Urban Blog

By now you may be wishing you’d used high quality laundry detergent all along. Or you may be wishing you’d just given those sheets away instead of storing them in the garage. Whatever the reason, some clothing and linens can get so dirty that they don’t smell right even after a wash and dry.
 
Kate Simmons has a way to really clean them again. Soak your sheet in vinegar, water and dish soap for half an hour. Then put them in your washer on hot and on “heavy soil” with baking soda—no laundry detergent—making sure the bubbling action happens to the sheets, not before you add them. Dry; test with your nose; repeat if necessary. One way or another, those sheets are going to get clean.
 
More details and process at Decoist
 

Did they just say that?
 
“Saving money with solar isn’t just smart. It’s brilliant.”
 
I want to write a slogan like that.
 
That quote is of course from a solar panel company, Sunrun Home Solar Lease and Installation.
 
Of course they have practical things to say as guests on Raising Three Savvy Ladies. Click on for ways to save money at home before or in addition to considering alternative power. The simple list is a good source of ideas for further searches.
 
“It’s brilliant.”
 

 
Everybody does this, so don’t feel ashamed: when a household item seems nearly impossible to clean, you may leave it for a long time. We try to ignore the fact that items that are hard to clean must be getting really dirty. But the seats in your car may be easier to clean than you think.
 
Becky of Clean Mama suggests photographing your car seat so that you won’t be afraid that you can’t put it back together after you clean it. Wash the cover gently in a washing machine and hang it to dry completely. Vacuum as much of the rest of the seat as you can, and of course disinfect hard parts.
 
If you want to know more about how dirty your car seat can get, check out the Huffington Post.
 
Click for 100 reasons
 

 
Clean Mama Becky loves crawling the web, and I love this collection of bathroom cleaner recipes she has concocted. I also love how many different blogs she sources to make sure she is applying the best knowledge for any reader’s home. These homemade recipes vary in strength, toxicity, and purpose.
 
Click clean
 

 
Thinking of painting a room soon? You could pick a color on the fly, but Virgina at LiveLoveDIY suggests you slow down and take steps to think about it. Assessing your tastes based on your favorite eye candy, then trying out samples, are just part of the process of making sure the color you choose is one you will love longer.
 
Stop and read it
 

 
Clean Mama is a great place to find laundry tips, especially now that Becky has gathered eight of the best laundry posts on the web into one reference article. I especially love her guide to washing instruction symbols, and I can use all the home blog references I can get.
 
Click to improve your laundry experience
 

 
As a clothes hanging household member, you may be savvy in other areas of housekeeping, like home improvement. In that case, LiveLoveDIY is working on a blog series regarding a full basement renovation in progess. I’ll send you to the first post of the bunch, which is wonderfully messy.
 
Meet Virginia
 

Hello crafty readers. If you need an extra space to keep your half-finished projects, Noreen Crone-Findlay suggests adding a cardboard or plywood surface to a sturdy folding clothes drying rack for a temporary table. This is a great way to keep scrapbooks or Warhammer games out without occupying your furniture, and it folds away when you’re done. Now you don’t need to go out and buy a new folding table.
 
More from Noreen Crone-Findlay
 

 
Whether you have a small living space or just a disorganized one, organizing your home usually requires creative problem solving. Using vertical space adds storage, but did you think of finding even more storage in existing places such as inside cupboards? Good Housekeeping has found 13 ways to increase and organize storage with inexpensive tension rods.
 
And so many helpful bloggers too!