review – Page 94 – Luv Saving Money

Natural Fabric Softener, Woolzies

**I received the below mentioned product at no cost in order to complete an honest review. Any opinions expressed are my own. No other compensation has been received**

Are you looking for an eco-friendly alternative to fabric softeners? Do you need a fabric softener that is good for your sensitive skin? Woolzies XL Dryer Balls are a good option for you.

What are Woolzies? Woolzies are handmade balls made from New Zealand wool. Each dryer ball is handmade, not mass produced. Woolzies act as a fabric softener for your clothes so you don’t need to use dryer sheets or liquid fabric softener.

Did you know that many liquid fabric softeners and dryer sheets contain chemicals that can negate the fire retardant qualities in children’s and adult’s clothing as well and reduce absorbency in towels. I think I had heard about the fire retardant fact before but didn’t know about the towel thing. Since Woolzies contain no chemicals they are safe to use on this type of clothing and towels as well as the rest of your laundry.

I was skeptical about using these. I do like my dryer sheets, and honestly I love using a scented product but I gave them a go anyway. I used them to wash my boys bed clothes.

One claim I found interesting is they say that they can reduce drying time by 25-30%. They say it’s because they naturally separate and create spaces between your laundry items allowing the hot air to circulate between them. I guess that makes sense since these things were about the size of a softball each. Woolzies are supposed to be good for at least 1000 loads of laundry too. AND if you’re like me and really do enjoy some scent in your laundry there’s an option for that. After your laundry is completely dried, take 2 of the Woolzies balls and apply some pure essential oil to them. Toss them back in the dryer and let it run on air fluff for 10 min.

I was actually impressed with how soft my boys’ bed clothes turned out. Another thing I found interesting is that I really thought there would be some static cling in the laundry when I pulled the dried items out. There wasn’t. They tell you that you can use an aluminum foil ball in the dryer to decrease static cling even further but I didn’t feel the need for that. I’ve since washed about 4 other loads of laundry with these and I’m excited about the way they work.

You can buy Woolzies on their website: http://www.woolzies.com/
You can also find them on Amazon:

Follow Woolzies on twitter: @Woolzies
and on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Woolzies

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Some Uses for Fels-Naptha Soap Along With A Sweepstakes and a Giveaway!

**I received a free sample of Purex Fels-Naptha bar as part of the Purex Insiders blogger program. I was under no obligation to give a positive review. Any opinions expressed are my own.**

Purex Fels-Naptha laundry bar is one of those products that’s been around a long time, over 100 years to be exact, but yet I had never tried it. I guess I just get into my routine with laundry. Thanks to Purex though I had a chance to try this versatile product and will definitely be adding it to my regular products I have around the house.

You might be able to tell just from the wrapper that it’s a stain remover and laundry booster. Since I was a newbie at using this product I decided to try it just for that purpose. I didn’t give it an easy test though, no I went straight for my son’s football pants.

You can see the mud and grass on the knees of his pants from his 2 hour football camp that day. The directions on the package say to wet the stain then rub the Fels-Naptha laundry bar over the stain, which I did.

The bar itself is pretty solid. It has a clean soapy type smell. I then washed his football pants with some Purex detergnt after treating. Here’s how it turned out.

I’d say the Fels-Naptha bar worked well don’t you?

Since I was unfamiliar with the Fels-Naptha laundry bar I wondered what other uses it might have. I had read an article about using it as an ingredient in homemade laundry soap at one point. But something told me there would be more uses and I was right.

–Mix 3 Tbsp of Fels-Naptha and hot water in a spray bottle, then let it cool spray on your plants to get rid of aphids
–use Fels-Naptha in the shower to treat and dry up poison ivy
–Use it to clean surfaces like aluminum, your sink, or your tub by rubbing your damp cleaning cloth over the bar before wiping the surface down

There seem to be lot of uses the more you search but you get the idea.

Purex Fels-Naptha has a sweepstakes going on right now. The grand prize is $500 and there are 119 other prizes for a coupon for a free bar of Purex Fels-Naptha laundry bar, enter here: http://insiders.purex.com/120Years120Winners?id=58
You can enter daily from July 31 – Aug. 28 2013.

GIVEAWAY

3 Luv Saving Money readers will win

a coupon for a FREE bar of Purex Fels-Naptha laundry bar

US only

Entry -Form

Fantasy Coloring Posters, Coloring With Your Imagination

**I received 10 Fantasy Coloring posteres and mini posters to facilitate an honest review. No other compensation has been received. Giveaway is sponsored by FantasyColoringposters.com **

I don’t know what it is about coloring but it can be so relaxing. I’ve been know to pick up a colored pencil or crayon and color a coloring book along side my kids. My favorite things to color are things that really let you use your imagination. Stuff like a detailed dress on a doll, fairies, etc.

Fantasy Coloring posters are great for the older kids (or the kids at heart) With details and cool fantasy scenes and creatures. My older boys decided to team up and color one of the pictures together. It’s a picture of an archer.

The are taking their time and using colored pencils. My youngest son always wants to do what his older brothers are doing so of course he wanted his own poster too. He added his own twist to his poster though.

He started coloring with crayons then decided he’d like to add stickers too his. Hey why not?!

At FantasyColoringPosters.com you can buy or download posters for only $1 each. You can also get a deluxe 25 page 11 x 17 coloring book for $25. They also have mini posters which they were also kind enough to send me. You can get 6 mini posters for only $2. These would be great to take with you are long car trips for the older kids or for rainy days.

The posters are printed on 67 lb Vellum-bristol. To me it felt something like a thin cardstock. Either way, it’s not a thin paper.

In my opinion these posters are best suited for kids 10 yrs or older, not just because of the details but some of them have female characters that are cartoonishly busty but they are covered and there isn’t anything showing.

GIVEAWAY

1 US Luv Saving Money readers will win

10 Fantasy Coloring Posters of their choice.

Entry -Form

Neck-Wear.net for School Pictures This Year

**I received the below mentioned products at no cost in order to complete an honest review from Neck-wear.net. No other compensation has been received.**

Each year I try to dress my boys a little different for their school pics. One year they wore polo shirts, another year they wore short sleeve button down shirts, still another year it was sweater vests over a long sleeve shirt. I realized in all their school pics I haven’t had them wear a tie. I brought the idea up to my boys this year and my oldest one said, “Ok but I want to wear a bowtie” Ok no problem.

Neck-Wear.net has a big selection of ties, bowties, clip on ties, and boys’ ties. I really like Neck-Wear.net because they have a big selection of ties that are only $5! Love that for my budget. That price makes it easy to out fit a few boys for school pictures.

I had received a solid red men’s tie and bowtie to review from their site. My oldest son was more than happy to be the model for the ties.

I’m thinking we’ll go with a different shirt but he just loves the bowtie. He said he wants to wear it for school pics for sure. What color shirt do you think would go good with this bright red bowtie? Of course white is always an option but I was thinking maybe a light blue shirt with some red details in it if I could find it. This bowtie was super easy to put on too. It wasn’t one that you have to actually tie into a bowtie. It has a hook on it with an adjustable length on it to fit different neck size which I love. As fast as this boy grows he’ll have this tie as an option for a few years at least.

See how easy it hooks. My son could put this on himself without help. We then tried the regular tie that we received.

I admit, my tie tying skills need some work but the tie itself is lovely. My son loves wearing ties too because it makes him feel like “a man”. He’s only 11 but he keeps telling me he’s growing a mustache. I don’t see it yet but I know all that stuff will be happening way sooner then I’d like it to.

Would you like to win a gift code to pick out some ties for your guys for their school pics? Or maybe even for your man for work or a date night?

GIVEAWAY

1 Luv Saving Money reader will win a

$25 gift code to Neck-Wear.net (not valid on shipping)

US only

Entry -Form

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Magic Moves Electronic Wand from Educational Insights

**I received the below mentioned product at no cost in order to complete an honest review. No other compensation has been received**

I have a secret, my kids love reviewing toys. Ok, so maybe that’s a no-brainer but I love it when they get to review toys that don’t just let them sit on their butt. Fun toys like the Magic Moves Electronic Wand from Educational Insights.

The Magic Moves Electronic Wand kinda looks like a cross between a magic wand and a microphone. It’s easy for toddlers, pre-schoolers, and school age kids to hold on to. It has 26 colorful light shows from the bulbs on the top and bottom of the wand. It has 90 movements it asks your child to do like swim like an octopus. prowl like a leopard, grow like a pumpkin, and more. I let my 4 year old son test this one out. There was really a lot of creative movements. My only complaint is that some of them are hard to understand. Prowl like a leopard almost sounded like growl like a leopard. The good news is there is a repeat button on it to that you can press any time if you’re not quite sure what the directions said. There are also two volume settings and an off switch. I took a short video of my son having fun with the Magic Moves Electronic Wand from Educational Insights.

You can see that my son was engaged with the toy. He continued to play with it for about a half hour after this video. He’s been carrying it around the house with him too.

You can find this toy on Amazon for only $15.71. This would be a great rainy day activity for your little toddler or preschooler.

You can find Educational Insights on these social networks:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/educationalinsights

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/EducationalInsights

Twitter: @Ed_insights

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/edinsights/

Instagram: http://instagram.com/educationalinsights

And sign up for their newsletter: http://bit.ly/11NVqak

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.