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vinegar, the wonder cleaner
How many cleaning products do you own? Take a look under your sink and you may be surprised at the accumulation. It seems there is a different product for everything; one to clean sinks, another to clean toilets, one for granite, one for floors, another for stovetops, one for windows, another for wood surfaces, and the list goes on, cluttering your cabinets and robbing you of space.
But how many cleaning products do you really need? Chemical makers and big business would have you believe you need many. But for frugalities and environmentalists alike, the answer is simple: just one. White vinegar is the all-in-one cleaner that is not only inexpensive, but it’s powerful. It's all you need. People often use bleach for disinfecting, however, while bleach does kill bacteria and viruses, it doesn’t kill mold. Enter white vinegar, the mold-killer. Get over the smell now! Yes, vinegar has a distinct odor but it dissipates quickly. With white vinegar, you can clean your entire house with just one product and you also eliminate and prevent mold. Although there are innumerable health benefits from vinegar, this blog is focusing on its benefits as a frugal cleaning agent.
Facts about vinegar:
- It kills germs and viruses. White vinegar is known to kill 99 percent of bacteria, 82 percent of mold, 80 percent of germs and viruses.
- It’s inexpensive. White vinegar costs around $1 for a liter, which is $2- $3 less than a bottle of household cleaner.
- It lasts a long time. The shelf life of vinegar is almost indefinite, according to The Vinegar Institute's research studies. Because of vinegar's acid nature it is self-preserving and does not need refrigeration. White Vinegar will remain virtually unchanged over an extended period of time.
- It’s natural and environmentally safe. Vinegar is a natural organic bi-product of fruits, vegetables and grains. It is therefore edible and biodegradable. It is 'The Perfect Household Cleaner'™ for your family because it is very safe for the environment, for family members, especially those with asthma, and around young children. It doesn't contain harmful toxic chemicals, so if in the course of normal household cleaning you 'pour it down the drain' its impact on municipal sewer and water treatment systems is just like any food product.
Get your squirt bottles ready. To use vinegar as your all-purpose cleaning product of choice, simply pour full-strength white vinegar into a trigger spray bottle and you are ready to tackle most soiled surfaces around your house. Spray and then wipe clean with a lint-free cloth or paper towel. There is no need to rinse. It will not leave a residue. Some surfaces you may want to dilute with water. The stronger the dilution of vinegar, the stronger the cleaning power. Leave the vinegar trigger-spray bottle under your sink or in your cleaning bucket so it is ready to clean when you are.
Myriads of uses for vinegar:
- Deodorize your sink drains: Pour a cup down your drain, let stand about thirty minutes, then run cold water.
- Disinfect your sponges. Place the sponge or cloth in a bowl overnight. Kills the germs.
- Unclog a drain: Dump 1 cup of baking soda down your drain and follow it with 1 cup of vinegar. When they mix, they foam and expand, cleaning your drain. Allow a few minutes for the mixture to do it's job, then flush with hot water for several minutes. Also deodorizes your drains by pouring vinegar down them.
- Disinfect and clean wood cutting boards: Rub with vinegar to disinfect and clean. If your cutting board has deep grooves, you can also soak the board in vinegar for 5-10 minutes.
- Cut grease. When washing greasy pans or dishes, add a few tablespoons of vinegar to your soapy dishwater.
- Remove rust. To get rid of rust, soak items in vinegar (do not dilute). This will work on any metals.
- Cleaning soiled surfaces of counters, ceramic tiles, appliances - inside and out, painted walls and floors.
- Cleaning and shining mirrors, glass, stainless steel and chrome.
- Removing stains from clothing and carpets.
- Removing mold and mildew from humidifiers.
- Removing soap scum from shower tiles, stalls and curtains and from dishwashers and washing machines.
- Descaling mineral and lime buildup from kettles, coffee makers, shower heads and irons.
- Eliminate smells: Run a hot tub of water and pour in one or two cups of vinegar. Hang smelly clothes on hangers along your shower curtain rod. This will remove smoke and other tough smells.
- Remove decals and gummed labels. Rub a few coats of vinegar on the area and allow to soak. Then rub off with a wet washcloth.
- Removing stains from clothes, shoes, boots and carpets.
- Polish patent leather purses and shoes: Place vinegar on a clean cloth, then rub over patent leather. Wipe dry with another clean cloth.
- And many, many more uses!
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Comments
Great article!
I use a 50/50 water/Vinegar solution for washing veggies and fruits. Rinse it well and it won't taste like vinegar.
A lady at the market told me that a scientist friend of hers swears by it. He grew things in petri dishes and tested to see what would kill them. Vinegar worked in every case.
I always keep a spray bottle on hand under my counter in the kitchen and one upstairs in the master bathroom. That way I don't have to run back and forth looking for it. :)
Dr Brenda Watson recommends Vinegar for GERD. I use it & it works. Use 1 Tbls & it closes the esophageal valve instantly. Saw yr article on LRC.
Big error in Ms. Wilson's report; bleach does indeed kill all fungi, including mold ! I agree with the frugal and more safety using white vinegar .Retired teacher of biology.
Great article!
Check out www.naturespirit.com and then click on the catalog pdf link to view (and save a copy of) literally hundreds of all natural, plant based essential oils, along with details of their myriad uses!!! Our skin is our largest organ and many of the common cleansers are chock full of chemicals that are absorbed into the skin thus taxing the liver and our glands.
Lemon oil for instance is a terrific cleaner for counters, floors and etc., plus it smells great (one negati
Lemon oil for instance is a terrific cleaner plus it smells great (one negative about vinegar). Remember too that those harsh cleaners with the lab created smells to mask the other ugly smells are also harsh on the lungs-another vital organ that needs not be contaminated with nasty, cancer-causing, factory created chemicals!
Send Doreen an email from the "Nature's Spirit essential oil" web site and she will freely assist with any questions!!!
Won't damage plastics either. I use it to clean the bug guts from the face shield on my motorcycle helmet :-)
How about a small discussion about the revolting odor left behind for hours after vinegar cleaning. There must be a way to cut or eliminate it. It always leads me to think that someone just puked.
Warren O Leary:
Not on non-porous surfaces. Household bleach is 99% water.
moldacrossamerica.org/notobleach.htm
There is a book called "The Country Doctor" available at any library. It gives a receipe for being healthy. It's available at most libraries. It has a receipe for good health. A great power breakfast!
half cup of oatmeal + 1 cup of water then cook in microwave until it crowns. (about 3 min. in mine). Then cool and when it's cooled down add 1 teaspoon of CIDER vinegar (not distilled) and 1 tablespoon of honey.
I read a book about the multitude of uses of vinegar years ago. When my daughter's doctor started recommending having tubes put in her ears because of her constant ear infections a thought popped into my mind and I decided to put a few drops of apple cider vinegar in her ears when her ear aches began.
It usually took only one treatment and the aches would be gone within 12 hours. I used apple cider vinegar in all my kids ears to treat ear aches and it worked on all of them. Goodbye ear t
Ronda, our own guts are very much akin to vinegar. Our bile is quite acidic. Animals, ruminants particularly tend to have basic, rather than acidic digestive tracts.
Both bases and acids are caustic/reactive. But, almost nothing will survive both alkaline and acidic environs.
Vinegar is acidic. Soap, made with either lye or ash is basic. There is one other aspect to cleaning, surfactants. Water is ionically bonded, this means that water puddles rather than spreading out. The ion
Remove fishy smell after frying/baking: Saturate a towel in 50/50 vinegar & water, wring out, walk thru the house waving it around. It works! Remove white discoloration from stainless steel pots/pans: add a few tablespoons vinegar to water in the pan. Let sit 30 mins. Rinse with clear water. Voile!
We use it a lot - it was my Grandma that taught me when I was very young. A smart woman :-)
DENTIST NIGHTMARE! Twice a year, I had to get the dentist to «scratch» tartar off my teeth. Then for a few months, I squirted a mist of vinegar (<½teaspoon) on my toothbrush after each use. Guess what? I haven't been to the dentist for the past 7-8 years AND, NO TARTAR! yp
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