Ultimate Cloth

I am so worried about this sounding like a hyper info-mercial. You know the kind.."and tell them what else it does, Jenn!" But you know I'm sincere or you wouldn't be reading me, right? And you know, when I don't like something (like large noses) I come out and say so, right? So trust me on this review.

I don't get excited about cleaning products. It's not that I'm a slob, but tidiness just isn't at the top of my priority list. I love having a clean home, but I love having a loving home first. The clean part can wait. There just doesn't seem to be the time to clean as deeply as I'd like and I have unique cleaning problems, like washing footprints off my walls. My child can stand upside down on the walls now. I appreciate things that allow me to clean quickly and easily. For a long time, I've used the Magic Eraser. It cleans many things with minimal scrubbing. But it wears a thin layer of paint off of my walls and cabinets. Also, it makes me nervous, wondering what sort of residue I'm leaving behind.

I was sent an Ultimate Cloth to try out and review. When I opened the package, I was a little worried. It looked like a large square of homemade paper. I was afraid that it would disintegrate when I got it wet. However, it turned out to be quite mighty the moment I soaked it in hot water.

I started it on one of the more gentle recommendations on the list: bathroom mirrors. Mine are splattered with toothpaste every week and look terrible. Washing them involves smudging dry toothpaste into streaks before eventually polishing them all off. Within 3 seconds flat, my mirror was clean and streak free. My jaw hung open. I progressed to windows. Just as fast. I cleaned switchplates and walls and was excited to see zero paint transfer and knew that I would never need another magic eraser. I moved on to greasy stovetops and cupboard doors. While oatmeal off the table, I noticed some all over my daughter's sleeve. I used the ultimate cloth on her shirt and the food disappeared like magic. Clothing? I tried carpets. It took out stains and didn't shred my cloth up at all. The thing has a 5 year warranty and I pushed it to the limits. I used it on my cast iron pans!

My ultimate, most absolutely disgusting story in using my Ultimate Cloth is the one involving my refrigerator. While I was sick, my husband took a roast out of the freezer and put it in the fridge to thaw but forgot to put a plate under it. Three days later, I discovered blood all over the fridge. Cold, congealed, solid blood cemented to my refrigerator. Blech. I didn't want to contaminate my Ultimate Cloth (to which I've quickly become attached) with blood, so I pulled out paper towels and chemical cleaners. I scrubbed what I could, but nastiness persisted and I finally gave in and pulled out my Ultimate Cloth. Within seconds, the nasty solidified blood was cleaned. Gone.

There are no chemicals in this cloth, it simply absorbs dirt. You can toss it in the washing machine. You can bleach it to disinfect it. It washes out easily in the sink with soap and water. I went from washing bacon grease, to sink, and then to windows without any greasy streaks. It's gentle enough to use on glasses and camera lenses, but tough enough to tackle my house's real needs.

I am buying these for Christmas presents. I told my husband I want several more in my own stocking for Christmas. I would love to have several around the house: one to hit the nasty kitchen stuff, one to hit the polishing, one to live in the car, one for the bathroom, and one to travel with me in my purse. I don't need more than one cloth, but it would be very convenient. At the moment, white is the only color available, but I would love to see different colors that I could delegate to different purposes. I would definitely prefer a darker color for kitchen clean-ups. Enchilada sauce has left a bit of an orange stain on mine, though not bad, and certainly not bad enough to inhibit its cleaning abilities.

It's not the most exciting sounding gift request, but my husband is just happy to see me excited about cleaning.

Ultimate Cloths are $6.00 apiece or 2 for $10.00. There are price breaks for larger orders as well. With a 5 year guarantee and no need for cleaning chemicals, this is truly an amazing deal. BUT! If you'd like a FREE one, all you have to do is "follow" Ultimate Cloth on Twitter or Facebook and they will send you one!

The Story of Christmas

I know it's early, but we found a great addition to our Advent celebrations this year. The Story of Christmas by Gwen Ellis is a sweet book written for 4-7 year olds and my girls have loved it. The book begins with the story of Zechariah, told simply but sweetly for little ears. Each 2 page spread also includes a little discussion box to help listeners become involved with the story. It progresses through the Christmas story, the escape to Egypt, and the return home. Very well done. Few children's Christmas story books cover the entire story so simply or so thoroughly.

The illustrations are delightful, though the noses really seemed to stand out on the characters...a small thing for most, but very distracting for me. Happily, my daughters don't seem to suffer from my hang-ups.

While the girls enjoyed reading the book, their favorite part of this book is the fact that it came with a DVD with bible stories about the life of Jesus. The animated DVD is as endearing as the book and runs for 17 minutes. The DVD is also a DVD-ROM and includes coloring pages!

I'm shelving the book for now, but it will only be a few more weeks before we pull it out again for Christmas!

*Disclosure: Mama Buzz and reviewers, received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes.

Whew!

Honor woke up fever-free this morning. She had a sinus infection and double ear infection. I wish I had started treating these things sooner. The day I took her to the doctor, we began garlic and olive oil in the ears and within an hour, her earache was gone (but infection apparently still remained.) I also started a salt-water solution up her nose and within an hour her headache was gone (but infection apparently still remained.) Up until yesterday, I had just been treating her fever and cough. Had I started these things sooner, I'm confidant we would not be on antibiotics now.

For anyone that might be needing to avoid antibiotics, here is what I should have been doing much sooner:

For earache: Crush one clove of garlic in 1 Tb of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Stir together in a bowl or mug and heat gently in a pan of water. Cool to comfortably warm and drop the oil (not chunks of garlic) directly into the ear. Rest with ear pointed to the ceiling for 10 minutes. Veggie-Tales are handy for keeping kids in this position, though it's kind of hard for them to hear.

For stuffy head (and long before it's stuffy) : Mix 1/2 tsp sea salt, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 2 cups of filtered water. Using a netti pot or a bulb syringe, squirt up each nostril once or twice every two hours. This was recommended to me by our pediatrician and is perfectly safe.

I started these yesterday morning and by yesterday afternoon, her pain was all gone and fever was the only remaining symptom. I'm kicking myself for not starting them much sooner, but I am soooooo glad that she's feeling better now.

High-Ho, High-Ho

It's off to the doctor we go. Honor has had fever for 7 days now, so we have an appt. in an hour. I'm pretty sure it's now a secondary infection and not still the nasty flu. Gracie is up and running with nothing but a cough slowing her down. The boys had their bout last week and made it through it quickly. Chris and I have somehow avoided anything and I am so glad. Hopefully it will stay that way.

On vaccines

I read an interesting interview with Lawrence B. Palevsky, MD this morning. The interview is on Dr. Mercola's Website, which can be rather extremist sometimes, but this interview was well-done, I thought. Link to Interview.

It busts herd immunity theory and sheds light on many other topics, including H1N1 vaccines.

I wish I could keep this stuff in my head to defend myself when the non-vax accusations fly.