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?

Saving a Scratching Post (Easy DIY Repair)

T and I have quite an active kitty, Toby, who just turned 10 this year. He's having a mid-life crisis renewed burst of kitten playfulness, and is going nuts on anything he can scratch. Fortunately, we have scratching posts in several rooms for him to take his energy out on. Unfortunately, they are starting to get destroyed (and look messy) after a few years of abuse. The good news is it's super easy to clean up with just a pair of scissors and some glue. I chose a hot glue gun. You could also use fabric glue or wood glue.

Exhibit A (Before). There is frayed rope on much of the scratching post and a few ropes that are completely ripped loose. 

First, clean up all the loose shreds of twine. I trimmed some of the shreds on the post too, but didn't go nuts because I didn't want to leave it bald!

Next, add a row of glue onto the bald part of the post and press down one of the loose ropes into place. Because these were completely frayed at the ends, I twist or braid them, and continue to glue down until the end is secured. Repeat for each loosened rope.

Exhibit A (After). Not brand new, but way less straggly than when we started. No loose ends or loose shreds of twine.

Exhibit B (Before). This post has the twine barely holding on to the batting ball and the base.

First, I squirt a line of glue onto the base, to secure the rope. I go a few inches at a time, one row at a time, re-winding the rope in the spiral that it was originally. I don't want to go too fast, or my glue will dry before I can get the full spiral laid down.

I repeat with the batting ball, gluing and laying down one row at a time, spiraling around the ball form.

Trim a few loose strands of twine, and viola! Just like new. Exhibit B (After).

Just about 10 minutes of time saved me from replacing worn, ratty toys (at about $20 each), and will give Toby many more hours of scratching time.

KonMari Krisis

We know that thrift stores are only able to sell about 25% of their donated goods at their regular retail stores. What about the other 75%? The leftovers are divided between:

• outlet stores to be sold at a deep discount,
• textile recycling (but this can be a challenge with blended fabrics), 
• being sold in bulk and moved on to developing countries, which can hurt their own textile industries and economies,
• ending up in the landfill anyway.

This all goes to say that donating isn't a perfect solution. New Years Resolutions to tidy your home only make it worse, and with this year's Marie Kondo Netflix special even more people are making serious resolutions to go minimal and get their house in order. What this means is thrift stores can't keep up, and leftovers end up in the trash anyway. In fact, Australian charities are paying $13 million a year to send unusable donations to landfill. 

How can you help?

If you are cleaning up:

• Upcycle, repurpose, or mend items - would you like that skirt better if it was shorter, or that bookshelf with a coat of paint?
• Directly give to friends or neighbors - your stuff may spark joy with a new owner!
• Directly give through neighborhood groups like Buy Nothing or Freecycle. Direct giving guarantees a new owner better than hoping it sells at the thrift store. 
• Clothing swaps - find joy in new-to-you items while finding a home for your old items. 
• Slowly downsize not by getting rid of large quantities at one time, but by simply not buying new things, then getting rid of items when they wear out

If you are looking for a deal:

• GET THRIFTING! Take this as a blanket license to go wild. Someone else's New Year's Resolution is your jackpot! Inventory is up on all categories of products: 
• Clothes
• Used books
• Housewares
• Crafting supplies/upcycle projects

Product: Peak Fresh Produce Bags

(Image credit Ben Seese, Creative Commons on Flickr)

I struggle with buying the right amount of produce. I’m only cooking for T and me, and I want a lot of variety of flavors. Or I’ll buy limes just for the zest (cilantro lime rice – yum!), and want to get to the fruit later (hello, Moscow Mule). If I buy even a few different vegetables, half of them are spoiling by the end of the week.

Enter our hero, my mom, who introduced me to these miracle bags! I’ve been using them for a few months now, and they really do extend the life of my produce by 2-3x.

Cost: Under $1 a bag.

Savings: For me, about $10/week.

How they work: Peak Fresh is a “Modified Atmosphere Packaging”. Essentially, it removes ethylene and excess humidity from around the fruit and vegetables that cause them to age.

The best news? These bags are reusable. Simply wash them out and store the next lemon, pepper, or tomato in them. Therefore, this 10/pack of bags will last me the better part of a year.

Buy directly from them. Or, I’ve also seen them available through sites like Amazon.