Things We Love About Our Bleach Alternative

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Mr. Wieber Cleans... Copper!

Lindsey's dad recently spent some time polishing up their antique home in upstate New York, and sent us pictures from his project!

To clean this beautiful antique copper teapot, he used the Laundress Scented Vinegar and Stain Brush along with a few things you probably already have hanging around the house.

Feel free to print out our recipe card for quick reference when you are ready to polish your metals!

Sparkling Chandelier

I love chandeliers, if I had it my way I would have one in every room in my home.

Cleaning hard to reach lighting and chandeliers is probably the most difficult thing to conquer…thank goodness for The Laundress Glass and Mirror Cleaner and our White Gauze Linen Kitchen Cloth.

Using a duster doesn’t work for tough dirt and dust buildup on glass and crystal. The White Gauze Cloth picks up dirt easily-just spray the Glass & Mirror Cleaner directly on the cloth and clean.  For the dangling pieces I sprayed directly and wiped off with the gauze kitchen cloth.

                              Before                                                      After   

Voila-A sparkling and gorgeous chandelier!

 

A Posh Looking Potty

Hard water can leave behind mineral deposits and scale, while soft water can leave unsighlty brown mold. From disinfectants to dyes and lots of scary chemicals including chlorine bleach and ammonia, choosing the right toilet cleaner can leave your “head” spinning…literally.  And who needs it- honestly its just not that hard!

 

We clean our “thrones” with just a sprinkle of AllPurpose Bleach Alternative and Vinegar and let soak, totally natural but powerful and a true disinfectant.  

The granular bleach alternative will work to disinfect while the acidic vinegar safely breaks down hard mineral stains.

 

Simply flush and all mess will remove.

To avoid serious staining and keep for a more presentable looking potty, follow these steps and brush frequently; eliminating dirty drama!

*Tip- If you’re going away for a while or have a toilet that is not used often, leave a sprinkle of Bleach Alternative and a splash of Vinegar in it!

Scrub The Halls - The New York Times

12/7/2011

By Jesse McKinley

For most of us, the holiday season is a time of lists. There are wish lists, shopping lists, naughty and nice lists. But way down on the litany of to-do is one particular item that many find as offputting as coal in a Christmas stocking: clean the house.

After all, this is the time of year when you open your home to all manner of friends and family, who come to town to celebrate and, surely, to evaluate your housekeeping.

It’s not an uncommon concern. We all have visions of holiday perfection for the house, but beyond the garlands and nutcrackers — and a reasonably upright tree — most of us fail in our pursuit of perfection.

Yet for a select breed of the hyper-tidy, this is a time to shine. Call them extreme cleaners (nice) or neat freaks (naughty), but these super-sanitary few are the keepers of the secrets to making a house as clean and welcoming as a Charlie Brown special.

THE PROFESSIONALS

Sabrina Cusin, who runs a high-end cleaning service called (no kidding) New York’s Little Elves, is currently dealing with the annual flood of holiday deep-cleaning jobs. And with the neurotic customer demands that inevitably come with it.

“We have people who say, ‘I only want you to bring new mops, sponges, brooms and unopened fluids,’ ” she said. “What can I say? Some people never wear underpants twice. One woman insisted on new vacuums. I drew the line. So she went out and bought two Mieles.”

That doesn’t sound so unreasonable to Nancy Bock. Ms. Bock, a spokeswoman for the American Cleaning Institute, said there was nothing outrageous about insisting on virgin machines and supplies. Not if it offers “the certainty that the product is the one that was originally poured into that bottle and that nobody else’s sponge has touched the lip.”

After all, she added, “What’s extreme?”

THE AESTHETES

For some, the need to keep things just so isn’t confined to the holidays. Having invested in the services of a well-known interior decorator, they feel a responsibility to maintain the look.

So designers like Steven Gambrel furnish certain clients with what amounts to an operating manual for the décor, something known in the trade as a maid’s book: a collection of photographs documenting the precise arrangement of pillows, tableware, curtains and even the contents of the hall closet (no puffy coats, no trailing scarves).

No detail is left out. One photo, for example, shows the exact amount of sheet that should be folded back over the blanket — to the nearest inch — when making a bed.

“There’s a frustration when the decorator leaves that the place is never going to look as good as when he styled it,” Mr. Gambrel said. “The book is a document that allows for no misinterpretation.”

OTHER SACRED TEXTS

When it comes to housekeeping, there are a number of reliable manuals. Martha Stewart’s “Homekeeping Handbook” is, of course, required reading for the obsessive-compulsive domestic diva.

Another standard text is Cheryl Mendelson’s “Home Comforts,” an 884-page tome with chapters like “Peaceful Coexistence With Microbes” and a somewhat sexy-sounding section, “The Cave of Nakedness,” having to do with bedrooms. (The title is about as racy as the chapter gets.)

A casual reader might also pick up “Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Home,” which offers simple, practical advice. (“Got toothpaste dripping down the side of your sink? Dab it up with a cloth and rub it on your sink and shower faucets,” Mrs. Meyer advises, something she promises will actually brighten them up. Just like your teeth.)

All of these books, however, pale in comparison with the recently published “National Trust Manual of Housekeeping” (National Trust; $75), which tops 900 pages and weighs seven pounds. It includes tips on everything from how to align your doormat (10 feet of coconut matting is recommended to truly demuck one’s galoshes, after a good night of caroling) to the proper method of moving a dining room chair (lift from the seat rails, not the back, to avoid stressing it; at least the chair will be relaxed, even if you’re not).

In addition to offering historical context (who knew that the word housekeeping dates to 1538?) and lavish photographs of the kind of places you’ll never live in, the manual also gives detailed advice about the care and cleaning of things like archaeological collections and armor, drawn from centuries of oh-so-British care of historic homes. (There is some stuff for commoners as well.)

THE AVID AMATEURS

At the end of the day, though, who can compete with the National Trust? Or with Ms. Stewart or Ms. Mendelson, for that matter? Not that some don’t try.

Consider Pam Schneider, a learning specialist with homes in New York and London. As if holiday travel weren’t bad enough, Ms. Schneider said she was so obsessed with keeping house that she travels with cleaning products she can’t find abroad, like Swiffer dusters and Mr. Clean Magic Erasers.

“People call me the Felix Unger of the millennium,” Ms. Schneider said. “Everyone says my house is like a hospital.”

She isn’t the only one who commutes with cleaning supplies. Kathryn Ireland, a Los Angeles-based decorator, said she brings stacks of brown paper bags from her local Trader Joe’s to her house in France.

Why? To remove wax from tablecloths, of course. (Running a hot iron over a bag laid on top of the tablecloth draws the wax out.) For while the French believe in long, candlelight dinners, they “don’t believe in brown paper bags,” Ms. Ireland said, and she’d just as soon avoid long hours spent hunting for them in France.

For people like Ms. Ireland and Ms. Schneider, cleaning isn’t a chore; they actually enjoy it. Carolyn Forte, a director of the Good Housekeeping Research Institute, feels the same way. In fact, Ms. Forte chooses to spend her vacation days washing the windows of her split-level house in Livingston, N.J., something that has apparently made an impression on the neighbors.

“I have a neighbor who won’t buy an appliance or cleaning product without asking me,” she said.

When it comes to cleaning, attention to detail is all-important, Ms. Forte noted. Most people miss a number of spots, she said, including “telephone buttons, vacuum brushes, remote controls, undersides of rugs, toothbrush holders.” Especially when they are rushing to get ready for the holidays.

For last-minute cleaning, there are a few tools she recommends, including Scotch-Brite toilet scrubbers. “The cleaner is already in the sponge, which is shaped to get under the rim,” she said. “When you’re done, you eject it from the wand directly into the trash.”

But Sally Carle, who once worked as a designer for Pierre Cardin in Paris and now lives in Maryland, does Ms. Forte one better. Ms. Carle, in her mid-50s, removes her toilet seats to clean behind the screws. She also uses Clorox as a verb, as in “I just Cloroxed the kitchen sink.”

And her preferred tool for detailing, she said, is a toothbrush.

Of course, she diligently sterilizes and labels it carefully, she added, for obvious reasons. “It’s marked ‘loo,’ ” she said.

Good to know.

Getting Ready for the Inspection 

LIKE visions of sugar plums dancing in children’s heads, the picture-perfect holiday home is probably also a dream. Still, there are a number of tips — from experts both foreign and domestic — to help one prepare the manger for company, and care for furnishings after they go. It all begins at the front door.

“Focus on what they’ll see first” is the advice of Thelma A. Meyer, a k a Mrs. Meyer of Clean Day fame, who says that a first impression can overcome whatever dirt might rear its head after dessert. In “Mrs. Meyer’s Clean House,” she recommends a solid scrub of your entry, a good shake of the doormat and a full-scale assault on the floors, sofa and chair legs, where “dust tends to gather.”

People tend to congregate in the kitchen, where the food and alcohol is, so cleaning gurus also suggest concentrating efforts there. On her Web site, Martha Stewart offers a seven-point plan, including dusting light fixtures, flushing the drain with boiling water and wiping, wiping and more wiping.

Then, of course, there is the commode, the longtime cleaning foe of bachelors. Cheryl Mendelson, the author of “Home Comfort,” depicts the bathroom as a war zone, complete with “high populations of pathogens,” stained tile and the dreaded soap scum. To conquer the latter, she suggests using undiluted liquid detergent, then water, scouring powder and a stiff brush, and finally polishing with a towel. “The results,” she writes, “will amaze you.”

Nothing can ruin a good time like a terrible smell. Elimination of nasty odors is the objective of all manner of folk remedy — orange peels, lemon juice, incense, open windows — but many swear by a good old blast of vinegar. The Laundress, a maker of specialty detergents, sells scented vinegar that can be used to create a “vinegar bomb,” which may not only vanquish bad smells but create a subconscious desire for a nice salad.

Which brings us to another time-honored holiday tradition: deception. (See Claus, Santa.) Mrs. Meyer suggests brewing coffee to camouflage smells, not to mention waking up sleepy relatives. She also suggests low light to minimize whatever blemishes might remain when guests arrive.

Finally, there is the task of cleanup. “The National Trust Manual of Housekeeping” has miles of how-to advice on caring for the important serving dishes and tableware in your manor, including your silver, which should always be stored in an antitarnish bag; delicate ceramics, which should never be held by the handle, a weak spot; and china, which should be washed with only mild detergent. The manual has plenty of other tips, all of which can be enjoyed — fireside, with a small brandy — during the period that many holiday makers enjoy most: after everyone’s gone home.

--

Originally posted here.

Holiday Cleaning with The Laundress

Of course all the fine china and crystal will come out. To make your life easier, keep these items on hand. 

[ Glass & Crystal Brush, Dish Detergent, Linen Kitchen Cloth ]

A MUST have for cooking, especially when working with poultry and vegetables.  Our Soap Bar is a natural odor and bacteria remover.

[ Kitchen Soap Bar ]

Our favorite trick for cleaning our cooking pots and pans is to sprinkle Bleach Alternative, soak with hot water and let it do the work for you!

 [ All-Purpose Bleach Alternative ]

Our new copper cleaning cloths are amazing for cleaning cooking messes including stoves and cook tops.

[ Copper Cloth ]

Keep our Home Spray in your bathroom, your guests will appreciate it…

 [ Home Spray ]

Our Stain Solution is your best friend when the entertaining ends, use this on food grease, wine, chocolate and more.

 [ Stain Solution ]

Don’t show up empty handed if you aren’t hosting!  This set is always a winner in everyone’s book!  You will be invited back every year!

[ Hand Soap & Après Cream Caddy ]

The Laundress and Fog Linen

We are SO excited about our new collaboration with Japanese designer and owner of Fog Linen Work, Yumiko Sekine.  We both share the art of simple and clean living. 

The collection is made of 100 percent Lithuanian Linen. Linen is the most durable fiber - which also makes it the most washable and actually gets more absorbent with every wash- easy to reuse with less waste. 

We asked Yumiko to tell us her favorite spots, tips and about Fog Linen Work!

What are your favorite spots in Tokyo?

“My new office and store”.

Japanese Folk Art Museum

Cicoute Cafe... "a very cute cafe in my neighborhood."

  

"This is a beautiful ceramic store."  Zakka Home

What are your favorite things to do in NYC? 
"Meet a good friend of mine Lotta Jansdotter."

Jansdotter

"Love to shop at Erica Tanov."

Erica Tanov

"Every time I am trying to eat at Blue Hill."

Blue Hill Farm New York

 

"I usually stay at the Cooper Square Hotel."

The Cooper Square Hotel

What are some of YOUR home cleaning tips? Is there a special way that you clean something in your home or how you clean, etc. that is interesting.

“Clean and wash every morning and also most of the nights! If you find something dirty, don't leave it , wash and clean immediately, often you can do it in a minute.”

How has your cultural background influenced your design sense?
"I think I got influence from my mother.  She has used much linen at home and also wore linen, so it was normal for me to have linen items around me and I LOVE them!"

 
Why do you prefer Lithuanian linen? Is it better than Belgium, etc.?
"When I was searching for the linen products, Belgian linen was quite expensive.  I couldn't afford it for my normal life.  When I traveled to Lithuania, I found that it is the place to grow flax and also they have a history to export linen products to European countries since middle age, good skill and not so expensive, also quality is same as Belgian ones."

About Fog Linen Work:

Yumiko Sekine started her first business in 1993 importing used books and house ware from Europe and America to Japan. In her search for more products, she could not find affordable every-day linens that she had used during her childhood. She visited Lithuania, a country that grows flax, whose fibers are spun into linen, and has been producing and exporting linen products to other European countries since the Middle Ages. She was disappointed to find that there were no linen products for daily use available in the stores there. This led her to contact several linen producers and started to have them produce her own product designs in Lithuania. Her first collection started with only seven items. Today, the company has one shop in Tokyo and sells all around the world.

How to Clean your Freezer...

Gwen recently returned from a 2 week trip to France and naturally while she was away, she lost the power in her apartment.  

That being said, all the food in her freezer melted and made a nice big mess - especially the Ginger Ice Cream, she knew better when she bought it…karma! 

Gwen’s first task was to sort through which items were still good enough to keep and toss what went bad during the meltdown.  She condensed the various bags of frozen bread she had to save space.

She also had to toss all those frozen (now defrosted) meals that her mom slips into her freezer whenever she visits…oh moms!

She then made a bath with Hot Water, All Purpose Cleaning Concentrate and All Purpose Bleach Alternative. 

Using the Scrub Brush, Gwen easily removed the mess from the bottom of the freezer; she used the Dish Brush to clean in the cracks and hard to reach places.

*It’s always a good idea to clean out the water and mix a fresh solution; Gwen refreshed the water about halfway through since cleaning with dirty solution is gross!

Since she already had the freezer empty, she figured she would remove the middle rack and shelves on the door…these were simply washed by hand in the sink. Gwen then gave her freezer a final wiping.

 Now all that’s left to do is a trip to Trader Joe’s!

Cleaning a porcelain sink

Gwen loves her original porcelain sink, but she doesn’t always have the time to keep it as clean as she would like.  And let’s face it, when she does have the time… who really feels like it?  So even though porcelain stains easily, she never really worries because she knows the tricks to take care of those stubborn stains.

Coffee and wine are the culprits for the mess below….which she claims are her staples!

But they don’t even stand a chance against our all-natural home cleaning products…

First, sprinkle All Purpose Bleach Alternative directly onto the stained surface and then sprinkle Scented Vinegar on top.

Watch it activate…then let sit. If possible allow the solution to sit overnight, the longer it works the easier the mess will remove. 

The next morning use the Scrub Brush, put a little elbow grease into it…and bravo!