Does Dawn Remove Mascara Stains From Sheets And Pillowcases

The mascara we don't want to smudge, can be a real pain to get out of your sheets and pillowcases. I decided to test a tip I read that Dawn can remove mascara stains from sheets and pillowcases. Here are my results.

Sheets are expensive to I am determined to find out how to remove mascara stains out of my sheets. Follow along as I find the secret.

Does Dawn Remove Mascara Stains From Pillowcases

1. I slightly dampened the makeup stain on my pillowcase and wiped lightly.

2.  I then put the original blue Dawn on the stain rubbing in well and let sit to work.

3. Using an old toothbrush I scrubbed the stain after an hour of sitting.

4. Placed the pillowcase in the hot washer with laundry detergent and washed as usual.

In a word no! I tested this tip and though the Dawn did fade the mascara stain, it was still there after washing. I am onto the next test. I am going to find a way to get these stains out and save our sheets!

Cleaning Your Keurig

Cleaning your Keurig brewer is important. Not only do you need to occasionally clean to kill bacteria in your coffee maker, but I believe it is the key to making brewers last longer. Ours is almost five years old now.






Clean Your Coffee Maker and Kill Weeds at the Same Time
Coffee Recipes, Tips and More
Review of Coleman Camp Coffee Maker
Our favorite coffee to brewer in our Keurig you can find below. We get two cases a month and they come out to only .34 cents a pod. It is really the best tasting coffee we have found. Can't beat the price either.

This post contains affiliate links.

How To Clean Pots And Pans With Baking Soda

Move over cleanser, start cleaning pots and pans with baking soda. If you want to use more natural cleaners, baking soda can replace cleanser in your kitchen.

Baking soda is a wonder cleaner. I love how it replaces so many other harsh cleaners in my house. Honestly though I was reluctant to ditch the cleanser though it irritates my lungs. I started cleaning my pots and pans with baking soda and won't go back.

Tips For Cleaning Pots And Pans With Baking Soda

1. Use baking soda to scour baking dishes and pans just like you would cleanser.

       I use baking soda to clean:

• Metal pots and pans
• Glass bake ware
• Cookie Sheets
• Crock Pot
• Coffee pot

2. I always try to soak stuck on messes with hot soapy water before I clean a pot with baking soda.

3. Use a scour pad or scrubber sponge just like you would with cleanser. I do not have any non-stick         pans so I cannot give advice there.

4. For a handy baking soda shaker:
             -Take and ice pick and poke holes in the top of one side of an unopened box of baking soda.                   This makes the perfect shaker for your baking soda for cleaning. This shaker box also makes                   dusting your carpets easier to use for my carpet cleaning tip.

How To Deodorize Carpet Naturally

In a house with three dogs and four kids, you need to know how to deodorize carpet naturally. I used to use those spray deodorizers way back when to remove the smell from carpet, but now I don't like to use those chemicals in my home. In our den we have a huge area rug that is costly to have cleaned so I like to remove the smell organically.

It is so simple to do and such a cheap way to deodorize a carpet. I am finding there are so many ways to organically and naturally clean my home and it saves so much money to clean house with safe, inexpensive items you can buy at the grocery store or in bulk.

How To Remove Carpet Smell Naturally

1. You will need a box of baking soda
2. At least 2-3 hours
3. A vacuum cleaner     

First, remove as much off of your carpet as you can. No need to vacuum the carpet first unless it is really dirty. Shake generously, the baking soda all over your rugs or carpet. A shaker with holes at the top makes this easier to do but from the box with just a small opening at the top will do. If you get a few clumps, just spread them with your foot or leave them. You do not need to completely cover the rug so that it is white, just sprinkle to cover as much as you can. Now let the baking soda sit on the rug or carpets for 2-3 hours or even better, overnight. Avoid walking on the baking soda because you will track it around your house. Thoroughly vacuum the carpets with a nice clean empty vacuum bag or canister for optimal suction. Go over with the vacuum one way and then turn around and go over again. 

You could easily do this too after you spot clean your rugs and carpets to help remove any remaining odors. Oh, the wonders of cleaning with baking soda.

If you can have windows wide open, even better to help freshen the room. This method of do it yourself dry carpet smell removal is so easy. You will notice a difference right away and it costs pennies to do. I repeat every month or so. This is nice to do when you know you have guests coming and you want the house fresh as possible. I swear the carpet looks even a little cleaner. Not sure but maybe the baking soda helps pick up a little extra dirt too.

You can find many more cheap ways to clean house and make your own cleaning supplies on our Frugal Tips Page. I have a whole Pinterest page devoted to cleaning house and cleaning tips if you'd like to follow.

Best Tips Of 2015

As the year closes, I love to review and see which posts were the most popular on the blog so here are the best tips of 2015 on Sunny Simple Life. A little something for everyone, we share the best money saving, gardening and recipe of 2015.

Most popular recipe of the year was our Crock Pot Mixed Berry Cobbler. This recipe was by far the most viewed and shared of the year. I made it for our family reunion in July and everyone asked for the recipe. We even made a dairy free version for my sister in law.

I make all of my own homemade cleaners but this one with bleach was very popular. It works great on my white tile and grout and I use it when I clean the bathrooms. It takes pennies to make. All our cleaning recipes can be found on the frugal tips page.

Homemade All Purpose Cleaner With Bleach

Now onto the garden. I had two posts that were very popular. First, my super frugal homemade flower fertilizer made from two ingredients you probably have right now. Costs almost nothing to make and is totally organic. Spring will be here before you know it.

And last, who doesn't love a homegrown tomato and planting them for optimum yield is important. How to plant tomatoes the right way shows you how to plant your tomato seedlings for a strong root system. Also don't forget my post on how to grow tomato plants from cuttings. Two frugal garden tips to help you save money.

Easy Way To Make Foaming Hand Soap Yourself

I have an easy way to make foaming hand soap yourself. I love the way foaming hand soap lathers up so nicely but I hate having to buy the expensive bottles of hand soap for my two bathrooms and the kitchen just to wash it down the drain.

Making your own two ingredient foaming hand soap is so simple and will save you lots of money.

Trying to be more frugal in new ways is always a goal in our house. One more way to save money is to make my own foaming hand soap and refill the dispensers I already have. And you will love this, it only takes two ingredients.

How To Make Your Own Foaming Hand soap

Take your bottle and fill about 1/4 with body wash. Fill the rest with warm water and gently shake to mix and you are ready and have this:

This works great! You can customize making your own hand soap by buying organic body wash, whatever you like. Watch for deals and use coupons to make this frugal hand soap. Some may ask why I don't try making my own hand soap from scratch. I tried a hand soap recipe using castile soap and I do not like the oily residue castile soap leaves on my sinks. Find this the easiest way to save big on hand soap. You can visit our frugal tips page to find homemade recipes for cleaning supplies and more.

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How To Clean Your Toaster Inside And Out

A kitchen appliance we use everyday and may get neglected is our toaster so today we will share how to clean the toaster. Whether cleaning a toaster or cleaning the toaster oven, care should be used to clean it naturally since we prepare food in it.

My little Oster red toaster is almost fifteen years old and still looks pretty good. Periodically making time to clean the toaster keeps the crud from building up and makes the job easier if you clean it every once in a while as needed.

How To Clean A Toaster Or Toaster Oven

1. Over the trashcan in your kitchen, pull the tray out and shake the toaster well to get as much of the crumbs and bread out into the garbage can.
2. Wash and dry thoroughly, the toaster tray in hot soapy water.
3. Over the sink I take an old toothbrush I use for cleaning, and gently brush crumbs from the inside being very careful not to damage any coils.
4. I tamp the toaster more to get as much of the crumbs out that I can.
5. Now set the toaster on the counter on a towel and use a clean damp cloth and a little baking soda to scrub stuck on food from the top inside of the toaster and wiping with a damp cloth as I go.
6. Shake out once again into the sink.
7. Now for the outside I just use very hot soapy water with Dawn as it is a great degreaser. Any stuck on food can be removed with a little paste of baking soda and wiped with a clean dry cloth to shine. I do not use any harsh cleaners on the outside as mine is plastic and I do not want to dull or scratch it.
8. If you are cleaning a toaster oven and have a glass door, a paste of baking soda works great to clean the glass door of the toaster oven and will not scratch the glass.

Check out our frugal tips page for lots of homemade frugal cleaning recipes and tips for cleaning your home.

And this old toaster has been with us for at least 13 -14 years. It must be a good one as we use it daily and put it through lots of toasting.

Homemade All Purpose Cleaner With Bleach For Pennies

Sometimes, in keeping house, it just takes bleach, so here is a simple three ingredient homemade all purpose cleaner with bleach for pennies. Second homemade cleaning recipe in my frugal home keeping tips series.

This is the perfect cleaner for tough kitchen and bathroom cleaning jobs. And making your own cleaner saves so much money.

Instructions for Homemade All Purpose Cleaner With Bleach

1. Save and rinse out thoroughly an old spray bottle. Never mix bleach with anything like glass cleaner which has ammonia in it.
2. Like in our last frugal cleaning recipe tip for laundry, make a cup of diluted inexpensive bar soap cleaner like Zote or Fels Naptha. If you cannot find or do not have the soap mentioned use a small squirt of dishsoap.
3. Add that too the bottle and 1 1/2 tbl. of bleach.
4. Fill the rest with warm water and shake lightly just to mix.

I use this to clean the bathrooms, spray my white kitchen tile counters and grout, to whiten my old porcelain kitchen sink and as a shower cleaner, just to name a few.

Holiday House Cleaning Tips - The Entry Way

This time of year it is a good idea to start early cleaning your house for the holidays. I have a few cleaning tips to share and here is another in the series of cleaning your home for the holidays. We have already covered the deep cleaning plan for the living room and the dining room. Now, we will focus our holiday plan on cleaning the entry way.

Cleaning the entry way is important because it is the first room guest see. But this room should go quickly as it is usually the small area of the home and now is a perfect time to organize the entry way for the winter months to come.

Entryway Cleaning Tips

1. Remove anything that does not belong in here.
2. Remove rugs, send them out to be cleaned or wash them yourself.
3. Now start at the top and wipe down walls, cleaning smudges or touch up paint.
4. Remove light fixture and bulbs and wash in hot soapy water. The bulbs I just wipe clean. You won't believe how shiny the fixture will look.
5. Clean the top of door frames and wipe down doors. Get fingerprints and clean any glass on the front door.
6. Clean any glass and windows including washing curtains or cleaning blinds. I have a great cleaning tip for shutters and blinds.
7. Wipe down and clean any hanging pictures or decor in the entry way. If you have old dusty plants, toss them or place them in the shower for a cleaning. A new plant would really look nice in the entryway.
8. If you don't have a place for keys, hang one up. Since doing this years ago we never hunt for our keys cause they are always right by the door.
9. Have a nice rug or mat for wet shoes when winter arrives.
10. Wipe the floor and baseboards. I love Murphy's Oil Soap for cleaning wood floors.

Now put everything back and enjoy!

How To Clean Mini Blind Cords

I am going to share how to clean mini blind cords. In my kitchen I have wood mini blinds and I already shared how to clean wood blinds but this technique works great with cleaning metal mini blinds too.

Now that the blinds are clean, we need to clean the cords and I will share how I clean the mini blind cords without removing them from the wall.

For this cleaning job you will need:

Very hot tap water

Oxiclean

A large jar or plastic bag

Clean rags

Take a half cup of your Oxiclean and dissolve in hot water in your large container. My blinds like you see above are in the kitchen window so I used a tall glass container. Set up the jar so the cords can soak at least an hour in the Oxiclean. Keep checking for whitening. When they are clean, just take a very damp cloth and wipe down and clean off excess Oxiclean and let them air dry.

Now for my blinds that were hanging near the kitchen table, I used a large freezer bag and put the cords in the hot solution to soak, sealed the bag and then my hubby wrapped it around with a zip tie to secure the bag to the cord so it could hang there and soak.

If you are cleaning your mini blinds and need to remove them because it is in an area you do not want to risk getting wet, take the blinds down and then just let the cords soak in the hot solution until clean. You can clean the blinds while the cord is soaking too.

This technique cleans the white cords and makes them look new again. I do this about once a year and clean my blinds at the same time.

How To Wash Cast Iron Cookware

If you cook with cast iron you know it is a great kitchen tool. Here is how I wash my cast iron pans.

My mom prepared almost all of our meals in a large cast iron pan. She never ever used soap. She was from the school of thought that iron absorbs flavors, hence the reason for seasoning cast iron cookware.

I have two cast iron pieces that are seasoned and I follow my momma's rule. Here is how our family cleans cast iron cookware. First off, I would never wash cast iron in the dishwasher. Cast iron needs to be hand washed.

Here is what I do. When I am done cooking in a cast iron pan, I immediately put enough hot water to cover the stuck on food left from cooking. I then set it back on the stove burner and bring to a simmer and turn off the flame. I do this right after I plate up what we are having and let the pan soak while we are eating dinner.

When I go to do dishes, the cast iron skillet is ready for washing. To wash, all I do is take my plastic dish washing brush and brush off the food under hot running water. When the pan looks clean, I dry with a paper towel or lint free dish cloth. The pan may have a slight amount of oil on it still. This is normal. The seasoning builds up in the oil and that oil coating keeps your cast iron from rusting.

The slight amount of oil on the cast iron skillet or cookware will not become rancid and you heat cast iron up to a high temp before cooking in the next time anyway. Now if you really have something stuck on the pan you can use some salt to clean cast iron. Just sprinkle and scrub with your kitchen brush. This will not ruin the seasoning of your cast iron cookware.

Frugal Friday - Homemade Cleaning Supplies

I love  making frugal homemade cleaning supplies. When you are sick or unable to get to the store it is nice to have the supplies needed to make hour own money saving cleaners.

Fortunately, I have had some freezer meals ready to go and that has saved me this week cause I have not felt well enough to cook much. Now I will have to restock my freezer meal supply. Freezer cooking is one of the best things I have ever done to keep my days under control and less stressful. I mean it. To know meals are in the freezer and I just have to pop in the oven and heat up a veggie is such a relief.

You all know I love my homemade cleaners. I love how cheap they are to make but I also am sensitive to the chemicals in lots of commercial cleaning products.

I have been experimenting making my own foaming hand soap with castile soap. I no longer will buy hand soaps with triclosan in them and frankly I would like a lot less ingredients in my soaps. After checking on prices of more natural soaps, it was obvious making my own would be the most economical route. I love the simple fresh scent too. I will share soon how to make it.
*update: I do not like the film castile soap leaves on the sink so now I use this frugal homemade handsoap recipe.

I love to use my homemade alcohol and water cleaner to wipe down the bathrooms right now. I am trying to do this after hubby and I are in the bathrooms to keep from spreading the germs.

The garden is really coming along. I see tomato blossoms already but not sure they will set with cooler temps this week. We are eating lots of greens several times a week and fresh herbs for sauces and soups.

What frugal steps have you taken this week?

Avoid Stuck On Messes - Kitchen Quick Tip

Another tip in my kitchen quick tip series is avoiding stuck on messes on the bottoms of my pans and bake ware is vital to my happiness. I do not have patience to stand and scrub any longer than I have to. Here is how I prevent stuck on gunk from the bottom of my baking dishes. This is perfect if you are roasting a chicken.

The answer is foil. Now the frugal part of me does not like to waste foil but the stronger urge in me to avoid unnecessary time scrubbing and ruining my hands scraping baked on crud off the bottom of my pans, wins out.

Whenever I am roasting or baking something I know will be a greasy stuck on mess, I line my pan with foil, the dull side up. Get the foil all up the sides because the point is to avoid any of the juices and liquids from touching the pan. Give the foil a shot of nonstick spray and you are good to go.

Now when it comes time to clean up, I just toss the foil and rinse the dish out. Easy as can be now that you have avoided the baked on build up that takes forever to scrub off. If you missed my last kitchen quick tip you should check it out.

Coffee Tips, Recipes and More

If there is a close second to my love of chickens then it must be coffee and I have a few coffee tips, recipes and more. I blog a lot about my love of coffee. I think I am addicted. Here are some of my favorites in all things coffee.

Remember when everyone was setting up a coffee bar? Well, I knew I had to have a cute defined space for mine. It has moved a few times but in my kitchen it had to be a small compact coffee bar with color of course and by that I mean RED so our coffee meets bagel time would be cuter. Don't tell hubby.

Hard water deposits and even bacteria can gather in your coffee makers so regular cleaning is essential. I show how I use nontoxic household kitchen items to  clean you coffee maker or Keurig.

I even share the cheapest place we have found to buy k-cups.

We are too cheap to visit Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (my favorite) or Starbucks very often so I love to find ways to fancy up our coffee time at home. Some favorite ways to dress up those coffee beans:

Simple DIY coffee foam takes just a minute and you already have the tools in your kitchen. I promise.

Or how about our frugal version of white chocolate peppermint mocha latte.

And though this recipe has no coffee in it whatsoever, I think coffee creamer ties it in. These are a Saturday morning favorite of caramel macchiato pancakes.

I believe the only recipe I am missing is a coffee cake recipe. I better get on that.

These are our favorite coffee pods and I love that they come in a little mesh bag and not a plastic cup. They come out to only .31 per cup if you have them on subscribe and save like we do. We get a case a month. If you do subscribe and save it is actually $41.65 per month.

Kitchen Quick Tip - The Easiest Way to Clean Your Refrigerator

Our kitchen quick tip - Easiest Way To Clean Your Refrigerator is how I clean my refrigerator all year long and since I have cleaning ADD, I have the easiest tip to clean the largest appliance we own.

So last week I shared my tips for organizing and simplifying your Thanksgiving meal but before you head to to the grocery store, how about getting the refrigerator cleaned up and sparkling to hold all your groceries and that TURKEY!.

Now, to me, taking apart the entire refrigerator and having to clean the whole thing, is just overwhelming so what I like to do is to speed clean the refrigerator a little at a time. That's right, a few minutes here and there and your fridge is always clean.

Easiest Way To Clean Your Refrigerator

1. Every morning when I do the dishes for say a week or so, I will pull out a shelf and one shelf from the door as well.

2. Wash the glass shelf and door shelf and then take the hot soapy rag and wipe down those areas in the refrigerator and dry. I do this about once a month and that way it is never seems to be a daunting task and is the best way to clean the refrigerator which seems to stay more organized and clean than waiting till it is a mess and tackling the whole thing at one time.

I will use this method with the freezer too but less often as it does not seem to get as messy as often as the refrigerator section.

So by adding just a few minutes at the end of morning dishes, I keep my refrigerator clean and that is this week's kitchen quick tip. Check out our quick tip series.

Pre-Holiday Room by Room Cleaning Plan - Living Room

As fall approaches, I like to start deep cleaning the house for the holidays before decor comes out. It's no fun decorating a dirty house and by Christmas you will be so happy that your house is clean for company. I will share what I do in each room and you can use it as a checklist or guide for your home customizing for your rooms. Maybe this will inspire you to spend a little extra time getting the house shiny and bright before we get all those holiday plans going.

Cleaning the Living Room for the Holidays
My first room I started with was the Front Room/Piano Room: (I clean in small spurts each day I have a chance. I think I have cleaning ADD. This keeps me on track but does not overwhelm me)
Start by clearing the room you are on of any items that do not belong in there.

1. I use a long handled Swiffer duster to go around walls and dust any cobwebs and swipe over crown molding
2. Dust and wipe down ceiling fan light fixture
3. Wipe all doorways down and dust the top of door jams
4. Wipe down any doors in the room
5. Dust top of furniture
6. Dust and clean shutters
7. Clean window and sill
8. Move all furniture away from walls and clean behind and underneath
9. Wipe baseboards as I go around the room
10. Clean wood floors in area I am cleaning that day
11. As I move a piece of furniture to clean behind that day I wipe it down and dust all nick knacks on it.
12. Clean pictures and shelves on wall dusting as needed
13. Flip area rug over and vacuum the wood floor underneath and then vacuum the underside of the rug.

**You could also touch up any chipped paint or marks on the wall. I love the Mr. Clean Magic Erasers for this job.

Next, onto the dining room. See you there.

How to Clean Your Washing Machine

Does your washing machine smell? Does it just not look as clean as it used to? Time to clean the washing machine. Detergents and fabric softeners combine with oils in the skin on clothes to make the washing machine smell.  Let's clean the washing machine and deodorize it.

Take two cups of white vinegar and add to your machines bleach reservoir (make sure never mix bleach and vinegar) and pour a little in the fabric softener area.

Run hot water on the fullest level and let sit for two hours. Run through wash cycle.

At this time take an old toothbrush and use it dipped in vinegar to clean up and around the top of the drum and along any exposed areas.

Run through the rinse cycle now with another cup of vinegar.

On occasion, run regular loads not bleach loads with white vinegar in your fabric softener area. It will help deodorize and clean your washing machine.

**Warning: Never mix vinegar and bleach together.

How to Remove Hard Water Stains from Glass and Chrome Faucets

Okay, I promised to share this tip. Hard water stains are hard to remove from shower doors, windows and kitchen and bath faucets.  Here is how I remove hard water deposits in my home. Take white vinegar and a scrubber sponge. For shower doors and faucets I soak the scrubber side good and start scrubbing. This works very well for me. I then just rinse with a damp cloth and dry.

 If stains are really hard you may have to work at it. Now if the surface is flat like my kitchen faucet here is what I do. Soak the sponge side of the scrubber really well with the vinegar and set it on the flat surface of the chrome. Let sit for at least 15 minutes and repeat again if the hard water deposits are really bad. Flip over the sponge and scrub with the scrubber side.
Look at my faucet I did today. 12 years old and not any deposits. I do have to scrub up around the handle too to get those off but I sometimes soak a wash cloth with vinegar and wrap around to work on those hard water deposits.

To clean outdoor windows and remove hard water stains I do it a little different. I take a bowl and add 1 cup of vinegar, a small squirt of dish soap and some hot water. Using the same scrubber side of the sponge I work at the hard water deposits and then use the sponge side to scrub the whole window and squeegee them dry. If you have stubborn water stains then soak that scrubber with straight vinegar and scrub really well.

I do have one window where a sprinkler hits and the deposits are stubborn. I am going to try a tip one of my husband's fellow lineman told me and I will report if it works as well as he claims. Check out my nightly routine to keep my faucet sparkly.

Clean Your Stove Burners and Grates

See what is cooking. Yep it is my stove burner grates out in the sun. You can see the post on the easy way to get the black caked on stuff off here.

I stumbled upon an easier way to get the built up gunk off of your burners by accident. One day I had put a bunch of cleanser on my stove burners with some water and then had to leave the house. When I got home the cleanser and water had ate off most all of the burned on stuff. I light scrubbing removed the rest.
So cover with cleanser, enough water to liquefy and let sit for a couple of hours.

Look at how clean that stove burner is now.

Oh Spring! And Removing Hard Water Deposits

Tips on spring cleaning the home and garden.

It is truly a gardeners time of year. We have had some winds which have made the skies the most brilliant blue.

I went to the nursery for a couple items Sunday and had to have this geranium. Chickens don't seem to eat geraniums so they are perfect for the patio.

Such a gorgeous day it was. The trees are leafing out.

I have been doing some easy spring cleaning and using some new ideas and marking things off my spring cleaning checklists. Read about using a paste of salt and vinegar to remove hard water spots. Tried it on my faucet and I think it looks nice and shiny. I let the paste sit on the faucet and scrubbed with my scrub brush and sponge. Here is a post where I used baking soda. I think I like both methods.