Thank You and Another Update

First of all, today I want to say thank you to my new blog friend Kathleen. Kathleen so graciously posted a link to my blog from her self-titled blog, Kathleen Ellis. If you are looking for inspiration for anything pertaining to home - decorating, table-scaping, knock-your-socks-off recipes that make everyone you know ask when you started taking cooking lessons, then you really need to go check her out at Kathleen Ellis. Her blog is also full of beautiful pictures that I can only hope to aspire to. So, thank you, Kathleen. Thank you.

Now, on to the business of the day. Do you remember this post? All about the miracle soap that changed my life because I'm a homemaker and simple thinks like soap can change a homemaker's life? Well, if you don't - go read it. READ IT NOW! Thank's. I'm better now. I have used Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap a little bit more over the past few days and felt you needed an update. Although this stuff absolutely amazed me at how well it made the yuckies come off of my dishes, there is one thing that I'm not quite thrilled about. It seems to leave a haze on my glasses. It doesn't do this on anything else - just the glasses. I tried it again this morning and actually put a little vinegar in the rinse water to see if that would cut it. No, my dishes don't smell like vinegar. I know you were wondering. So, I'm not so sure if I will be using this stuff as an actual dish soap or not. I will play with the ratio of soap to water and maybe add a little vinegar to the dish water next time. I love the way it cleans, but I also don't want hazy glasses. I also don't want to keep using dish soap full of chemicals. I may have to keep searching on this one. I'll keep you posted.

Having said that, I do really like the castile and will continue to use it for other things. I now add it to my:

ALL PURPOSE CLEANER:

Place a 50/50 solution of distilled water and white vinegar in a plastic spray bottle. Add a tsp. of castile soap.

This solution is great for everything. I use it on counter tops in the kitchen, cleaning the bathroom, windows, damp mopping the floor...

Read this post post if you want to find out why this is so great.

I have vinyl tile squares on my bathroom floor. They look like black marble. They are beautiful - but haven't been as shiny as when MW first layed them a year ago. When I mopped the bathroom on Saturday I used hot water and castile soap instead of my regular solution. I was extremely happy with the results. It didn't leave my floor hazy like the glasses. It actually brought the shine back. I will definitely be using this as my choice of floor cleaner from here on out.

Even though the verdict is still out on castile soap being my choice of cleaner for dishes - don't write the stuff off just yet. It is wonderful for many other things and I will be looking into all of it's many uses. It's also safe for your family. That's the most important thing for me right now.

The whole reason I have been on a quest to rid my home of chemicals is because of my son. When we lived in FL he had horrible bouts with asthma, although we didn't know that was the problem for a long time. He ended up spending a week in the Arnold Palmer Children's Hospital. I found out that chemicals can really exacerbate asthma and breathing disorders. Our house and yard was a chemical nightmare. Thus, our journey began. He is so worth it. The fact that he hasn't had any issues in a long time makes me very happy as a mom.

So, I encourage you to start to look into the option of natural cleaners. Start small if you're hesitant - try the all-purpose cleaner. Do it for the health of your family. They'll thank you and so will your wallet.

Happy Monday!