Palmolive Review and Giveaway.

I received products from Palmolive in order to perform this review. All opinions are my own and are no way influenced by the gift of products.  Digital Parents Collective covered the administration costs of the review.

Pssst. I let you in on a little secret...I hate washing up with a passion.  In fact in the top 5 of household tasks I would happily never do again, washing up is right up the top.  So when I was asked to review the Palmolive dish washing liquid, I knew it had to be a good product to make washing up that tiny bit more enjoyable.  I received two different products, Antibacterial and Pomegranate.

Antibacterial

• Palmolive Ultra Antibacterial Dishwashing Liquid with Lemon Extracts fights germs on the sponge for a least 24 hours.  It contains natural antibacterial agents that combat unwelcome bacteria.
• By taking care of your sponge, Palmolive Antibacterial helps to thoroughly clean your dishes.
• Palmolive Ultra Antibacterial Dishwashing Liquid costs (RRP) $4.99 (750ml)

• Palmolive Ultra Pomegranate Dishwashing Liquid comes with a fresh and fruity Pomegranate scent to infuse your kitchen
• Its rich formula cuts through grease and leaves your dishes sparkling clean
• The perfect marriage of scent and shine
• A great accessory for the kitchen sink
• Palmolive Ultra Pomegranate Dishwashing Liquid costs (RRP) $4.99 (750ml)

I'll let you in on another secret. I hate washing up so much that if something looks too hard to wash up, I will throw it in the bin. This is the reason why I only buy cheap pots and pans. However Devil Papa bought me a set of pans for Christmas that were a little bit more than my usual $10 so I really hoped that the Palmolive Dishwashing Liquid worked as well as the hype it produced.

I really wanted to put the stuff through it's paces so I purposely (ok I was just lazy but it sounded good) left the pans and plates from dinner on the sink, without rinsing them, until the next morning.  We had steak, eggs and chips for dinner. All of it perfect for baked on stuff.  Here's the result.

 Lots of baked on goodness....

Once I was sure it was baked on enough, I started the washing up process. Something which I expected would need a lot of elbow grease and a scourer. I was pleasantly surprised.  The washing up took no longer than usual and I didn't have to use the scourer at all. Normally for baked on foods like the plate, I would have to soak it but I was able to simply wet the plate and then wash with a cloth.

 Something else that I was also impressed with was the amount of suds. Now some people will say that too many bubbles are a bad thing, not me. If it has lots of bubbles, to me it's doing it's job. Even though there was lots of bubbles, it didn't leave a slimy film on the sink and plastics like a lot of other dishwashing liquids I have used do.  It also didn't seem to clog up the cloth, so I was able to use to wipe down the benches after washing up.  Another surprising aspect was that there was still a large amount of suds after I had finished washing up. Previous products that I have used, the suds have all disappeared half way through the wash and it kind of feels like you are just washing up in water.

Now comes the fun part! Thanks to Palmolive I have 3 Antibacterial and Pomegranate Dishwashing Liquid packs to give away to my readers...that's right YOU!

To be in the running all you have to do is tell me the household chore you hate the most and why. The 3 entries that make me laugh or shake my head will be the winners.  

Entries Close on Thursday the 31st of January 2013 at 8pm AEST. Please make sure either your emails are visible on your accounts or include your email in your comment so I can get in contact if you are a winner.

Good luck! I look forward to reading everyone's entries!

No offence Monday...but you suck

It's Friday again wooo! We all know what that means! It means it's time for the weekly whinge fest that is FFS Friday.  I haven't left the house for most of the week due to being sick (FFS) but somehow the world still managed to piss me off!
 

On Sunday night 60 Minutes Australia did a story on Self Harm.  The story was pretty well done.  It was surprisingly done with sensitivity and care.  As usual however the arsefaces came out of the wood works and commented on things they didn't know or want to understand. People like this are why there is still so much stigma around any kind of Mental Illness behaviour FFS
 

Devil Spawn has had a persistent sniffle for the last week or so. He passed it on to me. I felt like death warmed up Monday morning. My child free day was spent in bed not because I want to but because I had to FFS
 

Monday afternoon I went to pick Devil Spawn up from Daycare. I was walking to the bus stop and my thong broke. I went dick up and then had to hobble across the road with no shoes on FFS
 

I was running late to the bus stop and say the bus go past me. I saw a woman standing at the stop (my stuck up neighbour) I started to run and yelled stop. She ignored me and the bus drove off after picking her friend up.  The next bus was not for another 30 minutes and I felt like I was going to cough up a lung FFS
 

I finally got onto a bus, dressed like a bogan because I was shoeless. I also had to pick Devil Spawn up with no shoes on. It was Bogan-esque all round FFS
 

By this stage I was well and truly over the public transport system and I decided to give Papa Devil a call to get a lift home because where we caught the bus is across the road.  He left his phone at the other shop. He drove straight past us. I then had to deal with Devil Spawn tantrums about not getting to go with Daddy FFS
 

I had to wait another 30 minutes for a bus with Devil Spawn yelling at me the whole time FFS
 

This all happened on Monday FFS
 

The next two days were spent laying on the couch trying to nap while Devil Spawn destroyed my house.  I still don't have the energy to clean it all up. It looks like a toy tornado has gone through FFS
 

After two days of lazing around and feeling any better for it, I really didn't feel like cooking dinner so Papa Devil took us out for Maccas. It was quite possible that we received the worst customer service in the history of customer service. It really didn't make me want to leave the house again FFS
 

Thursday we finally ventured outside the house to Mums Group.  Devil Spawn acted like, well, a Devil Spawn. FFS (Lucky I have an understanding Mums Group)
 

On the way home from Mums Group the driver of the bus we caught decided he needed to flex his manhood and do a bit of road rage.  It shat all over my worst experiences of public transport. He tried to run a guy off the road. If you want to act like a dick, do it in your own car, not when you are driving a bus of people FFS
 

Did you have a FFS moment this week? Let me know in the comments so I don't feel so bad about whinging like a big skirt.
 

Well that's my FFS for this week. I'm linking up with Dear Baby G  so head on over to read some more FFS from the Blogosphere. 

Dabbling in the world of Handy Woman!

My washing machine has a mind of it's own.  It decides when it feels like spinning or if it even wants to wash at all.  *Insert sexist joke here ;)*
For a while I was washing in my bathtub using a broom handle and and the shower to do the 'rinse cycle'.  Due to it being in winter, the clothes would then take two days to dry.  Especially because I usually don't get the energy up for household chores until the afternoon, if at all.  I am so glad that during this time there was no gastro bugs in the Funny Farm house.
When that got old I started leaving my washing until the weekend and doing it at DP's house.  This really put a dampner on the lay in bed hangover caused by excessive alcohol consumption ritual we had going on.  I had to be all dometicated and shit. 
 

One day I decided to test out the tempremental washing machine and see if it had decided that it was finished being on strike yet.  Surprisingly it sort of spun, well at least enough to swish the detergent all through the clothes instead of the 4 or so items that were sitting in close proximity to the detergent.  Upon taking the washing out, I discovered there was something stuck between the internal and external tubs.  I pulled it a bit and it started to come out.  With a bit of pushing, shoving and pulling I managed to get it out.  Now the washing machine didn't work AT ALL.
 

At this point I decided to be all he-woman, figured I had nothing to lose and pulled the washing machine apart to see if there was anything else stuck inside.  I managed to pull it apart, cleaned out any build up and started the process of putting the machine back together.  By this stage I was all 'I am woman hear me roar'...right up until I dropped the screwdriver in between the internal and external tubs.  Cue string of profanities that drew DS from whatever he was doing to come and investigate what I was doing.  Shit was not good.
 

The space between the two tubs was about 10cm so obviously I wasn't going to fit my giant arm down there. 
 

Plan B. Tongs. The tongs could just fit down but they weren't long enough.  Sadly I didn't have any BBQ tongs or I would have been all over retrieving that pesky screw driver.
 

Plan C. Put the washing machine on it's side and see if that made a difference to me being able to reach it. It didn't.
 

Plan D. By this stage if I was stupid enough to have a swear jar, I would have enough coin to buy a whole new washing maching AND and entire set of screwdrivers so shit was really not going good.  Kicking the washing machine just resulted in the screwdriver going further down the tub.
 

Plan E. I found two sticks that used to hold a couple of fabric cubes together and attempted to reach the screwdriver using them like a pincer.  Of course the sticks were too short. Of course I swore a hell of a lot more.
 

Plan F.  I really had my thinking cap on now. I was wondering how much it would cost to dump this stupid washing machine versus having to tell DP that I fucked up and I needed his help.  Cue 'I am woman hear me roar' and I finally came up with something that worked!
I used the sticks from Plan E, and attached an allen key onto the end of each one using a ton of sticky tape because heaven forbid I lose two more tools.  I hooked each Allen Key under the handle of the screwdriver and ever so carefully extracted the offending screwdriver from inside the washing machine! I was so over the moon I nearly cried.
 

After screwing in the rest of the screws, I chucked a couple of items of clothing in the washing machine and IT WORKED! I was back to being all 'I am woman hear me roar' and now I can wash in my own machine again.  It still randomly decides when it wants to work but it does the job.
 

Are you handy around the house or a DIY disaster?  Let me know your best and worst forrays into the world of DIY.

FLYing

This week I was told about FLYlady and her shining sink philosophy.  I have to admit I was sceptical at first.  How can having a shiny sink help anything or anyone.  I have been surprised.  Pleasantly.

So what exactly is the point of this you ask? The website states

Are YOU living in CHAOS (Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome) like Franny in the pink sweats? Do you feel overwhelmed, overextended, and overdrawn? Hopeless and you don’t know where to start? Don’t worry friend, we’ve been there, too.

Step through the door and follow FlyLady as she weaves her way through housecleaning and organizing tips with homespun humor, daily musings about life and love, the Sidetracked Home Executives (SHE) system, and anything else that is on her mind.

I'm on Day 3 and I have to say I am feeling much more positive about the space I am in.  I am feeling motivated and am actually getting things done.  My house still looks like a bomb site mostly BUT it's getting cleaned properly bit by bit along with general upkeep.  

Another question. What exactly does having a shiny sink have to do with all of this.  It's simple.

This is your first household chore. Many of you can’t understand why I want you to empty your sink of your dirty dishes and clean and shine it when there is so much more to do. It is so simple; I want you to have a sense of accomplishment! You have struggled for years with a cluttered home and you are so beaten down. I just want to put a smile on your face. When you get up the next morning, your sink will greet you, and a smile will come across your lovely face. I can’t be there to give you a big hug, but I know how good it feels to see yourself in your kitchen sink. So each morning, this is my gift to you. Even though I can’t be there to pat you on the back, I want you to know that I am very proud of you.

Go shine your sink!

- FlyLady

(Taken from FLYlady)

Coming out the last few mornings to a beautiful clean kitchen has been great. It's put a surprising spring in my step.  

My next stop? Decluttering.

This is one of my worst 'hot spots'. It's time to change that.  Dyllan and I rarely eat dinner at the table.  Something that also needs to change.  I think that because I haven't 'needed' to keep this space clear then it's been able to build up to this level.  

I just have no idea where to put all the shit.....

The Lazy Wife's Guide to Housework

I hate housework with a passion and avoid it like the plague.  Here are my top tips for doing housework without really doing any work.

1. If food doesn't come off within 30 seconds of scrubbing, then the item must go in the bin...no exceptions

2.  Mopping when you have a toddler is always optional (or for the people with that weird cleaning fetish)

3.  Putting the clean washing in a pile in the corner of any room still counts as 'doing the washing'.

4.  Only feel 'obliged' to do the washing when you feel like you are going to get swallowed by the basket every time you walk into the bathroom...the same applies for the dishes.

5.  When your favourite item of clothing is in the laundry basket...if it doesn't smell like mouldy undies yet then you can still wear it.

6.  Making the Mini Man help isn't cruel slave labour, it's common sense and his future partner will thank me for it.

7.  If you never turn the fans off for the entire summer then no one notices how dirty they really are.

Do you hate housework as much as I do? What are you tips for avoiding it?