Kool-Aid for the KitchenAid

Kool Aid Man from www.gamesprays.com

Whenever I clean anything around the house, which isn't very often, Pete always makes the remark that it smells clean. In my book, clean doesn't smell. Pine Sol smells, Windex smells, Pledge smells, but those are the smells of chemicals, not the smell of clean. I think we all connect the smells of cleaning products with our past cleaning experiences or childhood. What about the future?

www.Cascadeclean.com

I've been concerned for some time about what chemicals are making those "clean" smells and what other chemicals are ending up in our leach field. We have a septic system up here. When we used the last Cascade dishwasher tablet I decided to make my own dishwasher soap.

I found a great blog that provides a number of recipes for homemade cleaning products, including dishwasher soap. On diy Natural   
 http://diynatural.com/ I found a recipe that listed Kool-Aid as one of its ingredients and I was hooked. Talk about childhood memories. . . Who knew that Kool-Aid stands really should have been set up to sell cleaning products, not sugary drinks for kids.


diy Natural blogger, Matt Jabbs, provides a recipe with 4 simple ingredients. You just mix them together, I mixed them in the now empty Cascade container, and you have enough powder for 24 loads.

1/2 Cup Borax Natural Laundry Booster

1/2 Cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

1/4 Cup Kosher salt

1/4 citric acid OR 8 packages of unsweetened lemonade Kool-Aid

Sample of My Homemade Dishwasher Soap

You can get citric acid online, and I probably will, because those little packages of Lemonade Kool-Aid were not easy to find up here this time of year. Jabbs says not to use any other flavor because you will end up with blue, red or purple dishwasher interior. I think that might be a reason to use grape or cherry Kool-Aid - psychadelic Quiet Power.

All our appliances seem
to have names.
The Quiet Power II really
isn't too quiet.

Quiet Power II     

I have been using the recommended 1 Tablespoon per load in our Quiet Power II (it's not a KitchenAid, but a GE) and the dishes come out as clean as ever. Jabbs recommends using white vinegar in the rinse compartment. I think I will as soon as the Jet-Dry runs out.

Maddie Jo was pleased with the results.

I've been using a vinegar and water concoction in lieu of 409 and Windex, but I'm not very satisfied with it. I need to work on tweaking it. We are almost out of laundry detergent, so I think that will be the next project. The diy Natural blog has a recipe for that as well.  Asher seems to have a different idea for the next homemade cleaning project.

"Let's make
 doggie shampoo."

"Is it time for a bath?"

For the complete recipe and cost breakdown of the homemade dishwasher soap use this link: http://diynatural.com/simple-effective-jabs-homemade-dishwasher-detergent-rinse-agent/

Yoo-hoo, Yahoo! We Have a Yooper Scooper.

Pete and Yooper

We have an addition to our family of snow removal tools.  Meet Yooper the Yooper Scooper.  During the Lions Club holiday party conversation turned to snow and shoveling and plowing and blowing. Everyone testified about the wonders of something called a yooper.  It was supposed to be easy to use and able to handle deep snow.

"Is this our new pooper scooper?"

We could see their enthusiasm, but we had no idea what this yooper-thing could be or where you could get one.  The Yooper Scooper is a big scoop manufactured in the U.P. (Upper Peninsula) of Michigan. Residents of the U.P. are sometimes lovingly called Yoopers.  The Yooper Scooper is not a U.P. version of a pooper scooper.  It is a large snow scooper used by many Yoopers to remove the tons of snow that falls upon their land for a good part of the year.

There are a number of places that make and sell snow scoops, but we were directed to Kaufman Sheet Metal in Ironwood, MI, just 25 miles north of Mercer. Kaufman claims to make the best and the "Original" Snow Scoop. They sell them in small, medium and large sizes. I was able to purchase a slightly damaged medium scoop (the damage was a few paint scratches) for 20% off the $60.00 price tag. 

You don't use the scoop quite like a shovel. On the Kaufman website there is a nice description of how it works:  http://www.scoopsandrakes.com/

"Kaufman's Snow Scoop slides under the snow to fill the scoop 

and move it to the point where you want to dump the snow.  

A brisk pull on the handle causes the snow to slide out of the scoop. "

Yesterday we woke up to about two inches of new snow. Pete used Yooper to corral the snow into long narrow piles and then brought Arien in to blow it into the woods.

Pete and Arien

Sif, my powerful snow shovel, is still in charge of the walks and deck. The shovel is named after the Norse Goddess of Beauty and Grain. Sif was Thor's wife. Their daughter was Thrudr, Goddess of Clouds and Storms. During a prior marriage she bore Ullr, the God of Winter and Skiing. I think Sif must have put up with a lot of bad weather from her son and daughter, not to mention her husband with that God of Thunder and Lightening stuff he had going on. My beautiful little shovel can handle her share of snow.

My shovel, Sif,
is always ready.

The Goddess, Sif,
toasting to successful
snow removal.

Yesterday we had a beautiful morning - sunny, clear, crisp and just above zero. 

Life isn't always a picnic up here, but it sure is pretty.

 Youbetchya!*

* If you're interested in learning more words and phrases from the UP check out Da Yoopers Glossary http://www.usaring.com/yooper/glossary.htm