My soap trick

Foaming soap is pretty much one of the best things in life, wouldn't you agree? It's soft and luscious, lasts a long time, and doesn't make a gigantic, gooey mess when small children decide to be slightly independent and wash their hands all by themselves with traditional hand soap. We don't want to discourage them by telling them they are doing it wrong, making a huge mess for mom to clean up later, and make them feel incompetent/less likely to fight germs in the future. So, we bring foaming soap into our homes and the battle is won. Or is it? I would venture that it is only partly won, because there is more to win. I'm talking financially here. Did you know you can use your overpriced foaming soap bottles from Bath and Bodyworks for pretty much the rest of your life? Yes, even at 6 for $20, it is a huge rip for a dang bottle of soap. But use my little soap trick, and they can be a great investment. Work with me here.

First, you have your empty foaming bottle. Buy some cheap, generic hand soap. $3 or $4 will buy you a few YEARS of soap. I'm not kidding.

Most of the bottles in my house are Pink Grapefruit. I've been refilling them with cheap soap for years, and I have never had anyone say, "Hey, this doesn't smell like Pink Grapefruit! This smells more like generic Wal-Mart anti-bacterial hand soap! What is UP with that?" I hate to break it to you, but scented soap is a scam. You only smell what you think you are smelling.

 

Next, just fill your bottle about 1/4 of the way with soap, or even less. This picture actually shows more soap than you really need. I poured too much, then didn't feel like pouring it back into the other bottle. So I went with it. Bring on the foam. Go easy, though, if you get too much "regular" soap the end result is slimy. 

Slowly add water to about 2/3 of the way to the top. You need to leave a little breathing room. It helps to tilt the bottle and pour the water in at an angle, hitting the side of the bottle fist so it doesn't go directly into the soap and create premature bubbles. Put the lid back on, shake it all up, and you are good to go! A brand new bottle of foaming hand soap, for pennies.

It also works with foaming dish soap, which I love. A little bit goes such a long way. Plus, I bought this bottle of Sun for 89 cents and it has 56% more free! I will probably still be using it when my kids leave home. The back of the extremely overpriced bottle of foaming Dawn reads "Refill ONLY with Dawn Direct Foam. Traditional dish liquids will not work or foam." This is true. They won't... UNLESS you only use a little bit of dish soap and add lots of water. Boo ya! I hate to have to say boo ya on a post about soap, but I need emphasis here.  I just get excited when I get a chance to stick it to the man, or Proctor & Gamble, or anyone really. It makes me feel like I have arrived.

And here's a shout out to my two little helpers. Jake is sad because he got shots earlier in the week and his only consolation seems to be following me around and attempting to hang on my leg every waking hour. Bless him. And bless me, with patience.

Abby seems to be saying, "Thanks for refilling the foaming hand soap so economically, Mom, so you can afford to buy me a huge overpriced box of Goldfish for Jake to spill all over the family room!" You're welcome, Abby. You're welcome.

My Spider Solution

I hate bugs. Like, really, really hate them. More than the average person. I realize few people really, really like them, but my entire day can be ruined by finding a spider in my baby's room, or seeing an earwig pretty much anywhere on my property. Yuck and a half. Hence, the semi-annual visit of my spider guy, which I have always hated paying for but couldn't force myself to do without. Jason does NOT understand the need to pay to have the house sprayed inside and out every spring and fall because he says we don't have any bugs. Well, the reason we don't have any bugs is because our house is sprayed inside and out every spring and fall! Still, I would schedule the visits at times when I knew Jason would not be home just to be safe. This fall I decided to do a little investigating and see if I could find a product that I could spray myself and save a little $$ and not have to feel like I was sneaking around behind my husband's back. So I took a little trip to IFA and asked the lady behind the counter if she had any suggestions. Her face lit up and she practically jumped over the register. "I have just the thing for you. This is what the professionals use! They come here and buy it, and then they spray your house with it!!" She led me to the pest control aisle and showed me this nifty little bottle. 

It's called Tempo SC Ultra Insecticide and it is professional grade pest killer that is safe as soon as it is dry. You mix 16 ML (it shows the measurements in the little section at the top of the bottle) with a gallon of water and spray along the baseboards inside your house and along the foundation of the outside, just like the professional little spider guy used to get paid way too much money to do. My whole house, inside and out, only took one gallon. The bottle contains 220 ML and costs about $45. I also bought a gallon tank sprayer for $12. Since I was spending at least $65 every spring and fall to have my house sprayed, plus $5 to spray the inside of the trailer, it seems like a pretty good deal. And man, is it fun! I just whip through my house whenever I feel like it. No one will ever charge me $5 to spray the inside of my trailer ever again. I can spray the heck out of it for free. Whenever I want.  So there, Spider Guy. I felt like charging him $5 for talking to me on the phone when he called to try to schedule an appointment recently. $5, my tail. Sucka.

The IFA lady also told me to spray around the doorways of the outside entrances to my house to keep the flies out and it actually worked! It's been a few weeks since I first sprayed and we haven't had any bugs and the flies disappeared almost immediately. I also just love the little line of dead bugs around the outside wall of the garage. I bless the IFA lady every time I sweep them up. No offense is intended to the pest control industry by this post because I am sure they are all good people in their hearts. I'm just really glad I don't need them now!

Magical Bee Paste

So the other night I was mowing the lawn while the boys played on the play set. I made one swipe of the lawn and they were fine, then I turned around to do the next swipe, and when I faced them again they were both SCREAMING bloody murder. I couldn't hear them because of the mower, so I turned it off and ran over and saw that they were being swarmed by hornets, holding up their hands and yelling, "We got stung, we got stung!!!" I gave them what was probably bad advice, but the only way out of the situation, "RUN!!!!" It turns out that Dallin had been climbing the ladder and reached around right into a fresh hornet nest so he of course got stung on his hand, but I guess the bees didn't want to stop there because they flew right up to Luke on the slide and stung him on the hand, too, just for good measure. I feel bad for anyone who happened to be in the neighborhood at the time and had to hear all the commotion. I ushered the boys inside to survey the damage. Dallin had one sting, Luke had two. They were both hysterical, and in pain, which I can understand. Fortunately, I have a solution to the pain of a bee sting. It brings me back to a little experience I had at BYU a few years ago (Julia, I can hear you laughing right about now). I had been lounging on the lawn in front of the SFLC, waiting for my sign language class to begin. When I stood up to put my flip-flops on, I stepped on a bee and was promptly stung on the bottom of my foot. It was my first bee sting ever. Oh, the pain! I sat back down and waited for it to go away. Through my tears, I took my shoe and began beating all the bees on the lawn, hoping for some kind of revenge and/or relief. I closed my eyes and repeated, "Faith of a mustard seed, faith of a mustard seed," over and over (oh come on, that always works!). But still, nothing. Long story short, it never stopped hurting. I abandoned the sign language class (I never learned anything anyway) and hobbled my way home with tears running down my face. After several hours, I finally went to the health center, convinced that I was allergic to bee stings and was probably on my death bed. The doctor was not impressed. "It's just a common bee sting. Take some baking soda and add a little water to make a paste, and that will take the pain away." Um, hello, I'm dying here? I was so offended. I hinted around at getting some prescription pain killers, but he just sent me home. Yeah, right, like some idiot baking soda could cure this kind of agony. I didn't even try it right away, out of pride, but finally I couldn't take it any longer, so I broke down and made the paste and dabbed it on my foot. About 30 seconds later... the pain was gone. I thought it was a fluke and the sting must have been on its way out anyway. But, a few minutes later the paste had absorbed and the pain came back. As long as I kept fresh paste on it, it felt fine. So I made a little note to myself: baking soda + water = bee sting relief. That little formula has actually come in quite handy over the years. And it certainly did the other night. I grabbed a bowl, dumped in some baking soda, added a little water and stirred it around. I was rubbing it on the boys' hands when Jason came in and asked what in the world was going on. He ran into the garage to grab the bee spray and by the time he returned, both boys were perfectly calm. It was like a miracle had occurred.

The beautiful substance that saved my sanity on Monday night.
Dallin doing a reinactment of the tragic event. No children were harmed in the making of this photo.

I love this stuff because it creates a big foam ball that weighs the bees down so they don't get you after you squirt them! Watch out bees, I'm on a mission...
That's right, you little piece of junk hornet's nest... it's over!!!

I am considering making a book of home remedies, but so far this is the only home remedy I know of. Still, if I can save even one person from pain, it will be worth it. Feel free to share any secret remedies that you know of. And I will try to post more often.