Pinterest FAIL: Cleaning Old Bottles with Alka Seltzer

I saw on pinterest (and a few other sources) that Alka Seltzer can be used as a cleaning agent.  One pin specifically, claimed that it could be used to clean the gunk out of a narrow vase.  Hmm, vase..old bottles..similar right?  I had a few old glass bottles that my dad found on our property in "the country", and a box of Alka Seltzer that I couldn't stomach, so I thought I'd give it a try.  

1. Fill bottle/vase half full with warm water.

2. Drop in 2 Alka Seltzer tablets.  These are the kind I had:

I had to break the tablets into pieces to fit into the opening.  

3. Cover the opening and give the bottle/vase a good shake.

*Use caution.  My shirt looked like this after shaking:

According to the internet, you just rinse and voila, it's miraculously clean.  Since these bottles have been sitting on the side of Highway P for Godonlyknowshowlong, I let them soak for about 30 minutes.  After changing my shirt, I went back to my bottles and repeated steps 1-3.  Round 1 had loosened a little bit of the gunk, but nothing noticeable.  After round 2, I decided to use a q-tip to wipe out what I could reach.  This helped, but still no miracle was happening.  I squirted dishwashing soap and hot water in each bottle and let that sit for another 30 minutes.  Looks like I'll be buying a bottle brush.  :)

This may work better on a freshly used vase, and maybe it was the type of Alka Seltzer that I used.  I also found a pin that said it could be used to clean your toilet.  Guess what I'll be trying next!  And no, I will not be sharing those before pics.

Dryer Sheet Flower Tutorial

Recycled Dryer Sheet Flower Tutorial

You will need (for each flower):

1 pipe cleaner

4 used dryer sheets

1. Stack the 4 dryer sheets on top of each other.

2. Fold the stack accordion style, making the folds about an inch.  You want to fold the width vs. the length.

3. Take the pipe cleaner and twist it around the middle of your folded sheets, just enough length to fasten it securely.

4. When the sheets are secured, start separating them to create the petals.

5. Put in vase, bottle, jar, etc. and enjoy!