Rave & Review

Lysol Power & Free handles tough messes without all the fumes {Giveaway}

Please don’t just randomly stop by my house. You see, for the past few years I’ve had my house professionally “styled” by my little ones, typically with a line of toy cars down the middle of the floor and a ring of baby dolls and their gear around the couch, the toy chest, and anywhere my daughter wanders.

But, don’t mistake the mess for a dirty house, because we are constantly cleaning each day. My husband and I despise the stickiness and dirt that active and adventurous kiddos tend to bring into a house, so even though it’s not always as tidy as it could be, you can bet our surfaces are clean.

With two kids running around, playing on, and often eating on those surfaces, keeping things clean is more important than ever before. Because this is a good example of what happens as soon as I turn around for a second. Yes, they are eating pretzels off the floor. Because they are dogs and those are dog bones, obviously.

Thank goodness our surfaces are even cleaner now thanks to the arrival of Lysol Power & Free multi-surface cleaner. Lysol Power & Free was developed with the addition of hydrogen peroxide to help cut through grease and grime without the awful fumes that come from using bleach or other harsh cleaners. This means you don’t need gloves, masks, and other safety gear to use it, which I love.

The bottle said it was perfect for kitchen surfaces, which is perfect because our kitchen sees a lot of action each day. With all the cooking, baking, crafting, and eating that happens in the kitchen, it’s really no wonder that most of my cleaning is done in there.

But, I’m also really picky about my kitchen cleaners because I have dark granite countertops and gas stove that camouflages spills yet shows the residue that certain cleaners leave on the surface. There’s nothing worse than spending a bunch of time cleaning your entire kitchen only to end up with smears and streaks all over the counters and stove when you’re finished, so I was curious as to how the Power & Free would do.

It turns out it’s actually pretty amazing for my dark surfaces and doesn’t leave any residue behind on the granite or cooking surface. I literally just spray until wet and then wipe down the surface, no need to rinse it off or to follow up with a granite polisher as I’ve been doing with the other countertop cleaners I’ve tried. I’m all for saving a step or two during cleaning, so you can bet that made me a fan immediately.

The LYSOL® Power & Free™ Multi-Purpose Cleaner is a powerful cleaner without the harshness of bleach, and can be used on many surfaces throughout the home. The hydrogen peroxide formula releases thousands of micro bubbles that penetrate to dissolve grease and soap scum.

This specially formulated cleaner kills 99.9% of viruses and bacteria when used as directed and comes in two scents: Citrus Sparkle Zest and Oxygen Splash. I received the citrus sparkle zest and I love how fresh and light it smells - and I especially love that I can clean right up to when guests arrive and they won't smell that unmistakable smell of bleach that gives away the fact that I was cleaning up until the moment they arrived.

Lysol® Power & Free uses the cleaning power of a hydrogen peroxide formula for a powerful clean with no bleach harshness! This helps ensure you don’t have to make sacrifices while cleaning, such as opening all the windows or ushering the kids and pets out of the room. Lysol® Power & Free will help you break free from your ordinary cleaning routine- it’s a powerful clean that’s family friendly! Find out more at Lysol's Facebook page.

What do you love about a clean home? One luck reader will win a bottle of Lysol® Power & Free Multi Purpose cleaner to try in their own home! Comment below to be entered to win!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Lysol. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Sweepstakes Rules

Spring clean your air with 20% off Air Purifiers at Best Buy

It’s finally springtime and with it comes sunshine, warmer weather, and… allergies.  Like most everyone else, I have plans to sneak in some deep cleaning over the next few days, open up some windows, and get my house and yard ready for summer. 

Is anyone else worried about me and my allergies?  Really, you should be.  While outdoor air pollution gets talked about a lot, what most people don’t realize that indoor air can be just as bad, if not worse, than what we breathe outdoors.  And, to make matter worse, the act of cleaning actually increases the amount of dust and dander in the air. 

From what we and our pets track in to what could be living in our air ducts and crawl spaces, houses are far from the haven we think they are.  In fact, I’m pretty sure I’m allergic to the master bedroom closet {or, alternatively, I am allergic to putting away my clothes}.  And, don’t even get me started on our garage *cough*cough*.

So, this year I’m thinking about finally getting an air purification system, just in time for spring cleaning.  Thank goodness now is the perfect time to buy with this awesome Friends and Family 20% off coupon for any air purification products at your local Best Buy. 

Whether you are looking for a portable unit or a big floor standing unit, their air purification products range from $45 and up and make it possible to clean the air throughout your home no matter what your price range or space limitations are. 

You can check out Best Buy's entire line of air purification products here.  I’m thinking of going with this bad boy, what do you think?

The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free.  As always, all opinions remain 100% ours.

We Love the Kiddy Platter by Smarty Parents

When you’re talking gear for young children, all parents want the same thing: quality products that truly last.  Well, four years ago we reviewed something called a Piggy Platter here on the site and to this day it’s still one of our most frequently used items in our home.  Four years, people – that’s a whole lot of use! 

And, in the past four years we have used the Piggy Platter nearly every single day, and sometimes we use it numerous times each day for mealtime, craft time, and play time.  This isn’t to say we haven’t tried other similar products.  In fact, we’ve been given numerous other tray and table attachments throughout the years to try out.  But we always return to the trusty tray from Smarty Parents and end up donating the other brands. 

So, when Smarty Parents contacted us and let us know they had created a new and improved Kiddy Platter, you can bet we said yes.  With our little guy more and more interested in coming to the table, it was actually perfect timing as we needed a new tray in the next few months.  

Like the Piggy Platter, the Kiddy Platter is a dishwasher-safe, BPA-free, phthalate-free, and PVC-free rectangular 16" wide x 12" deep tray.  It has a raised edge on the top for handling small spills and for corralling crayons and pens and keeping messes contained.  Along the front of the Kiddy Platter tray is a 2” rubber spill guard made of pliable silicone to help bridge the gap between table and mouth.  To hold it all in place on the table is a sticky, anti-slip rubber gasket under the rim of the Platter that grips tabletops, counters, and even works well on tablecloths.

But, the Kiddy Platter has a few improvements in addition to the name change that make us love it even more.  The first thing they did away with was the small circle on the top of the tray that was on the old version, which I was thrilled about because it was easy for little ones to set things on there that would tip.  The other major improvement is that the tray is now two-sided and instead of having a specific top or bottom, the entire rim on both sides of the tray are now anti-slip and can go against the table.

My favorite improvement is with the detachable spill guard.  Instead of attaching to the underside of the tray {which was the only negative thing we had to say about the design back in 2009}, they designed a whole new spill guard that slips right over the bottom of the tray so it holds more securely.  Since it’s easier to remove and then replace, it also makes it easier to fit in the dishwasher. 

And, I really, really love it when “dishwasher safe” items actually fit in my standard dishwasher without taking up the whole rack sitting diagonally or blocking the spinning arms.  I appreciate that the Kiddy Platter fits nicely on any one of the 4 sides of the bottom rack with room to spare and still leaves room for a full load of dishes. 

This is good that it’s so easy to clean because in addition to using the Kiddy Platter for meals, we find all sorts of ways to make use of a dishwasher safe tray, including messy arts and crafts, Play-Doh, and school work.  And, speaking of multi-purpose, as much as we use the Kiddy Platter for snack, crafts and learning, we even use it for food prep.  Since it is dishwasher safe, it’s perfect for using as a big sanitary surface for decorating cookie and cakes as well as assembling sandwiches and meals. 


We also love that even the packaging is multi-purpose.  Smarty Parents cleverly included a cut-out alphabet learning insert as part of the packaging that fits right under the tray to transform it into a learning mat to trace your letters on, which is something my daughter loves as she’s just at the stage where she’s learning what letters make what sounds. 

When she’s mastered her letters, we can simply use the insert as a place for her to put pictures, stickers, and drawings under to customize her spot at the table.  Like before with the Piggy Platter, the insert simply rests under the tray and is not encased inside, which makes it easy to customize however you want without worry and alleviates the need to disassemble the tray for cleaning. 

Kiddy Platters are clear but they have colorful edges so you can give each kid their own color or you can coordinate with your décor.  I was initially disappointed they discontinued the white colored tray, as it matched best with our dining room, but we are happy with the green.  It ended up blending into the tablecloth and I barely even notice it anymore.  

The Kiddy Platter comes in four colors {above} and retails for $29.95 from the Smarty Parents site.  They even have a bulk discount for 6+ trays, which is perfect for daycares and preschool uses.  I know my daughter's co-op would love something like this!

Whether you are looking for a placemat, a craftmat, or a tray to protect your table and countertops, the Kiddy Platter is the way to go.  It works on any surface, it’s easy to clean, and it holds up to thousands of washes, scribbles, and spills.  With so many uses, you will never need to put it away!
A big thank you to Smarty Parents who sent their Kiddy Platter for review purposes.  As always, all opinions are 100% ours.

LEGO Star Wars ZipBin Death Star Transforming Toybox {Review}

Oh, Christmas, why’d you have to go and leave me with a huge mess of stuff?  Mounds of wrapping paper, boxes, and a million little toy pieces with nowhere to go now litter my living room waiting for a place to call home and it’s driving me nuts. 

While it might be tempting to simply scoop up the mess and dump it in the toybox that we just cleared out, I know that is not really a solution.  If we did that, all the little toy pieces would simply line the bottom of the toy box never to be recovered again.  But, worse is that the kiddos would be left with a whole bunch of incomplete toys that would never get played with. 

Thank goodness ZipBin yet again came to the rescue to save my sanity and help organize the kiddos’ mess of stuff.  While last time around we reviewed the Barbie ZipBin Dream House, this time I was looking for something to corral all my son’s little items and was thrilled when I saw this:

While we don’t let my son play with little LEGOs on his own since he is still so young, he’s very into building stuff and just got his first few sets of LEGOs Star Wars.  So, it was perfect timing to find the perfect way to store all the little pieces and keep it up out of the way unless he was playing supervised with all the little pieces. 

The LEGO ZipBin Death Star was perfect for storing the first few LEGO sets he has collected, as well as providing a great place to play when we bring them out to keep them from being spread all around the house.  I love that you can even separate the little figures from the blocks as they have their own elasticized holders on the perimeter of the Death Star, which we like to call “pods”. 

With a LEGO Star Wars inspired interior, it’s easy to pretend that our LEGO characters have boarded the Death Star and are on their way to some exotic Star Wars locale.  Whether they are manning the controls, locking down the corridors, or fighting storm troopers in the secured areas, there’s a place for everyone and the bin itself adds a storyline, which I love. 

Then, when we’re done playing, it’s a simple zip and everything is all in one place and easy to put up on the shelf for the next play time.  I love that the ZipBin is completely enclosed and even if it falls over or gets jostled, the contents stay put rather than ending up all over the floor in a colossal mess.  

It’s lightweight enough for my son to carry on his own and has an easy wipe-down surface, which makes it perfect for the day he insists upon taking it with us everywhere we go.  But the fact that it is soft sided and weighs almost nothing means it’s also great for storing little toys up high as I’m not worried about it falling off the shelf and hurting anyone.  

But, as I've raved before, what’s really wonderful about ZipBins is that putting toys away is fun when the container is a toy in itself.  You know the old adage that no matter how cool the toy is, they will still end up playing with the box?  Well, I figure I might as well make it a cool box. 

The LEGO Star Wars ZipBin Death Star is only 12x2.5x12.75" zipped, but it can hold a whopping 1000 LEGO bricks and keep them neat and organized.  When unzipped, it creates a nice 12x27" play area to keep the little ones building and playing for hours.  Have more bricks than this and need some major storage?  Check out the whole line of LEGO Star Wars ZipBin products to see everything from a TIE FIghter and the Millenium Falcon to a large toy box to house all your blocks. 

Are you celebrating January Storage Month by finally tackling your playroom?  If so, you're in luck, because Neat-Oh! has a variety of different bins, boxes, and playmats that can organize even the most disorganized spaces!

A big thank you to ZipBin for sending their LEGO Star Wars Death Star for us to play with.  As always, all opinions are 100% ours.

5 Tips for Going Green with Heinz All-Natural Cleaning Vinegar

6 years ago I was unaware that vinegar could be used for cleaning.   Bleach, yes.  Amonia, yes. But vinegar?  Isn’t that just for cooking?

It turns out, vinegar isn’t just for cooking.  Even though you find it in the cooking and baking aisles, vinegar is also a multi-surface, multi-purpose cleaner that I swear by.  Although it took me a long, long time to try it even once I was introduced to the idea of using as a cleanser, I finally caved back in 2006 and gave Heinz vinegar a go. 

What I was expecting was a smelly mess and what I found was that the vinegar, when diluted, just smells… clean.  And, the new Heinz Cleaning Vinegar is even better for cleaning as it is formulated with special cleaning strength but with the same all-natural formula, making it practical and cost-effective for cleaning almost anything.

Since I have been introduced to the wonders of vinegar for cleaning, I have found literally hundreds of practical uses for it, from ceiling to floor.  Here are just some of my favorite uses:

Cleaning your blinds

We all know that cleaning your blinds is pretty much the worst job, ever.  Whether you go with the dusting method that sends dust flying everywhere {and isn’t very effective at preventing buildup} or you take your blinds off to fully soak, there’s no fun way to clean them.   Well, vinegar isn’t going to make the dreaded task fun, either, but at least it makes it easy… or, should I say, easier.

Simply put on a pair of clean cotton gloves {lighter colors work best} and dip your thumb and forefinger in a solution of 50/50 hot water and vinegar, squeeze out the excess water, and run them across the length of each blind.  As the gloves get dirty, you dip them in clean water as needed and then back in the vinegar mixture.  The first time I saw someone do this, I thought they were crazy, but it actually works really well for removing dust, oils, and more and gives you complete control in the smaller crevices.

Odor elimination

I know this one might be stretch for some who can’t imagine a vinegar smell being a better alternative to odors, but trust me on this one: getting rid of smoke odors and musty smells is easy with Cleaning Vinegar.   For larger spaces, you just fill a small bowl half-way with vinegar and leave in the room overnight.   No spraying chemicals into the air or masking odors with perfumes, vinegar does wonders at actually removing the odors.

For smaller areas, like old suitcases and lunch boxes, you can soak white bread in vinegar and then place on a plate overnight and the smells are all absorbed naturally.  We bought a large steamer trunk last spring that smelled really musty and tried just about everything without success until we figured this little trick out.  We’ve now used it on all of our old suitcases and vintage finds for the world traveler room and have found it to be the perfect non-abrasive odor eliminator.

Bathroom surfaces

Combine a half of a cup of Heinz Cleaning Vinegar and one gallon of hot water to clean tile and linoleum to a beautiful shine without any leftover residue.  I keep a spray bottle of this mixture in the bathroom at all times and spray the shower, sinks, and countertops every few days.  For tough stains, you can simply use undiluted Cleaning Vinegar directly on the surface and wipe off.

It's great because it doesn't require intense ventilation, it prevents buildup, and it allows me to clean less often, all of which are incredibly important to me as I have very little time for cleaning these days.  My favorite timesaver is the fact that I can use the water/vinegar solution on more than just bathroom surfaces, it’s also perfect for keeping stainless and chrome bathroom hardware looking its best. 

This means I don’t have to use two separate cleansers each time I’m tackling the bathroom, and it also keeps harsh chemicals off the surfaces that touch toothbrushes, glasses and contacts, as well as hands.

Removing stickers and gunk

One of my husband’s pet peeves is when companies put ridiculously sticky labels on products that are impossible to get off without leaving that awful sticky residue over your brand new item.  On a tip from a friend, we began using vinegar instead of the harsh and smelly chemical gunk removers and it works so much better and doesn’t require thick gloves to protect your skin.

Now, instead of peeling off the sticker as soon as we buy it, we wait and first saturate all the sticker’s edges with vinegar and then scrape off with a credit card or gift card edge.  Removing the sticker is much easier this way and far less residue will remain after you peel.  For what is leftover, you simply use another dab of undilluted vinegar to remove and then wipe it off well. 

Floors that shine like the top of the Chrysler building

The reason why I caved to using vinegar as a cleaner in the first place was because of my beloved wood floors.  With little ones in the house, I didn’t want to use chemicals all over my floors and have them crawling around and playing in it all day long. 

Instead, I use a microfiber cloth with a spray bottle with 1/3 Heinz Cleaning Vinegar and 2/3 hot water and spray as I go to wipe the floors down as needed.  This works well for me as I'm able to concentrate on each area and make sure I don't miss sticky areas I might not see otherwise.

If you have a huge area to clean, I recommend a nifty refillable spray mop like O Cedar or Rubbermaid, so you can simply add the vinegar mixture to the bottle and spray as you go.  It works just like a Swiffer solution, but with only two natural ingredients, which I love.

Because this is what happens on my floors.  No chemicals here, please.

For cleaning just about everything

Whether you are a diehard vinegar fan or are just getting started, I would highly recommend the new Heinz Cleaning Vinegar.  You can find it right in the vinegar section of your local store {not in the cleaning aisle} or you can buy it online.  It literally has thousands of uses for household cleaning and beyond, is chemical-free, cost effective, and efficient. 

Don’t believe me that vinegar is the miracle cleaner?  Just check out the Heinz site that lists their top uses for vinegar to get you started.  You're welcome for that.

Check out my Google+ #HeinzVinegar album to see the whole story.

I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Heinz® #CBias #SocialFabric.  As always, all opinions are my own.

Fire Prevention 101: Clean Out Your Dryer Vent with Dryer Vent Pros {$100 Cash Giveaway}

In terms of things that scare me, a fire in my home is in the top 5.  When the fire department visited my daughter’s preschool last year I made sure I was at the school that day and then I read the paperwork they gave us from cover to cover, following all of their tips for fire safety. 

But, the one thing I thought I could ignore was the part about cleaning out the dryer vent.  Yes, I clean the dryer’s lint filter with each load, but I just didn’t think much about the actual dryer vent.  Partially, the newness of my house is to blame because I was under the mistaken impression that a house that’s less than 5 years old wouldn’t need cleaning for a few more years at least. 

Apparently I was wrong, because just look at what came out of them this past week when Dryer Vent Pros cleaned them out for us. 

Yes, I know.  At roughly the size of a watermelon and dense with lint, hair, and fibers, it was a fire hazard if I ever saw one, and mine was one of the best the technician has ever seen.  But, not only was this a huge hazard, all of this lint was keeping our dryer from functioning properly, and goodness knows our old dryer doesn’t need any help at all not functioning efficiently. 

Now that I’ve read up more about dryer vents, I feel silly for never having them cleaned before now.  My dad even warned me a few years back about all the gunk that was removed from his dryer vent {we’re talking garbage bags, people} and I thought “oh, I’ll do that after 10 years or so”, which apparently is far too long in between cleanings.  Especially now that we have two young kiddos who create laundry like it’s their job, we do a ton of laundry around here and we should really be doing a cleaning once a year.  Yes, a year… not every decade.  

And really, cleaning your dryer vent with Dryer Vent Pros is a small price for peace of mind and for keeping your dryer running as efficiently as possible.  All prices are agreed upon before the job even starts, which are established by how hard the dryer vent is to reach, not how long of a vent run you have or how much buildup.  Even better is that they have all the latest tech gadgets to make the process as easy as possible, including a camera line that they run into your vent that they can show you on their tablet computer before starting so you can make sure yours need cleaning before the cleaning begins.

The whole process took 30 minutes or so, and most of that was locating the vent.  In our case, the dryer vent is on the roof and it’s really high up there, so the technician spent most of the time getting a good access point and then going up and down the ladder.  Once he was up there with his gadgets, he started up the high powered air vac and ran his rotary brush through the line a few times to clean the length of it and then he cleaned the dryer transition tube and the dryer vent screen and finally checked the airflow reading.

Oh, but I haven’t even told you my favorite part: they never even set foot inside your house.  That’s right, no having to unhook the dryer and clean up the laundry room for them to work, it’s all done through the exterior dryer vent and all the mess never makes it indoors.  And once they are done and you see the pile of lint, hair, and debris they have sucked out, they cart all the junk from the vents away with them. 

See all the lint and dust in the air and on the ground as they clean?  None of that was left for me to pick up, and nothing made it in the house at all.  Pretty awesome, right?

While I would love to tell you that my old dryer now dries like a pro, after the cleaning it is substantially better than it had gotten over the past few months.  I had originally attributed the lack of performance entirely to its old age, not even considering the dryer vent as the issue, but I’m happy that our dryer is not declining at the rate I thought it was and I don’t have to restart the dryer 3+ times for one load of clothes anymore. 

In addition to the savings of not running the dryer over and over, I feel so much better knowing all of that is gone from our vents and they are clean as they were when we turned the key in the lock.  Laundry may never be my favorite chore, but at least I’m no longer worried about it reducing our house to rubble.  Want to know more?  Check out their website that shows you all the ways to reduce your fire risk as well as videos and links about the importance of cleaning your vents yearly.

Dryer Vent Pros is located in Everett, WA and serves all of Western Washington.  If you aren’t already, I would highly recommend you follow Dryer Vent Pros on Facebook.  That’s where they post their monthly specials and deals that you can refer to when calling or making an appointment online.  In support of our troops, this month they are offering a free first floor basic cleaning for any veteran that refers a paying client!

On October 25th at 11:59pm PST a winner will be drawn at random and notified via email. Winner will have 48 hours to contact me or a new winner will be chosen.  US only.

This giveaway is now closed. Thank you to all who entered and congrats to Amy P who won the prize!

A big thank you to Dryer Vent Pros for coming out and cleaning our vent as well as providing the giveaway for one lucky winner.  As always, all opinions are 100% ours and no form of monetary compensation was received in exchange for this Rave Review.

Coming Clean with All Mighty Pacs {Gift Pack Giveaway & Coupon}

I have incredibly sensitive skin and have been known to have allergic reactions to anything with perfume or dyes, which means I have to be incredibly picky about any laundry products I use.  Because of this, I haven’t tried any of the new products on the market and always stick to the same brand every single time I buy for fear of allergic reactions.    

So, what’s the one detergent I have found to work for me and my family?  all free clear.  Hubby and I have used it ever since we moved in together after high school and then after having kids we found that it was gentle enough even for their clothing with their sensitive baby skin, which we were thrilled about. 

You can imagine my excitement when I was cruising down the laundry aisle shopping for my standard all detergent bottle when I saw the new all mighty pacs on the shelf looking all pretty.  Of course, they had to come home with me, and I’ve been using them for about a month now.

If you haven't seen them in retail yet, all mighty pacs are small little packets filled with super concentrated pre-measured all detergent.  These little pacs dissolve completely during the washing cycle, releasing the detergent inside and cleaning your laundry just like you’re used to, but without the mess and hassle of liquid. 

I love that they are incredibly easy to use and that there’s no measuring, no pouring, and no instructions to follow – you simply drop them in your washer and hit start.  For this reason, it’s what I leave out when others are in charge of laundry and it’s what I take when we’re not at home but will need to do laundry when we’re away.  

It may not save hours or anything, but it’s pretty gosh darn convenient and I’m thankful for it.  I mean, why spend any extra time doing chores when you’ve got this kind of cuteness waiting for you outside the laundry room?

To encourage parents to savor all those precious family moments, all mighty pacs is partnering with ParentsConnect.com, a Nickelodeon parenting site, for the “Mighty Fun, Mighty Moments” contest this summer.  The contest runs until August 23rd, 2012 and encourages parents to share their families’ favorite moments in 140 characters or less.   You can enter here for a chance to win a cruise on a Norwegian Cruise Line with Nickelodeon activities and entertainment, a prize I’m sure we’d all love to claim.  Official rules can be found here.

One lucky Rave and Review reader will win an all Prize Pack filled with (1) 24-count all free clear mighty pacs, (1) 24-count all original mighty pacs, (1) reusable laundry bag, (1) beach towel and (1) beach ball for family fun

To Enter: Tell me you rmessiest moment this summer in a comment below

And, as always, there are extra entries available! {Please leave a separate comment for each completed}

2 Extra Entries - Post on your Facebook wall about this amazing giveaway {all detergent prize pack giveaway bit.ly/O0mPug} and tag Rave & Review

2 Extra Entries {per method} - Follow Rave & Review! Subscribe by RSS feed, Subscribe by email, become a fan of R&R on Facebook or add R&R to your blogroll or sidebar {code in sidebar}.

1 Extra Entry - Enter the all Mighty Moments contest on Facebook

1 Extra Entry {daily} - Twitter.  Retweet this tweet after following @RaveAndReview

3 Extra Entries - Blogger Bonus. Blog about this giveaway linking back to this post and leave an address where I can find your writeup

1 Extra Entry - Comment love. Enter any of my other giveaways and/or comment on any non-giveaway post! 

1 Extra Entry - Pin or Like this post {use the buttons at the bottom of post to make it super easy! Can be done once per article}

On September 8th at 11:59pm PST a winner will be drawn by Random.org, announced here and notified via email. Winner will have 48 hours to contact me or a new winner will be chosen.  US only.

Winner, winner! This giveaway is now closed.  Thank you to all who entered and congrats to:  #196 Nicole said... I like Rave & Review on facebook #1

The information, products and additional all gift pack were provided by all through MyBlogSpark.  All opinions are 100% ours and no form of monetary compensation was received in exchange for this Rave Review. 

Folding flexiBATH from Prince Lionheart {Review & Giveaway}

If you’re anything like me, you were beyond thrilled when you could finally throw away your old baby bathtub for good.  I got rid of our plastic molded tub as soon as my son could handle a regular bath, happy to reclaim our bath once and for all.  But, when I found out I would be reviewing the new colored flexiBATH from Prince Lionheart, I was actually pretty excited.

Why, you ask?  Because even though my “babies” certainly don’t need baby baths anymore, I still really love the amazing flexiBATH from Prince Lionheart that is a great tool for bathtime, laundry, beach time and more.  The flexiBATH comes folded for shipping, and with one simple motion it opens to a large freestanding bath tub with semi-rigid sides and silicone water-tight joints, which makes it perfect for on the go, as well as at home.  

It’s really great when they are little and you want to bathe them in a smaller, confined area that you don’t have to pre-clean {you can also buy the Prince Lionheart infant support for even your littlest babes}, but it’s also great for toddlers if you simply don’t have a traditional tub and they like baths as much as our kiddos do.  We have used it numerous times for bath since it arrived, but our favorite use for it in summer has nothing to do with bathing at all.

I learned about all the benefits of sensory tables at my daughter’s co-op and then saw how much fun the kids would have playing with cornmeal and trucks one day, feathers and tongs the next, and was going to try and build something like that myself.  But, with playspace on the patio being limited, I didn’t want something that would be out year-round, so I was looking for something that could fold and be tucked away, and was coming up with nothing. 

But, when Prince Lionheart sent me their flexiBATH, I knew it was a perfect solution for a portable and packable sensory station.  Like most sensory tables, it has a drain at the bottom so you can easily fill it with water, bubbles, sand, shaving cream, etc, but unlike other sensory tables, it folds up easily, has a nice compact size with deep playing space, and can come inside to be cleaned in our regular bath. 

Perfect, right? These two think so!

Since the flexiBATH is so easy to fold and store, you could stash it almost anywhere - under the sink, on a shelf, or even in a closet.  It's light enough that the kiddos can get it out themselves for filling with feathers, dirt, or treasures they pick up on our nature walks, but not so lightweight that it seems flimsy at all.  As with all Prince Lionheart products, it's clearly made with quality and durable enough for just about anything you throw at it. 

This is all great because the uses for a flexiBATH are almost limitless – whether it’s a camping bath and basin, car wash bucket, toy storage container, beach must-have for play and for cleanup, laundry tub, a water/sand table, party-size ice bucket, washable art station, gardening tub, pet playspace or bathtub, or it’s a tiny backyard wading pool.  Just think of how many ways you could use the flexiBATH for thousands of uses around the home and away! 

To check out all of Prince Lionheart’s great products for baby and beyond, visit the Prince Lionheart site for more information and how to buy.

One lucky Rave and Review reader will win their own flexiBATH from Prince Lionheart

To Enter: Sign Up for the Prince Lionheart Newsletter which is sent monthly (Bonus: just by signing up for their newsletter you are also entered into the Prince Lionheart monthly giveaway!)

And, as always, there are extra entries available! {Please leave a separate comment for each completed}

2 Extra Entries - Post on your Facebook wall about this amazing giveaway {Prince Lionheart flexiBATH Giveaway http://t.co/NcOaDUSF} and tag Prince Lionheart and Rave & Review

2 Extra Entries {per method} - Follow Rave & Review! Subscribe by RSS feed, Subscribe by email, become a fan of R&R on Facebook or add R&R to your blogroll or sidebar.

1 Extra Entry - Like Prince Lionheart on Facebook

1 Extra Entry {daily} - Twitter.  Retweet this tweet after following @PrinceLionheart and @RaveAndReview

3 Extra Entries - Blogger Bonus. Blog about this giveaway linking back to this post and leave an address where I can find your writeup

1 Extra Entry - Comment love. Enter any of my other Giveaways and/or comment on any non-giveaway post!

1 Extra Entry - Pin or Like this post {use the buttons at the bottom of post to make it super easy! Can be done once per article}

On August 25th at 11:59pm PST a winner will be drawn, announced here and notified via email.  Winner will have 48 hours to contact me or a new winner will be chosen.  Giveaway open to US Addresses.

Winner, winner!  This giveaway is now closed.  Thank you to everyone who entered and congrats to:  #10  Kristin S said... Email subscriber 2

A big thank you to Prince Lionheart for providing us with a sample to facilitate this review and a giveaway to our fabulous readers.  All opinions are 100% ours and no form of monetary compensation was received in exchange for this very Rave Review.

MAM Baby Oral Care Collection {Review & $2 Off Coupon}

We’ve talked before about how much we adore MAM Baby – their pacifiers, their bottles, and pretty much everything they make.  In fact, we even wrote a love letter to all of our favorite MAM products after we saw them at the Baby Show in NYC in 2009.  So, of course, we jumped at the chance to review some of their newest items from the MAM oral care line this spring for our little guy. 

Knowing that proper oral care needs to start even before the first tooth, we’ve always been big on gum and tooth brushing.  But, while our 4 year old daughter begs to brush her teeth, our little guy seemed to dislike all of the tooth brushes we had ever bought for him and I dreaded tooth time.  Because of this, I was really excited to see some fun new items in the oral care kit that arrived last month.


Since MAM offers various takes on the standard toothbrush for small kids, I knew that this would be a great opportunity to see what his preference was and why he hadn’t liked the toothbrushes we had given him in the past.  After opening the first package it became clear that he had viewed toothbrushes not as a cleaning tool, but rather a teething tool, and he had been frustrated that the bristles weren’t offering the biting sensation he was hoping for. 

While I would ideally like him to focus on good brushing habits, him gumming on a toothbrush with baby paste all over his teeth as definitely better than nothing, and I know MAM will help us transition well to using an actual toothbrush as he gets older. 

The MAM oral care system starts with the Oral Care Rabbit that is a terry cloth teether for young kids.  Since my son was a bit old for this and thought it was a washcloth or sponge, we decided to hand it off to a new nephew who adores it now that his new teeth are trying to pop through. 

Instead, we started with the MAM Massaging Brush, which has a long handle with two teething pads on either end.  One side has a bristle-like rubber head and the other side has a rippled head that allows you to assist your child in brushing their teeth and get them ready to brush on their own.


Since my little guy is teething, everything makes it to his mouth these days, but he seems to get frustrated he can’t get his back teeth that are trying to pop through.  We found out quick that he loves the bristle-like head of the Massaging Brush and uses it to help those back teeth pop through.  So, now instead of a kiddo who would refuse to brush, we now have a kid who would brush his teeth for 30 minutes or more if we let him!

He’s been using it for a few weeks now and we are just now at the point where we are thinking of moving him to the next step up in the oral care line, the MAM Training Brush.  Like the Massaging Brush, it has a long handle with a rubber head, but instead of the second rubber head, it has a more traditional tooth brush head on the other end so they can get used to the idea of traditional brushing.
 
The final step is still a few months away, but it was great to show him the MAM First Brush and get him used to the idea of using a regular toothbrush like his sister.  This one has a shorter handle for those who have better dexterity and can maneuver easily even in little mouths.   

Because the line progressively moves kids through all stages of oral care but still integrates the same coloring and fun designs, I think this was exactly what we needed to start him off on taking care of his new pearly whites.  I’m really excited that we figured out what his preferences were by using the MAM line and now have a clear plan to transitioning him to a regular brush.  But, most of all, I am thrilled that because of MAM we now we have two awesome teeth brushers that beg to brush their teeth each morning and night. 

And, no, I did not pose them for this picture.  I came in to find them brushing their teeth on their own and whipped out my camera.  Because not only do they love brushing, they clearly love each other. 

Want to know more about MAM’s product offerings?  Visit mambaby.com and navigate through their collection of pacifiers, bottles, brushes and more.  While you’re there you should check out the MAM Life Cycle section of their site for great information from pregnancy and beyond! 

Also, be sure and like MAM Baby USA on Facebook for a $2 off coupon to use in-store!

Thank you to Team Mom / Child's Play PR and MAM for sending samples to facilitate this review. As always, all opinions are 100% ours and no form of monetary compensation was received in exchange for this Rave Review.

Oransi Ionic Refrigerator Purifier {Review & Giveaway}

We have air purifiers for our houses, our cars, even our hotel rooms, but there’s one overlooked area that certainly could use a little purifying: the refrigerator.  Think of all the smells – onions, leftover foods, and baked goods mixed in with foods that absorb odors like yogurt, milk, and cheeses, and it’s really no wonder that people spend all kinds of money deodorizing their fridges.

Or, you could get the Oransi Ionic Air Purifier that is made for your fridge and does much more than just deodorizing - it eliminates food odors, kills bacteria, prevents mildew, and sterilizes your fridge once every hour.  So, not only does your fridge smell better, foods taste better, are safer, and you save money!  Can’t beat that, right?

When I first took it out of the box, I was surprised by how small it was.  Having seen the press pictures I was expecting a big air purifying unit, not something a little bigger than a lemon.  Obviously, smaller is better when we’re talking about the precious real estate in the fridge, so already I was impressed. 

I quickly scanned the directions and popped in the two batteries {not included} and was excited when the unit whirred to life right in my hands.  Immediately I noticed a crisp, clean smell from the unit that was powerful if you got close to it, but not really perceptible from a distance.  I popped it into the fridge and it fit nicely right under the temperature controls, in the door, or even in one of the lower bins without taking up too much usable room. 

Once it goes through the initial 30 minute cycle it doesn’t run continuously, but rather runs every few hours for 5 minutes and then shuts off.  Every once in a while it is running while I open the door, but it is so quiet that the only way you can really tell is by the light being illuminated in the front.

It’s small, it smells good, and it is super quiet, but does it work?  I really think it does!  The fridge smells great, food odors are almost non-existent, and everything just seems fresh and clean.  Although I don’t have any scientific evidence that it is working, I did perform an experiment with Jello left cooling and uncovered in the fridge for a few days and it 100% passed the test.  Even though I was initially a bit worried to leave something so precious as Jello unprotected, I was really happy that the Jello still tasted delicious even after a few days. 

Other than changing the batteries a few times a year, the Oransi Ionic Refrigerator Purifier requires no upkeep or maintenance to keep it working in top condition.  I can literally set and forget, and come back to a clean smelling fridge day after day, which is something I never thought would make me so happy.  With how much money and energy I was spending on other fridge deodorizing methods {that never seemed to work well}, I am really happy to have found a solution that really works and is cost {and time} effective.  I finally feel like the garlic chicken leftovers aren't going to ruin the blue cheese crumbles or vice versa, and I'm really maximizing our fridge use.

After seeing how well we like the Oransi Fridge Air Purifier in use, I am definitely going to pick up another.  The manual suggests using it in small, enclosed spaces like closets and I am really excited about that since there’s nothing worse than a dank closet and other deodorizers can be incredibly pricey and they don’t even seem to work that well.  As we do our spring deep cleaning I’m going to move the Oransi purifier around from closet to closet and let it work its magic, and then eventually save for their larger room-sized models for the bigger spaces in the house so we can enjoy clean, fresh air.

Not only does Oransi make great products for all the big and small areas of your home, they also are committed to going green, which is why they focus on energy efficiency as well as effectiveness in all their designs.  I love when a company truly cares about the environment and realizes that a few small changes go a long way towards minimizing their footprint, so I was really happy to read all the ways they make an effort in their daily operations.  Check out Oransi’s green home products and find all the ways you can protect your family, your food, and the air you breathe. 

One lucky Rave and Review reader will win an Oransi Ionic Refrigerator Purifier!

To Enter: Check out the Oransi website and tell me another green home product you would love

And, as always, there are extra entries available! {Please leave a separate comment for each completed}

2 Extra Entries - Post on your Facebook wall about this amazing giveaway {Oransi Ionic Purifier giveaway http://t.co/XxU6rB6v} and tag Rave & Review

2 Extra Entries {per method} - Follow Rave & Review! Subscribe by RSS feed, Subscribe by email, become a fan of R&R on Facebook or add R&R to your blogroll or sidebar.

1 Extra Entry {daily} - Twitter.  Retweet this tweet after following @RaveAndReview

3 Extra Entries - Blogger Bonus. Blog about this giveaway linking back to this post and leave an address where I can find your writeup

1 Extra Entry - Comment love. Enter any of my other Giveaways and/or comment on any non-giveaway post!

1 Extra Entry - Pin or Like this post {use the buttons at the bottom of post to make it super easy! Can be done once per article}

On May 30th at 11:59pm PST a winner will be drawn, announced here and notified via email. Winner will have 48 hours to contact me or a new winner will be chosen. Open to US addresses only.

Winner, winner! This giveaway is now closed.  Thank you to all who entered and congrats to:   #91  @nola727 said:

I have you on my blogroll too 2 http://thebigolblogpage.blogspot.com/

A big thank you to Oransi for sending a purifier for the purposes of this review as well as offering a giveaway to our fabulous readers. All opinions are 100% ours and no form of monetary compensation was received in exchange for this Rave Review.