12 Stain Removers For Clothing

Sometimes life is messy, but we can't let stains ruin our favorite blouses, t-shirts, dresses, or trousers. Your 1st line of defense is to run to a sink before the stain dries and then sets. I like to use a drop of dish soap, water, and a brush, sometimes an extra toothbrush, to gently scrub a stain out. I keep dish soap with Oxi-Clean as one of its ingredients in my bathroom for this purpose.

Thread Up recommends using the following aids to best treat certain stains:

1) Soak a red wine stain in white wine, cover with baking soda, let sit, and rinse.

2) Flush the back of a chocolate stain with cold water, dab with dish soap, and soak.

3) Soak grass stains in white vinegar, then clean with dish soap and that trusty small brush.

4) For foundation stains, apply shaving cream and carefully work it in with a washcloth.

5) To remove lipstick, saturate the stain with hair spray and dab to remove.

6) Gently blot a deodorant stain away with a dryer sheet or the protective foam used on dry cleaning hangers. (Btw: I've switched to a stainless deodorant stick that also works to keep me dry. This one.)

Several more stains I can think of include:

7) For blood stains, rinse in cold water, then soak in detergent and cold water. For stubborn stains, use peroxide or a paste of baking soda and white vinegar. Sprinkling meat tenderizer on the stain sometimes removes it.

8) Tomato sauce, ketchup, vegetable, or fruit stains are tough stains to remove once they dry and set. Act quickly and use cold water, dish soap, and possibly vinegar or lemon juice to help lift out the stain. Sparkling water can help too.

Photo: Pexels

9) For coffee stains, apply a paste of dish soap, white vinegar, and water. Rinse with cold water.

10) Tackle grease stains with dish soap, let it set, and rinse with hot water. Toss in a washing machine quickly if possible. You can also try a solution of baking soda and white vinegar if all else fails.

11) Rubbing alcohol or solutions containing alcohol, such as hand sanitizer or hair spray, will break down ink stains. Spray and blot.

12) A spatter of toothpaste is maddeningly difficult to remove without tossing the garment into a washing machine. Even if you clean the spot immediately with dish soap and water, it leaves a faint white residue. The only thing I know to do is to repeat the process to get as much of the residue out as possible. 

I don't wear dresses until I've brushed my teeth, but in the summer I usually have my t-shirt on already. What do you do to get out a teethpaste stain? What about grease or tomato sauce stains?

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I Took A Second Look At These Dresses

What do I love about summer? Long days of sunshine, no socks or layers, and summer dresses! Sometimes you can find an attractive summer dress in the most unexpected places. The hot pink Time and Tru Dress from Walmart caught my eye. Who would have thought you could find a stylish double cotton dress at Walmart? This one is a best seller with many good customer reviews. It comes in green and black too. If you need another summer dress, you can't beat its price!

Old Navy is a retailer where I expect and find lovely summer dresses to wear. I repeatedly write about the store because of it. Moreover, this year the merchant is stepping up its active and casual-smart style a notch by offering a new collection of special dresses called Occasion by Old Navy.

The crisp, smooth, silk-like taffeta fabric holds its shape, and once again, you can't beat the price for adorable style! Who would have thought to look at Old Navy for prom, party, or fancy date night dresses? A taffeta fabric is ideal for formal and structured garments like wedding dresses and christening gowns. You can't help but take a 2nd look! This is Old Navy? Why, yes, it is.

While the price points of Old Navy dresses are budget-friendly, they last longer than fast-fashion dresses. With the classic lines in this collection, you can wear them for years to come!

What are your favorites?

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What I'm Feeding My Senior Mom

Photo: Canadian Digestive Health Foundation

My Mom relies on me to make her food choices, but honestly, I liked it better when she had an appetite and all her faculties, and if she didn't eat, or eat healthily, it was her choice as an adult and not my problem. I should add that younger, she prepared and ate healthy meals. Now it's my job to plan and cook for her.

I support eating a healthy diet, and I also pity her because it's sad to grow old and lose your independence and appetite. She must follow my rules, and I can be an enforcer if necessary.:)

The following are my caregiver rules:

1) She must eat at least 2 meals a day! In her adult life, she never ate lunch, so I have to work with her lifelong habit and pack her nutritional requirements into 2 meals a day. But after I've done so ...

2) She must eat her dinner. Breakfast is never a problem. Too often she claims she's not hungry for dinner, but I tell her she must eat one. She's lucky to have someone in her life who is mean. Me! It is something a nursing home aide cannot do ... tell a senior she must eat food. In a nursing home, the meals roll in and out, eaten or not, often by separate aides.

3) She must eat the amount of protein her body requires daily and a variety of fruit, vegetables, and whole grains, as much as I can get her to eat with her reduced desire for food. I use skim milk and 4 ounces of fruit juice (no sugar added) to help meet her dietary needs. According to the National Library of Medicine, older adults may benefit from consuming 1.2 to 2.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight (or 0.54 to 0.9 grams per pound). This is in line with what other medical sources recommend. Three glasses of skim milk a day help get the job done! Eggs, too, are an easy-to-eat light meal.

3) No overloading on sugar. Everybody should eat a healthy diet, young, old, or in-between. Sugar is a treat, not a staple. In fact, sugar is bad for all of us and addictive. Many of us like sweets, but if a senior has arthritis, sugar causes inflammation, resulting in more painful joints. We cut down on sugar, eating it in moderation only: A row of dark chocolate, 2 cookies here and there, birthday cake, Christmas cookies, one portion of Halloween or Easter candy. So we don't feel deprived. I'm also a believer in the less sugar you consume, the less you crave it. Finally, it's as easy to like healthy food as unhealthy food. Cherries, strawberries, blueberries, peaches, and apples are all delicious snacks! Ditto for vegetables and a healthy dip such as spicy humus!!

A fortune in eggs.😳

It's payback time for both my mom and me. Once upon a time, she was the enforcer ensuring I didn't overload on sugar and ate a balanced diet, and now our roles are reversed. The egg has become the head chicken and enforcer. Be careful of the values you instill in your children. Chickens come home to roost!🐣😁

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Are You A CrockPot Cook?

Years ago, friends were always telling me to buy a Crockpot, so when I saw a discounted Wolfgang Puck slow cooker on Overstock, I bought it. I learned 2 valuable lessons: 1) Never buy products with celebrity chef names. Mine died soon after the purchase; 2) In Manhattan, I don't need a slow cooker. I can cook everything on my stove/oven with the pots and pans I already own. So when Wolfgang Puck's space hug went kaput I said good riddance and never looked back!

Photo: iStock

That is until recently when ...

I bought a Crockpot for when I cook meals for my mother outside of Manhattan. When not in my well-stocked Manhattan kitchen, it is handy for meals I normally need all 4 stove burners and oven to prepare.

I recommend sticking with the original Crockpot brand. It gets hotter than its competitors, up to 450°F, so you can cook dinner faster than at most slow cooker speeds. Whole chicken, beef, or pork roasts fit better inside the oval-shaped slow cookers.

I think in the suburbs, a Crockpot is great for entertaining friends. You can cook hearty one-pot dinners such as a beef stew, roast chicken with potatoes and carrots, meatloaf, or hearty soups without having to leave your friends sitting on the couch while you spend time in the kitchen tending to the food. Furthermore, you can leave the setting on warm for still moist second portions. Later, the cleanup is a breeze too! The lift-out pot is dishwasher safe.

In Manhattan, we usually don't entertain a lot of people at one time.

Planning is everything. I would never host a party without enough space, food, or seats for everyone invited. I've been to some of those city soirées. As you can imagine, such a gathering isn't a lot of fun! You can't mingle or get over to the food and drink.

With this 7-quart Crockpot, you could have up to 6 people for dinner. I leave the space and a comfortable seating arrangement for you to figure out.😁

So far in the Crock-Pot, I've made my pea soup, adding 1 cup of brown rice, a 12-ounce bag of frozen mixed vegetables, and 4 extra cups of water to the recipe, turning the soup into a one-Crock-Pot meal. I ate my soup vegetarian style and topped my mother's soup with smoked deli ham. With protein, carbs, and vegetables covered, it's lazy cooking that gets the job done!

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Old Navy Summer Dresses

Once again, the spotlight is on Old Navy's summer dresses. Year after year, the retailer comes through! Old Navy dresses are casual smart. The right shoes and accessories will dress them up or down, and they are suitable for women of all ages.

Fabrics, including cotton, linen, and rayon, keep you cool in summer and are machine washable and dryable. In recent years, Old Navy has expanded the color selections of its dresses. Now each dress style is offered in up to 7 colors or patterns. The most in-demand colors sell out fast!

Mass-produced dresses have never bothered me! Wearers buy different colors, accessorize the same dress differently and also just wear a dress differently. The same dress looks different on various body types.

To boot: Old Navy's promotions and customer rewards mean you can buy these dresses cheaper than you could ever sew them! A whole dress (which is as cozy as a t-shirt) costs less than a t-shirt elsewhere!

It's a no-brainer, Old Navy summer dresses are affordable, comfortable, machine-washable, and fashionable!✅✓✔and✅

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Chocolate Cakes Without Flour or Sugar

Photo & recipe: Notycheese

Call me a skeptic. But, when you crave a slice of cake, I think you'll only satisfy your craving by eating the decadent cake. Why? The texture resulting from the flour, sugar, chocolate, and butter is why we like the dessert. Without the right texture, we have something else we are calling cake.:)

That said, all the flourless, sugarless, and butter or oil-less cakes floating around the internet are intriguing, and I'm willing to try the easy ones.

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An advantage is they often require less work with fewer ingredients than baking a 2-layer cake. Also, the amount of dessert made is usually less, so I can see using the tastier recipes as a quick snack when we lack the time or people to help us eat a whole cake. I don't see any benefit to foregoing gluten without a gluten sensitivity, but maybe it's a practical way of using the apples or bananas in our refrigerators.

Today I'll select 2 recipes for Chocolate Cake, one made with apples and the other with bananas to replace the flour, sugar, and oil or butter in the batter of traditional cakes:

Flourless Chocolate Cake Using Apples (top image👆)

Ingredients: (Half the ingredients to make less cake.)

4 medium apples, peeled and chopped into chunks
4 large eggs
5 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder

Butter or cooking oil spray to grease the baking pan

Directions: 

1) Blend the apples and eggs in a blender until smooth.

2) Add the coca powder and baking powder.

3) Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan.

4) Bake for 45 minutes or until done in the middle. Cool before slicing and eating.

🎂🥮🎂🥮🎂🥮🎂🥮🎂🥮🎂🥮🎂🥮

Flourless Chocolate Cake Using Bananas (bottom image👇)

Photo & recipe: yummyy

Ingredients for the Cake 

2 ripe bananas, sliced

2 eggs

8 tablespoons cocoa powder (I used only 1 banana, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder, but tossed in a small handful of dark chocolate chips, crushed walnuts, a chopped Pure Protein bar, and a sprinkle of baking soda. After baking it, I also blended in a little vanilla Greek yogurt to get a senior to eat a banana. She liked it.)

1 teaspoon baking powder

Cooking oil spray for the dish.

Directions for the Cake:

1) Toss the bananas and eggs into a blender and mix until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and whisk in the cocoa powder and baking soda.

2) Pour into a nonstick or cooking oil-sprayed microwave-safe dish. Smooth the top with a spatula.

3) Bake in the microwave for 5 minutes. Let cool.

Ingredients for a Topping: 

1/2 cup of chocolate chips

3 - 4 tablespoons of milk

Directions:

Melt the chocolate and milk in the microwave, incorporate, and pour over the cake.

A similar recipe on my Facebook feed using oatmeal:

Feel free to try this Grand Culinary Experiment along with me. I'm also skeptical that eating flourless, sugarless, butterless cakes will help us lose weight. Still, these "cakes" could be worthy chocolate desserts in and of themselves!

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Faces Love Ultra Violette Sunscreen

Photo: SkinRocks

Ultra Violette Sunscreen is a cult favorite manufactured in Australia, where wearing sunscreen daily is a must due to the continent's close proximity to the sun. Not only does sunscreen shield faces from developing cancer, it shields them from premature aging.

Ultra Violette Sunscreen formulas are hailed for their dewy, hydrating, and luminous finishes. They contain some skin benefits like vitamin C and panthenol, ingredients that smooth and brighten the skin. An application leaves no white cast and works well under makeup as a primer to smooth out skin texture.

Queen Screen is lightweight and serum-like, while Supreme Screen has a creamy texture with a satin finish.

Ultra Violette Sunscreens are on the pricey side. Recently a similar product I use, L'Oreal Miracle Blurr, has been discontinued. So I'll need a replacement.

It's great knowing about popular cult sun protection like Ultra Violette Sunscreen both to stay up-to-date on skincare and to grab one should we see the product at a good price at T.J. Maxxx.

Here are 2 face primers below with SPF 30 from NYX and Neutrogena ... I'll have to try when my tube of Miracle Blur is empty.

Do you have a favorite face primer with SPF 30 or higher?

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Rosec Jewelry For Customized Handmade Fine Jewelry

Rosec Jewelry is an independent online fine jewelry retailer with headquarters (at 64 West 48th Street, Suite 1406) in the diamond district of Manhattan and stores in London and Jaipur. Its manufacturing facilities are located in India. America, Canada, and the United Kingdom make up its customer base. Rosec sells its jewelry on its own website and platforms like Amazon, Etsy, eBay, and Walmart. This gives Savvy Shoppers a comparison of prices among platforms and awesome opportunities to catch sales and discounts when buying a piece of jewelry!

There are several reasons to consider Rosec Jewelry. The company specializes in homemade fine jewelry including certified diamonds, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, pearls, and semi-precious gemstones at not cheap but affordable prices. Their skilled artisans have been jewelers for 15+ years and they only work with hallmarked gold, 925 sterling silver, and certified and ethically sourced gemstones.

Most of Rosec's jewelry can be customized to fit a customer's budget. Therefore a ring, earrings, bracelet, or necklace can be made with either natural or lab-grown gemstones and comes in a choice of precious metals: 18k gold, 14k gold, or 925 sterling silver. You select how your gemstone was grown, and in a precious metal with the design and craftsmanship staying the same. It gives everyone the chance to buy fine jewelry instead of settling for costume jewelry!

Rosec likes to describe its jewelry as: Luxury Meets Affordability. I like the jeweler's focus on design, craftsmanship, genuine silver and gold precious metals, certified gemstones, and fabulous customer service. Potential buyers can book a virtual meeting if they need guidance. Nice! The website is well-designed and easy to navigate to help consumers understand the inventory. To boot, 20% promotions are offered on holidays!! 

What great gifts for family and special friends! Rosec has a wide selection of everyday jewelry that is especially fitting as a young girl's first piece of fine jewelry for her special birthday, confirmation, or graduation.

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A Milk Cake

A recipe on Facebook that found me is from the page, N'oven Foods. Called a Milk Cake, it's very similar to a Buttermilk Cake. Both are sponge cakes. I'm posting the recipe because I think it solves the problem of too much cake without enough visitors to eat it!

The only cakes worth the calories are either homemade from scratch, or made by a good bakery, not from a box of cake mix, but sometimes a 2-layer cake is too much of a good thing. The following recipe is for a 6-inch single-layer homemade cake ... and you can either bake it in an oven or on a stovetop!

Milk Cake by N'oven

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup milk (Bump it up to condensed, half and half, or cream if you wish.)

2 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar (I use 1/4 cup sugar.)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

I add a tiny pinch of salt

Directions:

1) Mix the butter and milk in a saucepan. Bring it to a boil and set aside.

2) In a mixing bowl, crack 2 eggs and using an electric mixer blend for one minute.

3) Add 1/2 cup of sugar and continue mixing until foamy.

4) Next use a strainer to shift in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Pour in the vanilla extract. Continue mixing either with an electric mixer, a whisk, or even a spatula. 

5) Into the bowl, incorporate the hot milk and butter with the dry ingredients and continue mixing.

6) Pour the batter into a well-greased 6" baking pan, The video places the pan on top of a metal trivet inside a bigger pot with a lid to cook on a stovetop for 30 minutes. I'll bake mine inside the oven at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. But if we're ever somewhere (camping?) without a stove, there's an alternate way of "baking" it!

A-ha, the original cooking method on a stovetop explains why this cake is 6" and one layer. I bet you could make the cake without using 2 pans and a metal trivet by simply pouring the batter into a buttered cast iron skillet covered with a lid. Cast iron skillets get very hot and cook evenly on a stovetop or inside an oven. I think since cornbread can either be baked in an oven or cooked in a skillet on a stovetop, the same would work with a Milk Cake. Like pancakes, only slower and higher.

The recipe ended here on Facebook, but not in Debra's kitchen where dark chocolate and a little bit of milk get melted in a microwave and then poured over the finished and cooled Milk Cake. A  ganache topping is France's contribution to the desert world.:)

Clearly, a Milk Cake is editable plain; sprinkled with powdered sugar; or frosted. Icing with shredded nuts, or chocolate sprinkles would work too. You do you!

I've made cakes when a friend was coming over for coffee. My friend eats a slice and I eat a slice and then I have the rest of the cake I no longer want that ends up in the freezer.

This delicious recipe is a coffee hour or tea time keeper! It solves 2 problems: no oven (but you can bake it in the oven) and unwanted leftover cake. Sometimes all we crave is a single day of cake.

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