Cleaning with vinegar is economical and healthy. Since vinegar is a natural product, you can use it without fear of allergies, or reactions to harsh chemicals. Vinegar is versatile and can be used with great success to clean almost anything. Learn how to use it all around your home!
How to Clean a Bathroom With Vinegar
When it comes to natural cleaners, white vinegar, baking soda, and blue Dawn are going to be your go to. These amazing cleaners can typically get rid of everything under the sun when it comes to germs lurking around your house. Just remember, when it comes to disinfecting, white vinegar isn't as effective as hydrogen peroxide or bleach for getting rid of bacteria. But, it's still a powerful and versatile cleaner.
General Bathroom Cleaning
In a spray bottle, mix a 1:1 water-to-white vinegar solution. You can use this as a good all-around cleaner for floors, toilets, bathtubs, and mirrors. However, you can also add a bit of blue Dawn and baking soda to create a powerful homemade cleaner.
Cleaning the Toilet With White Vinegar
When it comes to cleaning your toilet with white vinegar, you might want to use cleaning vinegar instead of white vinegar. You can also create a mixture with baking soda to be a powerful bowl and tank cleaner. However, straight cleaning vinegar left in the bowl overnight works wonders for scum and rust.
Shower and Tub
A mixture of 1 cup white vinegar, 1 cup water, and Dawn makes a powerful cleaner for cutting through soap scum. You can also use straight white vinegar as a soak for your showerhead.
Sinks and White Vinegar
If you have hard water, white vinegar can be your best friend in the bathroom. To clear up rust and limescale in your sink, simply dump straight white vinegar into the sink and let it sit for an hour or two. Add a bit of baking soda to your cloth and scrub. Voila! Clean sink! And if you have a plugged drain, it can help you there too.
How to Clean Your Kitchen With White Vinegar
Vinegar goes farther than just your bathroom. Your kitchen needs a bit of tender loving care, too. Since white vinegar is a good all-around cleaner, you can use it on everything from your counters to your appliances.
Cleaning Refrigerator
When you are cleaning your fridge and wondering how to get the smells out, use a 1:1 mixture of white vinegar and water. Mix in a spray bottle, and spray down the fridge. Wipe all those germs away.
Microwave and Small Appliances
White vinegar is the perfect cleaning solution for anything around the house you cook on. For example, you can add 2 tablespoons of white vinegar into a cup of water and microwave to make all the grease fall off. You can clean out your Keurig or coffee maker too.
Cutting Boards and Plastic Containers
When you have stains on your plastic cutting board or containers that don't go away, add 2-3 cups of white vinegar to a sink with a few drops of Dawn. Allow them to soak for a few hours and be amazed at the new sparkle.
Cleaning With Vinegar Around the House
While you might be used to using white vinegar in the bathroom and kitchen, that's by far from the only place. You can use white vinegar in your bedroom, living room, and laundry room too. See how!
Cleaning Tables
When cleaning your coffee table or end table, you can use a mixture of 2:1 water to white vinegar. This will help get rid of the gunk and any smells. You can also use white vinegar to antique wood.
Spraying Down Mattresses and Furniture
If you are trying to freshen up your mattress or furniture, in a spray bottle, add a 1:1 mixture of white vinegar and a few drops of your favorite essential oil. Spray this on your furniture and mattress to help disinfect and refresh. It's good for mattress stains too.
Cleaning Floors With Vinegar
What's good for your furniture is good for your floors too, right? Well, in the case of white vinegar, yes it is. You can use vinegar on different types of flooring.
- Tile floors can be cleaned with several white vinegar solutions.
- Use a ½ cup white vinegar to a quart of water to remove carpet pet stains.
Using White Vinegar in the Laundry Room
From removing smells to cleaning your machine, vinegar has got you covered.
- Add 1/2 cup of distilled white vinegar to the rinse cycle while doing laundry to get rid of lint on your clothing. Don't worry--the vinegar smell doesn't linger on your clothing at all.
- Add 1/2 cup to laundry to help brighten your colored clothing.
- To keep your washing machine in good working order, add one cup of vinegar to the machine and wash on your regular cycle. Doing this helps unclog hoses, and keep everything clean and tidy.
What You Shouldn't Clean With Vinegar
While white vinegar is a versatile cleaner, there are a few places it can't go. Why? Because vinegar is acidic. Therefore, it can cause issues with some areas around your home. Check out a few different places not to use white vinegar.
- Countertops - White vinegar is too harsh for marble, limestone, and other natural stone countertops.
- Electronic screens - Given the protective coating on electronic screens, don't use it here.
- Stone floors - Like with granite countertops, the white vinegar is too harsh for the flooring and can hurt the natural stone.
- Irons - While you can use white vinegar on your clothes to help with ironing, you never want to put white vinegar in the reservoir. It can hurt the internal parts.
- Hardwood floors - Straight white vinegar can be too harsh to clean hardwood floors. It can destroy the seal.
Natural Cleaning With Vinegar
Vinegar is very versatile and there is almost nothing that it can't be used on: cookware, all types of flooring, upholstery, walls, laundry, and the bathroom. It absorbs odors, disinfects, and is non-toxic. Best of all, it costs a fraction of what chemical cleaners cost and is just as effective.
