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Archive for the ‘House Keeping’ Category

The Skoy Cloth is an Eco friendly alternative to using paper towels and sponges. I was never really huge on using sponges as I know how much disgusting bacteria they can hold. The Skoy unlike regular sponges dries incredibly quickly so it’s less likely to get lots of bacteria. You can also easily throw it in the washer/dryer, dishwasher and microwave (1-2 minutes) to refresh it and keep it healthy and germ free.

Skoy Cloths are 100% Biodegradable made from natural cotton and wood based cellulose pulp. The feel of this cloth is like soft card board and the bottom is textured which helps give it scrubbing power. Measuring in at 7×7 this cloth is perfect fit for my hand too, not to big and not to little. You can also use popular household cleaners as well as just water.

The Skoy cloth has the ability to absorb fifteen times its own weight! This is great for when drinks may get knocked over, which can happen quite easily when you have a child at home.

One Skoy Cloth can keep 15 rolls of paper towels out of the landfills! I feel bad for buying paper towels in bulk at Costco. I honestly didn’t use paper towels much before and we ended up having to store them in various place in our home! Skoys take up no room at all which is good if you are a family of three living in a small apartment.

I’ve been using Skoy Cloths in my home now for over a year and have personally been thrilled with the long lasting promise and the uses they’ve given me. We’ve totally cut back but have not completely eliminated paper towels in our home since we mostly use those for cooking purposes.

The Skoy cloth is a new smart eco friendly, affordable, and durable way to clean! They are available in a variety of styles and fun patterns. The packing the cloth’s come in is also in eco friendly rafia instead of commonly used plastic.

You can get four cloths for 5.99 or subscribe to get 8 cloths every three months for a really great price! I love these cloths so much that I am on a mission to let the world know! These would make great gifts for all my family and friends. How about yours? Check out Skoy Cloth today!

Win it!

SKOY has offered for me to giveaway 2 (4 packs), so I will have 2 different winners.

To Enter: Visit the Skoy Cloth site and tell me which SKOY Cloth 4 packs you would like to win!

Extras:

1. Add me to your blogroll or add my button.
2. Blog it, link back to this post. (2 extra)
3. Favorite my blog on Technorati
4. Subscribe by email/RSS. (2 extra)
5. Follow on Twitter @erinlowmaster & Tweet (daily entries available)
6. Email a friend about this giveaway. (Leave name of friend)

Tweet: (copy/paste)

RT: Win a pack of Skoy Eco-Friendly Cleaning Cloths! @erinlowmaster– Ends 6/12/10.

Giveaway running till 06/12/10 . Winners will be notified shortly afterward by email. Please respond within 48 hours or you forfeit your prize to another participant.

Disclaimer: I was sent a  product to review from Skoy. This review is 100% my opinion and has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. I was not compensated in any other way for this product review.

Spring is finally in the air here in Oregon and I’m eagerly awaiting the dry, high in the 70′s sunshine this weekend that I saw promised on the news this morning! If you asked me one of my favorite spring past times, it would totally be cleaning and organizing. I think it’s one of the best things we can do for ourselves in our homes.

And with all that being said about just starting my Spring Cleaning, I’m very pleased with the opportunity from My Blog Spark to review some fantastic cleaning products by Seventh Generation!

I had no idea the power of the herb thyme! Seventh Generation has introduced and taught me that this herb is a very powerful in disinfecting in killing germs naturally and has been found to be effective against the Influenza A Virus, including H1N1.! Their latest disinfecting sprays and wipes utilize this power and are offering disinfectant cleaners includes a multi-surface cleaning spray, bathroom cleaning spray and wipes, all which I was able to review personally.

The smell of these cleaning products is very refreshing, I’m a fan of all herbs and enjoy the natural green smell instead of an over powering lemon or orange scent that burns the nose and the eyes. I found Seventh Generation’s products to work great! They exceeded all my expectations even down to the 100% recycled, unbleached paper towels that I was also able to review for my cleaning purposes!

Seventh Generation has partnered with eco-lifestyle consultant and author, Alexandra Zissu, whose new book, The Conscious Kitchen, it discusses what’s good for your health, what’s good for the planet and what tastes great. Her book also includes great tips on maintaining a green and healthy kitchen! I really have been enjoying this book and have been getting a lot from the sections talking about our food. This year I’ve actually become more conscious about what my family and myself are eating. I highly recommend this book for very useful and life changing information!

Buy It: I’m a fan and would not hesitate in the least to recommend Seventh Generation cleaning products! Their products  are sold nationwide and quite affordable. Look here to find a retailer near you!

One of my readers will win a Seventh Generation “Disinfecting Cleaning Kit” that includes a disinfecting multi-surface cleaner, bathroom cleaner, wipes , a copy of The Conscious Kitchen, a cleaning caddy made from recycled plastic, and two rolls of 100% recycled, unbleached paper towels!

Winner Announced: Cheryl F.

**Disclosure:Seventh Generation provided me with the free product, information, and gift pack through MyBlogSpark for review purposes.

Undesirable odors are all around us and with all the products out on the market to eliminate it, I’ve never found any that work as well as those I was given the opportunity to review from a company called Fresh Wave.

Why is it that I love Fresh Wave products so much?

Their products actually do exactly what all deodorizing products claim to do, which is to completely eliminate unwanted odor. Fresh Wave products don’t contain any  perfumes or fragrances but instead use natural ingredients such as soy, lime, pine needle, aniseed, cedar wood, and clove.

I can claim these products really work  and don’t just mask it with scents that can sometimes bother those sensitive to certain smells like myself and my husband.  In knowing that Fresh Wave only uses natural ingredients to extract odor, I can rest at peace in knowing that my pursuit in helping the environment by using biodegradable and non-toxic products rest in such a responsible company.

The products I was sent to review were specifically requested for my cat as I’ve been spotlighting pet products, though keep in mind that these products aren’t limited to just pet odors but all kinds.

My Thoughts…

I was sent Fresh Wave® Crystal Gel to specifically put near my cats litter box to eliminate the unwanted odor.  Since we moved and I have very large self cleaning litter box and very small bathroom, the cat box got moved into the dining area room. I know that’s the first place I’d put it either but you have to do what you have to do. It’s either there or some place my toddler could get into it and that’s not an option.

Now I love my litter box a lot and it mostly eliminates all smells but when it goes through a cycle to remove the waste, there’s a split second where you can smell a very undesirable scent but since I put the crystal gel near the litter box,  I haven’t been able to smell a thing!

You don’t have to keep the gel open all day long if you don’t want to. You can put the lid back on and use it whenever you please but since I’m using mine in the dining area, I keep the container open 24/7.  I love this product 100% and will be purchasing it again when mine runs out which according to Fresh Wave would be in about approximately 60 to 90 days depending on conditions. The 160z Crystal Gel cost only 8.95 prices and sizes do vary depending on what you need.

The second product I was sent is the  Fresh Wave Carpet Shake. I’ve not only been using this on my carpet to absorb undesirable odors but have been using this in my cats litter box.  The smell of the carpet shake is of pine and lime that’s light and not over powering like other carpet shakes on the market.

As instructed, I let the carpet shake settle in my carpet for around ten minutes and then vacuumed and whatever odor that was present was completely eliminated! As for the litter box, this stuff works wonders making for a much nicer smelling environment as well as a non-toxic one too. A 6 ounce bottle of Fresh Wave Carpet Shake retails for 14.00.

**Disclaimer: I was given several Fresh Wave products to review for my honest opinion . This review has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. I was not compensated in any other way for this product review.**

I recently was given the opportunity to review  Tropical Traditions Non-Toxic, Environmentally Safe Laundry Powdered Detergent a cleaner that  has the power of Oxygen Bleach Destainer and Deodorizer.

This laundry detergent is safe for all temperatures on whites, permanent press, bright colors, pastels, prints, and delicates making it ideal for nearly all your laundry needs( excluding wool & silk)!

Tropical Traditions Powdered Laundry Detergent is also the perfect choice for those that may have reactions and skin sensitivity to other types of detergent available on the market that commonly have dyes, perfumes, fillers or phosphates added. This Powdered Laundry Detergent dissolves as completely as liquid detergents and rinses away completely leaving no residue in or on your clothes.

Another pro is that Powdered Laundry Detergent costs less to use than commercial liquid detergents and with it being eco-friendly, you are not only saving money but helping the environment too!

My thoughts…

I’ve been using Tropical Traditions Powdered Detergent for over a month now and have been very impressed with the results that I’ve been getting! My loads of laundry have been coming out stain free and smelling great with no residue left behind!

I love the fact that I don’t have to  use separate detergents for my white and colored loads. It feels great to know I am getting the power of oxygen bleach without the hassle of adding it myself. This is definitely a mom approved product in my household!

Win it: Tropical Traditions is generously offering to give one of my Readers a 5lb. container of their Laundry Detergent.

To Enter: Visit Household Traditions and tell me another non-toxic cleaning product that interest you!

Extras:

1. Add me to your blogroll or add my button.
2. Blog it, link back to this post. (2 extra)
3. Favorite my blog on Technorati
4. Subscribe by email/RSS. (2 extra)
5. Follow on Twitter @erinlowmaster & Tweet (daily entries available)
6. Email a friend about this giveaway. (Leave name of friend)
7. Subscribe to their email Sales Newsletter here: http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/subscribe_for_special_sales.cfm

Tweet: (copy/paste)

RT: Win Powdered Laundry Detergent from Tropical Traditions 01/30@erinlowmaster (add url)

This Giveaway is only open to U.S and Canada

Giveaway running till 01/30/09 . Winners will be notified shortly afterward by email. Please respond within 48 hours or you forfeit your prize to another participant.

Disclaimer: I was sent a Tropical Traditions Powdered Laundry Detergent to review . This review is 100% my opinion and has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. I was not compensated in any other way for this product review.

New Year’s resolutions, some of us make them some of us don’t. I’m one of those people that do make resolutions for the New Year and 75% of the time, the things I wanted to tackle tend to get completed! I can’t argue with those results so I tend to make more resolutions each and every year.

Mabel’s Labels has helped me tackle of one of my new year resolutions right off the bat! The back story on this resolution started with my the spice rack my husband bought me last Christmas. I loved this spice rack, I found my spices quite easily without having to dig through cabinet and it worked fantastic for several months. But then, the printed spice names on each of the containers began to disappear. The ink smudged and I couldn’t tell the paprika from the cayenne pepper and this could cause a big problem depending on what I was preparing.

The Household canister, bin, and spice labels set provided by Mabel’s Labels was exactly what I needed! This set consists of 16 Canister Labels, 30 Bin Labels, and 52 Spice Labels. The dimensions of these labels aren’t too big and not too small! I was able to fully customize each label to my liking by choosing what word would go on each label as well as choosing from the three available color sets (Apple Green, Magenta, and Navy Blue).

The bin labels that I choose to customize include labels for Holiday, Craft, and Outdoor supplies which are a must for finding things a lot quicker when you need them!

The Canister labels I’ve used to organize my canisters such as all purpose flour, bread flour, and others in the kitchen. You can see without each canister being properly labeled, I could easily mix up my flour and we wouldn’t want to do that!

The labels in this combo pack are resistant to water. And they are not intended to withstand dishwasher or microwave use . I love these labels and have been very impressed with the quality. My husband loves them too and only hopes that they offer more color selection in the future!

A set of these from Mabel’s Labels retails for 40.00, which includes 98 fully customizable long lasting labels!

** Special thank to Mabel’s Labels for helping me get organized in the New Year of 2010! **

Disclaimer: I was sent the Neat Freak combo for review from Mabel’s Labels. This review is 100% my opinion and has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. I was not compensated in any other way for this product review.

For over 30 years, Simple Green, has provided customers with non-toxic, biodegradable, environmentally safer cleaning products for household, industrial and institutional applications. They have products for Kitchen & Bath, Kids & Pets, Laundry, Outdoors, Floors & Carpets, Car & Garage and Specialty products.

I was thrilled when I found myself with opportunity to review an entire set of cleaning products from Simple Green®. Shortly after sharing the news with my husband, he told me that at the company where he works use  these exact products  to keep the place clean!

My Thoughts…

Simple Green® Naturals Dish Washing Liquid(Citrus Scent)

I’ve used a lot of different types of dish soap, some left my hands dry others smelled too strong, and some flat out didn’t work up enough of a lather to get the job done. Simple Green is not one of these types of dish soap! I was so impressed by Simple Green® Naturals Dish Washing Liquid that I’ve made a vow to continue to use it in my household for years and years to come!

Why do I love Simple Green® Naturals Dish Washing Liquid so much? It’s gentle on my hands which is a plus because I don’t use gloves when washing dishes. The sweet citrus smell is a delight as it’s not over the top! It cleans grease of in a jiffy and works wonders on dishes caked with food!  What more could you ask for?

Simple Green® Naturals Liquid Hand Soap(Herb Garden Scent)

How unique to find a scent of mixed basil, sage, clary sage, rosemary and orange oils! This soap smells absolutely delightful!This hand soap is sure to please many as the smell isn’t too flowery or perfume drenched like some I have used. Note that I have to watch what kind of soaps I use because my husband has allergies to some and they make him start sneezing and having trouble breathing. Simple Green® Naturals Liquid Hand Soap is great on the skin and will leave you feeling fresh and clean!

Simple Green® Naturals Multi-Surface

I was pretty happy when I found out this could take my daughters crayons marking off the window sill! It was bound to happen, no preventing it,  I am just glad that Simple Green® Naturals Multi-Surface cleaner was there to save me! I used this product on my counter tops, inside my microwave, above my stove, and many other places. This cleaner works great and has a light lemon smell to it!

Simple Green® Naturals Bathroom Cleaner

I despise cleaning bathrooms with a passion. There’s just something about the icky soap scum and other things commonly found in the bathroom that make my stomach cringe. It’s a good thing that Simple Green® Naturals Bathroom Cleaner
is there to help me clean a place I would willfully not do on my own.I’ve always used multiple cleaners for the bathroom. I used a spray on the tub or something like comet, a cleaner on the floor, a cleaner for the toilet, and a spray on the windows, all at the same time.  I’m sure the mixing of such harsh chemicals was not a good thing.

Simple Green® Naturals Bathroom Cleaner is a 100% naturally sourced cleaner which can handle more than one surface in the bathroom. It was designed specially to battle those water borne minerals and soap scum that is usually found in tubs, toilets and sinks.  The scent is derived from pure extracts and oils of rosemary, spearmint, grapefruit and orange making it smell pretty yummy. I still don’t like cleaning the bathroom but this cleaner makes it worlds easier and nowhere near as bad.

Simple Green® Naturals Glass & Surface Care

There’s no doubt that there is a toddler running around making her marks on everything in our apartment. The windows, mirrors, and sliding balcony doors are covered with greasy, sugary hand and face prints.I’m always cleaning glass and it worry me about the cleaner I am using because on occasion, my daughter does tend to lick the glass surfaces, but tell me, what kid doesn’t?

With Simple Green® Naturals Glass & Surface Care, I don’t have to worry about my daughter getting sick from digesting harmful chemicals as this cleaner contains 100% natural ingredient sources cleaning without ammonia or alcohol. I found this cleaner works good with my  ec0-friendly all purpose cloth but can also be used with a lint free paper towel, a non-abrasive lint free cloth or clean microfiber cloth. It also leaves a great rosemary mint fragrance afterward!

Simple Green® Naturals Floor Care

When I have my own home, I’d love be completely rid of carpet in most of the rooms and if that’s the case, I know I’ll be using Simple Green® Naturals Floor Care as my choice floor care cleaner! It’s designed for safe and effective cleaning of all types of flooring including laminate, porcelain tile, slate, finished wood, linoleum and more. It has a lemon smell much like Pinesol but no where near as strong. How you use this, is you simply spray the area you’d like to clean and go over it with a mop or a microfiber cloth. Voila, you’ll be left with a streak free clean floor that smells great!

Simple Green® Naturals Carpet Care (Fragrance Free)

I was looking at my carpet and cringed thinking we’ve only lived here for eight months. But this is what happens when you have a child, the carpet gets filled with stains of juice, chocolate milk, and who knows what else. Oh, let’s not forget the potty training stage we are going through right now, you know the stage were most messes don’t end up in the toilet.  My biggest advice when handling stains is to tackle them right away. Run, and get your cleaner, spray, and let sit for a few minutes then blot up with  a cloth or sponge of some kind and if it doesn’t come up with one application, do it over again. You can guess I’ve been using this spray a lot lately and so far it’s done the job. I have not tried it on stains that have been set for longer amounts of time.

Overall…

I’m a fan of Simple Green’s cleaning line and would recommend them at the drop of a dime. Speaking of dimes, each of these cleaners cost 3.99 a piece and can found in most stores.

Win it:

The great news that I have for you is that Simple Green has generously offered a Simple Green® Naturals Cleaning Kit ($24.99) to one of my readers which includes the following…

• 1 32 oz. bottle of Simple Green Naturals Multi-Surface Care
• 1 24 oz. bottle of Simple Green Naturals Bathroom Cleaner
• 1 24 oz. bottle of Simple Green Naturals Carpet Care
• 1 32 oz. bottle of Simple Green Naturals Glass & Surface Care
• 1 16 oz. bottle of Simple Green Naturals Dish Washing Liquid
• 1 16 oz. bottle of Simple Green Naturals Liquid Hand Soap

• *1 Free Simple Green grocery tote with the purchase of this kit!

To Enter: Visit Simple Green and let me know another product other than those I’ve reviewed that you’d like to try out or that you know someone else in your life would use!

Extras:

1. Add me to your blogroll or add my button.
2. Blog it, link back to this post. (2 extra)
3. Favorite my blog on Technorati
4. Subscribe by email/RSS. (2 extra)
5. Follow on Twitter @erinlowmaster & Tweet (daily entries available)
6. Email a friend about this giveaway. (Leave name of friend)

Tweet: (copy/paste)

RT: Win a Simple Green Natural Cleaning Kit (24.99) 01/31 @erinlowmaster (add url)

This Giveaway is only open to U.S

A special thanks to Simple Green® for sponsoring this  giveaway and providing me products to review.This contest is open to the US only. NO P.O. Boxes allowed. This contest will end on January 31st, 2010. The winner will be chosen at random . They have 48 hrs. to reply to notification email. Thank you.