Environment

Norwexing your Thrift Store Finds

Like to thrift shop? Combine your love of thrifting and love of Norwexing for the best thrifting ever!

How To Fill Your Home At A Bargain
(Author: Guest Aimee Lyons of DIY Darlin)

Want to enjoy being surrounded by unique furniture pieces that will not break the bank? Two words: thrift store! Bargain shoppers already know that buying used can save tons of cash, but there is also something satisfying about snatching a deal and then turning it into a part of your home. When you do, you’ll want to clean up your new-found treasures and Norwex is the perfect solution. Here are some great tips on shopping outside of traditional retail to make people’s trash your personal treasures, and using Norwex to clean and refresh those new ‘finds’.

Taking care of your thrift store snags

You’ve no doubt heard stories about once-in-a-lifetime finds. While we won’t all stumble across a hidden fortune, we can extract maximum value out of the things we do bring home.

Let’s start with the basics. If you buy a cozy blanket for the sofa, wash it first using Norwex laundry detergent and Norwex dryer balls. Doing this makes sure the find is clean and ready to use, no matter what it is! Toss these mini marvels into the dryer with a quick rub of essential oils, which will help eliminate any lingering thrift store scent.

Start with a mix of Norwex detergent (liquid or powder), stain remover, odour eliminator and water in the eco-friendly Norwex Forever spray bottle. Use an enviro cloth for scrubbing power. This is great to spot clean any items, including for example an upholstered piece such as a sofa.

If that doesn’t do the trick bring in a professional. If the cost is low enough, the extra $100 to $300 you’ll spend on cleaning will give you a like-new piece for a fraction of the cost of new living room seating. Your total cost will vary depending on the size and material of the piece and how much you paid at the thrift shop.

What to buy used

You may be wondering “What are the best things to buy at a thrift shop?”. While there’s no definitive answer to that question, there are a few things to keep consider when you are out and about. Furniture is the big one. In addition to sofas and upholstered items, you can find tables, chairs, and desks aplenty. You can use your Norwex Household Package Plus to dust and remove dirt and grime from glass, stainless steel, chrome, and more. Insider.com asserts that a quick coat of paint can take your used pieces from drab to fab.

Picture frames are another excellent acquisition. Buying antique wood or metal frames can help you create a unique photo display. Vintage dishes and coffee mugs, candlesticks, and mirrors also make excellent additions to your eclectic decor. Clean them all with Norwex enviro cloth and/or Norwex dishwashing liquid.

When Is ‘New’ Better?

While there are limitless possibilities for the fun things you can find at your local thrift shop, there are a few things that are best bought new. Mattresses and pillows are good examples. If you do decide to purchase a used mattress at the store, look for a tag that shows that it has been sanitized, and confirm that it is legal for the retailer to sell a used mattress in your state. As a final refresh for a ‘new to you’ mattress you’ve brought home use the Norwex Mattress Cleaner, and continue to use it monthly to help keep the dust mites at bay.

Thank you Aimee Lyons for this valuable information!

Norwex Dryer Balls

Norwex sells two kinds of dryer balls, wool and plastic. Either set is a great option for you to use in your dryer; your loads will dry faster, they reduce wrinkles and static, soften your clothes naturally, while reducing your exposure to chemical toxins. Win/win. I once had an engineer at a show calculate how much his family of five would save by using dryer balls, they pay for themselves in about three months! Calculations about the chemical harm avoided? PRICELESS!

I love my dryer balls and am so glad I started using them years ago. Regardless of which set you buy, put ALL the dryer balls in the dryer at once; two green or three wool. I’ll break down the benefits of each type to help you decide which is best for your family.

Green Dryer Balls – The cost for these is lower than our Fluff and Tumble (wool) dryer balls. Green dryer balls come with a one-year warranty and are estimated to last for 500 washings. That is about a year if you did 10 loads weekly.

The green dryer balls should be removed from the dryer when not in use (especially in cold climates) as they can get very cold in the dryer due to the outside vent. If left in the dryer the extreme temperature change from cold to a hot dryer load can cause cracking.

These are made from polyvinyl chloride along with many other household items like PVC pipes etc. They are a responsible choice for consumer end-use products. Using dryer balls, even plastic ones, is recommended over fabric softeners or dryer sheets for a number of reasons.

Fluff and Tumble Dryer Balls – These are one of our Top 10 Sellers and a favorite of mine! They are good for 1000 loads (about 2 years if you did 10 loads weekly), are warranted for two years, and are fully renewable. They are made from 100% New Zealand sheep’s wool which contains lanolin, a natural softener.

I love to add a bit of pure essential oil to the balls to give my laundry a light scent. Just add a few drops to one dryer ball at the end of the drying time (last 10 minutes). Instructions are included with the balls. You’ll need to replace these when they start to unravel or fall apart. I’ve had mine for over 4 years and they still work great!!

Comments or questions?

BacLock – What is it?

At my shows and demonstrations I introduce the concept of BacLock† to clients.

What is BacLock? Micro silver providing antibacterial protection to our Norwex cloths.

BacLock

I explain it like this; the Norwex cloth cleans the surface, the BacLock cleans the cloth. When you clean with a wet Norwex cloth you can be certain you are removing almost every single bit of gunk and grime from the surface, the microfiber locks the dirt in the cloth. When you rinse the cloth most of the dirt goes down the drain. Anything that remains is acted on by the micro silver, a natural antibacterial agent.

“From the 2017 Norwex Fall Catalog p.6;
“…Micro silver in the wet cloth self-cleanses within 24 hours to drastically reduce mold, fungi and bacterial odor. Your cloths and towels stay cleaner and fresher, longer.”

Do you still have to launder your cloths? Of course. But probably less frequently. See Norwex FAQs for laundering tips (see the Microfiber section).

† BacLock is a Norwex trademark

New in the Fall of 2016

Watch this video to learn more about our Essential Oils, the Camouflage Optic Scarf, and the Norwex Cutting Board.

I Love to use the Essential Oils on my dryer balls, it gives my laundry a fresh scent! The cutting board is now an essential item in my kitchen. I use mine ALL THE TIME! The best part is you are not cutting into a plastic board so you are not ingesting plastic. Plus my cutting board still has no cut marks in it after 10 months of use!

And of course Norwex finally came out with an Optic Scarf for the guys! Although plenty of the ladies love it too. It is green camouflage and on a carabiner clip. Nice!

Lose the Paper Towels

It may seem hard to do in our ‘throw-away’ society, but you really can stop using paper towels in your kitchen. I have greatly cut back on my paper towel use. I never did like to use them much, probably because I’m frugal and hated throwing the towel out after just one use!

Did you know…
…paper towels are made with chlorine, which releases harmful chemicals into the air and onto your food?
…40% of the US landfills are paper trash?
…paper products that have ANY food products, grease or body fluids can not be recycled?
…3000 tons of paper towel waste are created every single day?

I use the Norwex kitchen towel and kitchen cloth set instead. Norwex microfiber holds 8 times its weight and cleans up any kind of dirt or spill in your kitchen. I use the kitchen towel to dry my hands and dishes. The towel dries quickly and can go a long time between laundering.

Both the Norwex kitchen towel and kitchen cloth contain micro silver so they self-purify. Use Norwex Kitchen Set for days in your kitchen with no musty smell. And…they are a Customer Special for April!
Sources:
Recycle Nation
Business Insider

Is Your Home a Safe Haven?

Have you seen the Safe Haven House at Norwex? It’s an online, interactive, easy-to-use little gem helping you to understand how to reduce chemicals in your home. The kids might even find it fun.

You can navigate to different rooms in your home and see how to use your Norwex products as well. Nifty little resource. Check it out here.

What Every Home SHOULDN’T Have!

Do you know there are many cleaners and household items you buy that contain harmful chemicals? Even reducing some of these will help your family. And you can start today. Just commit to removing ONE of these items, because all progress starts with the first step.

5 Products to Avoid from The Norwex Movement Blog

What’s in your Household Cleaner?

Do you know what’s in the cleaners you use in your home? Think about this…do you REALLY know? Unless you’re making it yourself you don’t. Here’s why…

In the United States there is no federal mandate to tell you what is in the cleaning products you purchase. So even if you see an ingredient list on the product, know that it most probably isn’t a complete list. There are going to be unlisted chemicals in those cleaners. And even worse…there aren’t any testing requirements for chemicals in cleaners!!

The Environmental Working Group has an entire article about the lack of federal oversight.

Now let’s talk about Norwex. Do you need a list of ALL the ingredients in our products? Norwex doesn’t put it on their products, but they do publish those lists for their consultants to access. And I can send any of those lists to you! All you need to do is Ask Me. YAY Norwex!

Norwex Movement

Norwex has a website dedicated to helping you create and maintain a safer environment for yourself and your family, and it’s NOT Norwex.biz! The website is their Norwex Movement site.

There are tools for measuring your environmental impact, a video of how to make your home a Safe Haven, blog posts, quizzes, facts, just all kinds of fun stuff. It is a great place to send your kids to learn about taking care of their home and how to reduce plastic use.

You can join the Norwex movement and earn ecopoints….for reading and participating on the site.

Check out the Norwex Movement … You’ll be glad you did!