Showing posts with label Product Recommendation. Show all posts

5 Splurge Worthy Office Supplies to Buy During Back to School

5 Office Items you should treat yourself to during back to school sales.

Today I am guest posting for my friend Brittany over at Overdue Organizing.

"I love office supplies. I actually have such a problem with hoarding office supplies my husband has put a ban on new supplies coming in the door. Not to mention I used to shop these sales for my classroom before I became a stay-at-home mom. Since I am a self-appointed expert on what to purchase during this time of the year, I wanted to share with you the prefect items to make your desk, and you, smile."

Be sure to head over to her blog and see what items are worth shopping for during the current sales.

Cleaning for the Holidays - Bathrooms and Laundry & a Giveaway

The holidays are tough. Buying the perfect present, trimming the perfect tree, decorating the house enough {but not too much} and baking the cookies without burning them. With all that stress, we add on hosting guests. Even if you are like me and do not host any major holiday events at your house, I am sure you have family that stops in or friends coming by to say hi and exchange gifts. So, we are under pressure to keep our house "guest-ready."

Today I am sharing with you how we are using Mrs. Jones Soapbox products in our home to keep it clean simply and naturally.

A while back at our Mom's group, one of the members shared information on how we can keep our homes safe from dangerous chemicals in our cleaning products and cosmetics. Since then the EWG {Environmental Working Group} has been a permanent resource for finding household products that I can safely use in my home without the worry that my daughter will be ingesting any toxic chemicals. I still find that even in the "safe" categories, there are toxins that need to be worried about.

I have tried over and over to make my own cleaning products and laundry detergent, but none ever seemed strong enough to really clean well. This is where Mrs. Jones Soapbox comes in.

Mrs. Jones Soapbox prides themselves on being made with all natural, safe ingredients. They are even mixed and crafted by hand. I love that when you look at the ingredients on the label, you can not only pronounce it all, you know what each ingredient is!

And how pretty are the containers? No need to hide the dollar store spray bottles!

Check out her comparison chart to see which of her products can replace commercial cleaners.

Toilet Bombs

I have tried and failed at making my own toilet bombs. They ended up being more of a mess than a cleaning product.

From my previous experience with Toilet Bombs, I thought there was no way that any would ever really work. Then these Toilet Bombs from Mrs. Jones Soapbox showed up in my sample kit. They really are everything I thought my homemade ones would be, just actually working.

I simply dropped the toilet bomb in the toilet and let it fizz. When it was done, I dipped the brush into the water and used that to clean the rest of the toilet. It was cleaning the yuck off, but I was a bit skeptical that it really was "clean". After I brushed the toilet down, I actually had baby duty {she woke up early from her nap} and when I went back to the toilet 10 minutes later, at the top of the water, around the rim there was dirt. Actual dirt collected around the sides. At first I thought it was a ring that the toilet brush hadn't gotten, but when I flushed, there was no ring. I was super impressed.

Here is my video review:

Cleaning Tip: After I am done scrubbing a toilet, I leave the brush in between the bowl and the seat to allow it to dry before putting it back into the holder. Wet/Dirty Brush + Dark Place = Disgusting Mold and Germs.

Soft Cleaning Scrub

Generally, I am not a fan of scrubs. They are usually gritty and hard to clean up off of a surface. This was not the case with Mrs. Jones Soapbox scrub. Per the directions, I took a dollop and placed it on the surface to be cleaned {my sink & vanity top} and used a moist washcloth to spread it around. It was not gritty and spread very easily. The sink usually gets a lot of buildup from my husband shaving and our toothpaste. Our conventional cleaner that is a D on the EWG scale {not good, we just wanted to finish up what we had on hand} usually has a really tough time getting that buildup off. I usually have to clean it a couple times to get it all. The Mrs. Jones Scrub took it all off in one swipe like it wasn't even there. And it doesn't have any of the chemicals in it?! I was already sold.

The real test would be our tub. I took a dollop and placed it on a damp rag and started scrubbing. It didn't take a lot of pressure or scrubbing to start to see the ring from my daughter's baths start to disappear. For the last several months it has been there, even with regular cleaning {I use a magic eraser to clean the tub during showers}. I did have to use another dollop in the tub, but I think that is also because it really needed the deep cleaning. After I was done scrubbing, I just turned on the tub and used the same rag to wipe down the tub with clean water. When I squeezed the rag, I was amazed at how much dirty water came out of it. It also didn't take me as long as it does with other products. And I was able to stay in the room. Sometimes with other cleaners, I have to leave the room to take some deep breaths. In my opinion, this product performs as well as other conventional cleaners and is much safer too.

Laundry Soap & Softener

I have made my own laundry detergent before. It worked well but wasn't very effective at specific clothing types. I usually had to supplement with Oxyclean. I gave up on it.

For this particular post about guests, I used Mrs. Jones Soapbox Laundry Soap on our guest sheets that go on the ~~air mattress~~ bed in our ~~basemen~~t guest room. It said that I use a heaping teaspoon per load. That's it. Again, I was very skeptical. But I am a rule follower {at least the first time} so I put just a heaping teaspoon in.

During that laundry cycle, it smelled amazing! We usually use unscented detergent when we buy it, but I do love the smell of clean, lightly scented clothes and sheets. Since the scent is due to the essential oils used in the product, I have no need to worry that it is not safe against even my daughter's sensitive skin.

The sheets came out of the dryer soft and fluffy even without added softener {the product says it is a softener too} and still smelled great. I am not sure how to compare the cleanliness of the sheets to a conventional detergent but the Mrs. Jones Laundry Soap seemed to do the job.

The real test will be my husband's smelly running gear. {Update to come}

I had heard great things about Mrs. Jones Soapbox products and was excited to try them first hand. They really are great in the bathroom and laundry. I loved them so much, I went and purchased the other products so that I can try them everywhere! {I will review them later this week :)}

You can get them too for 10% off! Just for Managing a Home readers, you can get 10% off your order until December 31st by using the code HOME10.

You can also try Mrs. Jones Soapbox products for free! Enter the giveaway below for your chance to win the sample pack below. Three winners will be chosen!

Win this sample set from Mrs. Jones Soapbox until 12/12/14! Managing a Home

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

Disclaimer: I have received this sample pack of (2) Toilet Bowl Bombs, (1) 5-wash Laundry Soap Sample and (1) 16 oz. container of Soft Cleaning Scrub at no charge, This review is my honest and unbiased opinion. Giveaways are supplied by Mrs. Jones Soapbox. See full disclosure statement here.

Holiday Hostess Gift Ideas & a Giveaway

Now it is after Thanksgiving and I know you all have started to receive your holiday party invites. Most of us gift a bottle of wine to our hostess when we attend a party. This week I am partnering with EVCreations to bring you a super simple way to jazz up that bottle of wine for your hosts.

Holiday Hostess Gift Ideas with Wine. Enter to win your own Personalized Holiday Wine Labels | Managing a Home

Holiday wine labels make it easy to gift wine to hosts for the holidays. Not only are these labels easy to attach and witty, they are personalized with our family's names. No need to even gift the wine with anything! And the best part is that the host knows who the wine came from.

But just in case you are like me and want to make your wine a little more like a gift {it is the holidays after all}, here are some simple ideas to dress up your wine.

I found these great bags at Dollar Tree this season. What a better "outfit" for a bottle of wine than a Santa suit, elf costume, or just a little Santa hat?

Holiday Hostess Gift Ideas. Enter to win your own Personalized Holiday Wine Labels

You can simply add an ornament for a festive look.

Want to give the hostess a little more than just wine? Pair it with a great candle and a box of chocolates. My personal favorite combination: DaVinci Chianti, Sea Salted Caramel Chocolates and Twisted Peppermint Candle.

There are so many options to dress up your personalized wine for your holiday parties this year. Here is your chance to win your very own set of personalized holiday wine labels. Good luck!