As green issues become more pressing, each of us are staring to become more aware of the potentially harmful effects of our everyday actions, so today's post will hopefully encourage us to think about more environmentally friendly ways to clean areas of our home. And there's an added advantage: these solutions save us money!
Today's we're looking at how distilled white vinegar can help out around the home. Why vinegar? Simple: distilled white vinegar contains the highest acid content of all vinegars, so its cuts through grease and grime naturally, leaving any “good” bacteria intact to help comabt germs and infection.
Here are some tricks that our grandmothers used to make thir homes sparkle and shine, long before chemical cleaning products arrived on the scene...Solutions for occasional jobs:
Drain cleaner solution 2: Pour a ½ cup of baking soda down the drain, followed by ½ cup of warm vinegar. Cover the drain and allow to stand for 5-10 minutes, before running cold water down the drain. Drain Cleaner solution 3: Drop 3-4 Alka-Seltzer tablets down the drain, followed by a bottle of white vinegar. Leave for 3-5 minutes, then chase away with hot water.
Knock mildew & mould on the head: For severe cases use undiluted vinegar, or cut with water and use as a preventative wash to keep mould at bay.
Vinegar Weed Killer: Pour undiluted white vinegar on weeds in pavement or driveway cracks, and watch them wilt!
Cleaning shower heads: Remove the head and place it in a container. Cover with vinegar and soak overnight before rinsing and replacing. Run hot water through the shower for a few minutes before using.
Get coffee machines and irons flowing: get rid of hard water build-up by filling appliances with white vinegar. Run a cycle with the vinegar, then wash thoroughly by running a full cycle with clear water.
Solutions for general cleaning
Scrubbing Floors: Add ½ cup of white vinegar to bucket of hot water to clean normally dirty floors. For heavy duty jobs, or if you need to disinfected your floors and surfaces,use 1 full cup of white vinegar.
Cleaning plastic upholstery: A mix of ½ vinegar and ½ water applied with a soft damp cloth, is a simple way to spruce up, ad disinfect plastic upholstered furniture. Follow with a dry cloth to buff. (Always do a test on an out of the way area, before using on visible areas.)
Cleaning metal: Mix a small amount of vinegar, baking soda or salt together to make a paste which can be used to clean bronze, copper and brass pots.
Sparkling solutions
Vinegar Window Cleaner: Get rid of those greasy, streaky window panes, by adding one tablespoon of white vinegar to one quart of water, and cleaning as usual. Use the same mix to give your glasses a wipe too!
Cut through grease in no time: Just one capful of vinegar in your dishwasher will get rid of grease build-up. Dishes and glasses will take on a super shine.
Make your crystal glassware sparkle: rinse crystal glasses in a solution of one part white vinegar to three parts warm water to make them shine.
Brighten up the colour of your clothes: add 1½ cups of white vinegar to your rinse water to bring back freshness to your coloureds
Solutions to keep creepy crawlies at bay!
To get rid of: house fleas (and their eggs) ants, spiders and various creepy crawlies, mist your fabrics and furniture using a plant spray, filled with with a mixture of ½ white vinegar and ½ cold water, just before you're ready to pass the vacuum cleaner. (Don't worry, the slightly pickled smell evaporates quickly)
Get rid of Ants: wipe off your counters, and swab floors with a solution of equal parts of distilled white vinegar and water if you're having a problem with crawling insects. You can spray around any access areas with vinegar to prevent further entry to your home.
Solutions to get rid of...
Cement: If you've been working with concrete or cement, cleaning your hands afterwards with pure white vinegar.
Crayon Stains: Dampen a toothbrush with white vinegar, then rub the area lightly until the crayon is removed.
Deodorant Stains: Perspiration stains can be removed by rubbing the area with vinegar before laundering, but check the label first!
Ink Stains: Vinegar will remove most ink stains if you catch them when they're are fresh.
Rust: To remove rust marks from fabrics, moisten with white vinegar, then rub the area lightly with salt. Place the garment in the sun to dry, then wash as usual.
Aluminium Pot Stains: Those black stains that sometimes appear on your aluminium pots, can be removed by covering the spots with boiling white vinegar. Boil the vinegar in a small pot, then pour it on the stains, let it “set” for a few minutes, then rinse off.
Well, I don't know about you, but I'll never look at a bottle of white vinegar in the same way again! So let's add it to the shopping list and get cleaning: responsibly!
Knock mildew & mould on the head: For severe cases use undiluted vinegar, or cut with water and use as a preventative wash to keep mould at bay.
Vinegar Weed Killer: Pour undiluted white vinegar on weeds in pavement or driveway cracks, and watch them wilt!
Get coffee machines and irons flowing: get rid of hard water build-up by filling appliances with white vinegar. Run a cycle with the vinegar, then wash thoroughly by running a full cycle with clear water.
Scrubbing Floors: Add ½ cup of white vinegar to bucket of hot water to clean normally dirty floors. For heavy duty jobs, or if you need to disinfected your floors and surfaces,use 1 full cup of white vinegar.
Cleaning plastic upholstery: A mix of ½ vinegar and ½ water applied with a soft damp cloth, is a simple way to spruce up, ad disinfect plastic upholstered furniture. Follow with a dry cloth to buff. (Always do a test on an out of the way area, before using on visible areas.)
Cleaning metal: Mix a small amount of vinegar, baking soda or salt together to make a paste which can be used to clean bronze, copper and brass pots.
Vinegar Window Cleaner: Get rid of those greasy, streaky window panes, by adding one tablespoon of white vinegar to one quart of water, and cleaning as usual. Use the same mix to give your glasses a wipe too!
Cut through grease in no time: Just one capful of vinegar in your dishwasher will get rid of grease build-up. Dishes and glasses will take on a super shine.
Make your crystal glassware sparkle: rinse crystal glasses in a solution of one part white vinegar to three parts warm water to make them shine.
Brighten up the colour of your clothes: add 1½ cups of white vinegar to your rinse water to bring back freshness to your coloureds
Solutions to keep creepy crawlies at bay!
To get rid of: house fleas (and their eggs) ants, spiders and various creepy crawlies, mist your fabrics and furniture using a plant spray, filled with with a mixture of ½ white vinegar and ½ cold water, just before you're ready to pass the vacuum cleaner. (Don't worry, the slightly pickled smell evaporates quickly)
Get rid of Ants: wipe off your counters, and swab floors with a solution of equal parts of distilled white vinegar and water if you're having a problem with crawling insects. You can spray around any access areas with vinegar to prevent further entry to your home.
Solutions to get rid of...
Cement: If you've been working with concrete or cement, cleaning your hands afterwards with pure white vinegar.
Crayon Stains: Dampen a toothbrush with white vinegar, then rub the area lightly until the crayon is removed.
Deodorant Stains: Perspiration stains can be removed by rubbing the area with vinegar before laundering, but check the label first!
Ink Stains: Vinegar will remove most ink stains if you catch them when they're are fresh.
Rust: To remove rust marks from fabrics, moisten with white vinegar, then rub the area lightly with salt. Place the garment in the sun to dry, then wash as usual.
Well, I don't know about you, but I'll never look at a bottle of white vinegar in the same way again! So let's add it to the shopping list and get cleaning: responsibly!
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