After determining where the Eight Life Aspirations sectors are in your house, you will need to decorate and place items that correspond with those sectors. Remember that activating these sectors will benefit all the people living in your household.

Please do not confuse this with enhancing your PERSONAL directions. Personal directions must be enhanced by using your KUA number.

Don’t spend a lot of money!

You don’t have to go out and spend a lot of money to “Feng Shui” your house! How many people who have a specialty store will tell you THAT?? : ) Just look around your home and see what items you have in various places. I am speaking of figurines, plants, wooden objects, metal objects, photos, candles, oil burners, flowers, etc. Then look at your layout of your house that you have done, and move the object to the sector that you think best suits it.

When I first started activating my sectors, I found that there were MANY things already in my home that worked great for certain sectors. Problem was, sometimes they were not in the RIGHT sector. So, all I had to do, was rearrange things a little – and boy, what a difference! For example, I use aromatherapy a lot in my home. I have an earthenware crockpot potpourri burner that I had to move to my Northeast area because of the earth element. I have another Sterling Silver oil burner that I had to move to my Northwest sector – the Metal Element. Didn’t cost me a dime – just the energy to move them to different areas.

Become color conscious.

If you have blue curtains in your Northeast sector and they will fit a window in the North sector, move them and replace them with some beige curtains. Keep the colors for each sector in mind as you go about the house rearranging things.

“Feng Shui” your MIND.

Get yourself used to looking for items that will help you. Also, keep in mind that Feng Shui is not about oriental art. It is about where you place certain objects – doesn’t matter who made it – it just matters what it is made OF, what color it is, what shape it is and/or what it represents. If you go to a garage sale and find a beautiful picture of a waterfall and bring it home, THINK about what sector that should go in – Water – Career – North! Reversing that situation, if you are wanting to activate your Career Sector in your home, go to the garage sales and look for things that have to do with WATER. It is really easy to do, once you get used to it. Make yourself a little 3×5 “cheat sheet” card that has your sectors and what colors, etc to use and carry it around in your wallet if you need to.

NORTH Sector:

The North part of your home is considered your Career Prospects Sector

Use the colors blue and black as much as possible in this area. Do not use those colors so much that they are overwhelming.

Have water features here as the element of the North is water. Some examples of water features are: water fountains, paintings of a lake or river, water globes, animals that live in the water (turtles, fish, etc) whether live or ceramic, anything that has wavy lines.

NORTHEAST Sector

The Northeast sector governs education, spirituality, knowledge and self-growth

Use the color beige or very light brown in this area

Use Earth type decorations here. Examples could be plants, brown colored objects, globe, and map of the world. Hanging crystals and a Buddha is also good for this area.

EAST Sector

The East Sector governs family relations and health. I am going to break the two of these down a bit further:

Family Relations – Harmony

Clearing the clutter is the most important way to create harmony in your home. I have found personally that when my office is cluttered, my children seem to get a little unruly. (They spend a lot of time in my office because that is usually where I am! LOL) Also, sounds silly, but when I get behind on the laundry they tend to get unruly as well. Coincidence? I doubt it! The second most important way is to KEEP the clutter gone.

Use green and brown colors in this area.

Activate this area with: dragons, wooden objects, crystals, objects representing family unity – like a dog family, turtle family, figurine of children playing, pictures of your family in wooden frames, plants in earth tone pots or pottery

Take steps to activate all the sectors in your home by placing objects and using colors that correspond with those sectors. If all sectors are energized it should create harmony in your home.

Health

Green and brown are good colors to use here, as well as black and blue.

Follow the guidelines above under Harmony. Also, check around the house for what is called “poison arrows” – anything sharp, pointed and angular that seem to be threatening. Exposed beams are considered poison arrows. Redirect the bad shar chi by using crystals, bamboo flutes or wind chimes.

Displaying a Happy Buddha in the living room of your home is said to bring happiness and health to all that live in your home.

Bamboo plants are symbolic of good health

Display a tortoise or turtle in the East corner of your living room for good health.

Use aromatherapy to enhance your health, relieve stress, create harmony and promote overall well being

SOUTHEAST Sector

The Southeast corner of your home is the Prosperity and Wealth Sector.

Try to use as much green as you can in this area without over doing it.

Flowers are great in this area. The best types of flowers and plants to use according to Feng Shui are bamboo, orchids, chrysanthemums and plum blossoms. However – any type of plant will do. Don’t use dried flowers, bonsai plants or cactus they are not good to have in the home.

If your bedroom is in the SE corner of your home, do not place plants or flowers there. Just try to find curtains, rugs, pillows, etc that have green tones to them to enhance the room.

Put a Lucky Cat in the SE corner of your home to bring about good fortune.

Create a wealth vase to put in a cupboard somewhere in your Southeast Sector. See the previous newsletter for tips on creating a wealth vase

Prosperity – General Guidelines

Hang a set of doorknob coins activated with red thread on the knob on the inside of your front door. This helps to keep the money in your home. Do not put either of these on a back door – which will bring about the opposite effect. Also, this needs to be on your front door whether you actually USE that door or not.

Hang a prosperity bell on the outside of your front door knob to invite prosperity into your home. Make sure it is tight against the doorknob – otherwise it may get bent when closing the door if it gets caught in between the door and the door jam. I will be introducing a bell with a stretchable cord this month on my web site.

Placing a small Buddha directly across from the front door will also create positive chi and welcome prosperity into your home. Do not put the Buddha the floor. Try to have him at eye level if possible.

Place 3 Good Luck coins in your wallet or in your purse to signify that it will have money in it at all times.

Place some 3-Legged money toads in various places around your house. These can go on the floor and be very inconspicuous if you want them to. You need to put one right beside your front door facing into the room. Then, if you can, put another one diagonally across from it – not facing the front door – but off to the left or right of the opposite wall that your front door is on.

Place FuDogs right inside your front door. They symbolize protection of the family and protecting your wealth.

SOUTH Sector

The South sector governs recognition and fame. This also covers popularity and reputation.

Use red and various shades of red in this area including burgundy, pink, hot pink, maroon. Take it easy on the bright red as it is a very powerful color and could overwhelm things.

Place a crimson bird sculpture, eagle in flight, dragon, rectangular shaped crystals, fire features like candles, oil burners, bright lights, crystal chandeliers, plants, a fire place, wood burning stove in this sector. Do not display water features here.

SOUTHWEST Sector:

This sector governs Marital Happiness and Romance

Use yellow, beige, red and orange colors in this sector, being very careful not to overdo the red and orange colors. Do not use green or brown in this area if possible.

For plants, use earth tone or pottery for the planters.

Make sure when enhancing this area that you always put things in pairs. Not one and definitely not three – just two of different items that symbolize love and romance to you. Mandarin ducks, love birds and peacocks are good symbols here

Crystals in the SW sector of your home or bedroom will activate the earth energies of that sector. You can hang these in a window or just have crystal ornamental items there.

WEST Sector

This sector governs the luck of children and also new projects, hobbies, stages of life and pleasure.

Use white, silver, yellow and gold in this area.

Place white, silver or yellow flowers, hollow wind chimes, bells, metallic or earth objects, round objects, ceramic objects, quartz crystal, a sleeping white tiger (MUST be sleeping or don’t put it here), TV, computer, stereo, soapstone objects representing family in this area.

NORTHWEST Sector

This sector governs mentors, networking, beginnings, meeting influential people and important meetings.

Use metallic colors here like white, silver and gold.

Place hollow wind chimes, stone and metal sculptures, any objects that are metallic in color or in material, metal candle holders and picture frames in this area.

“A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.” –His Holiness the Dalai Lama

The above statement may seem simple at first reading, but upon consideration, it is really quite powerful. I believe that the Dalai Lama is emphasizing the importance of the state of one’s living space.

Too many people are careless with the space in which they work or dwell. In terms of the Black Sect Tandtic Buddism school of feng shui (which is a derivitive of Tibetan Tantric Buddhism), when a person is thoughtful (or thoughtless) in regard to his or her living space, it spills out into his or her life.

So why does feng shui have all those strange and curious “cures,” you might ask, if all one has to do is create a “loving atmosphere”? The fact is most of us have forgotten what a loving atmosphere is. Sure, we may recognize it when we see it, but making it happen is a different story. This is a result of a mass disease that has taken over our world: that is the disease of not knowing how to love our selves completely. Otherwise, creating our lives according to our deepest desires and most lofty dreams would be a cinch.

I like to tell my clients to imagine reading a short story where the author describes the space. This a quick way to notice the “symbolism” that occurs in your own home. After all, the subconscious sees everything. It constantly absorbs messages from our environment and processes these messages. In turn, these messages are sent into our energy fields, creating the very lives we are experiencing. Imagine the difference of a home filled with unwanted gifts, dying plants, and cluttered closets compared to one with healthy flowers, treasured objects, and neatly organized closets with (gasp) extra space! The first home feels slightly neglected, even if the rest of the furnishings were pleasant, while the second space feels freer, lighter, and, cherished. Even the smallest of details have an impact. Our subconscious mind takes images without a filter.

A wonderful start to a loving atmosphere is to first discard or give away any objects that you do not love in your home. Clutter is a sure way to block your highest potential as the subconscious sees it as a symbol of things that we don’t love or need in our lives and creates accordingly. It is amazing how letting go of a thing as simple as a candle from an unfaithful ex-lover or a blanket that you have never used because it is too scratchy can lighten your load! The subconscious gets the message that you’d rather have something (or someone) better in your life.

Next, play with ideas, and find out what it is that want to invite into your life. Then consciously bring it into your home symbolically. For example, you’ve always wanted to travel to Italy. Then stick a postcard of Rome on your refrigerator. Would you like to amp up your love life? Figure out your own personal “romance symbol” and drape it, plant it, or play it on your stereo everyday. The key to creating a great life is to get creative!

With every object in our homes, we are sending a message to ourselves and to the Universe. Wouldn’t you want your message to be one of pure and uplifting love so that you could receive that, and only that, back? Use your conscious mind to transform your subconscious mind, and then witness the shifts in your life.

The basic belief behind Feng Shui is that there are five elements, some combinations of which create a productive cycle, and some a destructive cycle. When one of these five elements – water, wood, fire, earth, and metal, respectively for the productive cycle – are combined with an element adjacent to the main element, a productive cycle is perpetuated. The reason being that water sustains wood, wood feeds fire, ashes create earth, earth creates metal, and metal holds water. So if you have a room where wood is the main element, it would be good Feng Shui to add a water or fire element to the room, as water feeds wood and wood feeds fire. This is where candles would be a nice touch of good Feng Shui.

A look at the destructive cycle will show which elements do not work well together: water, fire, metal, wood, earth. And we can see that water puts our fire, fire melts metal, metal cuts wood, wood clogs earth, and earth muddies water. Although these elements are generally considered bad Feng Shui combinations, one can be used with an adjacent element in the destructive cycle to minimize an overpowering element. For instance, if a room has overpowering metal elements, maybe filled with modern metal furniture, you can minimize that with wood elements like some green leafy plants, or with fire elements such as red throw pillows, a fireplace, or even candles.

It is beneficial to bear in mind the productive and destructive cycles while decorating, but for optimum Feng Shui, a room would have an equal balance of all five elements – none being too overpowering. If this isn’t the case and there is not one overpowering element, then the productive cycle is a good place to start when decorating.

Now that we have a basic understanding of the elements, we can see how to best utilize candles in our decorating. In areas with predominately metal or water elements – rooms which would have a lot of blue or silver colors or metallic furnishings – a candle would help minimize the overpowering colors and add balance. If you want to start using Feng Shui in a room with no overpowering elements, you could bring in a candle and a complimentary element like a plant or a brown oval rug since that color and shape are associated with the earth element.

Candles can be an easy way to bring a natural element into your home and can be a good starting place for implementing Feng Shui design. Not to mention that scented candles are often great Feng Shui because of the mood-enhancing qualities certain scents have. Candles provide a simple start in creating a pleasant ambiance and good decorating style.

Patio door security is not reliable in and of itself, however, it is not hard to make your patio door more secure, in fact there is a very easy way to do so and that is with a security bar. We have all seen them, the broken off broom handle placed in the patio door runners to keep someone from being able to open the door without removing the broom handle first.

While this seems rudimentary, and almost archaic, it is wise, as six out of ten burglaries, begin with entry through the back of the house. Three out of ten require no force at all; they are through open doors and windows! Thus, by even using a very archaic method to better secure your doors, you significantly reduce your chances of being burglarized etc. If you watch television you know that by breaking glass you not only have the problem of noise, but you also have the problem with DNA testing if blood is left at the scene. Thus, breaking in by literally breaking, does not happen much more. So, having some sort of patio door security besides the flimsy door lock is a great idea!

The locks that come as a basic with patio doors are generally put together with materials that are soft and brittle. Most will snap off or break if put under pressure. So, the best way to improve the patio door security in your home is to add additional and also visible locks. If you want the best patio door security possible, then look for a security bar with a patented locking device that can withstand up to 1,000 pounds of force. Look for patio door security bars, and make sure they have features that also prevent thieves from lifting the door off the track.

Why would you want to have your patio door security be visible? Well, for one, if a burglar can see how secure the door is, they are less likely to damage it at all in an attempt to get in. many times they can see that their feat is hopeless, and they may not even try to begin with.

It makes sense to add additional locks as they are relatively inexpensive, do not take much time or effort to fit to your patio door, and are generally not much of a hassle, and are easy to operate; thus, your life becomes more secure, and you do not have any inconvenience.

Part of your patio door security is for your own security, you will need to have quick and easy ways out, not just in, so if you have patio door security that that requires a key, it would be wise to keep the key near the lock, but hidden from outside view. This will mean that should you need to exit your home quickly, you won’t have to search for a key, or break glass, but simply leave quickly.

Another form of patio door security is found in the glass. You can improve security not just with a security bar, but also by replacing single glazed glass with polycarbonate or wire-embedded glass.

Another problem with patio door security is that often the glass is not broken or whatnot, but the door is actually lifted right off the track. Drive a screw into the top of the upper track to keep thieves from lifting the door off the track.

The bifold closet door is a door for closets which is designed to fold outwards just in the same way that an accordion does. Often these doors are made of two panels which are connected together by hinges and it is these hinges which allow the door to fold outwards.

The bifold closet door is especially useful as a space saver and yet still allows you easy access to the contents inside the closet unlike a sliding door would. The great thing about the bifold closet door is that it can be custom made to fit any size closet.

Certainly there are some situations where a bifold closet door would be much more effective to use. These doors are good for exceptionally large closets like those that stretch the whole length of a room. As previously mentioned, if equipped with sliding doors they do not allow you access to the whole of the closet. Whilst with bifold doors you are able to easily gain access to all corners of the closet space.

Another situation in which you may want to utilize bifold closet doors rather than using a standard door fitting is when you have a wardrobe that is fitted with swinging style doors. Unfortunately although the wardrobe fits into the bedroom there is not enough room in which you can effectively open the doors, so by replacing these swinging doors with bifold closet doors you will easily be able to access the storage space within. This means that you do not need to get rid of the current wardrobe and buy or build one much smaller in order that you can get into it, but rather just spend a little money on replacing the old swinging doors with a bifold closet door instead.

Although there are many advantages to be had from the installation of a bifold closet door there are still some other things which need to be taken into consideration before you go ahead and have them fitted:

1. First of all you will need to ensure that the space you have within your storage cabinet is utilized fully. Unfortunately the items that you have already purchased in order to fully utilize this space may not work with bifold closet doors, so you may have to find another way of utilizing the space that you have. But if you speak to the company where you purchased your bifold closet doors they should be able to provide you with some answers.

2. As bifold closet doors tend to see a lot of use where they are being opened and closed constantly, this may well place untold stress on its mechanical parts. As the bifold closet door is on a track it is this which will bear the brunt of the stress placed on the doors and they can soon become warped and damaged. If you want to stop this from happening you could try spraying them with a small amount of a greasing product (WD40 springs to mind) on to the tracks.

Installing an exterior door is one of the easiest of all door installations. Whether the door is installed in new construction or in a replacement situation, there are a few factors that make this an easy task.

The biggest reason this is a simple operation is that these doors come prehung. What this means is the door is already hung in its jamb. The hinges are mortised into the door and jamb and screwed in place. The door is held in position by the hinge pins, leaving the perfect reveal around the door and the jambs top and sides. The holes are also bored for the lockset and if necessary, for the deadbolt too. Exterior doors come in wood, fiberglass, and the most popular, steel. The two sizes are normally used for exterior doors are 32″ and 36″. With the sizes of todays furniture and appliances the smart choice is the 36″ door. The standard height for a door is 6’8″ but taller ones can be special ordered.

The exterior trim comes nailed to the jamb. This trim, called brickmoulding, is mitred and already installed, saving the installer(s) another step. These doors also have an aluminum threshold already attached to the legs of the jambs. All these things make the door and jamb one cohesive unit.

The standard jamb size is 4 and 1/2 inches wide. With the demand for a higher insulation R value in exterior walls, 2×6 framing is being used more frequently. Jambs to fit these walls, 6 1/2 inches, are becoming more common. Jamb widths can be made to order for whatever a projects needs are and would cost more.

To install an exterior door, first check to see if the rough opening is correct. The width of the opening should be 2″ wider than the door itself (38″ for a 36″ door, 34″ for a 32″ door). For a rough opening height 83″ will suffice for most door manufacturers. Also check to see if the framing and floor is reasonably plumb.

Door installation is easier with 2 people but can be done alone. Put the door in the opening from the outside. If you are working alone, tack the door to the wall through the brickmoulding, not driving the nails home. I like to use galvenized ring shank splitless nails that are used for cedar siding. They don’t split the wood and the smaller heads are not as obvious to the eye. The ring shank feature gives them great holding power.

With the door tacked in the opening, go to the inside of the door and check the reveals around the door. There should be about an eighth of an inch all around the door. Shim the jambs of the door so the reveals are right. Check the door jamb on the hinge side for plumb. If it is not plumb, then the floor is out of level. One jamb leg or the other will need to be shimmed so the threshold is level. Now readjust the reveals by moving the door and jambs sideways in the opening to a point where the reveals are right. Once the door and jamb are in position, shim the jamb at each hinge and at the strike, top and bottom on the strike side. Nail the shims in place by nailing through the jamb, through the shims and into the framing. Check the door swing to see if it opens and closes properly. If all is well, go outside and nail through the brickmould using the splitless nails to nail the door frame to the house.

Most door manufacturers provide long screws that replace some of the shorter screws in the hinges on the jamb. The top hinge is the most important place to use one or two of these screws.
These screws go through the jamb and into the framing and keep the door from sagging over time.

Most doors come with an adjustable threshold. This may have to be adjusted up or down to create an airtight seal.

With the door securely in the opening, it is ready for door hardware installation.

Mike Merisko (c) 2007

Ink stain on the clothes is one of the problems of cleaning clothes and hence many people go to the drycleaners. Ink stains are simple and common problem of every house. People use costly detergents to remove the stains. Still some ink stains do clean. Many people have to give up their new dresses. Housewives are often irritated of their school children’s dresses. So this is an attempt to provide some tips for removing ink stains from the clothes.

There are different categories of ink stains. Water ink stains are often easy to remove. You will get many types of liquid and powder to remove the water stains. But the permanent ink stains are more difficult to remove. These kinds of stains take more time and higher quality liquid or powder.

If a cloth stained with water ink, place the stained area on top of a clean and dry white towel. Use water to the ink stain. Blot with another clean white cloth. Slowly the stain will remove while you will be using water and blotting it.

You can also use normal liquid to remove ink stains. Use only 2–3 drops of the liquid onto the ink stain and wait for 5-7 minutes. Then blot it slowly and the stains will remove.

It is better if you use hot water for removing the stains. Before drying the cloth, make sure that the stains removed completely.

Many people and school children carry ball pen in their pockets. Most of the time pockets are stained with ballpoint ink. Pocket stains often feel odd. Use the clean white towel. Place the stained area on top of a clean white towel. Use alcohol to the stain, rub it smoothly and blot with another clean white cloth. Stains will remove as you blot.

You can also use nail polish for removing ballpoint ink stains. Apply nail polish to the ink stain and blot with another white clean cloth. The stains will remove, as you will blot it.

Normal liquid can be used to remove ballpoint ink stains. Just use 2-3 drops of the detergent powder or liquid onto the stained area. Wait for 5-7 minutes and rub it slowly the stains will remove as you rub it. Warm water can be used to wash stain clothes.

These are simple steps for removing ink stains from clothes. There is no difficulty when you will follow these tips. This article will also save your money that would have to pay to drycleaner.

Natural cleaning has become a priority for us. Next time you go to the grocery store, take a slow stroll down the cleaning isle. And yes, it takes up a whole isle now. Pick up any of the products and read the ingredients.
Do you know what any of those ingredients are?
We know we don’t.
Our very basic rule for natural cleaning is that if we don’t know what an ingredient is, we don’t buy it and bring it into our home. This goes for food, cleaning products, anything. If it’s a word we can’t pronounce, chances are it’s a chemical and it probably isn’t good for us. Ever wonder how people in the 1920’s kept their homes clean? Did they do it with chemicals? Nope. They used homemade natural cleaning products, many of which are probably in your kitchen or pantry right now.
Naturally Cleaning Your Air
We don’t use canned or plug in air fresheners. These are chock full of chemicals. There are a myriad of natural options. Here are just a few.
Plants which reduce toxic materials are: Aloe Vera, English ivy, fig trees, chrysanthemum, spider plants, Chinese evergreen, bamboo palm, and lily. Decorate liberally with these plants and they’ll act as a natural air purifier.
Beth’s favorite air freshener is vanilla, which by the way was voted the number one erotic scent by males. Place 1 tablespoon natural (not imitation) vanilla extract in a ceramic bowl and place in a room. If the room is large you may want to use more than one. As the vanilla evaporates, a light, refreshing vanilla scent will waft into the surrounding air. Replace every day.
Josh’s favorite air freshener is eucalyptus, which leaves the whole house smelling fresh and springy. If you have a diffuser, you can put a couple of drops of eucalyptus oil in it and freshen the air for hours. We don’t actually own a diffuser, so we simply use an old sauce pan, with a little water in the bottom on low heat. Works the same way.
We write a lot about vinegar on our site. Along with Borax, vinegar is our favorite cleaner and so versatile. Mildly acidic white vinegar dissolves dirt, soap scum, and hard water deposits from smooth surfaces, yet is gentle enough to use in a solution to clean hardwood flooring.
As far as freshening your air, white vinegar is a natural deodorizer. It absorbs odors instead of covering them up. We use it to get rid of pet odors, like our dog Barlow’s bed, which needs a good natural cleaning quite often.
Clean Your House
The following recipe is my favorite of all time, and it’s not for food. It is a recipe for an alkaline all-purpose natural cleaning agent. We use it everywhere: in the bathroom, the kitchen, to spot clean the carpets, and to get that black gunk off the walls. It neutralizes odors, dissolves grease, and removes stains.
- 1 teaspoon or 40 drops antiseptic essential oil (thyme, sweet orange, lemongrass, rose, clove, eucalyptus, cinnamon, rosemary, birch, lavender, or tea tree)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons Borax
- 1 teaspoon liquid detergent
- 2 c hot water
Combine ingredients in a spray bottle. Shake to blend before each use.
We’ve added up the cost of this natural cleaning solution. It costs 3 cents to make once you have all of the ingredients. A bottle of store-purchased, chemical-laden all-purpose cleaner costs around $4. We honestly think this works better than the store bought stuff too. Hmmm, tough choice here.
This is the best glass cleaner. Forget about what you buy in stores.
- 1 c rubbing alcohol
- 1 c water
- 1 tablespoons white vinegar
Mix in a spray bottle.
The Wonders of Borax
For those of you not versed in the magic that is borax, you need only take another stroll down your grocery store’s cleaning isle. In the laundry section you’ll find a medium sized cardboard box marked “Borax”. Also known as sodium borate, it is a complex mineral found in lakes and other evaporite deposits. It is a laundry booster, which has been around for over 100 years, but it works for so many other things as well.
If you have a flea problem, sprinkle it on your carpets, wait a day, then vacuum it up. The fleas eat the borax, it dehydrates them and they die.
We use borax most often as a carpet cleaner. Whenever we rent a wet carpet cleaner from the grocery store we use 1/2 cup borax to 1 gallon of hot water. Fill the machine up with this instead of the cleaner sold with the vacuum, which is full of chemicals. Borax deodorizes and disinfects. One half cup to 1 gallon of water satisfies a hospital’s germicidal requirements.
Stop Buying Drain Cleaner
Drain cleaners use incredibly powerful chemicals to eat away clogs in your pipes. These chemicals then find their way into our water systems. They are extremely expensive and we never use them. Try these recipes. If they don’t work, chances are a chemical drain cleaner won’t either. You’ll probably have to snake your drain or if all else fails, hire a plumber.
For natural cleaning of drains, pour 1 cup washing soda down them every week or so. Washing soda (sodium carbonate) is a chemical relative of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). It is soda ash that is processed differently than baking soda. It is caustic so wear gloves when using. It is available in the laundry section of the grocery store.
For clogged sinks, pour 1 cup washing soda into the water surrounding the drain, as close to the drain as possible. Within a minute, the water should go down. If water hasn’t yet backed up, or you don’t have any washing soda, pour 1 cup baking soda down the drain followed by 3 cups boiling water.
You can also try pouring in ½ cup baking soda and ½ cup vinegar. Leave in drainpipe for 1 minute then rinse with hot water.
If that still doesn’t work, pour ¼ cup hydrogen peroxide into the drain. Wait for a few minutes then plunge. Repeat if necessary.
As a last resort, Sells Actina produces a digestive organism that liquefies grease and waste solids and reduces or eliminates odors. It’s safe for use in drains, pipes, and septic tanks. This product will usually work when nothing else has. Order from Medina Agricultural Products Company, P.O. Box 309, Hordo TX, 78861.
These are just a few of the natural cleaning solutions we have found. Check back in with us, we will post new recipes and ideas periodically. Also feel free to contact us with any questions or with any natural cleaning recipes and ideas that you have.

I used to spend my weekends cleaning house until I learned to take a few minutes here and there to stay on top of the dirt and grime. By doing a little cleaning every day, I avoid having to spend my weekends cleaning. Try some of the following ideas to help you free up your weekends.

Bathroom:

* Limit the number of products you keep on the counter. By doing this, the counters will stay uncluttered and be easier to clean. For the products that you want to leave on the counter, store them in a basket or caddy. This way you can just lift up the basket or caddy and clean underneath it in a hurry without having to pick up each individual product.

* Do you use a washcloth to clean your face? If so, when finished washing your face, rinse the washcloth out and use it to clean up around the sink.

* If you have a glass door shower, keep a squeegee stored in the shower by hanging it on a suction hanger hook. After every shower, use the squeegee to wipe away the water on the door. This will help keep your shower door clean by minimizing the amount of buildup from water and soap scum.

* Use shower gel instead of bar soap to reduce soap scum buildup. There are many wonderful shower gel products on the market for both men and women.

* To help your toilets stay clean and deodorized, place a self-cleaning toilet tablet in the bowl once a week.

* Keep cleaning supplies, including rubber gloves, under the sink in the bathroom so they are handy and within your reach when you have a few moments to clean.

Kitchen:

* Try the method I call “clean-as-you-go-cooking”. This means to wash, dry and put away preparation dishes, bowls, and utensils while you are waiting for your meal to cook. If you use this method, then you don’t have to spend your meal time dreading the dinner dishes and pans. All that will be left to clean are a few dishes that will be a snap to throw in the dishwasher.

* Clean up drips and spills as soon as they happen so they don’t have time to dry.

* After cleaning the dishes and while your sponge is still wet, take a few moments to wipe down the countertops, stove, microwave and sink. This will help your kitchen to stay clean most of the time.

* When you open your junk drawer and discover that you have two year old coupons or a cabinet that is jumbled, stop what you’re doing and clean out the drawer or cabinet. This will help you to keep your kitchen in order and stay on top of the clutter.

* To keep your countertops tidy and easy to clean, store small appliances that you don’t use very often in cabinets.

* When frying or sautéing food, use a splatter screen. A splatter screen will cut down on grease buildup on your stove and cabinets.

Family Zone:

* Have a dedicated area for shoes, keys, backpacks, cell phones, etc. Let all family members know where they are expected to place their belongings. For small children, make it easy for them so they get the hang of it. For my preschooler, we have a built-in shoe caddy in our laundry room with hanging pegs above. He knows to put his shoes in the caddy when he gets home from school. While he can’t reach the pegs to hang his backpack yet, he knows to place his backpack by his shoes and mommy will hang it up for him. This helps him learn to be responsible for putting away his own things.

This system also works well for hubby too! For all of you wives who have husbands that can’t ever find their keys, cell phone, and wallet – give them a dedicated area to place these items. My husband has a dedicated drawer in the kitchen. Works great!

* Keep microfiber cloths or the famous Swiffer dusters handy and wipe away dust when you see it. It’s much easier to remove dust if you don’t let it build up. I keep a Swiffer ready to go at all times and do a quick dusting while my children are eating their lunch or I have a few minutes at some other time during the day.

* Consider using wax on wooden furniture instead of polish. Polish is known to attract dust.

* Toy clutter in my family room drives me batty! To help this problem, I purchased large baskets that compliment my home’s decor. At the end of the day my children know to pick up all toys and put them in the baskets. Do they do this without a battle? Not very often! However, my children enjoy snacks before bedtime and they don’t get their snacks until all toys are in the baskets.

These are just a few tips you can use to free up your weekends from cleaning. If you think about the moments you have here and there and what small cleaning chore you can accomplish – you’ll find that overall your house will stay cleaner and you can free up your Saturday for family fun or go enjoy lunch and a movie with your favorite girlfriend!

The technology behind DLP TVs has actually been around for a few yaers now, but only recently has it started to really come into it’s own. DLP stands for Digital Light Processing, and suffice it to say that the way it produces a screen image is a perfect match for the HDTV standard that will soon become the accepted method of television broadcasting.

If you haven’t heard much yet about DLP TVs, you will soon. But here are some of the advantages to their design:

1. They are great in brightly lit rooms. Because they use a reflective technology to produce the screen image, a DLP screen is less affected by ambient light than many other monitors. It can also produce a picture that has more contrast because it can produce deeper blacks than for instance, LCD TVs.

2. DLP TVs boast a very high refresh rate. The refresh rate is how often the screen is redrawn each second. The faster the refresh rate, the easier you eye can put the images displayed into a seamless picture in your mind. What this means for you is that if you like to watch sports or play fast action video games, the screen will appear smoother and more realistic with a DLP TV because of it’s fast refresh rate.

3. DLP monitors are usually compatible with almost any video source that you want to connect them to. They can even be used as a computer monitor too. Just be sure that a DLP monitor has all of the necessary connections present to be mated with the video sources that you intend to use.

There are however a few disadvantages to DLP TVs that you should be aware of too:

1. DLP screens can be viewed from a fairly wide angle from the center of the television with no problem, but they absolutely must be viewed at eye level for the best picture as the brightness of the picture falls off rapidly when viewed either above or below eye level. This can restrict where you place them for best viewing position in your room and should be a point taken into consideration before purchase.

2. Although the DLP monitor itself can last almost forever, the light source that produces the image only has an average lifespan of about 10,000 hours. That is of course, still a lot of TV viewing time, but if you have your TV on for several hours a day be aware that the clock is ticking on the light bulb and when you do replace it, you may be spending over $200 for a replacement.

All in all, DLP monitors represent a great advancement in the field of television viewing though, and the technology is being rapidly accepted and improved on. But as with any TV purchase it is best to actually demo a particular model in person before ordering it online if you choose to do so.