Uses for Vinegar - Cleaning

So I'm at home sick today with this blasted cold that's lasted almost a month. Yeah, yeah, yeah I know I know. I'm going to the Dr. this afternoon. I think that's typical for mommies though. We let ourselves get so run down until we can't go anymore, THEN we do something about it. My husband was getting after me to call the dr. while I was dressing our son for school, but I was too concerned in making sure the leftover sticker magnets I brought home from work made it to school for them to use for crafts. Ah, the things we do. I did make the appointment though

So getting to the case at hand, I was thinking about what to post today. It came to me to post about vinegar. I do find people amazed at what you can do with this simple cheap ingredient. My all purpose cleaner and laundry stain remover both use vinegar. So, for the next couple of days, I'm going to post the uses of vinegar in their specific categories. Today will be using vinegar to clean.

Cleaning the microwave - Fill a microwave-safe bowl with a mixture of half white vinegar and half water. Put the now filled bowl in the microwave and turn it on for 2 minutes. Once done, dip a sponge into the bowl **BE CAREFUL! LIQUID WILL BE HOT!** and use it to wipe the food off of the walls of the microwave.

Removing crayon from the walls - Use a toothbrush or small scrubber and dip in white vinegar. Then, proceed to scrub the crayon off. As always, spot check first just to make sure the vinegar won't take off any paint or finish.

Freshening the air and other items - Think of vinegar kind of like a cheap febreeze minus the fragrance. You can put white vinegar in a brand new spray bottle and spray it in a room when you notice it needs freshening. The vinegar will neutralize odor. Other items like lunch boxes, trash cans, and your fridge can be wiped down with a sponge soaked in vinegar. No, it's not going to smell like vinegar, once it drys it won't have a scent.

Sanitising sponges - Soak your sponges in white vinegar over night. The next morning wring them out and they'll be ready to use.

Laundry booster - Pour a cup of vinegar to the washer's rinse cycle. The vinegar will make colors brighter, whites whiter, and soften your laundry without having to use a fabric softener.

Removing mineral deposits - Take a ziplock baggy (bag size depends on size of facuet or shower head) fill it up with white vinegar and rubberband it to the faucet or shower head. I would leave it there for about two hours. After two hours, take the baggy off and polish the faucet or shower head with a towel.

Removing mildew - Mix equal parts of water and white vinegar, put in new spray bottle. This will help get rid of the current mildew and help slow it from coming back.

Cleaning the toilet - Take a couple of cups of white vinegar and pour it into the bowl. Scrub the sides with a brush and let sit overnight. You'll wake up to a cleaner toilet.

Cleaning grease from stove top or counters - Dip a sponge in white vinegar and scrub.

Drain cleaner - Do you remember back in school when you'd make the baking soda volcanos? Well now you get to do it in your drain! Pour 1/2 a box of baking soda down the drain. Pour the white vinegar down the drain to create that "eruption". Keep pouring the vinegar until all the baking soda is gone. Let the sink sit unused for about an hour. Then turn the faucet on all the way hot and let it run down the drain to clean out any left over gunk.

Carpet stain remover - You will need water, white vinegar, and baking soda. Make a paste with the vinegar and baking soda. How much you use really depends on how big and how many stains you're working on. Work the paste in on the stain with an old toothbrush. Go ahead and leave the paste to dry on the stain. Once it is totally dry, vacuum it up. The stain should be gone. However, some stains may need following treatments.

Steam cleaner solution - If you have a steam cleaner for your carpet, you can make a simple solution to clean and deodorize your carpet. Just use equal parts of water and white vinegar and fill to the fill line. Use your steam cleaner as usual.

As you can see, vinegar is pretty universal when it comes to cleaning. If you also noticed, a lot of these cleaning tricks only required water and vinegar. So, I would just go ahead and fill a new spray bottle with that solution just to have on hand whenever you may need it.