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Hello ladies,
On the politics/media issue, I SO agree with you! The choice of photos by that newspaper was really pretty despicable, and while I too am still undecided, I am increasingly upset that it seems lost on the media that it is historic to have a woman seriously in the race for president in this country. I am worried that Senator Obama is sort of charming people with an image, while Senator Clinton is scrutinized at every turn. Such is life as a woman, I guess.

Also, I really enjoy your show and hesitate to criticize, but to be honest, I was disappointed in the Real Simple interview. Editor Lesley Alderman just didn't address the listeners' questions or concerns. I mean, lemons are fun? I love Real Simple mag and had expected something like a simple plan to approach cleaning to make it more palatable. She just didn't have much substance.

Now that I've said that, I feel bad--I really do enjoy you both!

Posted by: osmp | January 15, 2008 09:01 AM

I agree with the above comment. I was disappointed in the Real Simple interview. You guys really tried, but I feel that she didn't answer the questions very well or specifically enough. And she avoided my dust question entirely! Maybe you can have FlyLady on the show???

Posted by: adenacb | January 15, 2008 10:37 AM

Hey Ladies,
When we moved into our house we immediately loved it, except there was a huge spare bedroom downstairs adjacent to our den, with an attached small (but full) bathroom and then on the other side of the room, our washer and dryer. I thought it was the most rediculous setup, but since we have 3 bedrooms upstairs, and us and our 2 kids are set in the "bedroom department" I just set it up as the guest room, and hung up a curtain rod to block the washer and dryer from view. Well we have never had a guest stay in the room because it's now my completely disastrous and full of clothes laundry room! But, who cares! It's out of sight, the laundry gets done, it saves me 30 trips up and down the stairs, I adore it.
I know that sounds so weird, but I got my husband to move all the dressers into that one room, and I use the bed as a giant folding table, stack up all the clothes and put them away in one room. We have a pull out couch so the random guests (old college roommates, whatever) just sleep in the living room on the pull out. It saves me a boatload of time. Also, since it's adjacent to my husbands den (he's a real helper as far as household duties go; I'm lucky!) he has to walk thru the laundry room to go to "his" bathroom, sees the unfolded laundry, and brings it out to fold during football games.

Personally, I thought the RealSimple segment was great! You can only say so much in half an hour, so the two cool tips I took were the lampshade and lemon jello. While I agree with Kristin that lemon jello is probably not going to be something I'm going to run thru my dishwasher after every cycle, it might be something fun to do with the kids now and again.
As far as the lint roller/ lampshape thing-another thing my 4 year old is totally able to do to "help" me clean.

Anyhow, there are my thoughts, so happy that you got the RealSimple edition, I'm so excited for you.

Take care!
Nedah from VT

Posted by: Nedah B | January 15, 2008 02:08 PM

Hi again,
Since I criticized earlier, I thought I'd "put my money where my mouth is" and offer some of my own cleaning tips/workarounds, etc.:

The kitchen floor always seems to get dirty with kids. Although it might not be the most environmentally great solution, I find that a quick vacuum followed by the Swiffer Wet is so much quicker and less arduous than a full mop and bucket routine. If I do it after dinner clean-up it seems to make the morning much more pleasant when I can down to a clean kitchen floor.

The never-ending laundry (I have three boys): I try to do a huge amount on Monday (several loads). Then if I do one load or so every day, or sometimes every other day, I can take the weekend off. I also have only one laundry hamper. It's in the second floor bathroom, and it's actually laundry baskets that I carry down to the laundry room. That way, when people take off their clothes, they are expected to place them in the basket (which is in a closet). Of course, most days there are items left on the floor by beds, but I do a swipe of them as I make beds. When the basket is full, I take it down and replace it with an empty one. This seems to keep things moving along. I have not yet figured out a solution for the hundreds of orphaned socks in my house, other than putting them in a basket in my room. Then every month or so, I try to match them.

On the environmental front, one good idea is to use newspapers to clean windows instead of paper towels. (Who cleans windows?, I know...) But if you just use a splash of white vinegar in a spray bottle, the newspaper works great.

A great book about cleaning is "Home Comforts" by Cheryl Mendelson. I wouldn't want to live with the author because she seems pretty intense about cleaning but she does offer comprehensive info on the subject!

Posted by: osmp | January 15, 2008 02:10 PM

I had to comment after listening to the show today. I have a few ideas for using environmental and kid safe cleaning products. Lemon juice (can use the bottled kind) and baking soda are great for removing soap scum from the bath tub and shower. It event gets the stains out of the tile. This works in the kitchen sink too. I also like using vinegar to clean the stove and the stainless steel sink. Vinegar cuts the grease/oil.
Vinegar is also great for killing weeds in the cracks of the concrete.
All of these items are environmentally safe, kid and pet safe.
Another one that seems crazy is also to use coca-cola to clean the toilet. Just pour it in, let it sit, and use a light scrub. The high acid level goes after that "ring around the toilet." I can't take credit for it (read it from Paula Dean's book), but I've used it.
Last comments about lemon juice -- when you get those rust stains on white clothing, or table cloths, just squeeze a bit of fresh lemon juice on the rust mark, and place in the sun for a few hours. It will remove the stain. This works well on those delicate heirloom baby clothes that may have spit-up or odd rust stains.
Have a great day!

Posted by: Erica | January 16, 2008 10:25 AM

oooh, I love the lemon juice on rust stains, I'll have to try that! Thank you!!

Posted by: osmp | January 16, 2008 07:59 PM

I started looking for non-toxic and environmentally friendly cleaners when I was pregnant with my first child. I found a great book “Clean House Clean Planet”. It has great recipes that are friendly and made VERY INEXPENSIVELY. She explains a lot too. After using those I searched for NT & EF laundry and dishwasher detergents and found Shaklee. I became giddy about the company and the products. If you don't want to make your own cleaners I'd suggest starting the the very versatile Basic H2. It works wonders! It’s been on Oprah 5 times in ‘07. Go to www.shaklee.net/jilldahl if you are interested.

Posted by: green_geek | January 29, 2008 09:36 AM