Ever wonder what in the world they are putting into your common household cleaning products? No problem the most popular ones from our research tell us that it is simply, Phthalates, Perchloroethylene, Triclosan, Butoxyethanol, chlorine, sodium hydroxide. Don’t worry, None of those things should sound familiar to most normal people. Now cleaning products do work and can be safe, but using tons and tons of chemicals all the time doesn’t have to be your only choice. There are extremely effective homegrown products that can do wonders around the home. One of the most well-known and best natural alternatives to traditional cleaning products is the wonderful and amazing vinegar. Vinegar has been a cleaning miracle for generations. For this entry, we have chosen our favorite applications of vinegar to clean your home and take a look at some of the fundamentals behind it.
We begin with one of our favorites and a very common item that gets near daily use and can harbor a host of filth and grossness without you even realizing it. Your computer, keyboard, mouse, tablets and even phones are all prime candidates for germs and general mess. Vinegar is a fantastic way to clean these delicate everyday use items. A 50/50 solution of white vinegar to water in a small receptacle in combination with cotton swabs and small squares of damp cloth do wonders in the sensitive areas of electronics.
One of the most useful uses we found for vinegar solves a problem almost everyone encounters. That is the colored stains of things like ballpoint pens, wine, or even coffee. Stain removal is by far one of the best uses for white vinegar for most people. Different mixtures of salt, baking soda, water, and white vinegar can attack almost any stain with excellent results. As with any stain, it’s important to get it early, but white vinegar can also help with older hidden stains as well, with high concentrate and some vigorous scrubbing.
The best thing about vinegar is its eco-friendly nature. Vinegar isn’t some harmful chemical. It is safe enough to be widely used as a condiment, which I’m pretty sure you can’t say about anything in the house cleaner aisle. The odor is another great thing that you can use vinegar to attack. Vinegar does a tremendous job getting rid of some of the toughest odors associated with those stains as well. Many experts use vinegar solutions to attack even smoking odors on furniture. A more common use is to clean and deodorize your sink drains. Another fun use is to clean out camping coolers and lunch pails.
Ever wonder about the best way to clean your microwave? Vinegar is there to save the day again. A glass bowl of 1 part vinegar four parts water heated in the micro for 4 to 5 minutes steam cleans the entire inside in minutes. A light wipe-down after the fact will leave your microwave fresh, odorless, and clean. In fact, many of the enclosed spaces within kitchen benefit greatly from cleaning with vinegar solutions.
Speaking of shiny and clean, we move to some of the more precious items in the home. Whether its silverware, brass fittings, or copper items, white vinegar is good for polishing and cleaning the precious metals around your home. In addition to cleaning utensils and or metal objects vinegar also acts as a fantastic disinfectant.
The wonders of vinegar are nearly endless. With its rich history of use dating back to more ancient times, vinegar is a great tool for your arsenal of cleaning your home with as little problems as possible. Vinegar is versatile, environmentally friendly, and inexpensive. This remarkable liquid will turn your cleaning life around with practice and patience.