Thursday, September 8, 2011

A day in the Life of a Housewife Smart and Final #FirstStreetGrand




As a new mom I have been a "housewife" much longer than a Mom. I was used to a sparkling clean house and had all day to make it that way. My how my life has changed since being a mom. Now I have a few hours while my son naps each day to get the daily housework done. With that in mind the products I purchase to make my home clean are even more important than ever.

I have tried many many brand of cleaners. I often find myself buying what is on sale or I have a coupon for. I have to admit I am not brand loyal when it comes to my household cleaners. Then I tried the Smart and Final First Street Brand. 

I have found many great products by #FirstStreetGrand that I had not considered purchasing prior to giving them a try. I wanted to share my day with everyone from start to finish using First Street Brand products. 

My day started out early in the morning with a trip to my local Smart and Final Store. I should have made a list before I left, which is usually standard but we were too excited when we left the house.



When I first arrived I put my sweet boy in the cart, buckled him in and off we were searching for cleaning supplies and packaging from First Street. I have been in the store dozens of times and I have to admit I did not notice the brand until I looked for it. I like that about life. Sometimes we have to look just a bit further to see something that is great that we might not have noticed. 



First we headed to the packaging area that had tons of things like straws, plates, napkins, cups, foil, baggies and practically everything any home would need. We needed foil and baggies for our day. We picked up both for a great price. 




Then we headed to the cleaning supplies area. A spot we shop often but this was the first time we were looking for a specific brand. We have purchased the Orange Kitchen Cleaner by First Street and we love it so I had great expectations for the other First Street products. 

I knew I had piles of laundry at home that were in need of a wash we went down the Laundry Care aisle. At first I had a hard time finding the brand but once I spotted a product made by First Street the other ones stood out and I found them quickly. We purchased laundry soap, fabric softener and lavender bleach.

First Street Lavender Bleach

First Street Powdered Laundry Soap

First Street Fabric Softner Sheets


Next we headed to the Bathroom Cleaning supplies aisle. We picked up First Street toilet bowl cleaner, tub and tile cleaner, scouring powder and scouring pads. Our bathroom needed its weekly scrub down from top to bottom. I was excited to see how the #FirstStreetGrand products compared to previous brands I have used.


Before we left we grabbed First Street trash bags, paper towels, kitchen sponges, and orange cleaner.




 The customer service clerk was very nice, greeted us with a smile and even let my little guy help hand him stuff off the grocery belt.






On the way out we forgot we needed a broom  and rubber gloves so we went back in to get some!






After we had all our items, we loaded our First Street products into the car and headed home to start our day. I love that Smart and Final gives bags for your items, unlike some big box stores we shop at!



Now we had all the supplies we needed to start our day of cleaning and cooking. First we stated with the laundry.



I  loved the suds the laundry soap made and got the dirt and grime out of my sons clothing. The bleach was a nice change to the normal bleach we use. The fabric softer made my towels and blankets nice and fluffy. My son snuggled the towel pile before I folded them all. My husband thought the scent was ok but I liked it, not too strong and made everything really soft. 



Next we cleaned the kitchen with the First Street supplies we purchased. When I purchase sponges in bulk  they are usually large ones that I end up cutting in half. I find them easier to use this way and simple way to be frugal and turn 5 sponges into 10! The night before we had juicy watermelons for dessert that left a huge mess. I sprayed the Orange cleaner all over the counter tops and it works great. The smell is wonderful. I scrubbed the counter covered in orange cleaner with my newly cut in half sponge and wiped clean with the First Street paper towels. I liked that the paper towels had a good absorbency and were the smaller squares. The smaller squares make it easier to not grab more than you need. Then we cleaned trash can with the Orange cleaner and put in a new trash bag. The First Street bags were a nice change from the normal brand I use. The First Street ones were thicker and easier to open than my regular brand. I will be purchasing the trash bags again soon!






Next I put my son down for a nap so I could clean the bathroom. The orange cleaner worked wonders on my spotted bathroom mirror. I am teaching my son to brush his teeth on his own so it gets messy in there nightly. The scouring powder and pads were great. A really good price and worked better than the other brand I was using. I loved how powerful the scouring pads are. In our bathroom the sink counter where the soap dispenser sits always has a hard water build up and is a pain to scrub. With the power and pads I had an easy time cleaning it up.







The tub and tile cleaner was good. It smelled a bit like Pepto Bismol but in a good way! Not the normal smell that can often give me a headache but it did require more intense scrubbing. The toilet bowl cleaner worked ok. It required scrubbing unlike other brands I have tried that are a squirt and walk away type. Since time is crucial I would have liked to not have had to scrub the toilet, thank goodness for my rubber gloves.





After I clean the bathroom I always take a shower so I can continue my day cooking feeling clean and fresh!  Its a great reward to shower in a sparkling clean bathroom.


After my shower my son was awake from his nap and it was time to sweep the floors before I made dinner and dessert. I used my new First Street Broom and my son was more than happy to help!



Next I used my First Street Aluminum Foil to make fish sticks and sweet potato fries for dinner. The foil felt a bit thinner than our normal brand but was a better price and since we use it then toss it being thinner was not a problem.




After enjoying our dinner I decided to bake one of my favorite Pillsbury Peanut Butter cookie recipes from the cookbook my mom gave me when I moved out. It has my favorite Chocolate Chip cookie recipe in it too! I used the foil for the pan to bake my cookies on. The cookies finished baking a bit faster with the thinner foil but that just meant cookie time even sooner! We used the First Street baggies we purchased to store our brown sugar in since I accidentally ripped the bag when I opened it. After we baked our cookies and they cooled we stored some cookies in our First Street baggies so we could take some to the park in the morning.






I ended my day as a happy housewife having a clean home, a good dinner and yummy cookies to eat all while using my First Street brand of products!



You can read my ThisMoment post on my experience here.


Smart and Final stores are having a celebration in honor of their 140th Birthday by giving away great prizes.

Smart and Final is giving away 10 $200 American Express Gift Checks, 10 $100 American Express Gift Checks, 20 First Street bags filled with First Street products and $50 SmartCash cards. The promotion starts September 7th - 20th! You can enter the giveaway at http://www.FirstStreetGrandEvent.com website.

The details of the giveaway are:
Anyone who purchases at least one participating First Street item at their local Smart & Final will receive a unique code on their receipt. They must then go to http://www.FirstStreetGrandEvent.co and enter their code to enter to win!

I am definitely going back to Smart and Final to buy more Orange Cleaner, Scouring Pads and Powder and Trash Bags later this month. I will be entering the #FirstStreetGrand giveaway with my receipt code. Fingers crossed I win something!



*This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for #collectivebias
The opinions in this post are 100% mine and may vary from others.
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5 comments

Amy @ The Mom Hood said...

Nothing beats that "fresh, clean house" feeling!

Brandie (@ Home Cooking Memories) said...

That was fun seeing you use all the different First Street products! I've been really happy with the different ones I've used...haven't tried any of their laundry products though, might pick up those next shopping trip.

Anonymous said...

Great pics! Nothing like a clean house to make you and your family feel good. Looks like I'll try some of these products. Thanks!

Samantha @ Lillian McKay Designs said...

Can you come over to my house next? haha I bought their all purpose cleaner and so far love it!!

Someday I'll Learn said...

I got married and then had a baby ten months later, so I totally know how hard it can be to wrangle the baby AND the housekeeping all at once! Great post covering a day in the life of a housewife. Love it!

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