This month for Stuff We Like, I want to share some products that, no kidding, have changed my anxiety levels about cleaning things.
But before I get started, I wanted to give you all a heads up that this fall I’ll be launching the first Organization Academy online course! Yay! Each course will be all about saving time and reducing stress (and creating space for you to do what you’ve been wanting to do), and the first one will focus on Meal Planning Mastery.
You might recall my earlier series here about meal planning and Google Calendar. The course is an expanded version of that series, with worksheets, tutorials, step-by-step guides, and cheatsheets to help organize your meal planning, and help save you time and money doing so.
Basically, if you hate not knowing the answer to the question, “What’s for dinner?” as much as I do, you’ll like this course.
I’ll be announcing the course registration to the Organization Academy mailing list first, so if you’d like more information, plus weekly organization and time saving tips, drop your email right here:
Thank you to everyone who has written to let me know how much they appreciated the packing series! I met a number of people at RWA who said packing cubes changed the way they traveled to Orlando — that’s so cool.
Ok, now on to Stuff We Like! This month: a few items that have recently rocked my world. This one, specifically:
The Fur-Zoff Pet Hair Remover is about $12.
I have two dogs, and two cats, and they all have fur. All of them, can you believe that? And if you have furry house residents, you probably know that sometimes the hair does not come off, not with the special vacuum, nor with the sticky rolling things.
This stone BLEW MY MIND with how well it took hair off one of our pieces of furniture. It’s basically a glass brick of bubbles, and you rub it over the surface of whatever you’re trying to clean – upholstery, a carpet or rug, car seats or floor mats, whatever.
LOOK AT THIS:
That was about 10 minutes of work on the upholstery.
The hair is mostly from Buzz, who loves the purple chair a lot.
It might be easier in the long run to train him not to get onto the furniture, I realize, but Buzz the Anxious hides in the chaise when he’s scared or upset. I don’t want to take that away from him, but I also know he gets a lot of hair on that thing.
Check out that pile of hair. It’s like a Furminator for the furniture.
A note: it’s very lightweight, but it is foamed glass, so it will wreak hell on any manicure you might have. Be careful. Also, don’t use it on leather unless you don’t like that leather very much. It’ll scratch the hell out of it.
Seriously, I love this thing. And if you’re weird, like me, and love seeing the before/after transformation of something, this is immensely satisfying with very little effort.
Another item I love that makes me happy every time I use it (it’s a little embarrassing how much glee I get out of this thing) is the Ikea Hemnes Shoe Cabinet, $99:
This cabinet holds a lot of shoes, and is only 11.75″ (30cm) deep, so it doesn’t take up much room at all. The big drawers in the middle and bottom tip out to hold pairs of shoes, and the top drawer is where I keep the pet hair remover rollers for clothes, and the new Stone of Hair Magnetry (aka the Fur Zoff) lives in that drawer, too. The only thing it can’t hold well is giant winter boots. Otherwise, most of our shoes are in there.
Part of the reason I’m a little obsessed with furniture is that we just bought a new chair and some side tables (after searching for ages, so making the decision was a rush, too). So not only am I looking at the hair, but I’m also after protecting the tables.
These are cracking me up:
Don’t Fuck Up the Table (Please) Stone Coasters, $34.
Those are a bit of money, though, and if you’re after cute and noticeable, how about small vinyl records?
Six piece vinyl record drink coaster set, $10.
And speaking of drinking, I have to share these, because they crack me up. Should you need to tote your potent potables incognito, there are terrific options.
Golden Goddess Sunscreen Flask. I found one of these at Target and bought it as a gift for Amanda, and she thought I’d sent her a bottle of sunscreen until I told her to look again. They’re very realistic looking.
Heh heh.
There’s also a two-pack of Sunscreen Tube Flasks for $10:
They’re also available in faux ice pack form, too.
And then, as we transition to fall, there’s the Umbrella Flask, $16:
And hey, if you’re not interested in hiding your portable potent potables, that’s cool! The Ladies would be delighted to help you out with that:
*Looks at pile of fluff produced by Buzz, looks at really real rabbit sized pile of fluff produce by two long haired GSD’s. Sighs*
Aw Buzz glad you have Sarah, Thorn my anxious girl would be so much worse if we didn’t let her use her safe places.
Stuff we like: the dog! Wants dog! What a love.
The stuff I like the most at this time is Tea Forte’s Coconut Chocolate Truffle black tea, which came in a “tasting chest” that was mentioned in the SBTB epic tea post. I was online ordering more before I finished the cup. Quantity: ALL OF IT. (It was only 3 tins, but now you have to get on a mailing list to be notified when it’s back in stock, so it really was ALL OF IT.)
Their chai, which I’d never had before, is also very good, but I can try cheap versions of that before I start selling organs to finance my luxury tea habit. The chocolate/coconut/hazelnut with a shot of cream was too fantastic to sleep on, though.
Been shopping for a decent shoe cabinet so thanks!
I don’t have pets but between me and my two daughters, we also do a fair amount of shedding. I’m almost afraid to find out how much hair that thing would pull up.
The sunscreen flasks are funny as hell. I can imagine how confused adults and children would be to see someone sucking down some “sunscreen”. lol
Thanks for the Fur-Zoff. I have a friend who needs this BAD.
While I don’t often recommend products, one that has lived up to the hype is the Norwex Enviro cloths my bff turned me on to. Housekeeping chemicals trigger her asthma so she’s always looking for chemical & fume free solutions. Two cloths: one wet, one dry = sparkling windows, mirrors and fixtures. No chemicals. No fumes. No ammonia. No wads of paper towels. Less time because they don’t leave streaks you have to go back over. I may not be crazy about everything they put out, but I’m sold on these. My windows are amazing.
Is the Fur-Zoff thingie like a pumice stone? The industrial kind, not the foot kind. (It’s used for cleaning.) I ask because they look very similar, and I swear by those industrial ones to hand-strip the harsh coats on my Jack Russells. (Yes, I have to hand-strip my dogs’ coats. Best not to ask, LOL.)
I may have to get one of these just to see.
@Jill-Marie:
It is like a pumice stone, except made of glass. It’s very similar texture.
The husky in our house sheds a lot! And even though he isn’t allowed on the furniture (virtually no anxiety issues) my carpets could use the help. And it gets worse when my daughter brings his sister to visit and they rough house several times a week. I think I really need a Fur-Zoff!
My local Dollar store had really cute soap stone coasters for $1 a piece. They had several different designs and I went through the lot of them to find 4 + 4 complementary ones.
I’ll be checking out that Fur-Zoff, for sure! We have 5 cats, two of them long-haired, so lots of fuzz and fur on upholstered furniture. When hubby brushes them and accumulates a cat-sized ball of hair, he generally asks what we want to name our newest kitty.