10 Uses For Witch Hazel Or 'What The *&#! Is This Stuff For?!'

When I was growing up, there were always three bottles in our medicine cabinet:  rubbing alcohol, peroxide, and witch hazel. Now, I understood what the rubbing alcohol was for - disinfecting tweezers when I got a splinter. Peroxide was the much-feared, pain-causing stuff Mom put on my knees before she dabbed on Mercurochrome (the pre-historic antiseptic later removed from the market because it contained mercury).  BUT WHAT WAS WITCH HAZEL FOR? 

Recently, I found some in my medicine closet and, thanks to menopause, can't remember buying this shit nor why we have it. So I researched this mystery substance and discovered it's got a MULTITUDE of purposes. So here are

10 USES FOR WITCH HAZEL

1. Acne – This is probably the most commonly-known use for witch hazel, but don't think it's exclusively for teenagers! As those of us in middle-age know, pimples happen well into adulthood. Dab a little witch hazel on those dots to reduce inflammation.
   
   
   
   
2. Varicose Veins – Soak a wash cloth in witch hazel and lay it on those veins which pop above the skin. The witch hazel tightens the veins to temporarily reduce discomfort. Great for those late nights when EVERYTHING aches!
   
   
   
   
3. Stop Bug Bites From Itching – The anti-itch magic of witch hazel is great for treating bug bites (for more treatments for mosquito bites, click here. Just tab a bit on the bite. 
   
   
   
   

   

   A witch hazel shrub

     
4. Clean Your Kitchen Counters – Save money with this easy cleaner!  Mix ½ cup of witch hazel with 1 cup of water and a tablespoon of lemon juice in a spray bottle. The combo cuts through grease, kills bacteria and leaves a lemon-fresh smell. Watch your countertops sparkle!
   
   
   
   
5. Heal Bruises – Sometimes I look down and see a random bruise I can't remember getting. Dab witch hazel on a bruise three times a day to reduce the healing time.
   
   
   
   
6. Peel Away Price Stickers – One of the banes of my existence are those price stickers they place on merchandise from The Dollar Store. Saturate a piece of paper towel with witch hazel and hold it on a sticker for about 30 seconds. The witch hazel breaks down the bonding agents in the sticker and makes it easier to peel off.
   
   

   

   Witch hazel leaf

    
7. Make Your Own Air Freshener – Mix ½ cup of witch hazel, 1 cup of water, and 15 drops of your favorite essential oil in a spray bottle. Spritz it around the house to kill odor-causing bacterial and add wanted scents to your house.  Especially useful in teenagers' rooms!
   
   
   
   
8. Sooth And Prevent Razor Burn – This anti-inflammatory wizard stops itchy bumps from forming around irritated hair follicles. Use it before or after shaving the face, armpits or legs and see if it helps with red skin.
   
   
   
   
9. Heal Cuts And Scrapes – Known as “nature's version of Neosporin” by some pharmacists, witch hazel kills bacteria and reduces swelling. Use instead of peroxide to clean scrapes.
   
   
   
   
10. Clean Vinyl, Linoleum, And Tile Floors – Just mop with ½ cup of witch hazel to 1 gallon of warm water. You can also stir in 1 tablespoon of borax before you mop for extra cleaning power. Witch hazel strips away old wax, making floors nice and clean. 
    
    

As I've said before, I am no medical professional, so if you have any questions about using witch hazel for medicinal purposes, please double-check with your doctor. These uses for this drug store staple have worked for me, at a fraction of the cost of other products. NOW I remember what I bought that white bottle for!

What do YOU use witch hazel for? Let me know!

Thank you for reading!

Should You Buy e-cloth? A Multi-Pack Product Review

Please note that although I was given this complimentary Value Pack for opinion purposes, it did not in ANY way sway my review. Whether I like it or hate it, I'm going to be honest!

e-cloths 8-Piece Kitchen Starter Set

When the folks over at e-cloth asked me to review their products, I was thrilled. No one hates cleaning more than I do and I'm always looking for ways to get it done faster and easier. Upon learning that I had my choice of products to choose from, I was giddy at the chance to review their 8-piece Kitchen Starter Set. I mean, what gets dirtier, daily, than my tiny, kitchen that everyone messes up? 

Now, first about e-cloth. Their niche is chemical-free cleaning with the goal of their line “to clean differently in order to clean better with less effort, and make your home safer by eliminating toxic chemicals.” Cool. I'm all for that. The cloths are composed of polyester and nylon which trap dirt within the fiber, collecting bacteria from surfaces, not killing it. So they scrape surfaces at a microbial level. E-cloth claims that the cloths “remove over 99% of bacteria” from hard surfaces and, when you run the cloths under hot water, all of .01% of that junk is released from the cloth into your sink, so you're not transferring the bacteria onto clean surfaces. 

 

Here's what the Kitchen Starter Set looks like, in (pictured below) and out (pictured above) of the packaging:

It consists of:

Two  Glass & Polishing Cloths
Two Classic Check Kitchen Towels (One Red / One Blue)
One Washing Up Pad
One Cleaning Pad
One Kitchen Cloth with Scrubbing Pocket
One Range & Stovetop Cloth

So here are my reviews in the order of products above:  

  

Glass & Polishing Cloths – I used one of these on the tempered glass door to my oven and it cleaned the glass easily, without much scrubbing. But where I REALLY tested this was in my downstairs washroom.   My husband is big Neti Pot user and manages to get goo all over the mirrored wall. Again, cleaning the mirror was easy and the cloth didn't leave any streaks or lint. It got caked-on toothpaste off the mirror as well and make the chrome faucet look like new. When I was done, I just washed the cloth off in hot water and hung it on the towel rack to dry – AFTER I took the cloth out to the car to clean fingerprints off my windows.  It cleaned the carpool's fingerprints off like magic!

The e-cloth got these disgusting drops off the mirror easily.

Kitchen Towels – I use a lot of fabric towels in the kitchen to reduce the amount of paper towels we blast through. The e-cloth kitchen towels are heavy, lush, and absorbent. When my dishwasher leaked, I was astounded at how much water the towel soaked up in a matter of seconds!

Wash Up Pad – My favorite of the e-cloth products, as mentioned, my dishwasher isn't the best and I often wind up doing dishes by hand. The wash up pad is LARGE, so it's great for scrubbing large pans. Since I burn food, more than cook it, I tried the pad on some caked-on fried egg. With very little effort, I got sparkling results (see below). I LOVE this pad!

Before the e-cloth

After the e-cloth

Kitchen Cloth With Scrubbing Pocket – If you've got kids, chances are there are fingerprints on the outside of your fridge. I know which kid belongs to which set of prints because the Teen is now much taller than his little sister. The Kitchen Cloth removed fingerprints from the refrigerator lickety-split and even took off some unidentifiable stains from the bottom of the fridge. Where this cloth really shined, however, was (like one of the other cloths) in the bathroom!  It cleaned the bathtub in a minute and removed all kinds of gunk (shaving cream, toothpaste,  God knows what else) from the sink without any scrubbing.

Range & Stovetop Cloth – I don't think the knobs to my stove had been cleaned in years. This cloth got the grease off and make the range look like new. 

 Dirty knobs...

Clean knobs

 

So, yes, I liked each and every one of these products. They got things sparkling, with minimum effort, fast. But what about the price of the Kitchen Starter Set?

At first, I thought the $49.99 cost was exorbitant. Then started to think about how much different cleaners I use cost, their toxicity, and what I spend on scrubbers, kitchen towels, etc. 

The e-cloth products are high-quality, use no chemicals, and I firmly believe are money-savers.

To learn more about e-cloth, visit them at www.ecloth.com. 

 

Oh, and on my Mother's Day List, there will definitely be items from their ebody Spa Collection, specifically their Face Cleansing Mitt. 

I have complete confidence that I'll be happy with anything I order from e-cloth.

11 GREAT Uses For Old Wire Coat Hangers – Don't Throw Them Out!

Thanks to hubby's copious amount of dry cleaning, we have a TON of wire coat hangers around the house. I mean, you could fill a closet with all the hangers we have!  Being a frugal crafter, I knew that there had to be something I could do with those old hangers. 

You can re-use those wire hangers!  Easy!

Here are 11 of of my favorite uses:

• Fish things out of small spaces, especially between car seats. If you've got kids like I do, you're always finding Goldfish crackers, pencils,popcorn, and other materials between the seats of your car. Use a cut coat hanger to get that stuff out (until your kids fill those spaces up again...).

• Hang pot holders from the door of your refrigerator. I have a TINY kitchen and need my potholders handy. I took a hanger and made a hook that slips over the handle of the fridge and holds my potholders. Now they're nice and close! 

Use hangers to hang potholders close by.

• Remove static cling. Run the long side of a wire hanger between your skirt and pantyhose, between your leggings and top, etc. Even running the hanger over the outside of your clothes will help.

• Unclog your drains by forming a hook on the hanger. Unscrew/unhook the drain plug and fish out the hair. You can also use a hanger to just get hair out of the tub. Yuck!

• Bend a hanger into a giant bubble wand. Then use one part dish detergent and one part water to make a great bubble solution.  This is actually a lot of fun in the winter as the bubbles stick to snow and ice.

• Stake plants by bending the straight part of the hanger into different shapes to hold the leaves and stems.   

• Make a mobile for inside or outside using brightly colored coat hangers. 

• Unclog a vacuum hose.

• Unclog the bottom of a gutter. We always get leaves stuck in the bottom of one of our gutters. I've taken a part of a hanger and fished the leaves out. 

• Roast marshmallows. It's fireplace season and my daughter loves roasting marshmallows. We use a cleaned hanger (with a potholder because the hanger will get hot) to hold those 'smellows. Yummy!

These pliers have wire cutters on them to cut hangers.

• Anchor inflatables. I always lose the hooks that anchor my Christmas inflatables outside.  Use a bent hanger to easily keep those inflatables from falling down.

If none of the above appeal to you, you can always return the hangers to your dry cleaner. They'll be happy to have them.

Do YOU have any uses for old wire hangers? Share! 

And, as always, thank you for reading my blog!