A Natural Old Fashioned Cleaner

You may have noticed in some of my cooking photos that our kitchen cabinets are dated varnished pine unique!  I go back and forth about what to do about them.  Some day soon I will have an answer and share the transformation with you...and by soon, I mean within the next five years!

For right now we're stuck with them.  They've been looking really rough lately, dirty and dull so I did some research on how to clean varnished wood.  I was excited when I came across an article on 'green and thrifty old school hacks.'  The hacks, or ideas, reminded me of a post by my friend Suzy just this week on using an old cookbook.  I am a fan of doing it the "old fashioned way." If it worked then, why change it?

Anyway, back to the cabinets...one of the old school hacks was to use tea as a cleaning agent for varnished wood.  Perfect...we have lots of tea and you can't get much simpler than brewing some tea!

I brewed about 6 cups of "tea." 

This was actually way more than I needed, 2 or 3 cups would have been enough. 

Once I brewed my new cleaning solution I put it in the fridge to cool off just so I wouldn't burn my hand, I don't think the temperature has any effect on its cleaning powers!  

Using a rag I wiped the cabinets.  

(I was reminded of how much I love the look of tea stained fabric!)

This process was so simple but one little warning...your fingers will become a little stained, so if  you are concerned about that you might want to wear gloves. 

I was really impressed with how well the cabinets shined up.  Here is a before and after. 

Peanut wanted to know why the cabinet smelled like tea though! 

I decided to try and save the tea mixture.  I'm not sure how it will keep, but it's worth a try! 

I now feel inspired to start using more old fashioned tricks!

Lessons From the Litterbox

As a result of the remodeling happening on our second floor that I shared here, it was necessary to relocate the cats' litter box.  I always heard that cats can find a litter box no matter what. Well I am here to tell you that is not true! We moved the litter box, which has an automatic cleaning system, literally from one end of the house to the other.  The noise that the litter box makes when it's cleaning is loud!  It can be heard from most parts of the house; however this did not help both the cats find it.

Peanut had no problem finding the box.  He is in fact obsessed with it and always watches it while it cleans...as soon as the motor starts running, he starts running to watch the box!  I was pleased with Peanut for finding the box right away, it is rare that Peanut is the one to do something right.  (We often joke that his name should have been Trouble!)

Valentine unfortunately did not catch on to where the litter box was moved to...but luckily there were no accidents, she apparently has an AMAZING bladder!

About 30 hours after I had moved the box Valentine was meowing but differently than normal.  She seemed distressed.  I immediately got worried that she didn't know where the litter box was so I took her too it.  She sniffed a bit, but still didn't go in.  I then put my hand in and made the litter make noise...she leaped through the air into that box!  I was so proud of her! 1. For not having an accident and 2. For coming and telling us something was wrong.  She got so much love and praise after that!


Big lesson learned: Not all cats can find the litter box on their own.  It might have been her age or maybe her senses are going, but even if you have a young cat make sure they know you moved their litter box and where you moved it to!