windows and closing them at night, opening them in the morning to let the sunlight in (we have double cellular blinds, and it really makes a difference closing them at night)
5. closing your vertical blinds on patio doors
6. adding storm doors to help keep out drafts 

These are things we do, to help us stay warmer, and still being able to keep our thermostats at 66 degrees. If need be while working in one room I may turn up just that thermostat while working in that room.

Want a microfiber mitt to dust with – make your own. All you need is a 16 x 16 all purpose cloth, or a suede one that is used for dusting electronics and delicate items.

Just fold the cloth in half, lay your hand on the cloth and trace around it in the form of a mitt, using the sewed edges as the bottom edge of your mitt.

Either machine stitch or handstitch using a “blanket stitch” to finish off the edges, but donot sew the bottom edges together.  Turn the mitt right side out, and there you have it your own microfiber dusting mitt.

Or use a 12 x 12 waffle weave facial cloth and make yourself a mitt to exfoliate your skin.

Do you have lots of plastic grocery bags around and can you crochet or do you have a friend that can crochet. Make “plarn” bags out of them. Plarn stands for plastic yarn.

I made one last winter out of all my bags, this year I have been working on some smaller ones. The yellow and green one was from grocery bags my mother and daughter saved for me. The yellow beads for the handle came from the a thrift/second hand store. 

 This one, below,  was made out plastic bags that were thinner and softer, I had  dark green, cream color, and clear plastic bags.   The smaller shorter one was made from brown bags and white bags. The white bags with different colored printing add a pretty design look to the bag.

You can make your plarn bag any size you want. The one I made last year, my granddaughter uses as her “overnight” bag when she comes to stay at our house.

So during these long dark winter days, have some fun use your creativity and recycle those plastic grocery bags into something more durable and useful.

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A good way to use old polyester double knit is to make them into durable rugs. I love the ones my daughter has made for me. They wash great and are very durable. Below are some instructions I found on how to make one.

Posted on the Garden Web by Posted by blueberrier1.

Make a kitchen/bath/doorway throw rug. This is washable.

Assuming you have a sewing machine that will stich thru a base layer of PREWASHED medium canvas or heavy denim and the double knit fabrics:
(1) Cut double knit into 2-3″ bias squares. 100% accuracy not required. I have used some circles as well.
(2) Hem your canvas to rectangle/oval/other desired shape and size. My largest are about 18″x36″.
(3) Pencil stitching lines on base fabric top side. Lines should be 1/2-1.5″ apart. Lines can be curved, if you feel dramatic. You can mark what color of double knit you want in a specific area or just have random placement.
(4) Stitch the knit pieces to the base on the diagonal. I like to overlap the tips by 1/4-3/4″. I stitch 1/2″ from the outside edge.
(5) One of the easiest ‘designs’ is to stitch a circular patterm from the center, and then finish the rest of the mat parallel. Much depends on your machine’s throat space. Backstitch at edges/ends.
(6) Additionally, if your knits are the lightweight types, tuck small pleats as you stitch. On most uses, I place a mesh carpet mat under this mat. These mats “shake out” easily. They are tough, hold lots of debris, yet comfortable to stand on if you have a stone floor. Am planning to make a mat from my silk scraps for my bathroom.
If you desire, you can line the base of the mat. Most of mine are made on a commercial walking foot machine with #69 upholstery thread. Some were made with poly cotton thread and are still in use. If you only have a standard machine and thread, you could double stitch pieces.

Yesterday in Everyday Cheapskate e-newletter was a comment by one of her readers on making making your own flea shampoo. Karen L. from Californina wrote about adding two tablespoons of lemon or orange juice to a small bottle of baby shampoo, spraying it on the pet, being careful not to get it in their eyes, letting it sit a few minutes and then rinsing them off thoroughly.

Another comment I have heard is to take rubbing alcohol and spray it on your pet, being careful about face and eyes. This too will do those fleas in, and you may avoid a costly trip to the vet; to see why your pet is scratching so bad and having to buy expensive flea and tick killer.

MerryMicrofiberCloths.com has added some new mop pads for those tougher cleaning jobs.

The Cut-Pile Microfiber Mop Pad for deeper cleaning of laminate and hardwood floors.

This pad is thicker and plusher than the regular mop pads, it can be used wet or dry. This pad has more surface friction, covering more surface area.

The Microfiber Scrubber Mop Pad has ridges for greater scrubbing ability. It is the mop pad you need where food preparation takes place or where extra scrubbing action is needed.

The Microfiber Fringed Dust Mop Pad is a fringed mop pad that has greater collection and containability than the regular mop pad. Great for dust mopping before wet mopping.

photo credit: anee.baba

Here it is January, and your plants maybe becoming alittle dusty, I know mine were, and I also needed to transplant one of my Christmas cactuses.

I was going to repot the cactus earlier, but then noticed it was developing blossoms, so decided to wait. I didn’t want to disturb its blooming cycle by transplanting it.

So today I transplanted it into a new larger pot. Hopefully now it won’t dry out so fast, and the water won’t just run through it, when it is watered.

While transplanting it, I also gave it a “bath”. I had the pot sitting in my kitchen sink, so I sprayed it with my hand sprayer, connected to my faucet. Then I dried it off with a microfiber hand towel.

I used a microfiber dish cloth to cleanup the dirt particles and water “left-over” from potting. Microfiber is an excellent “dirt picker-upper”! Next time you have a potting job to do, keep a microfiber cleaning cloth around to help with cleanup.

And don’t forget to dust your plants. They will love you for it; for it helps them absorb sunlight better, keeping them healthy and happy! You can dust them by wiping them off with a slightly damp microfiber cloth.