How to Trick your Washer into Filling with more Water

Kieth is here today to show you an awesome hack with you washer. Some people talk to us about wanting to have more water in the drum when they do a load of laundry. If you have a top load washer, this is a great hack for you.

Before we dive into this hack, lets first talk about the amount of water that your washer uses. Some might think that the washer is not using enough water, but in reality, it probably is using just enough water especially with the new Energy Star High Efficient washers. There are only a few reasons why you would want to add more water to your load. If your cotton fabrics come out dirty or nearly dry straight out of the washer, or if you are washing a big comforter. These are indications that your machine needs more water.



Before you do a load follow these steps to have more water in your washer:
1. Load your washer with the clothes that you want to clean.
2. Pick any cycle and have the drum fill up with water.
3. Drain the water out and leave your clothes in the washer.
4. Turn off the machine and turn it back on.
5. Select the cycle that you would like to run and let the washer complete the cycle.

By following these steps, you have tripped the amount of weight of the clothes by making them wet. The agitator at the bottom scenes the weight and will fill up the washer with water depending on the weight of the clothes.

This hack only works for top load washers and cannot be done with a front load washer. Front load washers have a limit on how much water it can hold and if it goes more than a certain amount it could leak and cause other issues.

Always use the recommended amount of detergent every time.

Other tips that you can do before you add more water to your washer:

• Have smaller piles of clothes in a cycle to allow more room for the clothes to move around and get clean.
• Use a more aggressive cleaning cycle like heavy-soil or heavy duty cycles.
• Try using the steam settings if you have them.
• Pick a better laundry detergent, but use the recommended amount.
• Pre-treat tougher stains before putting the clothes in the washer.

Hack: Easily get Rid of that Onion and Garlic Smell

A lot of people love garlic and onion flavor but the smell, well that can be a little overbearing and downright bring someone to tears. The smell can get on your hands and be tough to get out with just soap and water but there is hope.

Stainless Steel when combined with cold water can get rid of most of the smell. Look around the kitchen; you more than likely have plenty laying around.  Knives, spoons, and other utensils will all work. All you need to do is run the knife under cold water and carefully rub the stainless steel.

So why does this work? Well its science! Garlic and onions get their strong aroma from sulfur that gets all over your hands. When you wash your hands it turns into sulfuric acid and has a chemical reaction with the stainless that neutralizes the smell.

Try it out the next time your crushing garlic and cutting up onions. 

Household Hint: How to Get Mildew Smell out of Towels

We’ve all been there- wiping down our countertops or drying off pots and pans with what we believe is a fresh dishcloth, only to have a moldy, mildew smell rise up and smack us in the face. Gross! According to laundry experts, that smell occurs in towels, washcloths and other linens when dirt and grime gets trapped in their fibers, along with detergent buildup, and then left wet for too long, either in a hamper or the washing machine. Before you give up and buy a whole new set of towels, know that there is a cure! Follow these easy steps to restore your towels to their original, mildew-free glory:

Wash towels in special vinegar load- Round up the offending towels and throw them into the washing machine on the hot setting, along with one cup of white vinegar. Make sure to wash like colors together to minimize the risk of bleeding. DO NOT add detergent or bleach. Once the cycle completes, toss into the dryer as usual and get ready to enjoy folding some delicious-smelling towels. If a little bit of stank remains, don’t fret- just repeat the steps above, this time using ½ cup baking soda instead of the vinegar. This step is necessary for severely mildewed towels.

 

Wash your washer- Now that you’ve cured your towels, you want to prevent the mildew from ever coming back. One of the ways to accomplish this is to wash your washing machine. Running a monthly cleaning cycle with one of the many specialty washing machine cleaners on the market, such as Tide and Affresh, is effective, but running a normal cycle with hot water after adding bleach to the dispenser can kill just as many germs for a lot less cost.

 

Improve your laundry habits- OK, so now your towels and washer are both clean, fresh and free of odor-causing bacteria. Now all you have to do is keep them that way! One quick and easy way to remedy the mildew issue is to remove clothes from the washer promptly, rather than letting them sit there for hours before putting them into the dryer. Additionally, consider hanging wet towels and damp washcloths over the shower curtain rod or towel rack to dry before tossing them into the hamper. And always leave the lid or door to your washer open to allow air to circulate and dry out any moisture. These preventive measures are especially important if you live in a humid climate, where everything takes longer to dry properly.

Dinner? Done!!

One of the most stressful parts of a busy weekday is getting dinner on the table. Between work, the kids’ school and extracurricular activities, it can be difficult to have a nutritious meal ready at a reasonable hour. Luckily, there is a solution- with a little advance planning and some basic organization, dinnertime can turn from a burden into a breeze! I devised this handy step-by-step meal-planning system when our son started preschool- see if it works for you!

Step 1: Buy a Dry-Erase Board

…Or a chalkboard, or really even a piece of paper tacked to the fridge with a magnet will do. The point is, get something on which you can write the days of the week, and the corresponding dinner for each day. Not only will it give you a visual reminder of what you plan to prepare each day, but a quick snapshot of it with your phone can serve as an ingredient shopping list for the grocery store.

Step 2: Make the Meal Plan

Appoint a certain day of the week to create your meal plan. I like Sundays, because it is the least busy day of the week for me (and therefore ideal for both planning and shopping), but you can choose any day that works best for you. Take a moment to assess the contents of your kitchen and see if there are any ingredients that can be used for meals prior to taking your trip to the store. This will cut down on unnecessary spending and get you focused on meal possibilities. Then, plan a healthy, enjoyable, and above all EASY meal for each night of the week. Things that can be pre-made on the weekend and then quickly reheated (lasagna, casseroles, etc.) are always a good idea.

Step 3: Take a Picture- It’ll Last Longer

It’s handy to have a pic on your phone to jog your memory if you find yourself at the grocery store with no idea what you are supposed to buy. Having a photo reminder of each week’s list also helps to avoid reruns of the same dinner too many weeks in a row. (Mom, meatloaf AGAIN??)

Step 4: Time to Shop!

With your list in hand, time to hit the store. Try to choose an off-time, when lines will be minimal. If your meal-planning day is Sunday, like mine, may I suggest going during the local football game? It’s like a ghost town at the grocery store when all eyes are glued to the game.

Another option is to try a home grocery delivery service like Walmart to Go- you can select your groceries online at your leisure, and a delivery driver will bring them right to your door the next day for a small fee! A perfect solution for the busy parent on the go (especially if you’ve ever had to bring a toddler into a crowded store.)

Step 5: Prep What You Can

Once your ingredients are in the house, take time to peel, chop, rinse or even cook anything you can ahead of time, to minimize the time spent on preparing dinner each weeknight. For the ultimate proactivity, invest in some kitchen prep bowls (I like the ones by Rubbermaid, $12.56 on Amazon.com) and have your washed, sliced or chopped ingredients already pre-measured and ready to throw into whatever you are cooking. Talk about a time saver!

Step 6: Stick to the Plan-Mostly

After a hectic day it is oh, so tempting to forego dinner preparation and pick up a nice greasy sack of fast food on the way home from work, or to load the family in the car and head to the nearest casual dining restaurant, but try to resist the temptation. Not only will the home-cooked meals be healthier for you and your family, but it will also keep a little extra cash in your wallet and keep everyone on track for other evening activities such as homework, bath time and bedtime. Alas, nobody’s perfect, and you should not be too hard on yourself if you go off the rails once in a while. I have a built-in “cheat” day that I call “Fast Food Friday”- a scheduled day of takeout bliss that is written right into the weekly meal plan. As a certain fast food chain once said, “you deserve a break today.”

 

Got more meal-planning tips? We’d love to hear them! Please share in the comments section.

Keep Your Fridge Clean- Easy Tips for a Busy Life

If you know me, you know I’m a person who likes to keep things clean. I especially pride myself on a nice spic-and-span kitchen, with the stainless steel appliances and kitchen island wiped down to perfection. Imagine my horror, then, when I looked into the fridge this morning and realized…I’m one of those people with a disgusting refrigerator!

Don’t get me wrong- from the outside it’s picture perfect. Streak-free, no fingerprints, everything tidy right down to the tray under the water and ice dispenser. But open the doors and suddenly you’re hit with spilled juice dribbles, white rings from underneath the milk jug, a streak of hot sauce from a once-mighty breakfast burrito and what has to be three weeks’ worth of suspect-looking Tupperware full of leftovers I’m frankly afraid to view. How did this happen to me?

Fear not, fellow Type A neat-freaks: you’re not alone. Cleaning out your refrigerator can be a simple task that you can do once a week to stay on top of the accumulation and basic grunge of everyday living. For the big jobs, follow this link for a handy checklist from Real Simple on how to give your refrigerator a deep cleaning in only 20 minutes, but you can also just follow these handy tips for a 5-minute weekly spot-clean sure to keep your refrigerator fresh, clean and free of nastiness.

 

Clean the fridge on Trash Day- This way you can just pitch all the questionable looking fruits, veggies and meats that are past their use-by date right into the bin and take it straight out to the curb. No stinky garbage to contend with! Also, if you’re like me and prefer to use the disposable food storage containers instead of the pricey, reusable kind, you can just toss any containers you’re scared to open right into the trash too, avoiding a run-in with your gag reflex.

Windex is your friend! -The shelves on most modern fridges are made of tempered glass, making a glass cleaner like Windex the ideal cleaning agent. Clear the shelves one at a time, top to bottom, and clean with a cloth sprayed with Windex. (Don’t actually spray the Windex into the fridge, as it might contaminate any uncovered food on the lower shelves.)

Baking Soda, Baking Soda, Baking Soda!- This wonder substance can be used to freshen and deodorize virtually anything, but its ability to keep odors from forming in the refrigerator is really what put it on the map as a household cleaning staple. These days you can even buy baking soda in a fridge-friendly pod that suctions right to the inner fridge wall! I prefer to go old-school with a nice 50-cent box of Arm and Hammer with the top ripped off. It’s cheap, it’s effective, and it makes all the difference. (Just don’t use the same box of baking soda that you have open for deodorizing in, say, a cookie recipe, because that’s just gross.)

Time to shine!- Now that the inside of your fridge is all spiffy, make the exterior gleam with a mix of equal parts white vinegar and water in a spray bottle. This keeps the stainless steel streak-free and squeaky-clean without any residue or buildup. For extra disinfecting power, run a cleaning wipe down the door handles, where germs love to hide. I like Clorox Wipes myself. An alternative to the water-vinegar combo if you’re really in a hurry is a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Not only does it take about 17 seconds to clean the whole outside of the fridge, but it also leaves behind minimal residue, keeping your fridge from looking dull.

What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever found in your fridge? Let us know in the comments below.

Microwave Hacks For Every Day Tasks

Microwaves are found in most every home and their most commonly used for reheating leftovers, defrost, or for their timer... there are other, more clever ways to make good use of your microwave that could simplify several tasks. Here are just a few…

 

1. No-Tears Onions: To avoid crying during the process of cutting onions, trim off the ends of the onions and heat them on full power for about 30 seconds. This will alleviate any stinking feeling in your eyes.
2. Easy Cleaning (probably the best hack): Heat a glass bowl of water with a small amount of vinegar in the microwave for 5 minutes. This will soften the inside debris so you can easily wipe down the microwave with little to no resistance.
3. Rejuvenate Your Honey: If your honey turns up crystallized the next time you need it, it can be restored! Remove the lid and heat on 50% power for about 2 minutes. (Make sure if you choose to do this, your honey is in a glass jar or another microwavable container)
4. Juice Your Lemons: Get more juice out of lemons and limes by placing them in the microwave as a whole. Run the microwave on high for 10-20 seconds; this will make them super juicy and easy to squeeze.
5. Easy Peel: Planning on peeling peaches or tomatoes? Throw a whole peach/tomato into the microwave for 30 seconds on high, allow them to stand for 2 minutes after and the peel will slip off easily.
6. Make More Space: Need to microwave 2 things at once? Place two bowls into the microwave by balancing one on an upturned mug.
7. No More Chewy Pizza Crust: Place a glass with a small amount of water into the microwave with your pizza and your crust comes out a lot less chewy.

There are several more hacks out there but these were some of our favorites.

Our Sources: AwesomeInventions.com & ViralNova.com