Crayola’s website is my go-to place for any art supplies on any surface.  It’s always very useful info! 
http://www.crayola.com/canwehelp/staintips/index.cfm?n_id=32

Thanks!  I’ve gone through a few irons when I overdid the plastic bead melting :(

Another thing oven cleaner works well for is the standard porcelain bathtub - takes those rings off easily!

You are a Godsend for sharing! A gazillion thank you-s!!!!!!

When we built our new home we did some pretty extensive research on washing machines.  We ended up with the Maytag Bravos (Maytag Commercial Technology).  I love it!  It’s an HE top loader.  It’s large enough to wash comforters, but since it’s HE, it senses very small loads on its own to save water.  We also use cloth diapers and the reviews I read for front loaders were pretty poor.  This one has lots of cycles (like rinse and drain and soak) which many HE machines don’t have (and these different cycles are especially necessary for washing diapers).  Best of both worlds-huge and top loading-and energy/water efficient!  And-we got it from Sears!  Good luck!

I have that same set: the Maytag Bravos top loader and dryer.  I was a little thrown by having to buy HE detergents, but it’s no big deal.  They work great!

I’ll third the Maytag Bravos top loader and dryer - I bought the set when we moved into our house 2 years ago, and it is amazing!  Love, love, love the washer.  I have to admit that I’m pretty impressed by the dryer, too - it can dry a normal load in 44 minutes.  My previous dryers have all been at least an hour per cycle (one took 2 hours - it was awful!)  The good news is that he detergent is pretty easy to find, and it goes on sale relatively frequently.  (I always pick up the brands I like when they go on sale, even if I still have plenty at home, since I hate having to pay the full price in our small town for detergent!)

I make my own laundry detergent for my top load HE.  Duggar style, although I have been grating the soap (not using the water), adding the washing soda and borax (again, no water) and putting about a tablespoon of the dry mix in per regular load.

http://www.duggarfamily.com/content/duggar_recipes/30455/homemade_liquid_laundry_soap_front_or_top_load_machine_best_value

We have the Fisher Paykel top load washer and dryer set and I love them so much. It also requires HE soap, which I get at Costco. The clothes come out amazingly clean and more amazingly almost dry…so the drying time is considerably less than I am used to. (The wash time seems to be longer but I haven’t timed it….Part of my almost daily routine is to do a load at breakfast time and then dry, fold during the kids naps….) But I would buy it again in a heartbeat. I have had it for 2 years and no problems. I always buy the service plan/warranty just for peace of mind. LOVE LOVE LOVE this set.

Marie, what’s the saying about cleaning a house with children is like shoveling snow when it’s still snowing?  It’s true!  Don’t be hard on yourself.  You are doing a great job!  Keeping a house clean when you have small kids is a near impossible task.  My only tip is to declutter.  The less you have, the easier it is to pick up.  Kids really need very few toys to be happy.  Have you read the blog Like mother, like daughter?  Fabulous tips on cleaning a house.  It is one of my favorites.

Marie, did you just do some sort of weird Star Trek kind of bi-locating and post from my house???

http://ourmothersdaughters.blogspot.com/  <—This is the blog Lisa mentioned, and I also highly recommend it & enjoy it, too.  For example, someone asked her about tips for Thanksgiving preparations, and what was her first tip?  “Sit down and nurse the baby!”  If you look at the post categories on the right, they have a great series called “The Reasonably Clean House” that is helpful.

Honestly, my anchors of sanity are to:
-make my bed at some point every morning.  Seeing a pretty bed everytime I walk by my bedroom door helps encourage me: “Work hard today and you get to rest your tired body here at the end of it.”
-rotate toys into storage.  If it’s the 869th time I’ve flipped out from tripping over a toy that’s been left out, why am I allowing it out??  I also have a lock on the toy/craft closet so they don’t go Animal House on it too easily.
-fake it in the bathroom…if it looks good & smells nice, that says “clean” to me. I stopped forcing myself to do regular deep cleans jsut because “that’s the way I was taught” and instead do what pleases ME.
-keep the laundry moving, but keep it out of sight til it’s ready to be put away
-use paper plates & simple meals…kind of a bare-minimum mode til I can keep my head above water
-A day of little ones parked in front of the computer w/Neftlix has more than once saved my sanity.  I get to dig into my big project or task uninterrupted, and it can be satisfying to see a big difference.  The downside is the Netflix-Withdrawal-Symptoms that erupt on cue, so I have to promise myself to be patient at the end of the day and remind myself that “I *chose* to do this to these kids so that I could xyz today.”

I’ve been thinking alot about the “flow” and function of our household lately, and have realized that the amount of mess & clutter and workload can depend a great deal on where and how things are stored, who uses them and when. 

One example of a “weird” kind of placement is that I actually have 3 bottles of Shout in different places: one in my bedroom b/c it’s close to 2 hampers, one in the basement with the laundry, and one in the spicerack that hangs on the basement door, b/c that’s where my dh removes his work shirts and tosses them downstairs.

I don’t know if you wanted more spiritual encouragement than practical, but I hope you cut yourself some slack and take some sort of break tomorrow (Sunday.)  God bless!

I had a moms’ prayer group this morning and we were talking about exactly this.  One person said that sometimes it helped her to look at her motivation: she sometimes thinks she’s doing the housework for love of God or her family, but gets so frustrated when it gets messed up again - and realizes that she was really doing it for herself and has to readjust her reasons.  Why do we care that things are clean?  Because we want to make a good environment for our family, but sometimes that good environment means mom’s patience more than her cleaning skills…  For me, we dealt with infertility for the first few years of our marriage and it helps me to remind myself that my house was clean then and I would have given anything for it to be messy like it is now - but that’s easy to forget sometimes.  We’ve been reading JPII’s Letter to Families and he talks about sacrifice being an inescapable part of family life; sometimes that sacrifice isn’t the cleaning, it’s just living calmly with the disaster that is our house.   
Sorry for the hormones/fatigue; I’m in my third trimester right now and I’m right there with you!  Now and then, you (well, I anyway) just do have to hide in the bathroom and cry a bit and then at least I’ve gotten it out of my system.  And sometimes I tell the kids that mommy is having a hard time right now, so could they help put x,y,z away.  At any rate, maybe it helps to know that my house isn’t particularly pristine right now either - and here I am typing instead of cleaning…

I think we all have days (months? years? lives perhaps?) like this!!!  StephC had wonderful suggestions—-to her bathroom remark I’ll add my “solutions to avoid the huge bath cleaning”  1.just sprinkle some Comet/Ajax type powder and quick swish/scrub with toilet brush each a.m. keeps potty clean without major work 2. wipe down your shower/tub/sink/counter and finally outside base of potty with your soapy washcloth when you are in shower or kids are in the tub in the evening….then toss it in the laundry pile.  Cuts down on tough chemicals and keeps it clean enough without being a major chore.

Major help:  Declutter & Purge your excess.  Try Flylady.net for wonderful advice or just get her Sink Reflections book from library.  Love the 15 minute timer for cleaning and simplify advice but have trouble with too many emails to check. 

I used to love Sesame Street or a Disney Video in afternoon to get some time to get essential chores done or dinner prepped.  Also don’t forget “outdoor time” and sunshine quotas every day or necessary for your kids and yourself===go for walks, play at the park/in the yard, even 15 minutes makes a difference.  I see it in all of us….whether coping with toddler tantrums, preschoolers silliness/stubborness, elementary age homework dilemmas or sibling squabbles….that fresh air break does us all good!

And keep praying…..I’m always calling on our Blessed Mother for help!!!

Another thought!  The best advice I’ve ever taken myself besides===DECLUTTERING AND SIMPLIFYING…...............PLANNING is ESSENTIAL!  I used to be a total “go with the spirit” kind of person and totally not into routines….never wanted to be “trapped” or “burdened” by the “constraints”....fast forward a decade and I was overwhelmed and living in chaos until I embraced basic idea of “Planning”.  Use your calendar and have daily plans in mind….it actually wound up allowing me to be more flexible in the long run.  I do quick a.m. and p.m. routines, the kids have their own based on ages (make beds starting at age 4, put away laundry (I fold and place in presorted piles on bed—again purge so all clothes will fit in drawers and have a drawer for each type:  pants/short sleeves/long sleeves/and a pj-socks-underwear drawer) and pet care plus their own hygiene).  I also try to make a menu for the week on my fridge—-so I know what choices are there and we have the ingredients ahead of time (always have emerg. quick subs. too—-hotdogs/boxed mac n cheese or pasta & jar sauce) plus I now love my crockpot and new oven that has a timebake option to put a casserole in before we go to ccd, sports practice and know that dinner will be ready when we come home.  Lately I’ve been having homemade soup and a loaf of bread dinner once a week that has become a surprise hit (keep trying new soup recipes!)

And above all…..cut yourself some slack and make time for yourself to read/have a bath/ etc.  I don’t have any family for backup help either or the money for assistance and actually often have “extra” kids around my home as well for childcare, neighbors, etc. so I can relate to the drained/overwhelmed chaos…remember this is just “another season” in life!  Try to bloom where you are planted and remember time really does fly by!

The thing that jumped out at me in your post…little kids.  It will get easier as the kids get older and can help more.  What I did when my kids were little (and I still do) is to pick one room in the house…living room, bedroom, a bathroom if need be…and do your best to pick up in there daily.  It will give you one spot you can go to pray or just escape without seeing the mess.  Depending on your kids’ ages they may be able to do something to help on a daily basis (even a 3 year old can line up the shoes every day )  But, whether or not that is an option you need to realize you are doing your best

If all else fails…..take a trip to the laundra mat (a bit costly but desperate time call for desperate measures!) you can wash and dry in one huge session simultaneously.  While folding a sorting later (have the family help) you can purge old/non-fitting/stained/torn clothing for trash/donations and have everyone put their own laundry away.  Otherwise….divide and conquer, one pile at a time and immed. fold and put away as a drier load is completed or taken off the line.

The water probably has a high iron content. I don’t know if there’s anything to do other than keep the toilet brush nearby and do a once around without cleaner every 48 hours. I’ve been using those disposable brush tops, which are expensive, so that would drive me crazy to have to do it that often!! I’d have to switch back to the old style.

We have the same thing.  I use a cleaner called “The Works”.  It is cheaper than the others, but works better than any of them.  I force-flush with a bucket of water (pour the water directly into the toilet bowl so all the water goes down the drain), squirt The Works all over, scrub and let it sit while I clean off the rest of the toilet and the sink, then scrub again before flushing.  It needs to be done regularly- might not get all the stain off the first time, but it should work and then maintenance can be done just once or twice a week! 

Just noticed you specified something other than toilet bowl cleaner… I only use homemade cleaners for everything but the toilet bowl is the one exception.  There’s just nothing else that really does the job!

“Zud” also works on rust stains in the toilet.  It isn’t in every store, but you have to look for it with all of the scrubbing powders.

I’m a little late posting this but it might help.  CLR is supposed to be environmentally friendly and cleans rust so you might want to use that.  What I do is keep my toilet brush in a closed container that has cleaner in it so that every time I pull out the brush there is just a bit of cleaner there.  I swish it around the bowl daily.  Now this may be a problem with small children, but perhaps you can just add a squirt into the toilet and then swish.  After you have the stains off, I would think this would help keep them from recurring.