Happy Friday! Any fun plans this weekend? I've been working on a DIY project for the past couple of days that I'm REALLY excited about. I'm really hoping I can show it to you on Monday but whenever I say that something goes wrong and it doesn't happen. So…I'm hoping I can show it to you in a couple weeks. There, now it will get done.
Today I'm sharing a few hits and misses in our house lately. I love reading about things that work for others and things that don't work. I get excited when I find something new that does what it says it will do.
OK, I almost wrote a whole post just about dish sponges, but I thought that may be going a tad too far with my love for these things. So I'm adding it here. Reel it in Sarah. I found these at Bed Bath and Beyond months ago -- they were at the dangerous check out area that is full of that incredible goodness you MUST HAVE but don't really NEED to have:
Mine were a pack of three and I have to admit, the cute smiling face kind of sold me. I'm a sucker. I've always used a combo of a sponge on a handle and the Ocelo sponges for washing dishes. I use the latter 90 percent of the time and I was so frustrated at how quickly they got smelly and gross.
You can get rid of the stink by putting them in the microwave (or I would run them through the dishwasher) but even with doing that they would be back to stinky within a few days. So I saw these and thought I'd give them a try.
They are pretty rough and stiff in their regular state. If you have tough messes you rinse them in cool water and they will keep that stiffness and you can really clean baked on food well. I love using it this way to clean our grill I use throughout the week to make bacon in the oven.
It feels so rough but it doesn't scratch! And when you need it it softer to clean glasses or whatever, you rinse it in warm water and it magically loosens up. It's kind of fun, not gonna lie. The really fun part is that you can put silverware through the smiley mouth to clean it. I didn't make that up, they suggest it. I swear. ;)
They do wear down eventually but they DON'T STINK. Ever! Here's a pic of one I used for a few months (left), one I just started using a couple weeks ago (middle) and a brand new one to show you the difference:
Poor green smiley face is looking a little frightening so he's going in the trash.
The other great thing is you can scrub like crazy and no little bits of sponge come off. I hate that. The green one started doing it just a little bit but nothing like a regular sponge does. So there…my love of the smiley face sponges. You can find them at Bed Bath or Beyond or Amazon.
Next up on the love category are these down-alternative pillow inserts from Target:
I'm a big fan of feather inserts for our pillows -- I just love the look and feel more than a harder insert. My absolute favorite place to get feather inserts is IKEA -- they are around $7 each there which is an incredible price, considering they are nearly $20 each at most higher end fabric stores (which is the only other place I can find them, other than online).
So I saw these at Target awhile back and had to give them a try. They are $8.99 each if I remember right and are super squishy -- almost a little too much so but I like them! They allow for some movement like a feather insert:
But they still look nice and full -- I used one for the Fourth of July pillow I shared last week:
The problem is I have only found them at one Target. I looked around my local store forever one day and couldn't find them anywhere. I've found them at the other one twice and loaded up last time. :) They are always on an end cap along with initial pillow covers that come in a few different colors.
They are a great alternative to feather inserts if you are fan of those! It saves me the four hour round trip to IKEA to get them -- not that I would drive there just for those. Or meatballs.
Finally, I am sharing a cleaning recipe that did not work well for me for many reasons. I'll be honest, I pretty much hated it. I have seen this DIY car upholstery cleaning solution floating around for years now and have always wanted to try it. The before and afters always look AMAZING.
The recipe is one cup distilled vinegar, one cup club soda and half cup blue Dawn detergent:
I had such high hopes for this one! First of all, it says to mix them up and shake -- don't do that. The club soda will make it overflow and go absolutely everywhere. I know that about club soda but wasn't even thinking. If you do try this mix the other two, shake, then add the soda and stir or lightly swish it around. It says to spray it all over the upholstery, let it sit for five to ten minutes, then scrub with a brush and then wipe up with a wet towel. I did all of that.
So first thing -- this recipe makes a ton. I didn't even begin to use all of it so you could easily half it. You could keep it to use later but the soda will lose it's fizz.
At first it seemed like it was working but most of the stains came back after it dried. Some even came back worse than before. Now I have to tell you -- at least one of my seats had some decent stains from a spill. But the other ones were lighter clean up and in general it didn't really do much, or it made it worse by just moving it around. It did seem to brighten up the areas that weren't that bad to begin with, but I wanted it to work on the heavy duty stuff and it didn't.
And for all that is good…my car stinks so bad. Ugh, I expected the vinegar smell, duh. But it is bad…even after leaving the windows open numerous times it still reeks after a week.
So I'll stick to the more powerful professional machines or the carpet cleaners with a handheld attachment -- those have worked much better for me. And no stink!
Have you tried any of these? Any suggestions for a DIY upholstery cleaner for the car? Have you tried this one and did it work for you? I'm willing to try about anything if it works but I wasn't a fan of this recipe. I know what works well for one doesn't always for others so give me your advice if you've tried it! Have a great weekend!
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