How I learned to love my shower curtain, and other miscellany

I think this will be the first of a series of miscellaneous tips that don’t warrant a post of their own, but are worth sharing all the same.  Hope you find them helpful!

Shower curtain fix

 My husband bought our shower curtain liner.  It’s cloth, which is great, but for whatever reason, it always blew around while I was in the shower and stuck to my leg and made me consider tearing it down and stomping on it.  One day while I was in Joann Fabric, I happened upon weighted drapery tape.  It’s little weights, woven into a rope, sold by the foot.  It was the turning point in my relationship with our shower. 

Using my seam ripper, I ripped open the hem of the curtain and threaded the weight all the way down the bottom edge of the curtain (ever put the string back in a hoody?  You put a safety pin on the end of the string, then inch the cloth over the pin until it’s all the way through).  I ripped the hem at the other end to get my safety pin back, then hand sewed the seams back together.  Ahhh.    A year later it’s still holding up just fine, even after machine washings.

Deodorant

My Plastic Free Life has a whole page of tips for using less plastic.  My favorite is switching from deodorant to plain old baking soda.  I find it works best right out of the shower because of the moisture on my skin.  I keep a ramekin of baking soda on my bathroom sink.  Using an old blush brush, I just dab it in my armpits.  It works better than most natural deodorants that I’ve tried (Kiss My Face, Tom’s of Maine, Crystal), it’s dirt cheap, and aluminum free!

Household Cleaner 

I used to buy Green Works or Seventh Generation cleaners, but these days I just use a mixture of equal parts vinegar and water.  It lasts a while in the spray bottle, is also dirt cheap, has no fake smell, cleans well, and leaves glass sparkling. I use it in the bathroom, on tile, on the kitchen sink and counters, windows, and to clean up after any "accidents" my kid in potty training makes.  I keep it in my old Green Works bottle.

Not my craftiest moment with the sharpie, but it does the trick.

NEXT WEEK: Raspberry Granola Bars