minwax

I get emails quite a bit from companies asking me to write articles or to review a product. I even get emails about posting ads on my site. The good thing about that is I get to be picky about which companies I want to work with. And you want to know what??? I say no to most of them. Why would I turn down free stuff or money you ask? Because this blog is not just about that. I want to stay true to what I am about and what this blog is about. So the things you see on here are things I believe in.

Soooooooo,

when I got an email from MINWAX (yay!!!) I was beyond excited because if you have been following this blog for even a little while you know I love me some Minwax! I already write about this stuff all the time so I might as well get something out of it right? :) The lady who emailed me said they had somehow seen my TV segment on Good Things Utah and were impressed with my knowledge about stain and loved that I explained it in a way that made it easy to understand. Awwww, shucks Minwax :) Thank you!

They sent me some of their new products to try out.

Now before we go any further I have to share this:

In the package there was a TON of bubble wrap. It was spring break. The weather was bad. The kids were bored. My almost 7 year old made these bubble wrap slippers (he actually made an entire outfit).

“They are comfortable and they pop when you walk.” he said. “They are for day OR for night.” He went on and on about them. The kid could write infomercials because I kinda wanted a pair by the time he was done. I think they would go great with the faux jean PJ bottoms I want…..

Anyway…….

I am excited to try them all but there was one that I just had to use FIRST. Because I have a problem. . . DIRTY SMUDGY FLOORS.

When we moved into our house I refinsihed the wood floors all by myself and they looked great. Fast forward several years and they didn’t so much. *Insert confession here* I mopped my floors with dish soap and water. I know, I know. They are hardwood floors and that is a no no. It was just easy and conveinent. But I contrubute that to why they looked so bad. So a couple weeks ago I refinsihed them again. And they look Gorgeous!!! But I was still cleaning them with dish soap. I was stressing over it too. I knew I needed to find something better so I wouldn’t have the same problem down the road. There was another downside to the dish soap…. residue. I would mop and let it dry. When we would walk on it you could see smudges of footprints. It wouldn’t look clean very long.

So I was excited to try the Minwax hardwood floor cleaner. Like probably more excited than a normal person should be.

The verdict:

I love it. I mean really love it. There was seriously NO RESIDUE !!!! We walked on it for 3 days before I mopped again (for experiment purposes only, people) and no smudges. YAY!

To be completely honest the smell is not my favorite smell. It is NOT a bad smell at all. To me it smells like a bar of soap. I am just more of a fruity, citrusy person. So that is totally just a personal thing.

Another thing I love is that it is not expensive. It depends on where you live and where you buy it of course, but it won’t break the bank. It works on laminate floors as well.

Really, when you think about it, doesn’t it make sense that Minwax should have a wood floor cleaner??? They are, after all, the ones who make the stuff we stain and seal the wood with. So they should know how to take care of it. If you noticed in the picture of the things they sent me, it also comes in a sprat bottle for furniture and kitchen cabinets. Awesome!

So thank you, thank you, thank you, Minwax! I love my clean floors :)

My front door is my favorite thing about my house. I LOVE that it is the original door to my 1938 home and I LOVE that it is rounded. I love that it is solid wood. Thick and strong. But I did NOT love the orange color of the wood. I held off on doing anything at first because I didn’t want to take it down and have to sand it clear down to the bare wood. And then after awhile I just got so use to looking at it that I forgot it was orange. Well, Better Homes and Gardens coming to my house changed things! I suddenly saw my house with new eyes and I realized the orange had to go.

Somewhere along the time when we bought our house and now, I found out about Gel Stain. You don’t have to sand it completely down to the bare wood. In fact, you don’t have to sand at all! I am planning on writing a whole post devoted to staining but until then you can see my clip from Good Things Utah HERE.

And here you go!!! No more orange :) I love the dark rich walnut. They have 10 different colors in Gel stain. You certainly don’t have to use a color this dark. I sealed the inside using polyurethane and the outside of the door using Helmsman.

Do you know what else I LOVE about my front door??? I have the original key! And it works!!! I framed it and put it on my side table in my front room.