Pinterest cleaning tip #324

Let me save you some time and effort.

I found a tip for cleaning grout on pinterest that involved baking soda and vinegar.

Some of you, like me, may be remembering your elementary volcano science project.

Some of you, like me, may be remembering high school chemistry.  In case you aren't, this is the important part:

Baking soda + vinegar = water + carbon dioxide + sodium acetate

Granted, some of that stuff sounds impressive.  But here's a quick review of what it's good for and where you can find it.

1.  Water--in addition to being handy for Sunday afternoon diversions involving pots and unsuspecting visitors getting in the middle of family bonding time, water is ALSO a universal solvent.  Betcha didn't know that, huh?  Where to find it?  Everywhere.  Except maybe Southern Utah.

2.  Carbon dioxide--plants LOVE this stuff.  It's the equivalent of plant Monster drinks.  Where to find it?  Everywhere people breathe successfully.  

3.  Sodium acetate--is pretty handy for a few cool homeschool science projects, like hot ice and some crystallization stuff.  Where to find it?  Ummmm....mix up some vinegar and baking soda.

Keep in mind, most of what you get from the famous volcano experiment is water--which you can also get from your tap, generally--and carbon dioxide, which you produce by being alive.  Which also, coincidentally, diffuses into the very air you breath pretty much right after everything's mixed together.

So Saturday, in a desperate attempt to distract myself from the fact that the boys leave for a month today, I decided to try out the pinterest grout tip.  As I was dumping the vinegar into the baking soda, all of the above went through my cabeza, which proceeded to spit out the following, pin-worthy (in my opinion) grout-cleaning tip:

Guys.  Using baking soda and vinegar to clean your grout is about as effective as  spritzing it with water and breathing on it.  

Now, for the actual tip.  This is the actual grout-cleaning hero:

To keep with the technical nature of this post, here's what you need to effectively clean your grout:

Grout brush + water + manual labor = clean grout + dirty water

This formula has the added bonus of NOT causing you to smell like vinegar.

So you are aware, the limiting reactant in this equation is the manual labor part.  I've decided to to a few tiles a day.  It may take a few days, but sooner or later, I'll have clean grout.  Just in time for it to get dirty again, I imagine.  Seriously.  Who uses light-colored grout?  ALL GROUT should be dark brown.  DARK brown.  

Just be glad I didn't go off on my rant about breastfeeding, 16 oz sodas, P. Diddy's kid being unjustly criticized for having a successful father, and the honor student who was thrown in jail for missing ten days of school.  Because I could.  All of that is a nice distraction from the real issue at hand.  Guys, I am having a PANIC ATTACK about this year's summer visit.  Full blown PANIC ATTACK.  Deep breath.

You know what this means?  In six weeks, I get to have my semiannual dirty laundry rant.  Ahhhhhhh yeah.  Good times.

And for the record, the micropseudosuede fabric cleaning tip involving rubbing alcohol DOES work.  Wonders.  Again, though, the hero of the day is elbow grease.

Amazing how hard work pays off.

Unless you're P. Diddy's kid, then it gets you chewed out.  

All right, I'm out.  I'm going to carry on with my fall apart over laundry and a rice krispie treat.  Take that, New York City soda ban!

I know why animals eat their young (a mother's day post)

It's because they tattle. Or shove their dirty socks in between the couch cushions for me to find a week later. Or--my personal favorite--they literally rip open the bathroom door, splintering the door jamb, and causing me to have to teach them HOW TO CLOSE A DOOR CORRECTLY (turn the doorknob, THEN close--or open--the door). FACEPALM. All of this is weighing heavily on my mind because the possibility of us moving to Mesa is becoming more, well, possible. As a result, we'll have to find new housing. And, since we aren't in a position to buy a house right now, we have to find a rental that will take dogs. Which I think is ironic (in the actual sense of the word), because our dogs have NEVER shattered a door jamb. Or dragged pointy bass endpins across wooden floors. Kids are infinitely more destructive than dogs. Truth.

 Speaking of landlords: the morons next door. Holy smokes. They've been in the house THREE DAYS, and we've already had four police units and an emergency response vehicle at the property, searching for blunts and empties while an angry dad held his sixteen year old daughter by the arm because the lovely tenants wouldn't let her leave (read: she didn't want to leave, so the neighbors refused the parents' entry). THEN the lovely neighbors came to yell at us for having the audacity to call their landlord. We've gone the rounds before with the landlord over the tenants next door, so when we had the aromatic smell of marijuana wafting into our bedroom Friday night, our joint (HA!) iron fist made an appearance. All of which has led me to the following conclusion: I would MUCH rather have a nice, openly gay couple living next door than those entitled meatheads. And let's not discuss the number of hits on the registered sex offender list that our block has, mmmmkay?

Yeah, Mesa's looking good.

 Some of you may be wondering why I haven't blogged lately. Or been on Facebook. It's because I turn into She Hulk and start raging. And I don't like it. So let's post some relaxing pictures of all the non-rage-inducing things my wonderful kids have done recently. They really are great. I just have rage issues. Here they are:

Please note the position of his feet.  Ladies and gentlemen, he has mastered the scooter.

Photobombed.  Go Manny.

Ethan ran a 5k at school a few weeks ago.  Go, Ethan!  Me?  I run around trying to keep Gabriel and Jamie from fighting.

David Tennant FTW.

Brothers don't shake hands.   Brothers gotta hug.

 Peace out.