I’m addicted to DIY.  I never realized it before, but more and more of the things I use are DIY.  When I first started watching YouTube, I watched DIY videos, and now it’s my go to place for how to do almost anything.  I watched a couple make a year’s worth of laundry detergent and thought it was hysterical, but eventually I made a much smaller version of their recipe and it did a great job on my clothes.  I absolutely love finding things that work better, are less expensive and less toxic.  I don’t use DIY projects just to save money because if the product doesn’t work, why bother?  Now I realize so many of my spray bottles that originally held one product, now hold a DIY.  I really like the bathroom cleaner I made, but Rich isn’t crazy about the smell of vinegar so I’m compromising and only using it on the toilets and in the bathtub and not as a daily cleanser in our shower.  The carpet spot cleaner I made didn’t look like it worked at all until it dried and I couldn’t believe how well it cleaned our  outdoor carpet.

I hate to iron.  That’s not entirely accurate.  I don’t iron.   Neither does Rich.  When he worked and wore those shirts that are impossible to iron, they went to the dry cleaners so I knew he would look like a professional and not like a wrinkled mess. Until recently, our idea of ironing was throwing water on the front of our clothes and hoping for the best. I found the greatest DIY that is easier than anything and works unbelievably well.  It involves white vinegar (what doesn’t) and a spray bottle.  You put in three cups of water and one cup of white vinegar and spray it onto the wrinkled mess.  I couldn’t believe it.  I used it on one of those shirts that I forgot I owned because it ended up behind everything else in the back of my drawer..  I hung it on a hanger and sprayed it and thought, good luck with that.  A few minutes  later the wrinkles were gone. GONE!  I’ve bought wrinkle removers from Downy and others and never got any results.  Unbelievable!

My favorite DIY’s are the ones that seem crazy, but work like a charm.  There’s a saying that makes no sense.  Let’s do some research.

work like a charm

Meaning: If something works like a charm, it works very well.

Origin: Probably related to the fact that one of the meanings of the word “charm” is “magic spell”, so if something “works like a charm” it works as well as magic. Whether magic actually works or not appears to have no bearing on the meaning of the idiom, with the assumption being that charms do, in fact, work very well.

Well ok, then.  I’d have never made that connection, but it makes sense.  With my DIY addiction firmly in place, I made a video on my favorite DIY cleaning solutions.  I wouldn’t put them in a video if I didn’t really believe in them, think they are a good value and are less toxic to everyone and because they “work like a charm.”

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