The Powerhouse in Your Pantry
It’s been awhile since I posted about Green Spring Cleaning Agents, but the truth is, vinegar is quite the unleashed powerhouse in your pantry, that you can use anytime, and in so many ways.
If you use Vinegar for cleaning, it doesn’t matter what kind you use, except for Brown (apple cider) Vinegar, which is more for eating and your health. It is known to stain porous materials, so therefore, white distilled vinegar is the wisest to use for cleaning purposes. So, make smart choices and use vinegar wisely!
Do you know what all vinegar can do? It serves a purpose in just about every room of the house. There are also dozens of household and personal use products that vinegar can replace, saving you money. Best of all, it’s cheaper, better for the environment, and better for your health and home, because it eliminates harsh and unnecessary chemicals.
Vinegar, in general is a natural, powerful and inexpensive disinfectant. It can be used on almost anything except marble, and porous materials.
You can make a great all purpose cleaner by mixing 2 parts vinegar to 1 part water. Or, I often pair it straight with baking soda and use it to clean my bathroom tubs and sinks. This combo also works great to unclog a drain, or clean your oven and drip pans. For this job, it is best to let it rest in the bottom of your oven overnight, no muss, no fuss, and NO harmful fumes.
Here are a few more of my favorite uses for vinegar. Hard water stains and mineral deposits like those that are often found behind your faucet are stubborn and hard to remove. Take a cloth soaked in vinegar and place it on the hard water stain or mineral deposit for a few hours. Then wipe clean with a soft dry cloth.
Clean your coffee maker, washing machine or dishwasher by running vinegar through it, followed by two rinses of water. It reduces soap buildup, mineral deposits, and scale and keeps everything in great working order.
I love this one- to remove labels from glass jars, just saturate the labeled area in vinegar and scrape the stickiness right off. No more sticky residue.
Clean and crisp up your veggies by soaking them in a mixture of cold water and a tablespoon or so of vinegar. Bugs lingering on your produce will be whisked away, and your limp celery will come to life again.
Eliminate onion odor off your hands by rinsing them in vinegar. This also works with other smelly parts of your body, such as your underarms and feet.
To eliminate smoke odor in a room, put a bowl of vinegar near the source. Let sit overnight in a closed room. If you would like to reduce icky smells throughout your house, but would rather not have the room smell like vinegar,try adding some fragrant spices to your bowl of vinegar and leave it in the warmest corner of the room. Next day the smoke odors will be gone!
For personal use, vinegar will also remove soap scum and buildup from your hair. Rinse with a pitcher filled with ½ a cup of warm water and ½ a cup of vinegar ( I like to use the apple cider vinegar in this application). Your hair will be shiny and free of buildup. This same treatment also works as an effective dandruff treatment. Just use a higher concentration of vinegar to water. You should notice improvement in about two weeks.
As an acne treatment, just apply equal parts vinegar and water to problem areas. Using vinegar as a facial toner, is a great and inexpensive alternative to using harsh alpha hydroxy based products, that are often drying and irritating to the skin. Vinegar, is also effective in taking the sting out of a sunburn. Use the same type of dilution as for the hair rinse, only use cool water.You will find it to be quite soothing.
As you can see, there are these, and hundreds more uses for vinegar. When it comes to making home made cleaners,vinegar is by far the more economical choice. Most recipes make about a gallon, and you probably already have the ingredients on hand right now, in your pantry. For pennies, you can make your own, and there is no waste, and harsh chemicals involved. Once you start using vinegar, I’m quite certain you won’t go back to commercial cleaners again. You’ll be green and save green, while your house is spotless.
If you prefer to buy ready made cleaners, look for brands such as Seventh Generation, Ecos, Simple Green, and the line of green cleaners from Clorox, just to name a few earth friendly alternatives. Give vinegar a try though, and I think you will be surprised at the great job it does on just about everything. Together, we are working toward a better tomorrow.
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