The winners of the super cute Initials, Inc. items are:

bdsof….@hotmail.com – Party Bin

pcterr….@juno.com – Get a Grip

mkim…@yahoo.com – Sort it All Out

Congratulations to y’all!  I’m sure you are just going to love your new items!

For those of you who didn’t win, Angela is still offering a great deal:

If you place an order by Saturday, March 12th at midnight, she’ll enter you into the drawing for $25 in FREE product.

Also, if you contact her directly personalizeme@live.com she can give you 10% off of your order with no strings attached.  (Her company doesn’t offer traditional coupon codes, so she has to manually take off the 10%.)

So shop now for your Christmas presents, especially those people that are hard to buy for.  You don’t have to leave the house and they literally ship right to your front door.  And who doesn’t love something with their name or initials on it?!

If you do place an order make sure to go through this link, click on ‘Shop’ and then click on the ‘Mama’s Laundry Talk’ link.  Only the people who order through that link will have their name in the pot for the $25 in free product.

Disclosure: I was financially compensated for my time and effort in reviewing and writing the review of the laundry sorter I received.  I receive no payment or product if you choose to order through the ‘Mama’s Laundry Talk’ link stated above.  The opinions expressed are 100% my own.

Prior to trying out this laundry sorter, I was pretty certain I wasn’t changing the way I sorted clothes any time soon. I liked my method of 4 separate laundry bins.  They definitely were not the most beautiful things in the world, but they were extremely functional.

And I’ll be honest.  Whether we’re talking laundry sorters, clothes or kitchen gadgets, life with 4 little ones requires me to practical.  If something is pretty and practical?  Oh that’s just icing on the cake.

Enter: Sort It All Out from Initials, Inc.

I was approached by my new friend, Angela in reviewing this product and hosting a giveaway here at Mama’s Laundry Talk.  In full disclosure, I intended to get this hamper and put it in my girls’ room. They have a laundry bin, but I thought I would surprise them with a new cute one.

It has never once been placed in their room.  Really.

I love it.  And so I’ve kept it for myself.  (Well, and my husband too since we share the dirty clothes bin in our closet.  But he could care less about these things.)

Features of Sort It All Out

The Sort It All Out has three compartments.  I chose to use one for whites, one for darks and one for jeans.  Depending upon your clothing assortment, you could use one for delicates, towels (only if they are dry) or lights.

While the sorter is lined with a plastic-type film, I would still not put damp or wet towels in one of the compartments.  Actually, you shouldn’t store damp or wet towels in any sorter as it just causes mold and mildew.  And then you’ll have to strip your towels.

The plastic-type interior does easily wipe down for the occasionally needed spot cleaning.

If you are a laundress that needs to carry the bin down to the basement or across the hallway to the laundry room, there are ample handles on each side.  Even my short self can carry it when it’s completely full.

More Features

I did not expect this sorter to be so big!  My husband is a tall guy (6’3”) so he has large, long clothes that take up a lot of space.  However he and I could fit three days’ worth of dirty clothes in this basket.

The Sort It All Out comes with wire support rods to help the sorter keep its shape when empty.  I must admit I love it the most when it’s empty.

Lastly, it has durable construction.  While I haven’t tested it against the wear and tear of my children, the stitching and fabric seem to be of durable quality.

Functional and Easy on the Eyes

I often see pins on Pinterest of beautiful laundry rooms.  Those with soothing paint colors and nice, new washing machines.  But if you look closely, there’s nowhere to put detergent or the washer is so low on the floor you’re practically on your knees trying to get all of the towels out.

They’re great to dream about, but totally non-functional.

The Sort It All Out is functional and easy on the eyes.  I was completely surprised at how stylish and modern this laundry sorter was when I took it out of the package!  I ordered a lovely damask pattern with pink embroidery.  It is a far, far cry from my ugly laundry sorters I’ve used for years!  I am very happy to move on to something more pleasing to look at.

Ready to Win One?

Angela, an independent consultant for Initials, Inc, has graciously agreed to give away a few items for Mama’s Laundry Talk readers!  You may enter below to win:

• Sort It All Out – in the pattern/embroidery of your choice ($55.99 Value)
  Found on pages 44-45 in the catalog
  
• Party Bin  – Brown or Black with Embroidery of your choice ($39.99 Value)
  Found on pages 38-39 in the catalog
  
• Get a Grip  in Mum Stripe or Gray Damask with Embroidery of your choice ($29.99 Value)
  Found on pages 40-41 in the catalog

Also, Angela will draw a winner for $25 in Free Product for those that place an order by midnight on Saturday, November 12, 2011.

Lastly, Angela is offering a Free Hostess Shopportunity for hosting a catalog party, which can be used at any time. Make sure you tell Angela that you are from Mama’s Laundry Talk and you will get the discounted/Free item.

How to Enter this Give Away

I am so thrilled to offer this giveaway to all of you!  The rules are simple to enter for your chance to win:

- One person will win one of the three Initials, Inc items listed above.  The winners will be chosen at random.

- This give away closes on Wednesday, November 9, 2011 at 9pm EST.  Winners will be notified after the closing of the give away and will have 48 hours to email me their contact information.  If I do not receive an email reply after 48 hours, their winning will be forfeited and I’ll randomly choose another winner.

To enter, simply leave a comment in the section below. 
 
If you’d like another chance to enter, you may subscribe to Angela’s Initials, Inc. newsletter by commenting with the phrase “subscribe”.  Make sure to enter it as a separate comment so your answers will be counted as two separate entries.

Angela’s newsletter is tasteful, friendly and informative of the current offers and promotions of Initials, Inc.  Neither Angela nor I like spam and we’d never sale, distribute or give away your email address to anyone else for any purpose other than this listed.

Notes about Purchasing Products from Initials, Inc.

• Embroidery up to 14 characters (not including spaces) is FREE.  Always.  It’s one of the company’s many unique features.
• If you place an order by December 11, your items will arrive in time for Christmas.  Personalized gifts make wonderful Christmas gifts and Angela makes it easy to Christmas Shop!
• Most Important: When ordering, make sure you order using the Mama’s Laundry Talk Event.  After looking through the catalog, click on “Shop” and you’ll see the ‘Mama’s Laundry Talk’ Event.  Click on it and then place your order.  Only those who order through this event link will be in the drawing for the $25 in free product.

The Fine Print:
By entering any sweepstakes/giveaway at Mama’s Laundry Talk, you agree to abide by these official rules:
If Official Rules are stated on the sweepstakes/giveaway post, those will supersede and replace the following:
No purchase is ever necessary to enter a sweepstakes/giveaway on Mama’s Laundry Talk Blog.
Each prize and retail value are stated on the sweepstakes/giveaway post.
Sweepstakes/giveaway are open to US residents only, and all entrants must be 18 or older.
Odds of winning are determined by the number of entries (comments) on each sweepstakes/giveaway.
All sweepstakes begin on the posting date and conclude on the date stated in the sweepstakes/giveaway post. Winners will be notified within one week of the conclusion of the sweepstakes. Winners have 48 hours to respond or will forfeit the prize. In that case, a new winner will be chosen and notified.
The official method of entry for all sweepstakes/giveaways is to leave a comment on the sweepstakes/giveaway post. Sometimes, an optional entry may be provided. These are listed in the sweepstakes/giveaway post.
Winners are chosen randomly, using a WordPress plugin called And the Winner Is…
Duplicate entries will be deleted. Multiple entries from the same IP address are not allowed and will also be deleted.
Mama’s Laundry Talk Blog will not be held responsible for any technical errors or incorrect entries.
Mama’s Laundry Talk Blog is owned by Lauren Hill, located in North Carolina.
Void where prohibited.

Disclosure:  I received free product and financial compensation for my time and effort in testing the product and writing the review.  The opinions and experiences written here are 100% my own.



It looks like Family Dollar and Gain are teaming up to offer a year’s supply of Gain products!

If you’re a Gain fan, that’s a great offer!

Stop by and register for your chance to win!

Over the past two weeks, I’ve had the pleasure to review EcoStore’s Pure Oxygen Whitener. Are you familiar with EcoStore?  If not, here are a few quotes from their website:

“Our eco friendly, plant-based household cleaning products are as effective as the leading supermarket brands, and our body and baby care ranges are gentle on your skin and are simply beautiful to use.”

“Our products also help to ensure value for the dollar for our customers.  Our super-concentrates means that a little really does go a long way – saving you money by cutting down significantly on cost per use.”

So they are plant-based, free of toxic chemicals and are gentle on your skin and household.  What could be better?

I wasn’t sure how Ecostore’s Pure Oxygen Whitener was going to measure up to my standards of a bleach alternative.  My standards are admittedly rather high. Overall, I couldn’t have been more pleased.

Please note: I have no scientific methods of testing a product.  I simply have a ridiculous amount of experience with laundry and use that expertise to judge a product.  While reviewing Pure Oxygen Whitener, all of my other laundry variables remained the same: detergent, fabric softener, and the cycle and temperature at which I normally wash clothes.

Also, I’ve graded each category on a 1-5 scale with one being extremely disappointed and five being extremely satisfied.

• Effectiveness: This bleach-alternative has a base of sodium percarbonate, which is common in bleach-alternatives.  It gives a great whitening effect to your laundry.  Their blend of ingredients was highly effective in removing our normal laundry stains.  Score: 5
• Ease of Use: I didn’t have to do anything special to use this product.  I was able to use it just as I would any other laundry booster: measure it into the dispenser and press the ‘Oxi’ button on my machine.  Super easy.  Score: 5
• Packaging: This product has a twist-on top, which I found hard to remove and put back on.  Was this a deal breaker? Absolutely not, but I did note it each time I used the product. Score: 3
• Scent: I detected no noticeable scent.  Score: 5
• Price: Per the website, the 35.3-ounce size that I reviewed is $12.00.  That’s a little hefty for this frugal Mama.  But I do appreciate its plant-based ingredients.  Score: 3.5.

Overall Score: 4.3

Overall, in my experience the Pure Oxygen Whitener proved to be a fantastic product.  I could not have been more pleased in how it brightened the look of our clothes and other laundry.

Would I buy it if I saw it on a store’s shelf? Based on its effectiveness, absolutely yes.  It’s price is somewhat of a hindrance for me. However, if I matched it with a coupon and a store sale it would definitely be on my grocery list!

And now….for the Giveaway!

EcoStores sent me two products for review – the Pure Oxygen Whitener AND the Front Loader Laundry Powder.  With EcoStore’s consent,

I am giving away the Front Loader Laundry Powder to one fortunate reader!

This is a simple giveaway to enter:

1) Leave a comment in this post

2) Leave a separate comment that you are a Fan of Mama’s Laundry Talk on FaceBook.

The Giveaway will be open for entries until Sunday night, July 25th at 9pm.  The winner will be announced Monday morning!

Disclosure: I did not receive any financial compensation for this review.  This is not a paid review.  All thoughts and opinions expressed in this post are based on my own experience with no influence from an outside party, including the manufacturer of the reviewed product.  The only compensation I received for this review is one sample container of Pure Oxygen Whitener which I used for the review and one sample container of Front Loader Laundry Powder which I chose to giveaway to a reader with EcoStore’s consent.

Thanks to everyone who entered the Charlie’s Soap Giveaway!  I am so thrilled to partner with Charlie’s Soap and offer my readers one grand prize and several samples as giveaways.

The grand prize winner of the Charlie’s Soap prize pack is: rachel….@yahoo.com

And the winners of the Charlie’s Soap powder detergent samples are:

carrie….@gmail.com
christi@….farm.com
rugrats….@gmail.com
tom….@gmail.com
sally….@yahoo.com

All of the winners were sent an email with details of how to obtain their giveaway prizes.

Thanks to all of you for being such faithful readers of Mama’s Laundry Talk!  More laundry giveaways will be announced in the next few months, so stay tuned.

I am such a long-time fan of Charlie’s Soap.  I looked and looked for a cleanly-rinsing detergent that I could use in my front-loader when I started cloth diapering many years ago.  I found Charlie’s Soap and have never looked back!

I am beyond thrilled to offer a Charlie’s Soap giveaway to my readers! Charlie’s Soap has oh so graciously offered a giveaway of not only a top prize but also several samples.

What?!  You’ve never heard of Charlie’s Soap?  Let me give you a little lesson in one of the best laundry soaps on the market.  Here’s the scoop:

• Charlie’s Soap truly does clean everything – the powder and liquid clean all of your laundry and cloth diapers and the All-Purpose Cleaner shines hubcaps, removes mildew, cleans aluminum siding and your kitchen counters.  Charlie’s Soap was kind enough to send me a sample, and it truly is my new favorite cleaning supply.  I’m not sure I’ll ever use anything else.
• It’s extremely economical.  The 2.64 lb. jar of Laundry Powder can do up to 80 full wash loads!  You only use one tablespoon per load, which equals pennies per load.
• Charlie’s Soap rinses completely clean.  Because it rinses so well, it restores the natural softness of your clothes.  And does wonders for your towels!  When using Charlie’s Soap, there is little need to strip your cloth diapers because there is no detergent residue.
• It’s completely biodegradable. It’s environmentally friendly to all land, air and marine life when used as directed.  This is because Charlie’s Soap contains only the purest natural ingredients.
• Charlie’s Soap is a family company based out of North Carolina and truly has the customer’s best interest at heart with a fabulous money-back guarantee.

The winner of the Charlie’s Soap Giveaway will receive:

An 80-load bag of laundry powder
A 17oz. sprayer of the All Purpose Cleaner
A Charlie’s Soap grocery tote

AND I also have 5 samples of the laundry powder to give away!

It’s simple to enter:

Leave a comment stating if you’ve ever used Charlie’s Soap.  If you have, make sure to list your favorite feature.

If you want to double your chances, leave a separate comment telling me you followed me on Facebook and/or subscribed to my RSS Feed.

I’ll leave the comments open until midnight on Sunday night, June  27th.  I’ll announce the winner bright and early on Monday morning!

Remember, there will be one winner of the grand prize and 5 winners of the laundry powder samples.

Head on over to Charlie’s Soap and pay them a visit!

Disclaimer:  Charlie’s Soap did not financially compensate me in any way for this giveaway offer or for reviewing their product.  I did, however receive a free 4oz. sample of the All-Purpose Cleaner for my own use.  My opinions stated above are based on my own experience with this product.

Thank you to everyone who entered to win the $25 Kroger Gift Card!

I selected a winner from Random.org and the prize goes to…

Rachel! Congratulations!

Enjoy your shopping at Kroger this week!

Kroger has fabulous sales lined up for this week with the Cart Buster Event and the Mega Deals.  You can make your list with the help of Southern Savers. I can’t wait to get my coupons cut and go shopping!

Per FTC Guidelines, I must disclose that I received a $25 Gift Card from Kroger for my opportunity to offer one to my readers.  This is not a sponsored post.  The ideas I write are completely my own.  I love Kroger and would sing their sale prices regardless of whether they provided me with a $25 gift card or not. This opportunity was provided by The Kroger Family of Stores and General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

Kroger is by far my favorite store to find deals.  I’ve watched the grocery store deals in our area for years and it far surpasses any other stores in terms of consistently good sales.  I am not a deal blogger, so I rarely talk about my savings through sales and coupons.  However, I faithfully shop the Kroger sales every single week!

Have you heard of the Cart Buster Savings Event?  Kroger offers many sales promotions (Mega Events, 10 for $10) and this is another opportunity to save!

In fact, I am going to Kroger this morning to take advantage of the Cart Buster Event with my coupons in tow!

Tide, Bounce, Downy and Febreze Fabric Refresher are all included in the Cart Buster Event!  I’m so excited to buy them at such low rates.  How do I  know these are the lowest rates?  I keep a price book.  You are welcome to download my Price Book Worksheet from Google Docs to get you started.

I’m thrilled to offer one reader a $25 Kroger gift card to do a little Cart Buster Shopping!

Entry for this give away is so easy.  Enter a separate comment for each option you choose.  For example, if you choose to follow me on Twitter, leave a comment.  If you choose to follow my RSS Feed, leave a separate comment.

This contest is short – it only runs through Sunday night, March 14th at 7 pm EST.  I’ll announce the winner bright and early Monday morning, March 15th.

How to enter to win the $25 Kroger Gift Card:

1.) Leave a comment on this post stating your most needed grocery item this week.

2.) Follow me on Twitter @MamaLaundry and leave a comment on this post telling me you’ve done so.  If you already follow me, (thanks!) let me know your Twitter handle.

3.) Follow me on FaceBook and leave a comment telling me you’ve done so on this post.  If you already follow me, (thanks again!) leave a comment telling me that.

4.) Subscribe to my RSS Feed and leave a comment telling me you’ve done so on this post.  If you already subscribe, leave a comment telling me you already do.

These are easy opportunities to win $25 of Kroger money!  I’m off to shop!  I’ll post my exact purchases when I return.

Per FTC Guidelines, I must disclose that I received a $25 Gift Card from Kroger for my opportunity to offer one to my readers.  This is not a sponsored post.  The ideas I write are completely my own.  I love Kroger and would sing their sale prices regardless of whether they provided me with a $25 gift card or not. This opportunity was provided by The Kroger Family of Stores and General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

In honor of my new blog design, I’m giving away a couple of great little laundry gifts.  Hopefully, it will be the first of many giveaways here at Mama’s Laundry Talk!

The winners were randomly chosen from the comments received.

The winner of Home Comforts is Brittany!

And the winner of the Mrs. Meyer’s Laundry Set is Renae!

I’ve already sent an email to these two winners with instructions in how to claim their prizes.

Thanks to all who participated in our first Little Laundry Giveaway!  Hopefully there will be more giveaways soon!

(Full Disclosure: I was not compensated in any way for these Laundry Giveaway Items.  I paid for both of them and paid for the shipping.  However, I’d love to host giveaways for sponsor paid products.  Please send me an email if you’d like your product featured on Mama’s Laundry Talk.)

Notice anything different here?

I have a fabulous new blog re-design courtesy of Shauna!

Now when you visit my site, it actually looks like we might talk about laundry here.  I’m beyond pleased with it.

So in honor if my brand new start, I’m hosting a lovely laundry give-away.

There are two prizes up for grabs.

There is no better home resource than Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelson.  It is definitely my go-to book for anything home related.  And it is definitely my top laundry resource.  I had a copy that was somehow misplaced (I have a little 2-year-old sticky fingers here) so my very thoughtful brother bought me a new one for Christmas.  It sits on my Laundry Room shelf and is referenced often.

Take a look at the reviews on Amazon.

I have yet to find a more concise, descriptive, and all-encompassing laundry resource in print.

The next give-away is for a Laundry Set from Mrs. Meyer’s.  It includes a 64-oz. bottle of Laundry Detergent that is HE compatible.  And it includes an 80-sheet box of Dryer Sheets.

If you’re the winner, you may choose your favorite scent – Basil, Lavender, Lemon Verbena or Geranium.

I’ve already professed my love for Mrs. Meyer’s.  One lucky winner will be able to enjoy them as well!

So to enter, just leave a comment!  Only one comment per person will be accepted.

I’ll leave the comments on until Saturday night at 9:00 pm Eastern Time.

And then I’ll post the two winners on Sunday evening!

(The Laundry Give-Away items were not donated, although I am more than happy to accept items for future Give-Aways on Mama’s Laundry Talk.  All items were purchased and will be shipped by Mama herself!)