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Naturopathica

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Whiten Tile Grout The Cheap and Easy Way

Before


After

Give your place a facelift by whitening your tile grout.  Sick of the years of dirt and grime on our tile grout, I decided to try a very inexpensive, but very effective solution.  All I used was an old toothbrush, baking soda and bleach.

Materials
  • old tooth brush (manual or electric)
  • baking soda
  • bleach
  • hot water
  • old container (to hold bleach and baking soda solution)
  • gloves (to protect your hands from bleach)
  • protective eyewear (to protect your eyes from bleach)
  • mask 
  • old clothes (that you do not mind accidentally getting bleached)
Directions
  1. Put on your old clothes and protective gear.  Then open some windows for ventilation.  
  2. Pour some bleach in the container and then slowly stir in baking soda until a liquidy-paste forms.    
  3. Use the toothbrush to apply the bleach-baking soda mixture on the grout.  Allow the mixture to sit for a while.  I waited about an hour.
  4. Fill the container with hot water, dip the toothbrush in the water, and then use the toothbrush to start scrubbing the grout.  The dirt and grime should come off effortlessly.  If not, you can repeat this process until it does.  I only had to do one treatment.
Note: I only used a manual toothbrush, but if you are taking on a large area you might want to consider getting a cheap electric toothbrush (i.e., the kind that costs less than $20).


Although I am sure most of you already know, do not get creative with bleach.  Mixing bleach with ammonia or other household cleaners is extremely dangerous.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Order Cheap Photos: 99 Prints for 99 Cents + Tax & Shipping


It's scrapbooking time!  This was too good of a deal not to pass on.  For a limited time only, you can get 99 prints for $0.01 each at Snapfish.com when you use the coupon code PRINTSFOR99 at checkout.  The promotion ends on 09/12/2012.  Make your purchase via ebates.com, and you will get an additional 10% cash back on your purchase.

I just paid $8.52 for 119 prints because I was also able to use the "20 Free Prints Credit" on my account in addition to the 99 prints for $0.99 coupon code.  That breaks down to about $0.07 per 4x6 photo not including any cash back reward.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Free Ficus Burgundy Plant by Mail



Photo: Ficus Burgundy, Free Plant of the Month by freeplantsbymail.org

Free Plants By Mail (freeplantsbymail.org) was started by local growers as a way to use the surplus plants from nurseries and also as a way to support The Nature Conservancy.  Free Plants By Mail offers a new free plant each month.  This month they are offering a Ficus Burgundy.  

Although the plant itself is free, you do have to pay a small shipping and handling fee of $6.95.
This organization also has over 100 plants available for sale on their site.  100% of the proceeds from the sale will go to The Nature Conservancy.

Click here to view Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).