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Dancing With Your Self-Consciousness

It is likely you have been ambushed by seeing this image at some point in the last few weeks.

This, of course, is Tom DeLay (W-Texas). The “W” stands for “Wild Thing.” If you haven’t seen the footage, you really should. It is an exercise in complete lack of self-consciousness. I applaud Mr. DeLay for that lack of self-consciousness. How many of us could let it all hang out like this in front of millions of people and all after being indicted for violating campaign finance laws?

Obviously, putting the alleged violation of the law aside, it is this type of bold action that makes a statement. Likely you and I are looking to make a statement different from DeLay’s “I’ve always wanted an excuse to wear sequins and dance for the world like I do in my kitchen.” Regardless, the path is the same: jettison that self-consciousness and take the risk! What’s the worst case, really? Well, that is worth exploring. Let’s consider the source and experience of self-consciousness briefly.

Self-consciousness is the sense of oneself or being aware of one’s actions or states. It is certainly a useful social tool. Self-consciousness is part of what allows us to create and maintain our self-image. We filter our actions into acceptable or unacceptable according to what is congruent with the self-image we have built. This filtering process is related to our self-confidence.

Our level of self-confidence determines which actions are deemed acceptable in this filtering process. If we are more self-confident, we allow ourselves more latitude for pushing the edge and risking what may be embarrassment due to failure. When we are more self-confident, we are just that: confident that the self-image we have built can withstand the occasional gaff or failure. Without pushing that edge, we won’t grow.

Plainly said, being overly self-conscious keeps us all from realizing our potential. Recognizing the utility of our self-consciousness is important. However, recognizing the limitations our self-consciousness creates and pushing that edge can be the difference between average and amazing, between so-so and successful, between mediocre and marvelous. You get the drift.

Only you can explore to what extent your self-consciousness limits your potential. Be honest with yourself. Ask yourself some of these questions:

Have you ever missed an opportunity while trying to save yourself potential embarrassment?

Do you admire someone in your life who regularly takes those social or professional risks, really sticks her neck out there, and reaps the rewards?

Have you ever had a thought you held back only to have a colleague raise that very point and become the hero?

Do you have personal plans or goals that you keep to yourself because of how you anticipate people will react? If yes, then please visit hypnotist chicago today and find the help you need.

As you consider putting self-consciousness in its place and making a leap or two for personal growth, remember these key points:

Just as you are self-conscious, so are others.

For better or worse, your friends and colleagues are focused on themselves, not you. Consider how much you notice a friend’s failures or gaffs. And, if you did, your reaction is likely one of support and empathy. You can expect the same reaction.

We are our own harshest critics.

We are typically harder on ourselves than anyone else would be. In fact, likely you have surrounded yourself with people who are more readily able and willing to see the genius in your effort than you are. (If you haven’t, you can and should!)

Consider the worst-case scenario.

Considering the worst case and being prepared to accept it is always a useful exercise. Even in the “Dancin’ Tom DeLay” example, the worst case isn’t so “worst.” It gave us all a chuckle. And he’s back in the news dancing washing from our brains the image of his smiling mugshot.

No risk, no reward.

Robert Kennedy summarized beautifully, “Only those who dare to fail greatly can achieve greatly.” We admire and hold out as examples those who risk and achieve.

Own it.

Your confidence and belief in yourself creates your reality.

In that spirit, I suggest a boycott of self-consciousness if only as an experiment. You choose the timeframe: a day, a week, forever? Take some chances! Wear the vintage hat you bought, but have never worn. Float that plan at work that you have been developing. Ask that person you have been hanging out with out on a real date. Try the awesome hip hop class you’ve been eyeing. Allow yourself to stretch and grow. Fun and learning opportunities await!

Make Your Home Feel Like a Day Spa

Have you ever gone to a day spa and just felt so relaxed and at ease? So, why not feel the same way in your own home? There are simple things you can do to freshen up each room and make it feel like you are at a day spa whenever you are at home.

Before starting your transformation, there are a few housekeeping things to do. Go through your entire house, put everything away and give it a good “spring cleaning.” Then to help freshen up the rooms give each room a coat of paint. Paint the rooms regardless of the color. White can even get dull after awhile and a fresh coat of paint will liven up the room.

Aromas

Not only will your home look refreshed, it will also smell refreshed. Aromatherapy can be used to help you to unwind, relax and get rejuvenated. You can add scents throughout your home by burning scented candles and incense. Candles also set the mood to help you relax at the end of a long day.

If you would prefer to not burn candles or incense, you can also use plug ins or electric diffusers instead. Place your preferred method in each room of the house and remember to not burn multiple scents in the same room. Scents to use include lavender for relaxation and citrus for fresh and energetic moods. Other popular aromatherapy scents include patchouli, mint or vanilla.

Bedroom

Add a feeling of softness to your bedrooms by purchasing thicker sheets and down filled comforters. Get the ones that you will simply fall into when lying in bed. Use extra soft pillows and add a handful of decorative throw pillows on top of your bed.

Bathrooms

Freshen up your bathrooms with new window and shower curtains. Purchase thick towels and place extras rolled up in a basket in the corner of the room. Put a basket of travel size soaps, hand sanitizer, shampoo, conditioner and lotion. Not only will they look cute sitting on your counter, but they will come in handy when guests come to visit. Hang plush bathrobes in each bathroom to use after a soak or shower. If desired, add candles for a candle-lit bath around the tub. Also, a single small tealight burning near the bathroom mirror will prevent it from fogging up during a shower.

Sitting Rooms

In sitting rooms, including family and living rooms place a bowl filled with fruit as a centerpiece. You can use fresh or fake, but fresh fruit is pleasing to the eye and a healthy snack to easily grab without having to go to the kitchen. Place vases filled with colorful flowers throughout your home to add a fresh floral scent and beautiful colors.

Backyard

Your spa feeling can extend into your backyard for you and your family to enjoy. Float candles or other lights in the pool and place additional candles (with citronella) around the pool. Add a gazing ball and some hanging lanterns throughout your garden. Install a fountain or pond that will give off trickling water sound effects. Make a sitting area with soft cushions and a small table to place books and drinks.

Source: Motykie medspa

A Low Cost and Green Option for Landscape Waste

Many families talk about going green by making purchases. They may consider purchasing a car to lower their carbon footprint, adding solar products and panels to their home or getting some other expensive green product that makes them feel like they are being more environmentally aware. What many don’t realize is that green living doesn’t always involve purchasing something else. In fact, it can be as simple as repurposing an existing object.

Our home sits on an acre of land. Lawn clips are left on the ground to break down naturally and fertilize the grass. However, at least twice a month, the hedges and trees need to be trimmed and the weeds need to be pulled. To accomplish this task it takes not only hours of work, but it also generates a large pile of yard debris. While composting could be an excellent solution, it is not an option for us to do our homeowners association rules and regulations. Thankfully, our city does offer yard waste only collection days and tries to dispose of what it collects in an environmentally conscious way.

While many of the homeowners in our development fill plastic bag after plastic bag with their yard waste for these special collection days, we feel that it is not only a wasteful practice to use the plastic yard waste bags, it’s expensive. Always looking for ways to cut our household budget, we have seldom used the plastic yard waste bags. Now that our family is working harder to reduce our carbon footprint, we have recognized that these bags are petroleum based products and are not environmentally friendly, as they will probably be on the planet longer than our family and our children. Because of this, we certainly will no longer purchase them.

In our household, we avoid using these products by using our regular trash bins and recycling containers for our yard waste. Over the years we have accumulated six garbage cans. We had bought two new containers when we rented a home and we inherited the previous owners four cans when we purchased our current home. While having several trash cans helps us to avoid using plastic bags for our yard waste, some weeks we end up with more yard waste than cans. Even then we do not resort to the plastic bags, we simply fill our two recycling bins with any excess weeds, twigs and hedge trimmings.

Fortunately, our collection day for yard waste is on Monday and we are able to do our yard work on the weekend. Once the yard waste has been collected, we can resume normal use of the bins for our regular household trash and recycling throughout the rest of the week. Any unused bins are stacked together during the week so that they don’t take up much space.

This is probably the simplest, most cost effective and green act our family could ever have implemented. It’s just another example of how green living doesn’t have to be expensive.

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Using Light with Acupuncture to Stop Pain

Acupuncture has been around in the healing arts for thousands of years. However, modern inventions have added some new twists to the use of acupuncture. There are forms of acupuncture using magnets, electrical stimulation and various forms of light. Laser light is used by many healthcare professionals. But lasers are not the only form of light that seems to work well on acupuncture points on living things. Lasers for now are best left to the use of professionals but there are products aplenty that are safe for home use. However research that began in the Space Program led to devices made from high intensity LED or Light Emitting Diode, that produced what scientists sometimes refer to as “near-infrared light.” One such device by brand name is the Light Shaker.

The Light Shaker

The Light Shaker was so named because it was developed specifically to treat food allergies. It was a specific invention of E.E. David Olszewski. People with food allergies only need to hold their hand near the food they are about to eat and set this device on pulse and then rotate it clockwise for about 30 to 60 seconds. Then a food that one might normally be allergic to will temporarily be safe to eat because this device matches your body’s energy field to that of the food. Many people with severe food allergies started to swear by this device when it first started appearing at health fairs in the 1990s. These devices are so safe that they may be used by children and can be used directly on the eye. You can’t use lasers directly on the eye except in special cases.

Pain Control and Wound Healing

Acupuncture is famous for controlling pain, even during some major surgeries. The Light Shaker and similar LED or near infrared devices will control new pain or old pain. It can be used with acupuncture points or directly on the skin over a painful area. This LED light will penetrate into the skin or under it up to 2 inches. The light will disperse on its own through meridians that are the conduits of acupuncture sites, if the light is only close to one of the acupuncture site openings. Doctors and scientists at NASA’s Marshal Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL., are studying the ability of these near-infrared lights to heal diabetic ulcers as well as serious burns and burns from chemotherapy. These are human trials that have been approved by theU.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Dr. Harry Whelan a professor of pediatric neurology and director of hyperbaric medicine has said, “The near-infrared light emitted by these LED’s seems to be perfect for increasing energy inside of cells. They show great promise for healing cells whether you are on Earth, under the Sea in a submarine or in a spaceship in orbit, these devices can boost cell energy and accelerate healing.” Dr. Whelan’s research is funded by NASA. He has many peer-reviewed articles published in various scientific journals including: Space Technology and Applications International Forum, and The Journal of Clinical Laser Medicine and Surgery.

These LED devices were originally designed for the Space Shuttle Program to aid in commercial plant growth research in space. The healing benefits to other living things has grown out of this original research. At the Medical College of Wisconsin,

Seasonal Affective Disorder(SAD)

Many people suffer horrible symptoms in winter, a sort of once a year depression. Many of these LED lights in different colors have been used to treat this disorder. But from there, many other uses of different colored LED lights have been found to address many varied medical issues. Many LED light manufacturers make large panels of LED lights that pulse in the UV range specifically for SAD.

Safer Than Dangerous Drugs

Before one resorts to dangerous drugs for chronic pain conditions and other medical conditions, safe modalities like acupuncture the traditional way with needles or with burning cones should be tried. But the beauty of using these modern inventions that use LED lights one does not need to be an expert in acupuncture and there is no need to fear harming oneself with these devices. They seem ideal to help people suffering from chronic pain. There are many books on the subject for further study, and books on acupressure to teach one the basic information of where acupoints are on the body. It is a nice way to heal yourself or someone you love or at least make them feel much better. One of the earlier and better books on this subject is Light Medicine of The Future by Jacob Liberman.

An LED Facelift.

All of these LED light devices also have a very nice side effect. They can reduce wrinkles in the skin to a large degree. They seem to stimulate the production of subcutaneous collagen. They are possibly yet another well kept beauty secret. One instruction book that comes with The Light Shaker even has a chapter on using this device for an acupuncture facelift.

This is a new and emerging field of science. Acupuncture is more than 6,000 years old, but using LED’s is new. In an era where there are ever increasing costs to health care and dangers in the use of prescription drugs, any new way to help people with medical problems that is safe and effective is always welcome.

A lot of people are wary about Arizona bathroom remodeling, thinking that the home improvement project will entail a lot of their time and money. While this may be true for those who want to replace just about every furnishing in their bathroom, this isn’t necessarily the case for most.

The most important thing that you need to do in order to stay within your budget is planning. You need to come up with ideas on what renovations you actually want to do. Does your bathroom just need a lick of paint? Do you need to replace the bathtub? Is your sink cracked? You will need to determine what you actually want done on your bathroom instead of jumping into it and ending up wasting a lot of money on unnecessary materials.

Next, you will need to set a budget. If you currently have financial difficulties and you want to remodel your bathroom primarily for aesthetic reasons, maybe you can put off the renovations at a later date. However, if you have enough money in order to pay for some work to be done, then do so, but plan your budget accordingly. You’ll not only need to purchase materials like granite and marble, you might also need to pay specialists, like plumbers and electricians, to do the work for you, especially if you’re planning for an extensive remodeling. Add an extra 10 to 15% to the initial costing in case eventualities may occur that might necessitate making extra expenses.

Lastly, think of the design that you want for your bathroom. Make sure that the remodeling will not clash with the decor of the rest of your house. You can browse through magazines or go to websites to get an idea on the different bathroom styles.

Bathroom renovations don’t have to be expensive! Just a few tweaks and modifications can do wonders in improving the appearance of one of the most important rooms of the house. As long as you do it the right way, you can actually get the bathroom of your dreams without going above your set budget.

Hang a picture here, one there and yet another one over there. Makes the room look great, until you decide to change the location of the pictures and you are left with small holes in the wall caused from nails and hangers. Or maybe the hole is slightly larger than a nail hole and needs to be repaired without having to replace drywall and re-painting. Can it be done? Sure, just use these tips for DIY drywall repair.

Small Hole Repair

Toothpaste is your go-to DIY repair product for small nail holes in both smooth and rough textured walls. Use white toothpaste (not gel) and dab in into the hole until it’s full. Smooth with fingertip to blend in with a smooth wall or leave as-is to blend in with a rough texture. Allow toothpaste to dry then cover with a dab of wall paint to make the DIY drywall repair invisible.

Large Hole Repair

Someone get mad and punch a hole in the wall? Clear away any drywall debris from the hole and cover hole with drywall tape, white or tan duct (duck) tape. Apply a thin coat of drywall putty over tape and smooth it down with a putty knife, being sure to cover tape completely but not thickly. If wall is textured, place putty knife blade flat against the wall putty and lift up all across the puttied area to create little peaks. Allow drywall putty to dry, lightly sand with fine grain sand paper to achieve the texture needed to blend in with the rest of the wall, then paint.

Even Larger Hole

We won’t speculate on how that large hole was made in the drywall, but we will give you tips for fixing the hole in the wall. Take a box knife and cut away the broken pieces and remove debris. Cut in straight lines and aim to make a simple shaped hole like a square or rectangle. Measure cleaned-up hole then measure, mark and cut a new piece of drywall 1/8 inch smaller all around. Fit the new piece of drywall into the hole. It should fit snuggly and can be tapped gently into place. Whittle down to size any errant corners or sides with the box knife. Apply drywall or duct tape around all sides, then apply a thin layer of drywall putty over the tape. Smooth out and let dry, then paint to match the rest of the wall. If the wall is textured, apply wall putty over the entire new piece of drywall and create texture with a putty knife as described under ‘large hole repair’. Let putty then apply a coat of wall paint.

Prepare to Remodel Your Bathroom

If you plan to remodel your bathroom, you need to make a solid plan based on your current and future needs. For instance, you need to plan for the aging process. Your bathroom is one of the most used rooms in the house, and as such, it needs to provide ease of access and use to you.

Do It Yourself? 
As handy as you might be, there are some areas that should be taken care of by a professional. For instance, if you aren’t a plumber, it’s better to hire one to do the remodeling job than to hire one to repair your remodeling job. Most professional plumbers offer a guarantee on their work, something that can be invaluable to a homeowner.

Other jobs that you might want to hire a professional for would be tile installation and electrical work. Remember that you aren’t going to want to remodel the bathroom again for many years, so you might as well hire a professional to make sure it gets done right the first time.

Steps to Plan For 
Before you actually buy anything or hire anyone to do the job, make sure you have a solid plan overall. Some of the things you need to look at changing would be your walls, flooring, sink, tub, light fixtures and cabinets. This is a job you want to do all at once. Don’t go buy a tile that strikes your fancy only to change your mind when you buy a sink or tub of a different style or color.

Before you take anything out of your bathroom, make sure to turn the water off. If you don’t have shutoff valves to your sink, toilet and tub, you’ll need to shut the main water line off, and then put shutoff valves on the items that are missing them. Otherwise you’re going to have to have the water off to the entire house for the duration of the remodeling job. You should always have individual shutoff valves installed on any item that involves running water anyhow.

Once the water is shut off, you’re going to need to remove the toilet, sink and tub. If you aren’t replacing these items with new ones, only remove the toilet so you can have access to the floor tiles if you’re putting new tiles in.

Shut the power in the bathroom off by shutting off the breaker that leads to the bathroom. You don’t want to simply switch the light off because there will still be power going to the switch itself. Shutting the breaker off prevents power from going to the bathroom at all. If you’re changing the wall panels or the light fixtures, you’ll need to remove the switch plate covers and light fixtures.

If you are replacing wall panels, you’ll need to remove the old ones first. You’ll also need to remove the floor covering if you’re planning on putting in new tile or linoleum. Once you’ve removed all that you need to, clean the area completely. Remodeling in the middle of a mess is a sure way to ruin the job and increase the level of frustration.

When you start putting the new items in the bathroom, start with the floor. Everything else in the bathroom depends on the floor. Make sure to repair any soft spots and level the floor before you do anything else. Once the floor is complete, complete the repair or replacement of the wall material. Once the walls and floor are done, you can begin installation of the other items in the bathroom.

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The Truth About Tow Yards and Your Vehicle

It is five a.m. on a Sunday morning. Your vehicle has just been involved in an accident, and you need a tow truck. With no body shops open to take your vehicle to, the only option is to allow it to go to a tow yard until it can be dealt with on Monday morning.

Your vehicle will be safe, right?

In many cases, the answer is wrong. As a former claims adjuster for a major insurance company, one of the biggest things seen is tow yards with less than stellar reputations hauling vehicles in and more problems arising out of the treatment towards vehicles. In some major cities, police departments even have contracts with these tow companies, which gives them a steady stream of consumers to take advantage of.

What problems could arise?

If you keep any personal items in the vehicle, do not expect them to be there when your vehicle gets picked up. I had seen many cases where upgraded stereo systems, CDs, iPods, and even shopping bags full of holiday gifts have “mysteriously disappeared” while in the custody of a tow yard. To make matters worse, they insist you sign a waiver stating they are not responsible for any missing items before they will give you the vehicle back.

Additional damage to your vehicle is also very possible. Tow yards are generally crammed so full (for their maximum profit, of course) that it is nearly impossible to even walk between cars. Thus, many additional damages happen during the loading and unloading process. Again, a waiver will be requested for you to sign stating there is no additional damage before they will allow you to move the vehicle.

Another big problem with tow yards is those who have a body shop attached. While there are a few reputable outfits with this type of setup, many are not. Regardless of what anybody at a tow yard tries to tell you, you are not required to use their body shop unless it is of your own choosing. This goes for your insurance company as well. Many state legislatures have laws that allow the consumer to choose his or her own shop. Although companies are allowed to give recommendations but it is ultimately the customer’s personal choice that determines where the vehicle will be repaired.

What is the best recourse when your vehicle has been at a tow yard? First of all, do not delay getting it out of there as soon as possible. Not only is there a potential for disaster the longer your vehicle is there, the yard will charge huge fees each day it is there. If your insurance company is not set to move the vehicle, then pay out of pocket and submit the receipts to them for later reimbursement. Take inventory of all personal items in the vehicle before going to the tow lot. Ask to see your vehicle and check for these items as well as any additional damage prior to signing any waivers.

How to Obtain Free Premarital Counseling

The scary thing about today’s relationships is that half of all marriages end in divorce however this does not have to be you and your spouse’s destiny. In fact, many couples who seek premarital counseling are able to have really great marriages and don’t seem to encounter many of the same issues that their counterparts who don’t attend premarital counseling. With this in mind, many couples are not only interested in premarital counseling but are encouraged to seek it out by their pastors, priests, rabbis and and even their family members and friends. In this brief article, we will discuss how to obtain free premarital counseling so that you can not only put your upcoming marriage on a firm foundation but you can receive counseling without breaking your pocketbook. Are you ready? Let’s begin.

First of all, you must keep in mind that finding competent and free premarital counseling will take a bit of hard work and effort. You shouldn’t just sign up for the first free counselor you find. Instead, you must actively seek a counselor that is equipped to help you deal with any impending and unforeseen issues. You must find one that will help you and your spouse understand one another and plan for any obstacles you may experience when you become husband and wife. In essence, you must both be willing to work with the counselor and willing to search for one that offers the quality services you deserve.

Second, keep your eye out for qualified counselors. Ask friends and family members for referrals. In addition, whether you are spiritual or religious, local parishes often offer these types of services to members of the community. All you have to do is call and ask for their help! If you are religious, compatibility can be an issue and therefore meeting with a local parish can help the two of you work through your spiritual differences and come to a mutual understanding. For instance, let’s say the wife is Catholic and the husband is Baptist well, you might choose a non denominational counselor to counsel the two of you. On the same token, you may want to check with qualified local community centers. In many instances, many of them have have publicly funded counseling services available. You can always visit one of these community centers to see if they can accommodate you or know of a center that can.

Third, check online. Aside from in the physical community, free premarital counseling is also available online! The digital age has permitted us to seek answers through our computers, which can connect us to therapists, religious leaders, or communities of like-minded individuals who can help with group counseling.

When seeking free premarital counseling, just remember that counseling will only work if you work it. Both you and your future spouse have to be willing to put forth the necessary work and effort to make the session worthwhile. In addition, when evaluating a counselor and/’or counseling program, you need to use the same criteria in a free program that you would seek in a paid one. Make sure that the counselor understands your goals and is willing to work with you and your partner to achieve those goals. In addition, you should both be comfortable and satisfied with the guidance you are receiving. And, the counselor should work with both of you, not against you, to make your relationship stronger than ever.

Good luck and Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials!

Learn the Hidden Secrets Behind Acupuncture Treatments?

Acupuncture works off the belief that we must maintain a balance of vital energy flow in order to remain healthy. An individual can look and feel healthy despite this flow being out of balance. Since energy out of balance can quickly become sickness, acupuncture is seen in this regard as preventive medicine. It is also a vital medical tool for treatment and restoration as well.

Before we get too in depth, however, a discussion of acupuncture’s history, uses, and effectiveness is in order. A better understanding of this subject is helpful in deciding whether acupuncture is right for you.

First used in China over 2,000 years ago, it is one of the oldest still-used medical procedures in the world. Acupuncture stimulates the anatomy of the body to balance energy flow throughout. Through the use of tiny, metallic needles placed in specific energy points while manipulating the area or related areas by hand massage or electrical stimulation, flow is re-aligned.

Even today, acupuncture forms the basis for traditional Chinese medicine and is used to properly align the two opposing forces within the body: the Yin and the Yang. Through the vital pathways (meridians) which allow the flow of qi (vital energy), the Yin and Yang energies become balanced as they connect over 2,000 acupuncture points along the body. Even Western science, always skeptical of traditional methods, has proven that acupuncture does work, though it doesn’t completely understand why.

The National Institute of Health has studied the affects of acupuncture in many areas of health care. It’s shown to be effective in postoperative nausea, osteoarthritis, chemotherapy side effects, lower back pain, headaches, menstrual cramps, addiction, asthma, carpal tunnel, and more. Their studies showed that acupuncture was able to provide pain relief, improved arthritic joint mobility and function, and complemented standard care.

Most doubters, once they become patients, become believers. Current medical theories as to why acupuncture works center around its affect on the body’s nervous system. The theory is that acupuncture regulates the nervous system and induces the release of endorphins and immune-system cells. Another theory concludes that acupuncture alters the brain’s chemistry by changing how neurotransmitters in the brain react.

No matter the theory of why, there is no doubt that it does work. As a patient myself, I can attest to the wonderful effect it’s had on my back pain. Acupuncture is a proven aid in maintaining optimal health, despite its current classification as an alternative medicine.

For the healthy individual, acupuncture is still very beneficial. Because of the balance of vital energies and their link to wellness over time, maintaining the balance through acupuncture is a preventive measure, keeping you healthy. It’s analogous to giving your car a tune-up before it develops a serious problem.

Green Cleaning Products Save Money: Reduce Spending by Using Natural Cleaning Agents in your Home

Using natural cleaning products is a surefire way to save money. Not only do they it curb expenditures on expensive chemical-based detergents and cleaners that grace supermarket shelves, they are also safer to use for the home. Green cleaning agents are gentler on the family as well as the environment. Here are the basic two cleaners that every homemaker needs for their home.

Vinegar

  • Vinegar added to water makes an excellent cleaning agent for the floor, rattan furniture, windows and mirrors.
  • To clean the floor and wooden furniture, mix vinegar and water into a pail and use a mop or cloth to clean the hard surface. Wipe over the surface with a dry cloth. For complete effectiveness, try to ensure that mixture is comprised of equal amounts of vinegar and water.
  • To clean windows and mirrors, add the two to a hand-held spray bottle and do the same. In fact, using the same solution on mould and mildew helps remove the fungus to ensure attractive walls.
  • Vinegar can even help remove stains from curtains, sofa fabrics and carpets. Dip a wet cloth into vinegar and blot out the undesirable marks. If this does not work, try borax on the stains and allow them to settle. Follow-up with blotting with vinegar on a damp cloth.

Baking Soda

  • Baking soda works well in the dining, kitchen and bathroom where the stains are more water-based.
  • Sprinkle some baking soda into warm water and clean the dining table. The solution is only mildly abrasive, so it should not harm the furniture.
  • In the kitchen, sprinkle baking soda onto the surface and wipe over with a damp cloth. If there are stains and crusts in your microwave or oven, baking soda will also help remove them when the microwave or oven is still warm. Wipe thoroughly with a warm cloth.
  • Foul odour from the garbage bag can be eliminated by pouring in some baking soda before the garbage begins accumulating.
  • Lastly, baking soda on the porcelein in the bathroom will help remove unwanted stains. Scrub with a bristled brush for the best effect. Wash with plenty of warm water and wipe dry afterwards.

The Combination

The combination of vinegar and baking soda can be lethal to dirt and grime. Clean the garbage disposal and toilets by pouring some baking soda down them followed by cup of vinegar. After the solution fizzes, flush it down with a cold water.

With just vinegar and baking soda, ensure a cleaner healthier home without overspending on cleaning detergents.

Source: House Cleaning Services

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