Archive for the ‘Accessories’ Category
A few days ago, my son got pulled over for doing 55 in a 40. He just got his license a few months back; I can’t believe he’s already gotten a ticket. My husband and I grounded him for the rest of the summer and took away his license, of course, and while he’s stranded at home, we’ve decided to make him do some long needed chores.
First, I’m making him clean all of the windows in the house and dust the entire place, ceiling to floor. Then he has to retile his bathroom sink, which is totally disgusting. And ever since he started drinking coffee last winter my machine has never worked right, so I’m making him take the espresso decalcifier to it. Now that I think about it, it seems like he’s getting off a little easy; I think I’ll make him do the gutters and clean out the garage too.
My son moved into his own apartment about a year and a half ago, but last weekend was the first time my husband and I had visited his new abode. He was never the cleanest person when he was living at home, so I went in expecting the worst. And I wasn’t disappointed. Garbage and clothes were strewn about the house and half of his belongings weren’t even out of the boxes yet.
Within seconds my maternal instincts took over and I went into a cleaning frenzy, tackling everything from the bathroom to the attic. One area that was particularly dingy was the kitchen; instead of cleaning his dishes, I think he simply goes out and buys new ones. To make matters worse, there is hard water in his apartment complex, so I had to break out my descaler and clean all of his appliances. I know my hard work will all be for not, but at least the apartment will be clean for a few hours.
With the economy in the tank and uncertainty on the horizon, we’re all looking for ways to pinch pennies and cut corners. My husband and I have given up many of the little luxuries we used to enjoy, but one thing we can’t go without is our morning coffee. We like to splurge and buy premium beans and put a great deal of time and effort into crafting the perfect cup of coffee. A few mornings ago I went to brew my morning cup of joe, and much to my dismay the coffee maker wouldn’t even turn on.
Purchasing a new coffee maker was out of the question with our budget, so I decided to go to the secondhand store down the street to see what I could find. Luckily they had a couple of premium coffee makers that looked like they were in fabulous condition. I bought the nicer of the two, took it home and went to work cleaning the exterior and removing the mineral deposits with our Durgol. After the machine was spruced up, it worked even better than our previous model.
For years gift baskets have been touted as an ideal present for any occasion, but, in my opinion, giving them has become a bit taboo. Sure they work for business associates and casual acquaintances, but for close friends and family members, I like to give something more personal. Not to mention the fact that there is an astronomical markup on everything that’s in the basket. However, these drawbacks are no reason to disregard gift baskets altogether—they are still a great method for a creating a themed present.
Personally, I like to create my own gift baskets with a personalized touch. For my sister’s birthday last month, for example, I created her a coffee gift basket with some of her favorite goodies. Since I made the basket myself, I was able to include coffee from her favorite producers, some of her beloved flavored syrups and a novelty mug. I even threw in some decalcifier for her machine, which definitely has been through its fair share of abuse.
We have discussed the importance of using an espresso decalcifier frequently in this blog, but we’ve never gone over the actual process. Well, today is the day. Begin by removing the water filter from your machine. Add a single portion of the decalcifier into the water tank. If you are using an automatic setting, add the amount of water your manufacturer indicates to dilute the decalcifier. For those without the setting, use the empty bottle of decalcifier to add an equal amount of water.
Your job is pretty easy if you have the automatic setting; simply turn on the machine and catch the liquid in a large container. Even if you don’t have the setting, it’s still simple enough; just start the machine and be sure to catch the dispensed liquid. Be sure to not let the decalcifier sit in the machine for an extended period of time, as this could cause unwanted corrosion. For both methods: finish by rinsing the water tank and machine with tap water. That’s it.
Some parents experience the effects of empty nest syndrome when their children leave the home—but not my husband and me. We were literally counting down the days until our children left so that we could sell our home and retire to the Maldives.While this may sound like a selfish and coldhearted approach to parenting, you have to understand that we have 11 children and have already help raise numerous grandchildren.
Despite the fact that we are halfway around the globe, our children still call us regularly for advice. Just the other day one of our sons moved into a new apartment and called us frantic because his laundry machine was emitting an off-putting odor and he wasn’t able to work up a lather in the shower. I had to chuckle a little bit due to the melodrama he injected into the situation and calmly explained it was just hard water. Of course, I also recommended he pick up some descaler, as his household appliances will inevitably have mineral buildup.
The coming of summer invokes a profusion of different images. For some it’s baseball games and backyard barbecues, for others a day spent at the lake and a picnic. Odd as it may sound, the one thing I think of during summertime is garage sales. I live in a densely populated suburb, and at this time each year, every corner in town has a plethora of signs advertising moving, sidewalk and estate sales.
Some people may scoff at the idea of scouring through others people’s belongings looking for something to take home, but at most of the sales I go to there is a surfeit of items that have never even been used. Of course, I’m not opposed to buying something old and sprucing it up a bit. Just last weekend I purchased an antique espresso machine at a sale down the street. The machine looked in disrepair, so the gal practically gave it away; after I took it home and whipped out my espresso decalcifier, however, it was like new in no time.
Homeowners around the country fear hard water, but do you actually know what’s in it or why it’s such a hassle? Put simply, hard water has a high concentration of minerals, including calcium, magnesium, metal cations and other compounds like sulfates and bicarbonates. And while hard water is not typically not a health hazard, it can cause headaches in the home.
If you have ever had trouble working up a lather in the shower, you likely have hard water. In addition to preventing lather, hard water may also cause a distinct odor is your washing machine or dishwasher. Devices that use hot water, such as coffee machines, are susceptible to mineral buildup, but using a decalcifying product like Durgol can eliminate these deposits and prevent future buildup.
Up until my husband and I moved to Southern California, I had never even heard of hard water. After the first week however, it was apparent that the water in our home was not what we were accustomed to; the laundry had an odd smell to it and in just a few days, the shower began to have significant deposits building up.
We asked one of our neighbors if they had the same issue, and they informed us that the area had hard water. While it is a constant minor inconvenience, the hard water does pose problems after time as the minerals are allowed to build up. This is a particular issue where the water is hot, like in coffee machines and the shower. In order to remedy the predicament, we’ve begun using a decalcifier, which not only eliminates the buildup but prevents them in the future as well.
For many Americans, the morning shower and that first cup of coffee are indispensible components of the morning routine. More than just cleansing and refreshing, the shower spurs our bodies into action and gets us mentally prepared to approach the day, and we all know how coffee can give you that needed jolt in the morning. There is a nasty culprit, however, who can put a snag in these two daily rituals simultaneously: hard water.
If you’re having difficulty working up a lather in the shower or experiencing mineral buildup in your coffee machine, you’ve most likely fallen victim to overly abundant calcium deposits. To test your water for hardness, consider the benefits of a water test kit. These kits measure hardness in terms of “parts per million.” Hard water could be loosely described as containing 70 or more parts of minerals per million parts of water. If you have already fallen victim to the detrimental effects of hard water, you can utilize a descaler to help reverse the impact.