JAWS Cleaner - a review and giveaway *

* information and product was supplied for this post by the manufacturer.

A while back, you may remember that I shared with you about JAWS cleaners. I wanted to let you know about the current special running at Beuhler's. From now, through April 28th, you can save $2 off on JAWS cleaners at Buehler’s (www.Jawscleans.com). It’s normally $4.99 a bottle at each store (with one refill included) and is $2.99 on the sale. The sale is on the JAWS Glass and Hard Surface Cleaner; JAWS Multi-Purpose Cleaner/Degreaser and Bathroom Cleaner/Deodorizer.

Each bottle’s extra cartridge refill lets you keep reusing the same cleaning bottle – and save on plastic waste. Here’s how it works: Use up one JAWS bottle, then refill it with tap water and insert the cartridge, screw on the lid and you have a second bottle of cleaner. More refill cartridges are available in a separate two-pack.

The JAWS line will clean from kitchen to bathroom.

JAWS - or "Just Add Water System" - comes in the form of a super-concentrated cleaning cartridge and a reusable spray bottle. You fill the spray bottle with water to the line on the bottle, pop in the cartridge, insert the spray wand as you tighten it on, the cleaning solution in the cartridge is dispensed into the water. Give it a little shake you are ready to use the cleaner.

In addition

· JAWS products work are effective in all types of water, including hard water that can be found in many homes in Northeastern and Central Ohio.

· JAWS was created and is manufactured in Ohio – Toledo to be more specific.

· Purchasing JAWS products is not only helping the planet and helping you cut cleaning costs, it’s also contributing to the betterment of the regional economy through both JAWS International and the more localized retailers they partner with."

I have been using the product since I shared about it last year. I find that it works well for me. I like that not only is it environmentally friendly that the refill cartridges are small and make a full bottle of cleaning solution, but since I always feel space constrained when it comes to storage, I am able to keep extra on hand without having to find a place to store full bottles. In fact, I can keep the next cartridge with the bottle, so I'm not searching to locate it when I'm ready for a refill.



Giveaway!
Thanks to the folks at JAWS, one lucky A Busy Mom of Two reader will win a JAWS cleaner gift pack, valued at $15.


a Rafflecopter giveaway


Giveaway will remain open through May 7th. Giveaway is open to residents of the US only. One winner will be selected through Rafflecopter. The winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be selected.

No compensation was received for this post. JAWS provided information about the product, a sample for me and the gift pack for the giveaway. All opinions expressed are entirely my own or that of my family.

Removing Nail Polish from Wood Furniture

I recently learned this tip, out of necessity. My daughter and her friend decided that they wanted to paint their nails on Saturday. I gave them paper to put underneath, but at some point they managed to either have some drip on the table or inadvertently rubbed a wet nail on the table, because on Sunday, when we were cleaning off the table, we noticed a nice green spot and streak.

The thing about a wooden table is that you don't want to remove the finish, so your choice of cleaners has to be careful. We knew that using acetone or likely even a non-acetone nail polish remover was out of the question. We tried assorted sprays including wood cleaners, to no avail.

Then, we tried steel wool grade 0000, super fine. With the lightest of touch (so as not to sand off the finish), we removed the nail polish from the table. The smear was easier to clean up, as it was a very thin amount. The drip took a little more effort. There was a slight dullness to the finish, but a quick use of some Pledge brought back the shine. Because I know where to look, I can still see the spot, but if you aren't looking for it, it is invisible.

Glad I know this trick, but certainly hope I don't need to use it again.

This post shared at Works for Me Wednesday.

Making Your Tiled Floor Look New Again

A while back, I guess it's probably been a month ago now. We had our friend, and handyman, over to look at a few projects that we were thinking about doing to get a feasability review and a cost estimate. We find this an important step, as there are things that we don't think about - like load bearing walls and projects that just would be way more than we want to invest.

After we looked at, and determined what we could / couldn't do of the projects that we called about, we started to talk about flooring. When we moved in, we chose carpeting for the dining room. It really was a financial decision that I question every day, as it will cost us more to change it out than it would have to do it in the first place. We know that one of our next projects is to replace the carpeting in the dining room with hardwood. I also mentioned that ideally, had I to do it over again, I would have put hardwood in the dining room and the foyer, reserving the tile for only the kitchen.

This comment got us onto the topic of tile floor and how dirty the grout was looking and how it never seemed to become fully clean and back to its original color. Our handyman said that he had recently cleaned his grout using Clorox Cleanup with Bleach. He said that he worked in small sections, spraying it on and allowing it to sit for a few minutes and then scrubbing and rinsing before moving onto the next section.

In cleaning out the cabinet in our bathroom, the first of many clean-out/organize sessions I have had lately, I found a partial bottle of Clorox Cleaner with Bleach and decided to do a test patch that was in a fairly dirty area. We loved the results.

So, the next time my husband was out, he picked up another bottle and a scrub brush and set out to clean the grout. It is amazing the difference that it made. Somehow the original, lighter color of the grout makes the room visually seem bigger. It is so nice to have a 'like new' looking floor.

(not sure why the color looks so different here!)

This is one cleanup tip that we will bank and use again and again.

This post shared at Works for Me Wednesday.

Cleaning Gas Stove Grates

So, there are many wonderful things that I have found on Pinterest. One thing that I found a few weeks ago and finally took the time to test out this weekend was a method for cleaning gas stove grates (now if I could find one for cleaning the tops and sides of the sealed housings - I would be set).

One of my friends pinned it to her board and I repinned it after checking out the post on Pinching Your Pennies. I know that on more than one occassion, I have tried to clean the grates. Sure, you can get some of the gunk off, but there always seems to be that layer of built on uck, that just won't come clean no matter what you do.

Here is what the burner grates looked like before I started:

To clean a gas stove grate, slide the grate into a 1 gallon zip close bag. Add two or three tablespoons of ammonia and seal the bag.

Let sit, 12 hours or overnight. Remove from the bag (watch out the ammonia vapor is almost enough to knock you over), scrub with a scour pad and rinse.


Voila! Clean grates!

This new method for cleaning the grates on my stove works for me!