Don’t let the smell fool you – when it comes to cleaning house, vinegar is a super power. Mixed with water or baking soda or simply used alone, vinegar can be used in every room in your home to clean and disinfect without harming pets or small children as well as our planet.
General Cleaning
Vinegar can be used to clean just about every surface in your house, from counter-tops to hardwood floors. Use it in the bathroom to clean the toilet, sinks, and the tub, removing any hard water stains or lime that may have collected. In the kitchen, wipe down all surfaces that can harbor harmful germs that cause sickness. For tougher jobs, use vinegar by itself; for easier jobs, however, you can mix it with warm water in a ratio of 1:1.
Freshen Sinks and More
Aside from water, this all-natural cleanser can also be mixed with baking soda to make it a more effective cleaning agent. When combined, the resulting foaming action works for you to clean out messy and/or clogged drains. Simply sprinkle in baking soda and follow it with straight vinegar. This mixture also works on stainless steel, especially if you have burnt food or stains along the bottoms of pots and pans.
Remove Odors
Vinegar and baking soda remove odors from sinks and drains, but vinegar alone can also remove smelly evidence from a room. After cooking fish, for example, boil vinegar on the stove to remove the smell. Use regular or apple cider vinegar to remove other odors from around your home by pouring some into a small bowl and leaving it at the source of the smell – after a few days, the odor will be gone!
Remove Stains
Not only can vinegar remove unwanted smells, it can also help get rid of stains in a variety of areas in your home. It’s important to act as soon as possible to avoid food or drink residue from settling into clothing, fabric, or carpet. Put vinegar directly on the stain, letting it soak in to break down the leftover mess. For a more powerful stain fighter, combine vinegar with baking soda. Put the item of clothing in the wash or dab gently to remove all evidence of the potential stain. The combination of vinegar and baking soda can also be used as a tooth paste to naturally whiten teeth, removing stains and restoring a bright smile.
Finish the Laundry
Vinegar can be used not only to fight stains, but to soften clothes during the rinse cycle in your washing machine. Put in one to two ounces of vinegar as a replacement for fabric softener, and your clothes will come out soft, dry and not smelling of vinegar. This particular strategy is also great for those who are allergic to the perfumes and dyes that often accompany laundry detergents.
Kelly Wilson is a thoughtful consumer interested in all-natural products that are safe and effective to use in her home. To find out more about all-natural products that can whiten teeth, visit Dr. Greg Williams at Tigard Family Dental, a Dentist in Tigard, Oregon.
