Radio Show With Bridgette Raes

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The Basic Four - The first of a 10 video series

I'm kicking off a new video series called 10 Simple Steps that will help you make your home more Green, Clean, and Safe. The first step to any project is to make sure you have the right materials. In this video, I let you know about the four different supplies that you will need to create a green cleaning solution for just about anything in your home.

Picture from naturalhomeandgarden.com

These ingredients are all so common you can find them in the grocery store and so safe that you can store them in the pantry by your food.

By following the tips included in this video series you will virtually eliminate all toxic cleaners in your home, save a lot of money, and keep your home sparkling clean. To start watching this series just follow this link to the first video, The Basic Four.

Top Ten Car Cleaning Tips

Need something to do this weekend. How about cleaning your car? It’s a great way to stay cool and keep your car looking great. Here are five tips for cleaning the outside of your car and five tips for the inside.
Outside car cleaning tips:
1. Always clean your car in the shade – or wait until the sun is on it’s way down. And never clean your car after you have just driven it – the engine and tires are very hot – wait until they cool down.
2. Clean from top to bottom and in sections. Give the car a good soaking before you start to wash.
3. Use a bucket to wash your car and rinse the rag or cloth before you put it back into the bucket. The water should be almost as clean at the end as when you started.
4. Clean your car in sections – wash and rinse quickly then move to the next part of the car.
5. Use a very gentle cleaner for cleaning. Just a drop or two of dish soap or try automatic dish washing detergent. It’s made for rinsing easily.

Tips for cleaning the inside of your car:
6. Get a paint brush, tooth brush,microfiber clothes and a powerful vacuum for cleaning the inside of the car.
7. Instead of trying to suck dirt from tight places, use the blower setting (gently) to get dirt out of those places.
8. To remove gum, use an ice cube and freeze the gum, then scrape it with a paint scraper.
9. Instead of using “armor-all” use a spray bottle of water and a microfiber cloth. Spray the cloth so you don’t make more a mess.
10. Clean the insides of your windows with a micro fiber cloth and water. It will be streak free with no lint. Keep this cloth in your car and wipe your windshield when it’s foggy.

If you don’t have the microfiber, here is a kit that will give you the basics to get started. If you want a complete green clean starter kit, check this out. Happy Car Cleaning!

Stop Those Stains - Simple Solutions To Those Unfortunate Mishaps!

Stains can be so daunting, especially if they are on a light colored fabric or surface, but here are some more simple solutions to common problems. The best part is you can find most of these ingredients in your home.

• Makeup can be removed from clothing with a bit of castile soap and rubbing alcohol. Mix the two together and put them on a white cloth so that the color of the cloth doesn't rub off onto the fabric. Blot the stain until the cloth stays white afterwards. The soap and alcohol work together to break down the makeup so that when you do wash the garment, the makeup with disappear. This is for those of you who are either active in show business or have children in shows. Makeup on a white color or dress is simply an occupational hazard.
• If an unfortunate accident at an evening party left you with a red wine stain on your clothes or on your favorite rug, simply relax and grab a drink...literally. You can either use white wine or a combination of club soda and a bit of borax to remove that spot. Simply pour the wine or the club soda mixture onto a white cloth and blot at the spot until it disappears.
• Coffee stains can be removed with an eyedropper of white vinegar or lemon juice.
• That mustard from the cookout doesn't have to be a permanent fixture on your husband's shirt. Just use white vinegar to work out the stain, flush the air with water, and then wash the garment with a bit of dish soap.
• Stains from ball point pens can be removed with a bit of rubbing alcohol. Dip a white cloth into the alcohol and touch the stain with the cloth until the cloth comes up clean

Here is something to keep in mind when you are removing stains from furniture or carpeting. The last thing you want to do is to replace that stain with a bigger water ring, which happens when the fabric takes on the treatment and leaves a ring where any liquid solution was applied. To avoid this, always use a damp cloth to work the stain, work the stain in towards the center so that it doesn't expand outwards, and continue to work until the cloth comes up without a stain. If you keep this is mind and you will be well prepared to conquer any stains that find their way into your home.

Facing What's On Your Phone

It isn't difficult to see the hazards of being too attached to your phone, like driving or walking while texting, but what about the other dangers that don't get the same amount of press? People take their phones with them everywhere. They pick them up in the bathroom to look at that text. They take them to the gym to listen to their music. They pass their phones around to show the picture of their new baby. Phones are people's life line, but we aren't the only beings living on them.

A recent study has found that your cell phone may actually have more germs than a public toilet in New York City. So unless you have no problem holding one of those toilets to the side of your face, you are probably like me and started searching for a way to clean your phone without damaging it. Here are a couple tips on how to save your phone and your face.

• Remove the case and battery if it is safe beforehand. This way you don't leave any place uncleaned, but you won't have to worry about destroying your phone's life source.
• Use a damp microfiber cloth. It won't spread excess moisture through your phone but it will also get rid of bacteria without using toxic chemicals. It's a simple and useful tool that can be used in just about any room of your home.
• A dry q-tip will help you reach into the crack in any buttons to get rid of some of the dust without messing with the keys.

Simply clean what you can get to and do it in a gentle manner and you will eliminate most of the germs and keep your electronic companion in good working condition.

This is a "great" article from our friends at www.greatist.com.

This is a "great" article from our friends at www.greatist.com. You can read the rest of this article at http://greatist.com/health/germiest-places/#  Happy Cleaning!

People avoid touching the obviously dirty things — toilet bowls, garbage cans, anything in a public restroom. But for every well-known nasty, there are a host of under-the-radar threats we put in our mouths, roll around on all night, and regularly rub on our faces. In an effort to keep clean, happy, and healthy, here are 21 surprisingly dirty things and what to do about them.

Kitchen

Sponges

It’s easy for bacteria and food particles to get trapped in the crevasses of sponges, creating ideal conditions for bacteria to breed^[1]. Moist, dark — what else could bacteria ask for?!

What to do: Try antibacterial sponges and dish soaps to limit the lesser of bacteria evils — but neither are very effective at controlling the spread of big name baddies like E. Coli and Salmonella^[2]. Be extra safe by disinfecting sponges at least once a week by soaking in a bleach solution for 5 minutes, or microwaving on high for two minutes. (The microwave method has even been shown to kill 99 percent of bacteria^[3]!)

Kitchen Buttons, Knobs, and Handles

Taking something from the fridge, grabbing spices from the cabinet, preheating the oven, zapping something in the microwave — a lot goes into cooking a meal, including any bacteria from that raw chicken or unwashed produce.

What to do: To minimize the risk, some experts recommend using a disinfectant on any frequently used kitchen surfaces several times a day, especially before and after preparing a meal. Keep it carefree by keeping antibacterial wipes right on the counter for easy access.

Drip Coffee Maker

Even though coffee itself has some antimicrobial properties, coffee makers still need to be cleaned^[4][5]. Most home coffee makers don’t get hot enough to kill anything growing in the wet, dark environment of the water reservoir or the machine’s internal piping.

What to do: Running a 50/50 mix of water and white vinegar through the machine once a month may help inhibit the growth of mold and some bacteria. Let half the mixture run through the machine, then switch it off for an hour before finishing the cycle. And don’t forget to deep-clean the carafe!

Cutting Boards

With all the ingredients flying around that kitchen, it’s hard to keep designated cutting boards for each type of food. (Fresh veggies tossed on a board right after a raw steak probably isn’t such a good idea). But this hotbed for cross-contamination is essential to keep clean. Scientists debate whether wood or plastic makes for a better board: Plastic boards seem safer and easier to clean (because they’re not porous), but once they’re scored from repeated slicing, it’s hard to clean the microscopic grooves^[6]. Wood sucks bacteria down into its core, but researchers disagree about whether bacteria ever resurface; one study noted that heavily used wooden boards were more problematic than new ones.

What to do: Keep plastic boards clean by regularly running through the dishwasher (or washing with near-boiling water if the dishwasher isn’t an option). Consider microwaving wooden ones to get the bad guys out. (But be careful — some folks have managed to catch their cutting boards on fire.) Let both boards air-dry completely before storing to minimize potential bacteria growth. But since the research is really mixed, just be sure to replace heavily nicked boards regularly.

How to clean dust off your ceiling fan

The other night I was staring up at my ceiling fan.  All I could see was the unsightly dust buildup that has been hiding on the top of the blades and has starting flowing over the sides.
This is a very common problem. The fan is a place we forget to clean. Out of sight, out of mind. I have a very simple solution to the problem. Use a pillowcase to wipe away the dust. Anything that falls will be caught in the pillowcase, safe to be shaken out outside. This will keep everything under the fan nice and clean.

This is what the fan looked like before the clean.

This is how I used the pillowcase. Simply put the case over the whole blade and the wipe away.

And TADA! Your fan is as good as new with no hint of that invading dust.