Cleaning with Vinegar

Almost every one of us have a common substance in our kitchen pantry that has the ability to remove soil, loosen mineral deposits and sanitize and deodorize almost anything in your house.  What is this multi-tasker?  Vinegar!

Vinegar is an effective non-toxic cleaner and sanitizer.  It saves you money as well.  Just think, if you have anywhere from 3 to 7 cleaning agents in your home at a cost of $3.99 each then you have $12 to $30 worth of cleaning supplies that can be replaced for under $2 with vinegar.

Vinegar saves time as well.  Because it does not require rinsing, you can finish your cleaning chores faster.  It is a great deodorizer.  Yes, it has a distinctive smell but it dissipates very quickly and in the process kills odor-causing bacteria.

Because it is non-toxic, you don’t have to worry about using it around the kids and the pets and when you empty your cleaning bucket, there are no harmful chemicals going down the drain.

Vinegar is as natural and organic as you can get.  It is the bi-product of fruits and grains.  You do not have to worry about it spoiling or going bad.  The shelf like of vinegar is almost indefinite.
Here are just a few uses for vinegar:

Cleaning With Vinegar In the Kitchen

Clean and deodorize a drain by pouring in 1 cup baking soda and then one cup hot white vinegar. Let this sit for 5 minutes and then run hot water down the drain.

Clean and deodorize the garbage disposal in the same way by pouring in 1/2 cup baking soda and 1/2 cup hot white distilled vinegar. Let sit for 5 minutes then run the disposal with a cup of ice cubes and hot water.  The ice will sharpen the blades.  Or you can freeze regular full strength vinegar in ice cube trays and just drop a few cubes and run while flushing with water.

Remove soap scum and odors from the dishwasher by pouring a cup of white distilled vinegar inside the empty machine and running it through a whole cycle.

To prevent glassware from etching by minerals, wash them and then spray with vinegar. Give the glasses a hot water rinse before letting them dry or drying them with a towel.

To clear cloudy glassware, soak a cloth in white vinegar and wrap around the inside and outside of the glass. Let it sit before rinsing clean.

To remove grease off exhaust fan grids, the inside of your oven, or anywhere grease gathers just wipe down with a sponge soaked in vinegar.

Remove strong smells from onions, garlic and fish from your hands with vinegar. Just pour on a dishrag and wipe your hands.

To clean your microwave oven, put a bowl with 1/2 cup vinegar and 1 cup water in the oven and run just long enough to boil. This will loosen baked-on foods from the microwave's walls and deodorize any smells.

Cleaning with Vinegar In the Bathroom

Remove hard water deposits on faucets and fixtures caused by mineral deposits.  Spray faucet with vinegar, let sit for a few minutes, then scrub with a toothbrush.  Deposits will become loose and easily wiped away.

Remove soap scum and film from bathtubs and showers by wiping them with white distilled vinegar and then scouring with baking soda.

Wipe away mildew by wiping down surfaces with vinegar.  For heavily stained items, use full strength.  For lightly stained items, use a mix of ½ vinegar and ½ water.

Mop no-wax floors with 1 cup vinegar in a gallon of water for a great shine.

Clean and sanitize wooden cutting boards by wiping with vinegar.

Vinegar Around the House

Clean mini blinds by donning a pair of white cotton gloves and dipping your gloved fingers into a mixture of equal parts white vinegar and warm water. Just run your wet gloved fingers across both sides of each blind.

To remove stickers and price tags, cover with a paper towel soaked in vinegar. Leave overnight and in the morning the label will slide right off.

Use as a de-foaming agent in carpet steam cleaners by adding about 1/4 cup white distilled in the rinse water to remove detergent residue and make carpets stay fresh longer.

Spray the backs of rugs to keep them from mildewing.

Use instead of water to clean your scissors.  Water will cause scissors to rust (both the blades and the fastener) but vinegar will remove grime and sticky gunk.

Clean your piano keys with a soft cloth that has been dipped into a mixture of ½ cup vinegar in 2 cups warm water.  Make sure to wring out cloth so there are no drips.

Keep ants away by spraying vinegar along doorways, windowsills, and countertops or anywhere that ants appear. If you find an ant trail, clean it with vinegar to keep ants from using it again.

Get rid of smoke odor by placing a shallow bowl full of vinegar in the room where the odor is the strongest.  It will smell like vinegar at first but within a day, the smoke smell and the vinegar smell will be gone.

 

Images courtesy of Grant Cochrane/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net