Vinegar is a cheap and easy cleaning solution. Vinegar is naturally antibacterial. In my kitchen, I use one part vinegar to one part water to clean the counters and sink, and to disinfect. I use the same solution to clean my bathroom, except I use full strength vinegar on the toilet seat and bowl. I let it stand for a few minutes before I scrub the bowl and flush. On my floors, I use the same 1-1 solution, with a few drops of dish soap; I use this to clean both my laminate kitchen floor, my wooden living room floor, and my tile bathroom floor.
If you want a "clean" smell, add a few drops of lemon juice or a fragrance extract. Not only is it cheap, but it is safe for kids and pets. I began using this when I had my son, knowing that he would soon be crawling all over the floor.
As a warning, do not mix with bleach or ammonia; this can create dangerous fumes.
Just leave a window cracked to help filter out the vinegar smell.
Source: my depression-era grandmother
By MamaSarah from Lansing, MI
Soak two paper towels in vinegar lay them on the taps for about an hour. Then wipe off. It gets all the gunk off your taps.
Vinegar is a great cleaning tool. I buy it by the gallon for cleaning all over the house. However, I use it most often in the kitchen.
Here are a few suggestions for when cleaning or deodorizing with vinegar. Make sure you're using white vinegar not apple cider. Use vinegar in the rinse cycle of your washing machine because many detergents leave a residue that we don't realize.
After a nasty fall in my bath tub, I became extra careful to not have it happen again. My first idea was to always just throw a facecloth in the tub to stand on.
I keep my large Germ X bottles or even the small ones. I fill one of the large ones with dish soap and keep it by the sink. I have another one I fill with white vinegar.
I have stopped buying expensive and fume cleaning products and have gone to vinegar for everything. It is the oldest, safest and most effective cleaning product there is.
I like cleaning with vinegar, but I found that the white vinegar is my preference. I ran out and had apple cider vinegar and that smelled so bad with what I was cleaning, it was like there was a reaction to whatever I was cleaning at the time.
Tips for cleaning with vinegar as well as some other uses. To clean your coffee drip machine or iron, run a 1/2 cup of vinegar through it. Then run 1 cup of water through it 2 times.
Fill a Downy Ball with white vinegar. Toss it into the washing machine with your clothes. Not only will they will come out static-free, but fresh-smelling as well.
Remove fireplace soot and grime with undiluted white distilled vinegar. Use a brush to scrub then blot the wetness and dirt off with a towel.
Once a month, I run vinegar through the coffee maker to clean out the residue that builds up. Make sure you run a pot of clean water through before you make your next pot of coffee.
Many hospitals are now using white vinegar to clean and disinfect everything. With cut backs, it has become more economical. With germs (all over the world), that have become immune to cleaning solutions and antibiotics, vinegar has become the number one choice.
A few drops of vinegar in a pot of water, will help poached eggs hold their shape.
Vinegar! White or apple cider are both wonderful cleaning products. If you have a smoke smell (like I recently did when my son started a fire on my range)...
1. Clean your dentures with Heinz white vinegar by soaking them overnight and rinsing in the morning.