Knitted Reusable Duster Covers

I found these great re-usable Swiffer covers here.  I decided to make some.

I love my Swiffer sweeper.   I have many, many hardwood floors to keep clean and Swiffers are a quick way to dust.  What I don't love is the price of the disposable cloths that I need to continue to buy;  they are expensive.   So I knit myself the cover that the blogger in the above link recommended (actually I knit three of them).

Do I like them?  I DO!  A LOT!!!  They picked up a great deal of dust from my hardwood floors.  I like that I can shake them off and launder them and I really, really like that they are inexpensive to make.  Actually, they were almost free for me to make because I had a huge cone of cotton yarn sitting in the cupboard in my sewing room.  I think I bought it to make dishcloths years ago.  I have been using it as string for I don't know how long, so it was nice to have a use for some of it.

I did my knitting in the car while my husband was driving so I made three covers.  They knit up very quickly.  Since I used 100% cotton yarn, I washed my covers in hot water before sewing them at the ends and testing if they fit the Swiffer, just in case they shrunk and I couldn't get them over my Swiffer.  They did shrink but not significantly.  In fact, I sewed my ends over 2 1/2 " instead of the 2" overhang that the pattern suggested.15" was more than sufficient width for my Swiffer, but then I have owned it since they came out with them, so maybe the newer ones are not as wide.

 I folded the right sides together and stitched the ends along the sides on 4 surfaces with a back stitch.

Here is a cover after I turned it right side out.
   I used a neat and tight back stitch to stitch the end pockets.

Here's what my seam using the back stitch looks like on my Swiffer cover.

I will be making a few more of these covers so I can throw dirty ones in the laundry basket and still be able to dust daily if I need to.

They did a good job on my floors and I am pleased that I won't have to buy the disposable covers any more.

Not muffins

These funny little things are deodorizing discs.  I saw them on Pinterest and gave them a try.  They made up quickly and using standard muffin tins, I got 24 discs from this recipe.

They couldn't be easier to make...

2 cups of baking soda
1-2 cups of water
Several drops of essential oil

Heat the water to boiling and add the oil.  Mix the liquid slowly into a bowl containing the baking soda.  Add only enough liquid to make a spreadable paste.  I needed about 1 cup of water.  The more water you mix in...the longer the discs take to dry and harden.

Spoon the paste into small containers.  I used aluminum muffin tins but I think that silicone molds would work great.  Don't do anything to the tins (like greasing them).

Let the soda completely dry.  This may take several days or just half a day depending on the humidity in your air.  Tap the discs out of the tins and store in jars or bags until you need them.

I popped one in the bottom of my garbage can and so far, it is keeping the can smelling pretty fresh.  I read that these work wonders in diaper pails, cars, pantries and refrigerators too.  

Some people who made them put them in their wash after using them elsewhere.  I don't think I would do this.  They are so cheap and I'm not sure if I want them in my wash after using them someplace like a diaper pail.

Try them.  I think they are great little things to have on hand.

Home Made Laundry Soap

I like Pinterest.  Mostly I Pin things that look interesting to me.  I've been wanting to try a home made laundry soap for awhile; so today I opened up a pin and gave the recipe a try.

I found most of the ingredients at my local super market but I could not find Zote laundry bar soap.  One blogger said that she bought hers at K Mart, so I checked all the Kmart's close by (and some not so close).  Nope...  couldn't find it.  I googled Zote and found out that it was made in Mexico.  Aha....a Latin market or maybe the local Walmart (they have a large selection or Latin products)? 

Woohoo..... lots of Zote in White and Pink colors at Walmart and it was cheap.

After reading many, many comments I decided to take the advice of others and purchased Oxi-Clean to add to the original recipe as recommended.  A few commenters said that they needed Oxi-clean to get the clothes white.  As I was mixing, I read the labels on the products and found that Oxi-Clean was very, very similar to Super Washing Soda.   I only added half the amount of Oxi-Clean.

And here it is.  It made a ton.  I hope it works as I won't be using it up any time in the remotely near future.  It filled a large 2-lb. tin that came filled with Garret Popcorn.  I put some soap in a small jar to take to the Stone House.  It sure is pretty and economical too.

I'll let you know how it works.

Homemade Laundry Soap

1-4 lb. 12 oz box of Borax

1- 4 lb. box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda

1 box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda 55 oz.

2 pink Zote bars, grated

1 small container of OxiClean or ½ of a 4-lb. box

1 bottle of Downy Unstoppables

Mix all in the food processor.  Store in an airtight container.

2 Tablespoons per load usually does the job.

*Update:  I love this soap.  It smells wonderful (the Downy Untstoppables are responsible as well as the Zote).  The Zote is clean smelling, unlike Fels-Naptha.
The Zote seems to clean the whites well, and the baking soda helps with the hard water.  This is a winner at our house.