How To Clean With Vinegar – 7 Amazing Vinegar Cleaning Tips and Hacks!
You will find these vinegar cleaning tips and hacks very helpful if you are looking for how to clean with vinegar.
There is little doubt that cleaning your home with non-chemical cleaners is better for your family’s health and that of your pets. This is why vinegar has been set apart as a miracle household cleaner. (Find out which vinegar is best for cleaning)
Although, recent studies have revealed that while vinegar may not be the perfect all-round cleaner many claim it to be, it does have significant uses around your home.
And today we are discussing the different ways to clean with vinegar. So read on to find out.
Related Cleaning Articles:
- The Right Way to Clean Wood Floors with Vinegar
- How to Clean Grout on Tile Floors and Walls
- How to Clean with Lemon – Simple Tips and Tricks
- What You Can Use Bleach For
#1. Glass Cleaner
Combining equal parts of white vinegar and warm water is one of the most effective window cleaner formulas around.
When used correctly using this vinegar-based window cleaner will leave you bright and sparkling streakless glass.
Use either a squeegee or the black and white pages from a newspaper with the vinegar water to clean the window and then, wipe the window dry.
This will not only leave your windows and mirror sparkling clean but also lint free as well. So, if you are looking for how to clean your mirror without Windex, then you should consider using vinegar.
#2. Mild Floor Cleaning
While it is not recommended that you use vinegar as a wood floor cleaner on a daily basis, it can be used as mild floor cleaning for your wood floor by adding ½ cup white vinegar to a gallon of hot water.
Making sure that you wring out the mop as much as possible, you can damp mop your wood floor providing a light cleaning and disinfecting it at the same time.
This can be especially helpful if you have small children who are still in the crawling stages.
#3. Clothing Deodorizer and Fabric Softener
If you have a child who has forgotten to empty their gym bag for a few days or are an adult that works out on a regular basis, you know how funky those gym clothes can smell.
You also know that there are many times when laundry soap alone simply does not get all of that funky smell out of your clothes.
If you are looking for a way to deodorize or remove any mildew scent from clothing then using baking soda and vinegar can give you some amazing results.
You don’t actually combine the baking soda and vinegar, instead, you should put ¼ cup of baking soda in with your laundry detergent during the wash cycle and then use ½ a cup of vinegar in the rinse. This will result in deodorized and soft clothing.
#4. Calcium Remover
Vinegar can be a great calcium remover. It can be used to remove calcium build-up from clothes and dishwashers when used alone or mixed with hot water (depending on how much calcium build-up there is).
You can also remove calcium build-up from a tea kettle by mixing 1 part water and 1 part vinegar and setting the kettle to boil.
Make sure that you rinse the tea kettle thoroughly with clear water to remove any taste of the vinegar.
You can also run full strength vinegar through your coffee pot (placing the vinegar in the reservoir) and running the coffee through the cycle and then running at least two reservoirs of clean water to remove any lingering vinegar.
#5. Mold and Mildew Prevention
Mold and mildew can be a problem in those damp areas of your home such as bathrooms and kitchens.
You can help prevent mold and mildew growth by combining 1 part hydrogen peroxide and 1 part vinegar in a spray bottle and use it to clean those damp areas on a weekly basis to keep mold and mildew spores at bay. (You may also want to read this article on how to remove mold from bathroom walls)
#6. All Purpose Disinfectant
While vinegar may not make a great home cleaner, it is certainly great to use as a disinfectant.
Mixing 1 cup of distilled water with 1 cup of white vinegar and 15 drops of essential oils can make for a great disinfectant.
You can use this solution in your kitchen and bathroom to disinfect your countertops, toilet, sink and tub after cleaning.
Keep in mind that while the essential oils in this formula add a nice scent to the disinfectant, you can disinfect without adding the oil.
#7. Air Freshener
Surprisingly, vinegar can be used as an air freshener for removing various odors from the air.
Simply combine ½ cup of vinegar and ½ cup of water in a misting bottle and use it to freshen the air in any room in the home.
Vinegar Cleaning Tips – What NOT to Clean with Vinegar
Yes, there are several things you can clean with vinegar, but there are also certain things you should never clean with vinegar some of them are as follows:
Natural Stone Surfaces
You should not clean natural stone surfaces such as granite and marble countertops because vinegar is acidic. And the acid in vinegar can cause serious damage to granite and marble surfaces. So, you wouldn’t want to use any cleaning solution that can cause damage to these precious and expensive items.
Grout
Vinegar can actually ruin your grout. The acid in vinegar eats away at the grout and dissolves the top layers of grout molecules, making your tiles loose.
Waxed Floors and Furniture
If you don’t want to ruin your perfectly waxed floors or furniture, then avoid cleaning them with vinegar. Repeated use of vinegar on waxed floors or furniture strips away the protective wax over time.
Phone/Tablet
Vinegar can eat away at the protective layer of the screen of your phone or tablet, thereby damaging the screen over time.
Egg Spill or Splatter
Vinegar causes egg spill or splatter to coagulate, making it even more difficult to clean off.
As you can see there are several different ways that you can use inexpensive vinegar to clean items around your home. However, bear in mind that there are also certain things you should not clean with vinegar.
Related Cleaning Articles:
- 6 DIY Cleaning Solutions and Recipes
- DIY Multi Purpose Cleaner with No Vinegar
- How to Get Rid of Scuff Marks from Your Tile Floor
- White Vinegar Alternatives for Cleaning