Oil of Oregano's benifits

Oregano is good in our food but what do people use Oil of Oregano for?

To my surprise there are lots of reasons to use it. Here are some.

-Cough

-Congestion 

-Runny nose

-Sinus pain

-Allergies 

-Acne

-Canker Sores

-Tooth abscess

-Warts

-Foot fungus

-Antiseptic

That's just to name a few.  

For those of you who have never tried oil of oregano and have no idea what it tastes like.  Expect it to taste like oregano on steroids.  It will punch you right in the tongue!  Have something ready to wash it down.  It helps, but you'll have an after taste for a while.

What have i used it for?  I caught an awful cold and didn't want to take cough medicine.  I needed to be alert and on my feet because unfortunately life goes on no matter what.  I put 1 drop on the back of my tongue and within seconds my cough was much better.  Anytime my cough came back I took another drop.  It tingles and burns slightly for a few seconds.  I didn't mind tho,  it wasn't as bad as some cough medicine I've used before, plus halfway through my cold i couldn't smell, hear or taste anything so i didn't mind ingesting it, not that hearing has anything to do with taste.  I made sure to take another drop right before bed, nighttime coughing is the worst!  It helped me fall asleep.  

My runny stuffy nose.  I thought, it worked really well on my sore throat, I'm going to put it up my nose.  DO NOT just put it up your nose full strength,  it hurts.  I made that mistake, I will tell you, it works really well at clearing the sinuses.  Still, never again.  What I did instead is put a tiny little bit just under my nose.  When I say tiny I meant less than a drop.  What I would like to try in the future is emptying a nasal spray container, cleaning it and filling it with water and a few drops of oregano.  It should be diluted enough that it won't cause pain.  Ive used this same technique to fight my allergies.  My allergies are usually dust and dander related so I sneeze like mad, but when I put Oregano under my nose it stopped my sneezing for a short while.

My burning lungs.  When I was trying to cut down on my smoking, my lungs would burn and I felt like I couldn't breath.  I filled the sink up with boiling hot water, added a few drops of Oregano and draped a towel over my head to trap the steam.  I sat there for about 15 minutes breathing deeply.  I felt much better after, I could breath and the burning was gone.  I had to do this a handful of times, it's not a permanent fix, but it did stop me from thinking I was going to die.

I will continue to use Oil of Oregano for my future colds, allergies and anything else I think I could use it for.  I'm pleased to have found an alternative that actually works!

Dollar store crayons. Never buy them.

This is the reason why I will never buy dollar store crayons ever again.

I bought my daughter her first set of crayons sometime before she turned one, I don't remember when exactly, I do remember she was a roly poly little monster and I had to show her how to use them and that they weren't for eating.  Very shortly after I gave them to her I thought those crayons are pretty expensive for the destruction they're going through right now.  I let her completely destroy them, she would rather peel the paper off than colour with them.  I bought the name brand crayons at the toy store.  I did appreciate that those crayons washed off everything.  She would tell me when she coloured on the walls by saying "oh oh e i oh" (her way of saying crayons or colouring because we were trying to teach her the vowels anytime we were colouring together) and lead me to the crime scene.  I would get a cloth for the both of us and we would clean the mess together.  I do my best to teach her that art is for paper and not the walls or the floor or anything else for that matter.  For the most part shes good about where she puts crayon, it`s usually on her or in a colouring book.

Those crayons actually lasted a really long time, they have been chewed, thrown, smashed, used as hammers and rockets and not many of them have paper on them anymore nor are they the original length they used to be.  I should buy more crayons.

Almost every evening around 7:30 we take the little misses out for a walk to the park or the dollar store to burn that last little bit of energy before bed.  This time we went to the dollar store.  Walking up and down the isles I saw crayons.... cheap crayons!  $1.50 for 36 crayons!  OH MY!  I grabbed them and a little note book.  I just beat the system haha.

The next morning is when I released the crayons into my daughters possession.  She was so excited, she coloured for most of the morning.  then the boredom set in and she was looking for something else to colour on.  The bathroom was the perfect place to draw.  On the cupboards, the floor and the door.  As usual I told her that`s not where we colour and then tried to clean it, but this time it wouldn`t come off.  Its just smeared everywhere.  Now I know why they`re $1.50, man this sucks.

So, regular dish soap didn`t work.  Neither did wood soap, or bathroom cleaner.  I don`t usually use magic erasers but they`re built for stuff like this, I think they`re going to be my new best buddy when it comes time to cleaning stubborn messes like this.  I still had to put a bit of elbow grease into scrubbing the crayon off, but it finally came clean, thank goodness!

My lesson has been learned, don`t cheap out on crayons.  Never ever again.

5 ways to keep your washng machine odor free

 These are the things that I have done to keep the stink away from my washing machine.

1. 1 tablespoon of liquid detergent is enough soap.

   If you have very hard water then use 2 tablespoons.  If you think about how much less water a high effecient washing machine uses, it would be silly to use the same amount of soap as you would in a regualr non efficient top loader.
   
   If you run a wash cycle without clothes or soap and you see bubbles, that's a good sign that you have soap build up in your machine.  This also means that you more than likely have soap build up in your clothes, towels especially.  A build up of soap is what mold and mildew love and that's where the smell comes from.
   
   Make sure you're buying laundry detergent that says "He" (high efficient).  High effecient soap bubbles less and is easier to rinse.  Easier to rinse = less gunk.
   
   
   
   
2. Keep the door open.
   
   When your washing machine isn't in use, leave the door open.  Everything needs to be able to dry out in order to keep mold and mildew at bay.  There's even a special fan you can buy online that sticks to the back of your washer, it sticks with a magnet and it blows air inside to help with the drying process.  If you're like me and you don't want to dish out an extra $70, you could use a fan that you already own and point it at the drum on the inside.
   
   
   
3. Wash and dry the rubber seal.
   
   There is a big rubber seal around the opening of your washing machine.  If your washer is like mine then it gets funky and needs a good washing from time to time.  A small amount of water is left here after you run a cycle and over time to turns into mildew.  Sometimes I like to use baking soda and vinegar to scrub the funk away, and if I don't feel like making potions I just use dish soap.  Don't get the dish soap in the machine or you can have a big bubbly mess.  Dry well when the area is clean.
   
   Give the inside of the door a good wipe for good measure.  You would be surprised with what comes off the glass sometimes.
   
   
   
4. Drain the extra water.
   
   Do this at your own risk.
   There is a chance that you have something stuck in the drain or it's clogged with gunk.  The door to the drain is on the front, along the bottom.  Mine is on the bottom left.  Make sure you get a big enough container to collect all the water that will drain out.  There's lots of YouTube videos on how to do this if you're feeling adventurous. 
   
   
   
5. Smelly Washer or Tide Washing Machine Cleaner.
   
   Smelly Washer is a powder that you can purchase online.  Just throw some powder in the drum, run a cycle on hot and there you go.  It works fairly well for me.  It had a very mild smell, perfect for those who don't like perfume.  Tide came out with their own washing machine cleaner too.  I haven't tried it yet, so I couldn't tell you how good it is, but I have read some positive reviews online that make me want to give it a try.
   
   
   
   With everything that I mentioned here, the number 1 most important thing to remember is to make sure you are only using 1 tablespoon of liquid laundry detergent.
   
   
   
   

 Here's a couple of links for you.
 
http://smellywasher.com/

http://www.tide.com/en-CA/product/tide-washing-machine-cleaner.jspx


Things to remember.
- Only use 1 tablespoon of laundry detergent.
- Keep the door open.
- Wash and dry the rubber seal.
- Drain the extra water.
- Try Smelly Washer or Tide Washing machine cleaner.