Tag Archives: household

20 interesting facts on sleep

I received a text from a friend, who had been working outside in the fresh air all day, and it said,

” I slept like a baby last night.”

 

I had to laugh for a moment and I quickly replied back,

“well, if you are one of my babies then you probably didn’t sleep very well last night.”

 

Lack of sleep

That has become my motto in life these past few years.  We have had 6 babies in the last 8 years and I admit, I am tired.  But I am still amazed at all that God enables me to do on so little sleep.  It is like it is inbred in my soul, to want to do, do do, and I just keep going and going.  I don’t understand it at times, I just chalk it up to God saying, “it is what He wants me to do right now in my life.”  that is all plain and simple.

So I thought it would be fun to look up interesting facts on sleep.

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 Here is a list of 20 interesting facts on sleep.

  1.   Man is the only mammal that willingly delays sleep.
  2. The world record for not sleeping was set by 17-year-old Randy Gardner in 1964 when he was awake for 264 hours and 12 minutes.
  3. The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska, the Challenger space shuttle disaster and the Chernobyl nuclear accident have all been attributed to human errors in which sleep-deprivation played a role.
  4. Humans sleep on average around three hours less than other primates like chimps, rhesus monkeys, squirrel monkeys and baboons, all of whom sleep for 10 hours.
  5. Ducks at risk of attack by predators are able to balance the need for sleep and survival, keeping one half of the brain awake while the other slips into sleep mode.—I so need to be able to do this.
  6. In general, most healthy adults need seven to nine hours of sleep a night. However, some individuals are able to function without sleepiness or drowsiness after as little as six hours of sleep. Others can’t perform at their peak unless they’ve slept ten hours.
  7. Shift workers are at increased risk for a variety of chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases.—The body never adjusts to shift work!
  8. When you die you will have slept about 1/3 of your life, which for the average person is approximately 25 years.
  9. The British military figured out a way to reset soldiers’ body clocks so they can go without sleep for up to 36 hours by simulating a sunrise on their retinas.
  10. Both whales and dolphins literally fall half asleep. Their brain hemispheres take turns so they can continue surfacing to breathe.
  11. If it takes you less than five minutes to fall asleep then very likely you are sleep deprived. The ideal amount of time is about 10 minutes.
  12. It’s impossible to tell if someone is really awake without close medical supervision. People can take cat naps with their eyes open without even being aware of it.
  13. Humans can survive longer without food than they can without sleep.
  14. During the first two years of a baby’s life, new parents will miss six months of sleep on average.
  15. Giraffes sleep only 1.9 hours a day in five- to 10-minute sessions. Koalas, however, are the longest-sleeping mammals, sleeping up to 22 hours a day.
  16. The average amount of time people sleep has dropped from nine hours in the pre-light bulb era to seven-and-a-half hours today.
  17. A snoring partner wakes his non-snoring partner an average of 20 times per night, with an average sleep loss of one hour a day.
  18. One in four married couples sleep in separate beds.
  19. Approximately 74% of stay-at-home moms report they have insomnia almost every night.
  20. Experts say one of the most alluring sleep distractions is the 24-hour accessibility of the internet.–anyone up for reading blogs tonight!!!


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sleep well……………………….

21 days to a more natural home series part 12…stain removers

all natural home series

 

When you have children, you have stains. Before I would just wash all the clothing and  as it came out of the dryer and had stains, I would throw it into a pile to be “bleached”.  Then I would use the great miracle mixture of 1 part bleach and 1 part dishwashing crystals dissolved in hot water and it would take everything out.  In my quest to a more natural home, that recipe won’t fit, so I have needed to change things.

Probably the most easiest that I recommend using first, is to wet your item and place it directly into the sunlight.  Most stains will naturally fade from the sun.  I am amazed at how all of my cloth diapers just get “bleached” naturally by the sunshine.

What I discovered from a friend is the use of hydrogen peroxide.  Amazing how well that works.  I take the clothing and squirt some peroxide directly onto the stains, let it sit for a few minutes and wash as usual.  Amazed at this, then I realized at the store they sell an “all natural bleach” and its ingredients are hydrogen peroxide—–smart.

For tougher ground in stains, you can sprinkle baking soda or borax on the stain.  Then use a few drops of vinegar and an old toothbrush to scrub them out.

Keep going, I hope you are starting to make the switch to a more natural home series, your healthy and environment will benefit greatly!!!  Making a change one bite of an elephant at a time!

part 13 dishwashing detergent

 

21 days to a more natural home series part 11….fabric softener

all natural home series

 

Fabric softener and dryer sheets may make your clothes feel soft and smell fresh, and they help prevent your socks from sticking to your blouses, but they also do something much worse.

This is something I have gotten rid of in our life.  We have no need for it.  Our laundry has washed fine for the last 5 years without fabric softener.  My family is used to how their clothing feels, adding a chemical to make them softer they don’t really need.

What many people might not know is that fabric softeners and dryer sheets are actually really bad for you. Why? Because they contain a lot of chemicals that the EPA has classified as dangerous. And because we use dryer sheets at the end of the laundry process, these chemicals don’t get wiped off our clothes until our skin wipes them off.

On day 2 of our series I have listed many of the real dangers associated with toxic cleaners, fabric softener is rated on that list as well.  I would definitely avoid this product and choose a more natural approach for your families health.

So why do you use fabric softener?  I don’t know.  But I do know that there are many natural alternatives.  Fabric softener leaves a film on your clothing.  It covers your dryer vent screen, which you need to wash periodically or will cause a fire.

Here are alternatives you can do to help “soften” your clothing, if you feel the need.

add a cup of vinegar to your rinse water

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use wool balls in the dryer, these can be homemade or purchased, they are about the size of a tennis ball and shorten dryer time
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day 12 of our series we will be looking at natural spot and stain removers

 

21 days to a more natural home series part 10…laundry soap

all natural home series

 

With 12 people and a load of cloth diapers every night, we wash a lot of laundry.  I have used this recipe of homemade laundry soap for about 10 years  and I love it.  It smells very simple, cleans great, and is all natural.

 We had many children dealing with eczema and I had to be careful with the detergents I put on their clothing, this solved many of the rash problems.

We make a large 5 gallon bucket of this up and it lasts us about 2 months.  You can scale down the recipe and make smaller ice cream bucket sized.

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  • grate 2 Fels Naptha bar soap and place in large stock pot and fill about 1/2 of the way with water.
  • stir over medium heat until melted, be careful as this will boil over if you are not paying attention.
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  • when completely  melted add 2 cups of borax and 2 cups of washing soda.
  • stir until thoroughly combined.
  • pour this into a large 5 gallon bucket and fill the rest of the way with hot tap water.

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  • whisk it a few times to combine everything and place lid on
  • let sit overnight

In the morning you will have a nice gelled substance.

I use my old caps from laundry bottles and scoop out about 1/2 cup per load in my HE washer.

Leaves no residue on clothing.

When your bucket of soap gets about half way down and the gel is pretty thick you can add about a half-gallon container of water and re whisk it up.

Watch for tomorrows post...fabric softener…why use it?

 

 

21 days to a more natural home series part 9 — carpet and upholestry cleaner

all natural home series

 

Having a carpeted house is something I wish I didn’t have.  With so many people utilizing the floors, things can get dirty quite quickly.  I prefer wood or tile floors as the mess cleans up better, but in those special cases, when say a dirty diaper gets dragged across the floor onto the couch, its time for some serious cleaning.

But what do we grab when we have serious stains??  I used to use Simple Green, thinking since it said “all natural”  that it was.  Don’t fall for marketing gimmicks.  You can make your own all natural upholstery and carpet cleaner using basic simple ingredients.

mix together in a bowl

  • 1/4 cup borax
  • 1/4 cup salt
  • 1/4 cup white vinegar

Directions for use:

  1. Rub the paste into the stain and let sit for a few hours.  You can put your hand in a ziploc baggie to keep from touching the mess on the floor.
  2. Vacuum up the dried paste
  3. Get on your hands and knees and scrub, gonna have to use some elbow grease, using a wet rag or brush, periodically rinse the rag or brush in water.
  4. Let dry and vacuum again.
  5. Let sit for a few days and stain will dissipate even more

Up next….all natural laundry soap