6 months later: a Mighty Fix update

Back in April, I shared with you that I'd received a year-long monthly subscription to Mighty Fix! Several months later, I'd love to share with you some of the great products they've sent me since that first shipment of Swedish dish cloths. 

Most recently, I received a simple cleaning system: a glass, reusable spray bottle with concentrated cleaner tablets. We've shared the benefits of concentrates before - you're not paying to ship what's 99% water, not using a whole new plastic package each time. With the tiny size and weight of a concentrated tablet, you can fit many more on a shipment with less weight, and therefore costing much less in shipping fuel. 

First great thing about Mighty Fix is they take sustainability seriously, from the products they sell, to the way they ship them. They always ship in paper/cardboard with the smallest package possible.

 

 

Next, they clearly explain the benefits of the item on a small product detail sheet. 

I'm digging the ease of reconstituting the tablet (just add warm water) and versatility of this solution (use on any hard surface).

Finally, the value has been there with each shipment. This particular box included the one time investment of a bottle, with 4 concentrated tablets (one inside the bottle and 3 refills). That means 4 bottles worth of cleaner for $11. If I want to buy the refill tablets (a 3-pack goes for $4.50), it will be $1.50 per bottle of cleaner. Compare to $4 each for similar products, for example, Simple Green or Mrs. Meyers all-purpose cleaners. 

Previous boxes included: 

• a 3-pack of wool dryer balls. Saves dryer sheets while cutting back on drying time.
  
• this set of 5 "tidy dishcloths". The textured weave gives them a slight scrubbing ability, and they're pretty!
  

•  a set of 3 beeswax food wraps. Swap out your plastic wrap for this plastic-free, reusable alternative.
  
• a set of 2 snack-size glass food storage with lids.
  

Overall, I've been enjoying getting a surprise in the mail. I think if you are a beginner on this path to more sustainable swaps, the monthly frequency is a great way to ease into one change at a time.

If you've been doing this for a while, you may experience some duplicates of things you've already encountered. For example, I already have beeswax wraps and wool dryer balls, although some would say you can't have too many of these. :-) If you want to just shop from sustainable choices without the monthly surprise, you can always shop straight from their Mighty Nest store. 

Refinish Your Furniture

A couple years ago, I got this ugly white filmy stain on my coffee table. Not sure what caused it, perhaps the heat of a pizza box. I turned a blind eye, in fear that I had destroyed the finish and it was going to be a major undertaking to restore it to its original glory. My mind spiraled with visions of chemical stripper and sandpaper, and stains and varnish, doing a ton of work just to end up with a top that didn't perfectly match the rest of the table. You can't tell the size from this cropped photo, but the stained area was approximately 6" x 10".

Finally ready to face the daunting task, I start Googling my options, and was presented with shockingly easy solutions, none of which involved removing and redoing the finish.

Option 1: Rub it mayonnaise.

Option 2: Rub it with equal parts oil and vinegar (so mayonnaise). 

Option 3: Rub a hot iron on steam setting over it. 

The iron option seemed a little more advanced and scary, so mayo it was. The worst that could happen would be I'd need to wash it off, and I'd be out less than 10 cents.

So I gathered a soft white rag and a bottle of mayo. I squirted about a tablespoon of mayo onto the rag, and rubbed into the wood, with the grain. 

The results were *immediate*. Within 10 seconds, the white film was completely gone, and the excess mayo wiped clean with a dry part of the rag. Use a little lemon furniture polish as a next step to remove any last mayo smell.

Lesson learned: don't be intimidated to try and do minor restoration of your furniture. These tiny touch-ups will prolong the life and look of my furniture for years, costs almost no $$ and time, and takes no harsh chemicals.

Are you ready to upgrade your furniture for free?

Mindful Mopping

I absolutely love the convenience of my Swiffer but don't love the single-use pads.

It was time to try a DIY replacement, but so often I haven't posted DIY cleaners because they are complicated or not super effective. Then I came across this recipe from Housewife How-To's, and it's just 5 ingredients that I already have at home: 2 cups water, 1/4 cup alcohol, 1/2 cup vinegar, 1/8 tsp dishsoap, and 5 drops essential oils (optional).

Katie of Housewife How-To's warns not to use dishsoap with lotion or castille soap, because it will alter the effectiveness and leave streaks. She also wrote this recipe for a mop or Swiffer Wet Jet, but I tried it with a regular Swiffer.

Important note: if you are a pet owner, do your research about what essential oils are safe around your pets. I'm reading too many stories about pets getting sick from just breathing around diffusers. I chose lavender for this batch.

Simply mix all ingredients (I used an old peanut butter jar, which I'll use to store the leftovers).

Then, I replace the Swiffer pad with an old towel or t-shirt. This one was almost the right size, so I didn't even alter it, but you cut cut your fabric to size and finish the edges if you prefer. Tuck the edges into the same holes you would the Swiffer pad, and you're ready to go!

Mop your floor and be prepared for *how effective* it is. (Gross!)

Once you're done, you can throw your mopping cloths in the regular wash.

This method is a winner for a few reasons:

• You get more use out of retired fabric.
• You don't use any more single use pads.
• The cleaner is very cost-effective, costing under $1 for 22 ounces of fluid. 

Goodbye Goo

I'm constantly bookmarking cool tips and tricks online, and eventually I get around to trying some of them. This video was intriguing, because it's a simple recipe with just 2 ingredients, and for something I could actually use: Goo Remover! This is supposed to remove challenging sticky or waxy messes:

 

Looks pretty easy, right? Well, I wanted to see for myself if it worked or was just movie magic.  Here are my items that need some label removal. The two little glass jars are pretty clean with just a little residue. The smaller plastic jar still has the majority of it's label stuck on, and the pump bottle had the label peeled off, but was almost entirely covered in label glue on both front and back.

 

I mixed up some of the Goo Remover (equal parts vegetable oil and baking soda), and slathered on a thick layer on each gooey surface...

 

... and waited. The two smaller glass jars cleaned up quite easily after about 1 minute. The plastic jar and plastic pump bottle tool a little more effort. I left the goop on for about 2 minutes, scrubbed at the labels a bit, and then added more goop for about 2 more minutes. While the residue on plastic was a bit more stubborn, the remover still did the trick!

A quick wash later (you need a little bit of dish soap to get the oil off), and I have clean, un-sticky containers for reuse.

Comparing to "Goo Gone", which goes for $7.50 for an 8 oz bottle, this mixture costs about $0.60 for the same amount. And... this mix doesn't carry a "harmful or fatal if swallowed" warning. Win-win!