Product Review - Magic Things Natural Mosquito Repellent Bracelets and Mosquito Repellent Patches

Ticks, mosquitoes, and other insects and arachnids have been out-of-control crazy this year! I think it's because we, virtually, had no winter last year and nothing got killed out. Whatever the reason, it's been terrible and the number of tick- and mosquito-born illnesses are on the rise.

As part of my job, I recently led an evening hike out on the prairie and, by the end of it, most of the participants were freaking out. Even those who had sprayed down with insect repellent that contained DEET (which I detest) were picking dozens of ticks off...some of them numbering into the 120's and 130's per visitor! NOT a very nice experience!!! 

I myself had sprayed down with the high-powered stuff that you spray on your clothes (stuff that they provide for us at work...which also contains DEET) and, even with that, I came off the prairie with 30-some ticks! I was kind of freaking out myself. I could not BELIEVE how many ticks there were! 😱

Okay...so, soon after this, I was supposed to lead a Saturday morning bison hike. I was thinking that I really didn't want to go through the whole tick thing again, and that there must be something out there that works. I remembered a school teacher that had gone on one of our summer-school hikes. She was the only person all summer long that I had met that hadn't had a problem out on the trail with ticks. I remembered asking her at the time what on earth she had used to be so fortunate and it was her (I wish I knew her name, because,I owe her a debt of gratitude that can never be repayed)...but, it was her...who had told me about the bracelets and stickers. 

BRACELETS AND STICKERS!!!!! 😲

Nothing to spray on, nothing to rub on, nothing you have to take a bath in, nothing directly on your skin or clothing, and, the best part? There's NO DEET!!! Woo-hoo! 

Too good to be true?

So...I got online and started investigating and here's what I discovered and ended up going with...

Magic Things - Natural Mosquito Repellent Bracelet with Citronella - Multi-color 6 Pack

Mosquito Repellent Patches

These two products are AMAZING and, used together, they really work!!! (I say "used together" because that's how I used them. I'm sure on their own they're each phenomenal, but I used them together, so that's all I can testify to.) 

Both products are DEET-free and are safe for children.

The Magic Things bracelets provide protection for up to 240 hours...that's 10 DAYS...and come six to a package (each one is individually sealed); the Mosquito Repellent Patches provide protection for up to 72 hours per patch.

Shortly after my bracelets and patches arrived, I got to try them out when conducting the Saturday morning bison hike and, let me tell you...I couldn't have been more pleased! Our group went out on the prairie and, in order to get close enough to view the bison, we had to get off trail. This means that we got off the mowed trail and was hiking through tall grasses waist-deep and higher. When we got done I had ONE tick! ONE!!! And it WASN'T ATTACHED! 😲 

I was sold!!! These products really work and I HIGHLY recommend them to anyone who has to be (or chooses to be) outside whether for work or play. 

The way I used them was...I put one bracelet on my right ankle and used four of the patches placed in various places on my clothing...one on my left pant leg, one near the waistband on the front of my pants, one near the waistband on the back of my pants, and one under my front collar flap. I'm telling you...it worked!

I continued to wear this same bracelet and those same four patches for several days and was outside at night during part of that time and I never got one insect bite. It was amazing! Super, super amazing!!! 😊

Until next time...
~Rebecca 

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Product Review - Rug Doctor Carpet Shampooer

Note - This post contains affiliate links.

We moved into the house the middle of October last year. We planned on cleaning the carpets then, but other things needed to be done first. Then, in May of this year, our 18-year-old dog died. During the final week of his life he had some incontinence issues and didn't always make it to designated areas to do his bathroom business. There was no putting off cleaning the carpet any longer. 

I borrowed a friend's carpet cleaner, but it just didn't have the suction power needed to deep clean the carpet. Next I tried using one of those cleaners that you spray on, sponge in, let dry, and vacuum. It didn't do a thing and was a total waste of money. The only choices left were to call in a professional steam-cleaning company (totally out of the question), rent a high cost steam cleaner for a very limited time period, or purchase one of our own. 

After thinking about the cost to rent a machine one time, coupled with the fact that we'd have to drive at least 40 miles round trip to rent one AND knowing that we'd be on a limited time schedule in using it, we decided that our money would be better spent to just purchase a machine of our own. That way we'd have it available on a regular basis whenever we needed, or wanted, to use it and, if we desired, we'd be able to share the use of it with others. We could even use it to make a few extra dollars cleaning for other people if we choose to. So...that's what we ended up doing and it turns out to be one of the best decisions we've made! 

We knew the carpet was dirty, but we didn't realize HOW dirty it was. My goodness! Look at the photograph! But the area cleaned by the Rug Doctor looks practically new! Wow! 

Okay...so here's the specs on what we bought...and we only purchased this one after wading through hundreds of reviews.

Buy Here

The machine that we purchased is the Rug Doctor Deep Carpet Cleaner. It was listed as a professional grade carpet washer that uses cross action brushes to deep clean fibers from every angle to scrub away dirt and remove stains. It also claimed to have 75% more suction than comparable machines which provides a quicker clean and a faster drying time. The machine did everything that it said it would do and the results were soooo much better than anything we ever could have hoped for.

Other features of this machine that we really like are the fact that the cleaner comes with tools for cleaning stains and upholstery, the clean and dirty water tanks are easy to fill and empty, the clean water tank cap comes with a built in measuring cup, the machine has a removable tool caddy, it is easy to maneuver, and the collapsible handle makes it easy to store.

The machine weighs 25 pounds, has a cord length of 28 feet, and a tank capacity of 1.0 gallon. The cleaning path is 12 inches wide and the machine has 12 rows of cleaning bristles, plus bristles on the side. 

We purchased our machine through Amazon Prime. It normally sells for $289.99, but we got ours on sale for $234.00. 

After using this machine for ourselves, we highly recommend it to anyone who is serious about carpet cleaning!

Until next time...
~Rebecca