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BabyGanics

Posted by 278Wife on August 5, 2013
in All Natural Products, Cleaning, Eco Friendly Products, Health, Home, Organic, Reviews, Safety, Uncategorized

I am what you may consider a “Clean Freak.” With a toddler and an infant in the house I am always trying to clean to keep the germs away. Normally I have to wait until my kids are in another room because of the chemicals. Not anymore thanks to BabyGanics.

BabyGanics has a complete line of household and personal care products that are safe and effective to be used around babies. All of their ingredients are plant based, making them non-toxic and hypoallergenic. I had the pleasure of trying an All Purpose Cleaner from BabyGanics. I was anxious to start spraying, and I did not even have worry about where the kids were since it had no Parabens, Sulfates, Phthalates, or Toxins. I sprayed my kitchen counters and was pleasantly surprised by the smell. Some cleaners can be so overwhelmingly strong, but the BabyGanics All Purpose Cleaner in Lavender scent was light and fresh. Compared to my usual All Purpose Cleaner, I did not have to use as much of the BabyGanics cleaner to get the job done.

This cleaner was great. I cleaned my entire kitchen including counters, appliances, and highchair with my son running around. I cannot wait to use it on everything else in the house. BabyGanics sells everything from Household Cleaners to Baby Washes and Creams. Their products are made in the U.S.A., completely recycable, and never tested on animals. BabyGanics products are available online as well as many stores including Target and Walgreens. Check out their website to see all they have to offer!

www.BabyGanics.com

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Cascade Platinum #MyPlatinum

Posted by html404 on June 12, 2013
in Cleaning, Home, Reviews, Shopping

“I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Cascade. I received a product sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating.”

Cascade Platinum

Washing dishes is an every day occurrence at our house, as I am sure it is at yours. With ten of us we use a lot of dishes and run our dishwasher 1-2 times per day. In January we reviewed Cascade Complete Pacs, which we really liked. So when Cascade Platinum came out, it was with great interest that we tried the new Cascade Platinum pacs.

The difference between the Cascade Complete and the Cascade Platinum is the advanced tough food cleaning and film protection for a sparkling machine. We have noticed the dishes are cleaner and more sparkly. Our machine seems to be cleaner but we have some hard well water that seems to have made the inside of our dishwasher a rusty color so it may take time to see if there is a change in the color with consistent use of Cascade Platinum.

We will definitely be purchasing Cascade Platinum again, as we mentioned in our Cascade Complete post, Cascade is one of our favorite brands because we have yet to find an organic, eco-friendly dishwasher detergent that does a better job than Cascade.

Cascade Platinum Contest

Cascade had partnered with Gail Simmons,Top Chef judge and editor of Food & Wine magazine, to discuss why food presentation is just as important as preparation.

• From prep to plating: It’s more than just a great tasting recipe, but also perfect presentation. Sparkling dishes, shining flat ware and spot free glasses truly!let you put your best food forward with culinary creations that pop!

• Gail recommends impressing with a)Platinum Presentation: “The easiest recipes pop with unexpected, gourmet presentations. Drizzle bright sauces on sparkling white plates or layer
desserts in crystal clean glassware. Keep your presentation sparkling with Cascade Platinum, which keeps dishes perfect for anytime entertaining and impromptu guests.”

Below is a video where Gail shares why plating is so important:

You can learn more about Cascade’s partnership with Gail Simmons by viewing the other videos available on the Cascade Facebook page http://on.fb.me/10Y8RQQ or on You Tube via the video above.

If you enjoy taking photos of your food and want to show how much Cascade Platinum enhances your presentation, I encourage you to enter the contest for a chance to win some great prizes from Cascade. For complete details of the #MyPlatinum Instagram contest visit http://tinyurl.com/PlatBlog

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Healthy Classroom Station Review

Posted by Professor on April 3, 2013
in Cleaning, Community Issues, Education, Health, Personal Care Products, Reviews, Uncategorized

The Healthy Classroom Station Review

Kimberly-Clark Professional is taking the lead in helping transform schools into healthier learning environments.

Good Hygiene habits should begin early. The Healthy Classroom Station brings accessible product solutions to the classroom. Students learn to WASH, WIPE, and SANITIZE to help reduce the spread of germs.

Statistics show that the average student misses 4.5 school days each year due to preventable illness. Symptoms of illness are bad but so are the side effects… when children are ill their performance suffers. Student absences are linked to lower achievement and higher school dropout rates. Even when ill students are physically present but they often perform poorly. Further more, it is not only the student that is affected but parents’ work in affected. In the U.S., caring for a sick child results in 126 million lost workdays and $14.5 billion lost in productivity annually. This affects schools because schools spend over $2 billion on substitute teacher pay each year. Studies show that teacher absenteeism also affects student achievement.

Absenteeism starts with presenteeism ~ coming to school sick. When ill students touch a doorknob, keyboard, desk or other surface, they leave germs that can live up to 48 hours. Other students and teachers pick up those germs, and the cycle continues.

Kimberly- Clark Professional has come up with a solution to combat germs in the classroom. The Healthy Classroom Station!

The classroom Caddy creates a fun, engaging way to promote good hygiene in the classroom. Fill it with the hand sanitizer, tissue, and surface wipes to create a Healthy Classroom Station. The Classroom Caddy boasts a durable design, suitable for use by children age 3 and above (patent pending).

Contents of the Caddy:

KLEENEX Hand Sanitizer ~ effectively kills germs on hands with a foam formula that is perfect for schools. It is 99.9% effective against most common disease-causing germs in as little as 30 seconds. One step sanitizing solution. NO rinsing required.

KLEENEX Anti-Viral Tissue ~ moisture-activated middle layer that is scientifically proven to kill cold and flu viruses.

SCOTT Surface Wipes ~ safe enough for children to use. Clean high touch surfaces by removing soil, dirt, and other contaminants without the use of disinfectants. Alcohol and bleach free. Safe for children to use.

Our Review:

This is a neat innovative product! We really liked the Classroom Caddy and the Kimberly-Clark products. We used the products at home in order to do this review… but I WILL be giving a caddy filled with new products to my daughters preschool class. I wish I had more of these to go around as my other two children’s grade school classes could certainly benefit from a germ fighting kit!

On to the review… the caddy effectively fits all of the products securely and it easily fits next to the sink on the counter. The Hand sanitizer option is a nice plus. Having the sanitizer in a convenient pump and in the handy caddy location proved useful. I also liked that the sanitizer was of the foam variety. The foam seems to be easier for the children to dispense with less mess. The KLEENEX anti viral tissue is very nice. I must admit that I have not used this version of KLEENEX before this review…. But it is very soft and easy on the nose…plus it has the anti viral properties that are a large plus! Most of all I LOVED the SCOTT surface wipes. This is a great product! I often use regular sanitizing wipes on my counters and sometimes a bleach spray on the doorknobs. I LOVE the option of having an alcohol and bleach free product to wipe off the doorknobs and children’s toys, etc. This is a much safer option!

Overall we LOVE the Caddy and all of the contents. As I mentioned I intend to refill it and give it to my daughter’s preschool. I think that these are wonderful product to combat germs. How convenient not only for schools, but for anyone really! Think about it… homes, homes schools, daycares, in home daycare, etc… Wow! So many places…so many uses! Thank you Kimberly-Clark Professional!

For more information about these products and other solutions for your home or school, visit www.kcprofessional.com

Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

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Seventh Generation Wipes Review & Giveaway

Posted by html404 on March 4, 2013
in All Natural Products, Baby Products, Cleaning, Diapers and Accessories, Eco Friendly Products, Giveaways, Personal Care Products, Reviews

Wipes are an must-have essential in a home with children, at least they are in our house. We not only use them for diaper changes, but for wiping faces, traveling and quick cleaning. Our youngest son has learned from our example and likes to get wipes to clean himself up and he will even clean with them. This is what he’s doing with the Seventh Generation wipes. Can you tell he’s very excited about helping me with the new wipes?

We have been using Seventh Generation wipes over the past few weeks. They are thick, have just the right moisture and do not seem to dry out, unless of course you leave the flip-top lid open for a day. The ones we have came in packages of 64. The packages are plastic with a closeable lid. We like them and are very grateful for no allergic reaction from baby, like some generic brands we have tried. They are actually pretty comparable to other name brands, but better in terms of being hypo-allergenic, free of dyes, fragrances, parabens and having less harmful chemicals. They score well on EWG.org, which is the kind of personal care product our family wants to buy. They soft, just not as soft as I would have liked.

Here are some product details:

• Available Packaging:
− 64 ct. flip-‐top
− 128 ct. value pack (2 refill packs with re-‐sealable tape)
− 256 ct. value pack (4 refill packs with re-‐sealable tape)

• Significant environmental savings

• Unscented

• Hypo-‐allergenic

• Free of fragrances and dyes

• Free of parabens and phthalates

• Suggested retail price for 64 ct. is $2.99 and is available at Target, Whole Foods and Diapers.com.

Seventh Generation Wipes Review & Giveaway

You all have the opportunity to try Seventh Generation wipes too! Enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win a box of four packages of 64 wipes! Giveaway ends Monday, March 18 at 12:00am. Please allow 4-6 weeks for fulfillment of the prize. One package will be coming from Seventh Generation and three will be coming directly from Faith and Family Reviews as our gift to you – and no they aren’t the ones we were sent for review, those are almost gone already!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing and participating in the Seventh Generation Wipes Campaign. We are being compensated by Seventh Generation and The Motherhood. While we consider it a privilege to receive free products to review and compensation, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

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Decluttering Made Easy Giveaway

Posted by html404 on February 22, 2013
in Cleaning, Family Stuff, Giveaways, Organization, Reviews, Uncategorized

Decluttering and organizing has been a recurring theme here at Faith and Family Reviews. It started with a new year and setting goals. Then the news of my mom’s three week visit, which is now only a week away! Eeeks…..going to be busy this weekend!

When I was pitched to review and share about a brand new Decluttering Made Easy ecourse another blogger developed I thought it was an appropriate topic as so many of us do seem to struggle with staying organized and keeping clutter to a minimum.

Decluttering Made Easy is a 52-week long ecourse that includes coaching, exclusive website membership and access to the Decluttering Made Easy Community Facebook page and private forum.

Each week members will receive tips, ideas and an actual assignment for the week to declutter their home and get better organized. Time management is also discussed. Included with the weekly assignments are 15 minute how-to videos, PDF assignments and goal sheets (beginning lessons).

What I Liked About Decluttering Made Easy

The questions and suggestions are great and help make decluttering decisions of what to keep and what to get rid of and how.

Encouragement and support through the Decluttering Made Easy online community, IF you make use of it.

What I Didn’t Like About Decluttering Made Easy

Tiffany really didn’t show us examples or what she personally does. Guess I wanted proof of what she was learning herself. I love real life testimonies and photos of before and after a decluttering session. I would have loved to see what her home looked like and how she stays organized. She does tell her story but you have to read about it on the forum, at least I did.

The course is a bit long and cumbersome, at least for this busy working mom. Even though each lesson was 15 minutes long, the thought of having to sit down and listen to a video, do an assignment etc. made me feel a little overwhelmed to be honest. These days I need something simplified, like the 5 Days to a Clutter Free House.

Decluttering Made Easy Giveaway

Need extra help getting organized? Enter to win a year of full access to Decluttering Made Easy!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product. It also contains an affiliate link in an attempt to earn money to support this blog for those who sign up by using it.

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Sparkling Clean With Cascade Complete Pacs #CascadeComplete

Posted by html404 on January 9, 2013
in Cleaning, Reviews

Over the weekend I blogged about January is Organization Month. In that post I shared my cleaning and my organizing wish list for certain rooms of our home, but neglected to mention my kitchen cupboards and hutches, which almost need a weekly or at least a monthly going through to stay on top of the clutter. Mostly because the children put dishes away.

I’ve been blessed to have a dishwasher most of my adult life. Spoiled, I know! I generally know what dishwasher detergent works and what doesn’t. You know those brands that leave a residue or leave food on your dishes? It’s sad to admit but since using one particular brand and the children being in charge of loading the dishwasher I have come to accept dirty residue as a part of my drinking pleasure. Ewwww! You say? Yeah, so does my husband. I just got tired of having to clean a glass before I got a drink so I started to skip that step.

However, I definitely have my favorite dishwasher soap brand(s). Cascade being one of them and no I’m not just saying that for the sake of this post. I have yet to find a good organic, eco-friendly brand that works just as well, unfortunately. Then recently I was able to try Cascade Complete Pacs. They are a little rectangle pacs of dishwasher soap detergent you pop into the dishwasher with no mess, spills or harmful odors emitting from it as it does with dishwasher powder. This was the first time we’ve ever tried a dishwasher soap pac, that I can remember anyways.

Cascade Complete Pacs

provide an immaculate clean without wasting precious time and water pre-rinsing 24-hour stuck-on food messes. Over time, Cascade Complete Pacs fight hard water film two-times better, wash after wash, than the next leading premium pac.

I was excited to try these little pacs. They worked so well that we bought the largest container we could find! Yes indeed these little pacs had our glasses sparkling and our dishes cleaner than they had been in months and it was a change we wanted to continue seeing after running the dishwasher…..We’d been using another brand’s eco-friendly dishwashing soap, which obviously was not doing it’s job, and we can stop blaming it on the children’s method of loading the dishwasher too!

Need I say more? We really like the Cascade Complete Pacs.

“This blog post is part of a paid SocialMoms and Cascade blogging program, and I received free product from P&G for participating. The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own. To read more posts on this topic, click here.”

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January is Organization Month: Natalie’s Cleaning Routine

Posted by html404 on January 5, 2013
in Cleaning, Home, Organization

January is Organization Month. I have so many areas of our home to organize that it is shameful! Storage room, master bedroom, office, boys room and sewing closet – it’s a cedar closet that the owner made for his wife who loved to sew – are all areas out of control here at our house. Thankfully the girls, at least my oldest, is at the age where she regularly cleans and organizes the two rooms they occupy – their bedroom and their “nook” where they do their school work and go on the computer.

Natalie is a Professional Organizer at OrganizedHabits.com and a few months ago I came across her cleaning routine chart that I thought would be very helpful in light of Organization Month.

Natalie suggests spending 15-20 minutes a day cleaning an area of your home. I like that idea!

This chart was a part of Natalie’s Holiday Blog Series. She gave her permission to share it here but when I copied and pasted it the coding would not transfer correctly. So be sure to check it out at the link I provided.

We plan to implement the 15-20 minute “rule”. With nine of us capable of cleaning that much time each day means a total of 2-1/4 hours of cleaning will be accomplished. Surely that will help us keep the house basically clean, right?

So how about you? Do you have any organization goals for the new year? How do you plan on tackling them?

Here’s the link again to Natalie’s Cleaning Routine: http://www.organizedhabits.com/holiday-blog-series-cleaning-the-house

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Kids in Sports and Stains

Posted by html404 on December 11, 2012
in Cleaning, Clothing, Kids Stuff

As moms, we deal with a lot of laundry and with that comes the task of getting out stains. If we have children who love sports or the great outdoors then getting out stains is often even more challenging. Below is some help for all of you who have kids in sports and stains that comes with it:

Image provided by: CiscoAthletic.com.
Want to add this illustration to your site too? Click here to get the embed code.

This is a paid post.

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My First Farmers Almanac

Posted by Brande on August 30, 2012
in Books, Cleaning, Community Issues, Education, Family Stuff, Farm Stuff, Food and Treats, Gardening, Home, Products for Dad, Products for Mom, Saving Money, Seasonal Stuff

I bought my first Farmers Almanac the other day and I can’t believe I didn’t buy it sooner!

I always thought the Farmers Almanac was all about the weather. Boy was I surprised when I found tons of fantastic information!

Yes, it does have weather information, BUT, on page 8 I found out how to get rid of weeds with out pulling or chemicals and it’s easy! You pour boiling water on them or use a mixture of dish washing liquid (5 tablespoons) and water (4 cups) in a spray bottle! I also learned how to make a “Homemade Jar Opener”, “No-Mess Baking”, ways to cut energy costs, how to save on gas, even a section on comfort foods (my favorite).

I plan on buying one every year! They are really a wealth of information!

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Sunflower and Sunshine

Posted by html404 on June 29, 2012
in Cleaning

We have five senses and of those five senses, smell is probably the one that evokes the most memories. I know when I smell burning leaves and grass when I pass the state park in the spring time, it takes me back to my childhood when my mom would burn our grass every spring or fall. Or baking bread can take me back to my grandmother’s and mother’s kitchen. Pumping gas can take me back to my teen years when my parents co-owned a gas station and I worked there pumping gas in the summer or on weekends when they needed help. Of course these are good smells that trigger good memories, but bad smells can trigger bad memories too.

What do you think of when you hear sunflower and sunshine? I think of bright, fresh and pretty. I cannot think of ever really smelling a sunflower and I don’t remember if a sunflower has a scent. I know sunshine really doesn’t have a scent, but I’d like to think it has a nice heated scent, you know what I mean? But I do know neither of these have a strong scent.

This week we tried using Gain’s Sunflower & Sunshine scented laundry detergent. I have to say that I chose the scent because I liked the name, but also because I thought it was the least aromatic from the sample cards I used to choose a scent. It turned out it’s stronger than I thought it would be. It smells a little flowery and almost has a citrus scent. Like most laundry detergents, it’s a strong scent and you can smell it when the cover is on.

Each of us has our own unique sense of smell and we won’t all agree on what our noses like or dislike, but that’s ok. Tell me what you think sunflower and shine smells like? Leave your answer in the comment section!

Faith and Family Reviews received a bottle of Gain Sunflower & Sunshine in exchange for writing a post about this scent. All opinions are my own.