Take On Tough Messes Like A Pro With Zep

Disclosure:  This post is sponsored by Crowdtap. I agreed to sample the products below and share my honest opinion.  All opinions are 100% my own and do not necessarily reflect those of Crowdtap or Zep Commercial.

Before having kids, keeping a clean house was not too hard.  For the most part it was just me and the Mr, with occasional overnight guests here and there.  Now let's fast forward to the present.  I have two kids, who make more than their share of messes.  Also, with Moo being in school, we have more than the usual amount of germs coming in.

So, I was glad when I got the opportunity to try out the Zep Quick Clean Disinfectant and Zep All-Around Oxy Cleaner and Degreaser from Zep Commercial.

I was really looking forward to trying out the Quick Clean Disinfectant because y'all have read all about how the germs swarmed down on us like the plague for weeks after Moo started kindergarten.  It was not the business at all.  Other disinfectant and anti-bacterial cleaners can take up to 10 seconds to kill cold and flu germs, but Zep's only takes 5 seconds!  That matters to me.  That's five less seconds that I have to worry about germs spreading.

I've been using this on the kitchen sink after washing dishes, spraying down the door knobs and even cleaning the toilet.  You can also spray a little bit on a cleaning cloth and wipe down your remotes, video game controllers, etc.  Anything we're touching on a frequent and day to day basis, I wiped down.

The All-Around Oxy Cleaner and Degreaser definitely got put to use last week when Moo got sick.  We're sitting down enjoying a Christmas movie in the living room when out of the blue she just started throwing up everywhere.  None of us had time to react.  We rushed her to bathroom as quickly as we could but as you can see on the picture on the left, we weren't quick enough.

We'd had spaghetti with a tomato meat sauce lunch and I'm sure I don't need to tell y'all that tomatoes or anything red will stain light colors.  Then throw in the little bit of grease from the meat and I was just wondering how we were going to get up the stains from the carpet.  And the smell was just as awful.  I remembered the Zep All-Around Oxy Cleaner and Degreaser could be used on carpet (and couches) and gave it a try.  I think the results speak for themselves.

I'm really glad we had it on hand because the Mr was running late for work and did not have time to stop by the store and come back.  It worked beautifully on the couch and didn't leave any discolorations.  Once the spots dried, I did hit them a spray of the disinfectant.

I've used the All-Around cleaner to scrub sticky jelly from the kitchen cabinets and counters when Moo tried to make herself a sandwich on Monday.  I've been using it to degrease the stove after I cook in the evenings and it holds its own compared to other cleaners and even works faster at cutting through grime and dried on stains than a few.

Overall, I am satisfied with these products and would recommend them.  Be sure to follow Zep Commercial on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on all discounts and new product releases.

My Weekend WrapUp

So, my weekend wrap up has moved to Tuesday since I'll be linking up for Mind Right Monday on OK Dani for a while.  Anyways, nothing too interesting to report.  This weekend Fall officially set in.  Friday was warm but that night it got significantly cooler.  Then around 1 AM Saturday morning I got up to get a drink of water and it was raining cats and dogs and still chilly.

The Mr said it rained for a good bit and started back around 7:30 again.  I wouldn't know because the kids and I slept in until after 10 AM!!  That was great because my kids have been notorious for waiting up at the crack of dawn like they're going to work or something.  I guess all that rain really helped to soothe them and keep them in Dreamland.  It did drizzle off and on a little bit.

I decided to dub Saturday as my thorough cleaning day.  We couldn't really go anywhere because the weather was awful.  So, I steam cleaned the couches, mattresses and the floors.  I put up new curtains in the living room and kitchen, washed all the dishes, washed and folded clothes, etc.  I was in full blown cleaning mode.  The Mr helped out by tackling the bathroom.

Sunday we didn't make it to church because we slept in again.  Plus, I had a bit of a scratchy throat and wasn't sure if I was coming down with a cold or what.  JJ also had a bit of a runny nose.  So again we opted to skip going out in the chilly, wet weather.  

However, something wonderful did come about from us staying inside all weekend though.  JJ finally started walking by himself!!  Talk about being a proud mommy.  I was starting to get worried about him not walking on his own but I've been praying on it and God answered my prayers.

Now that he can get around, he's already starting to get into everything.  He's climbing on any and every chair in sight and swiping things off the coffee tables.  I was trying to put clothes in the dryer the other day and as fast I could put them in, he was taking them out and throwing them on the floor.  Hopefully, he'll get the hang of being my laundry helper.  It'll take a little practice.

What was your weekend like?

My Friend Hoover

I know that I've been a bit scarce around the social media parts these days.  However, that's because I've made a new friend and we've been hanging out a lot lately.  His name is Hoover.  Hoover TwinTank Steam Mop to be exact.  Yep, I've been spending my days getting well acquainted with him.

And I have to admit that I'm obsessed, hooked, caught up or whatever you want to call it.  Who could resist a friend who makes your house cleaner and healthier?  I know I can't.  The best part is that the whole family loves him!  That's a win-win right there.

If you don't have a Hoover in your life, I highly suggest you get one.  In fact, the Hoover TwinTank Steam Mop is the perfect if you've never befriended a Hoover before.  In all seriousness folks, this domestic mama has become the queen of steam mopping.  So, what's so great about this guy?  Oh where do I begin?

Well, for starter's it's light weight. Even inside the box it's light weight.  I wasn't sure at first because when the  mail man dropped it off at my front door and I saw the box, I thought I was going to have let the Mr come out and get it.  But I decided to give it a try first before giving in to defeat.  What do you know, I didn't need the Mr's help at all.

I was able to easily lift and slide the box inside to the living room.  It was even lighter once I got it put together.  That brings me to the next thing that I love about my Hoover TwinTank Steam Mop.  I knew there was assembly that was going to be required.  While I'm excellent at following directions and putting things together, I don't like things that are difficult or time consuming to assemble.  Well, putting together my Hoover was as simple as attaching the handle to the tank/mop part.

No lie.  I just had to snap the handle in place I was done in terms of assembling.  And when you're ready to use it all you have to do is press on one of the mop pads, add your water and solution, choose you're cleaning setting and turn that bad boy on.  It heated up and ready to go in less than 60 seconds!  And the twin tanks (one for water, one for cleaning solution) is genius.  This way I have the option of just steaming without using the cleaning solution for everyday sanitizing. 

And then I can give the floors a deep clean by turning on one of the cleaning settings to allow the cleaning solution to release with the steam.  The Hoover TwinTank Steam Mop works on hard surfaces like hardwood and tile.  In addition, you can also use it on carpets too!  You get a neat carpet glider that helps you sanitize your carpet with ease.  No jerking back and forth.  Just smooth sailing.  I have both hardwood and carpet. 

I just slip the steam mop into the glider when I'm ready to steam the carpet and a steaming I go!  Overall, I'm very happy with my new friend!  It's a welcomed change compared to having to lug around a regular mop and bucket of water.  I'm not the least bit sad to see the days of emptying and refilling my mop bucket to clean my hardwood floors.

What do you think about my new friend?  Doesn't he sound wonderful?

Disclaimer: I received a sample of this product to facilitate my review, but my opinions are 100% my own.

Maid For Us

Have you ever thought about hiring a maid or using a cleaning service?  I have!  And recently, I've been giving it more and more thought.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy being domestic around the house.  It gives me a great sense of accomplishment and pride.  However, I can't deny that there are some definite benefits to relinquishing the cleaning duties once a month to a house keeper or Maid Service DC.

One of the biggest reasons for me to look into hiring a maid is my family's health.  We live across the street from a farm and our next door neighbors have pets that are always on our porch or front lawn.  And with my kids being allergic to both cats and dogs, I'm always worrying about the fact that we're tracking those germs and allergens into the house. We do try to reduce spreading those germs throughout the house by not wearing our outdoor shoes inside too much.

However, germs spread. Even if we leave our shoes at the door that's not going to stop the germs from getting caught in the air and moving throughout the house that.  Another issue that happens is that having two young busy bodies doesn't exactly allow me to 'deep clean' often.  Most of time, my cleaning sessions are interrupted to break up arguments, making lunch, playdates or doctor appointments.  So, I end up having to rush to change clothes and shower off my cleaning germs.

Needless, to say these interruptions often lead to buildup around the baseboards, the oven not getting cleaned out like it should have been two weeks ago and a fresh layer of dust starting to coat the ceiling fan.  Whether anybody else notices are not, the fact is that I notice!  And that bothers me because I crave neatness and organization.  I also crave cutting down on the amount of chemicals used in our home.

I try to be very eco-friendly and live as GREEN as possible.  Today most cleaning services offer packages that are 100% environmentally friendly.  Their crews use everything from all natural cleaners to natural fiber cleaning clothes that can either be recycled or reused. I don't know about you all but when I use products that are safer my family and myself, I can rest a little easier.  If I'm cutting up fruit on the counter, I don't have to worry about if I rinsed the cleaner off ten times because it's poisonous.

At the end of day, I want my home to be cleaner and my family healthier.  I recognize that I'm at a stage where I could use a little outside help in the form of a cleaning service.  Whether it's once a month, every other month or even every three months until I get a handle on my busy life, I'm determined to make sure this place is as spotless as possible!

What are your feelings on hiring a cleaning service?

My Weekend WrapUp

Well, let me just say that I for one was very much looking forward to this weekend.  For the last ten days, I had been watching my niece and younger sister for mom while she was away on business.  That was a total of three kids(including my Moo)-two of which were very busy and while the other is slightly boy crazed at the moment.  Add the fact that none of them can get a long for more than five minutes and you can tell that I had a very trying ten days.

Saturday, I came up with the grand idea to whip my mom's house into shape. She is somewhat of a hoarder but refuses to admit it.  I keep telling her the first step to getting help is admitting you have a problem.  However, in her mind her excessive need to buy or pick up stuff off the curb when she doesn't really need it or have space it is not a problem. LOL.  So, anyways, I thought it would be a good idea to get rid of small stuff that she wouldn't notice.

We started with socks. Yes, socks!  She had this huge green clothes basket full of every kind of sock you could imagine.  I'm talking about white socks, black socks, blue socks, green socks, Santa socks, Dora socks, etc.  Well, I thought we were making could progress on matching up the socks, throwing away the ones with holes or that were too worn to wash back white.  Out of nowhere my younger sister decides that only after 30 minutes of matching she's ready to take a break for Facebook.

I was like you haven't even matched a good five pairs of socks.  Her 30 minutes of matching was mostly spent complaining and texting.  I tell you the kids today are not looking very promising on the domestic front.  I could not convince her to keep matching socks.  I could have put my foot down, but it was not worth it. I finished matching the socks in less than 15 minutes more and bagged up the rest.  Then it was on the kitchen and so on.  We end up getting rid of a total of three trashbags worth of stuff that I'm sure my mom will not notice is gone.

Also, this weekend it was extremely hot, but that did not stop us from grilling out Saturday when Moo's father dropped by for his bi-weekly visit.  It was kind of fun until he started turning into the annoying five year old that he can sometimes be.  Like seriously, he knows that I can stand to be poked in my side, pinched or tickled along with a few other things that get under my skin.  Finally, I had had enough and he left.  I was a little sad that for all the progress and change he talks about having made, ditching his five year old alter ego is not one of them.

Sunday morning when I woke I had an extra pep in my step.  I was just hours away from being freed from babysitting duty.  Thank you Lord! I did some final cleaning that got so good that I completely lost track of time and was late to airport to pick up my mom.  Thankfully, it wasn't entirely my fault. We would have been kinda on time had her plane not landed a whole 30 minutes early.  But she got a surprise when my younger brother joined us.

We decided that to welcome her back home we would head out to eat. Now, having spoken to my brother earlier that day we had decided that we were going to eat at CiCi's.  So, I was a little shocked when he asked my mom where wanted to eat as if we hadn't already agreed on a place.  It wasn't that we didn't want our mom to have a choice, but him being a college student and my being a single mom put us on a tight budget.  And my mom does not have tight budget taste.  And sure enough she picked one of the most expensive buffet restaurants to eat at on a Sunday afternoon-The Thunderbird.

When I was younger we used to eat there at least once a month until money got really tight.  And they weren't super expensive and the food was actually good. But Sunday our dining experience there was a HOT mess to say the least.  Let's start with the fact that they charge you almost $5 for kids under 3 to eat.  I'm not saying that my child isn't worth $5 but let's be real she's not going to eat $5 worth of food and she was sick.  So, we tried to explain to the lady running the register that Moo wasn't eating and she got an attitude saying that they have to charge for anyone who comes through the door.  WTH?!!

Then on top of that it was $9.22 for adults to eat.  Let me tell that this place is no Golden Carrel by a long shot.  They have one tiny little hot bar and a salad bar the size of a water well. This was strike two and should have been our cue to flee but we knew she was looking forward to eating there again and we wanted oblige her. Not to mention it was a good 98 degrees outside.  So, heading back out into the heat in search of another place to eat was not an option with a sick child.  Yes, we forked out $50 bucks to eat! 

My wallet is still in shell shock.  Strike three was when we had to search high and low for a clean table to eat at. Like really you're charging almost $10 to eat here and you can even clean your tables in a timely manner so that incoming customers have a place to seat?  After being passed by several hostess, one lady was nice enough to point us to a big and CLEAN table in the back. 

The fourth strike came when we learned that only sweet tea and water came with our meals.  You had to be pay extra for soda.  At that point  I was just fed up.  Now you're putting restrictions on my drink choices I thought quietly.  Strike number five was when we realized that we were being watched like a hawk by our serving staff.  Seriously, they assigned people to stand over the tables and watch you eat. I guess they want to make sure that people don't sneak food out, but watching me like you're an overseer and I'm a slave is not the way to do it. 

The restaurant was cramped and strike six was that the air didn't work.  So, I paid almost $10 for some food that was loaded in grease and butter and pretty much flavorless only to not be able to enjoy out because one I'm being stared down and two I can't eat well when I'm hot.  Our experience was horrible!!!  So, horrible that we ended up cutting our meal short and leaving but not before we got my money back for Moo. She did not eat and I was not going to let somebody keep my hard earned money.

You would think that my Sunday would have ended there. Nope, a visit to the emergency room with Moo was on the menu too.  She was past by sick.  Her fever was up to 103 and she wouldn't eat or drink.  Not to mention she was feeling a little sluggish. I was very worried and had her father meet us at the ER.  The diagnosis was that she had a middle ear infection.  My poor baby.  She had been suffering for who knows how long.

I can certainly say this weekend was not the best.  It had its share of ups but mostly downs.  Here's to hoping this week will be better.