Happy Slob Gazette "Housecleaning with a Sense of Humor!" Issue #17 March 13, 2006 --------------------- Get 3 beautiful books for $4.95 from Homestyle Books®. Choose from the latest titles in gardening, decorating and entertaining. Click for details. Click Here for Homestyle Books ------------------------ NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Sign up for great baking advice, recipes and SAVINGS! Find other free samples, coupons & discounts from top brands at Eversave. Click Here for the Baking Newsletter ---------------------- Contents: - A Note from Christina (The Original Happy Slob) - Get YOUR Copy - New On Our Website - 3-Steps is All It Takes - Looking For... - Readers Questions - Happy Slob Helpers - - Cleaning Recipes of the Week - Testimonials ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A NOTE FROM CHRISTINA Contact Christina at christina@happyslob.com with ideas, tips, lovely remarks or anything else you'd like to share! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hi everyone, So...it's Monday. I know, I'm sorry. I wish I could change that fact but I'm just one little happy slob after all. And now I'm adding HOUSECLEANING to the mix. Hey...let's talk this over rationally. And please stop aiming that toilet plunger at my head... It takes only 3 simple steps to start getting your house neater and tidier. Perfect? Puh! We Happy Slobs are all about great efforts and decent results and never about perfection. So, take a browse through the newsletter and get some inspiration to get the week started well! Christina ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GET YOUR COPY! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ...The Happy Slob's Guide to Housecleaning... is available now! Only $12.95 for a cleaning guide that will change how you clean forever! Get yours today. The Happy Slob's Guide to Housecleaning Book Or...don't want to PAY for your copy? Okay, fine, have it your way. ;) If you have 5 pals who'll join this free newsletter then you can EARN your copy of the Happy Slob's Guide to Housecleaning for FREE! Just email me at christina @ happyslob.com and I'll send you an email form to send to friends. Once 5 join, you'll get your book. Aren't I a generous slobbo? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >>> NEW ON OUR WEBSITE <<< ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CLEANING OUT THE DRYER LINT TRAP Ah ha - one Happy Slob gave us the heads up about this...great tip on how to clean it to make your dryer work better and last longer. Cleaning the Dryer Lint Trap> SHOWER STALL CLEANING We've got a couple of tips that answer THIS recent question. Tackle that nasty shower stall, slobbos! Shower Stall Cleaning ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3 STEPS IS ALL IT TAKES! Housecleaning in only 3 steps ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Remember, easy, stress-free cleaning starts with the Happy Slob's 3-Step Solution: 1. 2 fast cleaning bursts every day - budget the time you can spend - anywhere from 5-20 minutes or more. Set it on the timer. Tidy up as much as you can - focusing your attention on IMPACT areas (those areas that are seen the most and used the most in your home. Kitchens, bathrooms, and living areas are often impact areas.) 2. 1 Focus Room every day - A minimum of 10 minutes in one specific room or area. I like to add storage areas to my focus room list so that those nasty areas also get cleaned! (This is when I do some de-cluttering - just one small section in the focus room.) 3. One weekly Clean-for-All - You and the family get down to cleaning business once a week. This is where you get some of those other cleaning tasks done. But don't worry if you can't get everything done. Over time, and with the accumulation of your good efforts you WILL! These basic guidelines will help you keep your home cleaner and tidier than ever before. It's simple, it's not intimidating and it works! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LOOKING FOR... Organization Tips & EASY Decorating Ideas ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Currently on our site, I'm working on new sections for organizing and EASY EASY home decor ideas. We're HAPPY SLOBS after all, not Martha Stewart clones. :) Want to contribute some fun and helpful ideas? Then please send them on in! They'll be used on the happyslob.com site, and you'll be sort of famous... urm...well sort of... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ READERS QUESTIONS If you guys have some answers to these questions, please send them in to me at christina @ happyslob.com. :) Either myself or one of our readers will surely be able to help... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Renewing YARN? Debbie asks: "I LOVE your newsletter and look forward to reading the tips from everyone. But I have a question. I like to crochet and I've been collecting inexpensive yarns for years. I have tons of the stuff that I'd love to use up instead of buying all new, but I've found that they seem to be rough and scratchy. Is there any way to soften up things that you've made with this yarn? Or do I have to throw it all out and start fresh? I'd really appreciate any advice you and your readers can give." Linty Clothes Anne in NZ asks: "I wonder if anyone has any suggestions regarding lint clinging to clothes, polar fleece and sweatshirting particularly. A washer repairman said it was caused by fabric softener build up. Stopped using it and am using vinegar and washing soda. That helped but it is still happening. Any other suggestions. Thank you." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Happy Slob Helpers CLEANING & HOUSEHOLD TIPS Send yours to christina@happyslob.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An easy drain cleaner... One reader wrote me this: "I regularly clean and freshen my drains by pouring 1/2 c. of baking soda down the drain, followed by 1 cupful of white vinegar. Works great." Window Washer Extraordinaire! Another reader wrote me this: "I clean my own windows with windex and use News Paper to wipe up. Leaves ---NO--- streaks!! Even on hot day." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CLEANING RECIPES OF THE WEEK I'd LOVE to hear from you if you have a natural cleaning recipe to share! Send it to me at christina @ happyslob.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shower Cleaner Spray Shower Cleaning Recipe Paintbrush Cleaner Easy Paintbrush Cleaning ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TESTIMONIALS & THANKS Don't keep those sentiments to yourself - send them to me at christina@happyslob.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Janis writes: "Thanks, Christina. Your cleaning tips--and attitudes--are the best!" Sue wrote this lovely email...It sort of choked me up! "Your suggestions are wonderfully helpful to me, and I would assume to others like me, who are not having cleaning problems due to lack of time and the stresses of full time employment, but are older women who simply don't have the stamina to do a full day's cleaning and lifting etc. all at once. By pacing it out such as you suggest much more gets done and those pesky trouble spots (read drawers and closets) stand at least some chance of being attended to."