Ring in the New Year with Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle

It is no secret I don’t like to clean. I posted on Facebook a couple weeks ago, if money were no object what kind of staff would you have? You can bet housekeeper was in there. I also wanted someone to do my dishes and someone else to wash my hair. I think it feels really good when someone else washes my hair. Unfortunately, money is something I don’t have a ton of, so I have to clean my own house, do my own dishes and wash my own hair.  Thankfully, there are products like Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle that help make the job easier. The new Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle multi-purpose, multi-surface cleaner has 2.5* times more power in every drop, delivering superior cleaning performance in a compact bottle.  Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle’s concentrated gel formula serves all of your cleaning needs, on and off the floor. It penetrates dirt easier, fights grease tougher, and lifts stains faster, while the specially designed cap ensures no drop goes to waste.

How it works:

Apply Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle directly for quick and easy removal of tough stains from hard surfaces such as:

• Tables

• Countertops

• Sinks

• Stoves

• Floors

Dilute Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle in water for more general floor and surface cleaning, with no need for rinsing. The unique auto-stop cap delivers the right amount, every time.

Mr. Clean launched this new product on January 1^st, in Times Square. Everyone knows about the huge New Year’s Eve party at Times Square, but who has to clean it up? I bet it is a huge mess Julie Edelman aka the The Accidental Housewife was on hand to provide tips and tricks, cleaning alongside our Mr. Clean Team to get it done. It looks like it was a fun time. With the new Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle as the star of the event,  the Mr. Clean Team will really light up Times Square with their theatrics, making the steps of Duffy Square cleaner than they’ve ever been.

 Julie Edelman aka The Accidental Housewife has some great tips for 2014.

 The Top Ten: Tips to Save Time, Money and Your Sanity in 2014

1. TACKLE HIGH TRAFFIC ZONES FIRST: Divide your home into MUST DO and CAN DO LATER zones. The must do’s are bathrooms, kitchen and bedrooms which are bacteria, allergy (dust mites) and germ magnets AND should be cleaned regularly. Can do later zones are areas such as family rooms, guest bedrooms, and hallways.

2. MAINTAIN YOUR SANITY, START SMALL: As Oscar Wilde said “Man (and woman!) was made for something better then disturbing dirt.” So put cleaning your home in perspective and don’t allow yourself to get overwhelmed. Start with the smallest room in your home, and work your way to the largest room in order to streamline your cleaning process.

3. SPREAD OUT CHORES THAT BORE: Once you’ve tidied up, make a weekly TAH–DO LIST J (as in The Accidental Housewife!) to keep rooms clean enough. If you follow up on little cleaning projects each week, you’ll be able to maintain a healthy and squeaky clean home, and manicures, all year long.

4. BLEND CHORES THAT BORE INTO EVERYDAY ACIVITIES: Housework can be boring, so staying focused while doing it can be a chore. ‘Blend’ i.e. ‘work’ tasks into everyday activities and routines. Next time you’re chatting on the phone with your BF or mom, chat while cleaning countertops, door handles and sinks.

5. SAVE YOUR NRG: Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle can handle anything, especially if it can clean up Times Square after New Year’s Eve! Save your elbow grease and simply squirt a drop of the powerful new formula onto countertops, appliances and more to clean up after your own New Year’s Eve party.

6. STREAMLINE YOUR CLEANING TOOLS WITH MULTI-TASKERS: There’s no need to have countless cleaning products clogging cabinets. Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle can be used directly on tough dirt or used as a dilute to handle big or small messes on hard surfaces such as tables, countertops, sinks, stoves and even floors.

7. TAKE THE GUESS WORK OUT OF ‘HOW MUCH’: Thanks to its innovative one-dose cap, Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle delivers the perfect amount of cleaning gel with every squeeze – that can be applied directly to surfaces or diluted in water as a cleaning solution. Similar to tasks like dishwashing and laundry, buy single, pre-measured packets. This will certainly help you prevent wasting product and in the end, also save you money!

8. DANCE WITH DUST BUNNIES: No one said that you have to make cleaning a chore, so put on those headphones or crank up the music and dance with your vacuum as you suck up those dust bunnies or wash your floor! It will also turn your cleaning routines into a workout, so you’ll be multi-tasking once again—cleaning and toning your bod!

9. ENLIST PINT-SIZED HELPERS: If you have young kids, they are perfect for helping with kid-friendly home-keeping chores like vacuuming and laundry. If you don’t have any children, I’m sure friends and family who do will be happy to lend out theirs so they can enjoy an hour or two of free time!

10. GIVE YOURSELF AN i.O.ME! Don’t wait for your birthday or Mother’s Day. Give yourself a ‘me day’ or at least a few ‘me’ hours. You’ll be amazed how it will give you a new perspective on that next load of laundry waiting for you!

I wish everyone a Happy, Healthy and Clean New Year!

This post is partnered by Mr. Clean, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Oreck Steam-It Review and Giveaway!!!- CLOSED

I learned a very important lesson around Halloween 2008. My neighborhood was “Booing” people where you leave treats for your neighbors and then you hang up a sign so everyone gets a turn. I had many different adhesives being a crafter and I got the not so brilliant idea of using a tape runner to hang up the sign. It was one of those permanent ones with the little raised dots. Big mistake, over a year later I had tape runner on my window by the front door. I tried everything I could think of to get it off. Window cleaner, vinegar, spit, all purpose cleaner nothing would do it. You couldn’t pick it off. It was stuck. When they say permanent they mean permanent. Well, not anymore. There is no more tape runner on my window by the front door thanks to the wonderful people at Oreck!

My son decided he wanted to decorate the glass of my entertainment center with stickers the other day. The picture of the sticker came off but not the sticky mess. My Oreck Steam-It took it all away with a wave of my new magic wand. Just think if you have stickers on your car windows that have been there for years, you can kiss them good bye. Oreck came up with what I now call Mommy’s magic wand, it is the Oreck Steam-it. Oreck is a vacuum company that has been around for many years. I am sure you are all familiar with the famous Oreck man from the commercials.

The Steam-It is pure genius it is more than just a steam mop; it more like a steam almost surface in your home machine. I have used my Steam-it to clean the seats of my toilets, fresh steamed toilet seats would make Mr. Monk happy. I have also used it in the tub to get in those hidden places where the gunk seems to hide. It is great on counter tops and cabinets. Of course you can mop your floors with it too. You can use it up high without having to worry about it leaking on you. I am most excited about being able to use it on my mattress which I am sure could need some freshening up.

I am sure you are wondering; what kind of products do you have to buy to put in it? I know when I had a carpet cleaner I hated having to buy the cleaning solution for it because it seemed to get used very quickly and that could get expensive too. I don’t have a carpet cleaner anymore, it broke so, I don’t have to worry about that anymore. The Steam-It only uses water. No nasty chemicals to add or worry about you just fill it up and turn it on. I am all about easy stuff when it comes to doing chores so I can spend my time with my adorable little boy.

The Steam-It comes with attachments too. They were a little hard to get on the wand at first but that is probably because it was new the first time. Make sure you just keep pressing on them. You would want a tight seal though. Something I also wanted to mention is I want to share with you about the funnel. It took me like a half an hour to find it. I thought that I was missing it. It is clear and blends in to the packaging. I have some pretty silly stories about thinking I don’t have parts of things. So, keep looking for the funnel I am sure it will be there.

I really love my Oreck Steam-It it has a million and one uses and I love that everything is steamed and sanitized. As a mom of a three year old I like to be as germ free as possible. Of course this would be great for anyone. I think it makes my home look wonderful and so clean. The unit costs $179.95 and just think about the money you will save on cleaners. It is a great item to own.

You can find the Oreck Steam-It at Oreck stores and online at Oreck’s website.

For more information please visit Oreck’s website

Thank you to Oreck for providing me with a complimentary Oreck Steam-It for me to review and providing one as a giveaway prize.

Yes I have an Oreck Steam-It to give away to one really lucky reader. Your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you.

You must do the mandatory entry for the bonus entries to count.

Mandatory Entry: Go to the Oreck Website and tell me something else besides the Oreck Steam- It that you would like to own.

Bonus Entries:

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This giveaway will end on February 13th at 11:59 pm ET

This giveaway is open to residents of the US ONLY

Marcal Paper goods review

Noah loves paper towels. He will ask for one when he is eating and he gets messy. He will specifically say paper towel please. He doesn’t say napkin or anything else it is always paper towel. It is really cute. It is so funny to watch him carefully wipe his hands and mouth and occasionally his booster tray. Most parents go through a lot of paper towels when their kids are messy so why not use one that is made completely out of recycled paper? Since you use them anyways why not look for and use a brand that is green and instead of cutting down trees the company reuses the paper.

Some companies claim to use recycled paper and only use a percentage. Marcal uses 100% recycled paper in their products. Marcal makes two kinds napkins and two sizes of paper towels. Marcal makes every day napkins and beautiful dinner napkins. They also make 100% recycled toilet paper and facial tissue. Marcal is very concerned about the environment. Here are some green facts they wanted me to share with you.

According to the Resource Conservation Alliance Every person in the US uses approximately 800 pounds of paper each year! Holy Cow if that right there doesn’t make you want to recycle and use 100% recycled products.

Each of us uses approximately one 100-foot-tall Douglas fir tree in paper and wood products per year. – American Forest and Paper Association

For every 17 trees saved, you are helping the earth absorb 250 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually. – AmeriFlow Recycling Inc.
A single tree produces approximately 260 pounds of oxygen per year. That means two mature trees can supply enough oxygen annually to support a family of four. – U.S. Department of Agriculture and Bombay Natural History Society

Half of the world’s forests have already been cleared or burned, and 80% of what is left has been seriously degraded. – Environmental Paper Network

One tree can absorb as much carbon in a year as a car produces while driving 26,000 miles. – U.S. Department of Agriculture and Bombay Natural History Society

The average U.S. office worker produces two pounds of paper waste per day. – Envirowise

To manufacture one pound of paper requires three and a half pounds of wood and produces three pounds of carbon dioxide. – Nature Canada

Discarded paper is one of the largest contributors to methane emissions from landfills. (Methane is a greenhouse gas that is 20 times more potent in its effects than CO2). – Ernest Mayer, “What Evolution is 2001”

An EPA study concluded that “Federal subsidies of virgin paper product undoubtedly cost the taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars. – Federal Disincentives: A Study of Federal Tax Subsidies and Other
Programs Affecting Virgin Industries and Recycling (Washington, D.C.: EPA, August 1994), p.5.

All of those facts are scary. I mean not only do we have to preserve our trees for oxygen, but also for beauty and for animal’s homes. It really doesn’t take much to recycle and purchase recycled products. Marcal paper towels aren’t more expensive because they are recycled. You can normally find coupons in your local Sunday paper for them. There really is no reason why you shouldn’t help the Earth.

I had the opportunity to review some Marcal Small Steps Paper towels, Napkins and Dinner napkins. When I first used them I noticed the quality and strength of the paper towels. Let’s face it I am the mom of a three year old little boy who can be a messy little guy. Some paper towels don’t withstand his messes. He is very independent and likes to do things for himself, like eating for example. Now he doesn’t like to have food on him so like I said he asks for a paper towel but that also means he likes to clean himself up if he can. They are strong and absorbent as well.

My favorite quality is of course that they are made of recycled paper. That is the most important thing. A lot of paper towels have pretty little designs inked on them. Marcal doesn’t have that. They however have hearts “embroidered” in the paper towels. When I look at them it reminds me that Marcal loves the Earth. Each roll lasts a long time because you do not constantly need a bunch of paper towels to get the job done.

We like the napkins as well. I am going to be using the dinner napkins for our Thanksgiving dinner because they are so nice looking. They are definitely versatile. You can use the dinner napkins for a picnic or for a special holiday feast. I use the everyday napkins all the time; usually for what I call smaller messes. If my son needs to wipe his face or has a little food on himself I hand him a napkin to get cleaned up. I think I will stick some of the everyday napkins in the car. They are so much better than those scratchy itchy fast food napkins that everyone has in their consuls.

Check out Marcal paper products and help a tree. For more information please visit Marcal’s website. Look for Marcal Small Steps paper towels and napkins in a store near you.

Thank you to Marcal for sending me some complimentary paper towels and napkins for my family to try out.