Cleaning with Vinegar – I’m Lovin’ It
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One of my favorite cleaning “products” is distilled white vinegar. It could possibly be the only cleaning product you will ever need!! It’s powerful, economical and best of all, natural!
The uses for distilled white vinegar are nearly endless, but I thought I’d share my Top 10 tips on How to Clean with Vinegar:
1. Cleaning Windows. I keep a spray bottle filled with half vinegar, half water then wipe clean with either newspapers or lint free cloth.
2. Dusting. For daily dusting I keep a spray bottle filled with half vinegar, half water and lightly spray a cloth diaper and dust all surfaces in my house.
3. Carpet spills. First I use a cloth to soak up as much of the liquid as possible. Next, I spray a bottle filled with a mixture of half vinegar, half water. Let stand for about two minutes, then blot with towel or sponge. Repeat as needed. MORE: Carpet Cleaning Tips
4. Clean Hard Water Build Up. We have hard water, so things like faucet and shower heads get gunked up. I remove the heads and soak in a bow of vinegar in til loose, then scrub with a brush. They will then look brand new!
5. Clean Coffee Maker. Again, the hard water builds up in my coffee maker, making it take much longer to brew a pot of coffee. Fill coffee pot with 1/2 vinegar and 1/2 water and pour thru machine (no need to turn it on, it donesn’t have to heat up). I then run about 4-5 pots of clear water thru to clean out all traces of vinegar. I make coffee daily, so I do this once a month.
6. Clean No-wax floors. Using a solution of 1 cup vinegar per gallon of water clean no-wax floors for a shiny surface.
7. Prevent Mildew in Shower. I spray shower walls and shower curtain with half vinegar and half water to help prevent mildew.
8. Remove odors from kitchen sink. I wipe down entire sink with straight vinegar (great for removing waterspots too) then pour one cup of vinegar down drain, wait one hour before rinsing. (I throw a towel across the faucet to help me remember not to use it)
9. Clean and deodorize microwave. Using a microwave-safe bowl, fill with 1/2 cup of vinegar and 1 cup water. Place in the microwave, and cook long enough to boil. Let it sit in microwave while it cools. You can then easily wipe down inside of microwave and lingering odors should disappear.
10. Clean refrigerator. Mix a gallon of warm water and 2 cups of vinegar to wipe down inside of refrigerator, including shelves, walls, and jars. Your refrigerator will be clean and smelling clean with out harming any food.
Bonus tip for Cleaning with Vinegar
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MORE: Tidy Home Tips
Let’s get this party started!! It’s time to link up all your great ideas to “I’m Lovin’ It Party” (remember, each week I will share some of my favorites who link up!)
I’m Lovin’……. Cleaning with Vinegar
Now it’s your turn! Please remember to link back to https://TidyMom.net
Let us know what you’re lovin’ this week!
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Hi there, I'm Cheryl!
As a wife, mom, and caffeine enthusiast, my journey has taken me from bustling mornings with my family to sharing delicious recipes, home care tips, and heartfelt decorating insights with wonderful readers like you. My love for baking, photography, and tidiness shines through every post I craft. Dive into my world and discover the art of homemaking, one tidy moment at a time. Read more...
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Great cleaning tips!
Hi Cheryl! Thanks so much for hosting us. My poor coffee pot cries out for it’s vinegar treatment too often due to overuse! 🙂 Thanks for all the great tips. Have a great kickoff to your weekend….
Thanks for hosting I’m Lovin’ It Friday, Cheryl! I’m sharing my recipe for sloppy joes along with a tip for what to do with the leftovers.
I totally agree with you on the vinegar. It is my number one go to cleaner for pretty much everything! We have hard water also and the vinegar works just as well, if not better, than anything else I’ve ever tried – without all the chemicals!
Thanks again for hosting and for the vinegar tips! – LeAnne
i use vingegar alot as well, but i’ve never thought of using it in the shower & bath!
that maybe my perfect solution. old home, old bathtubs that have been painted – meaning i can’t use bleach cleaners to clean the tub because the paint will come off.
thanks for the idea!
have a super friday.
kellie
So many great tips! I need to print this out. Thanks! Vinegar is so cheap too, bonus!
I LOVE using vinegar for cleaning. I also just used it to help unclog the bathroom drain. Worked like a charm.
Another great use is to use vinegar in place of your liquid fabric softener. When the clothing is dry it will not have a vinegar odor. I learned this when I used cloth diapers because regular fabric softener will make diapers not absorbent. Vinegar is also good for removing odors in the laundry so if your favorite guy or kid leaves you with a pile of smelly clothes, the vinegar will deodorize it too. 🙂
yep!!! those were my plans for a vinegar in the laundry post! Thanks so much for the tips!
I used vinegar to de-scale the Keurig! Vinegar is great product.
Thank you for hosting! I LOVE cleaning with vinegar….I even use it to clean my face..apple cider vinegar:-)
oooh, now that one I don’t know about……sounds interesting!
Vinegar does everything! 🙂 thanks for hosting this blog party.
I’ve always wanted to try using vinegar, but it smells so bad and I’m afraid my house will stink. LOL!
It doesn’t it. Most of the time you’re using it diluted and the smell doesn’t linger.
I agree with ALL of your tips! Vinegar is amazing!
Hugs,
Kat
Vinegar is great! It works well & is cheap…a plus! :>
My camera arrived today!!! Now I not only have a fabby new DSLR, but it also fits the Light Scoop I won here…yay! :>
YAY have fun with them!!
Vinegar is awesome! It will also keep your clothes from bleeding in the wash. You don’t have to sort them. I wash everything together, except for the first time of a red item. I’ll have to try some of your tricks.
yep! I do that too Kristen!!! Thanks for sharing
I love the tip to keep mildew at bay for the shower!
I like that vinegar is so natural, but I’m not a huge fan of the smell. How can get mask the scent?
most of the time you’re using it diluted, my house does not smell like vinegar when I use it, even when I do my floors
How funny – I just tried water/vinegar to clean the shower last weekend. I heated the liquid, and it worked great on the soap scum.
Now I plan to use it more. Thanks for the tips! (and hosting)
Great tips! Big fan of vinegar here too! Thanks!
LOVE this post! I always forget how useful and economical this product really is. As it stands right now, I just use it a a rinse agent in my dishwasher. I will have to put it to more use. Thanks for sharing!
I use Vinegar for EVERYTHING too! It really is the best cleaner. Whenever I have something too tough for just vinegar, I add some baking soda, works like a charm. If my oven gets something burnt to it I sprinkle some b.soda on the bottom then pour some vinegar on it and let the chemical reaction do the scrubbing for me! I also use a sprinkle of b.soda and a cup of vinegar to clean out my toilets. Works great and costs pennies!
Ooo….these are great! I would never have thought of using vinegar for some of those! Thank you, TIDYMOM!!!
Great post and wonderful cleaner!
Cheryl, these are all great tips. I especially love the microwave one!
Thanks for the cleaning tips…I didn’t know vinegar could be used for dusting. A tip I will try for sure…I have to dust almost every day where we are swiffer pads don’t really work as advertised.
Thanks for hosting!
That tip I’ve learned from my mom! just be sure your dusting cloth is very very damp
Ok, I haven’t read all of the comments so I don’t know if others have already said this or not, but I use peppermint essential oil mixed in with my vinegar when I clean in the cold months and orange essential in the warmer months. You can still smell that vinegar but it’s not nearly as potent and you actually get used to associating vinegar with clean like you did when you used toxic chemicals. can you believe we liked that fake toxic smell of lemons and such? nasty!
and vinegar is also a deodorizer so while it smells potent initially, it will be gone soon enough and so will anything else that was stinky 🙂
Vinegar is wonderful in the rinse cycle and also has a hair rinse!!
Great post! I love cleaning with vinegar too but haven’t tried a few of those areas. I like adding some lemon juice to mine!
Well, I’ll be playing in my vinegar today! Love this one a lot!
Love all these,and since have&grew up with a lot of natural wood, have a couple “recipes” for hardwoods,natural woodwork&paneling (daddy did our family room in walnut, specially cut@an Amish sawmill, so i’m into major TLC!). Mom always vac’d with attachments first so nothing scratched, used fabric mop &squoze to barely damp so no water seep&rot under. I like to use shamwow fakes &”skate” my floors dry & shiny 😉 Dogtowels work well too (old ratty towels,sorry). To _clean&shine_ wood floors, paneling, woodwork&molding–2-3cups warm water, 1/2cup ea olive oil & white vinegar, old towels/diapers,or hardwood mop with microfiber cover (i make em cheap&change while cleaning) depending on which size wood you’re doing! Swish the cloth/cover in the mix,squeeze just damp,&wipe away! I read it was ok to add food grade extracts for scent, wow, a Tbsp of vanilla or almond smell gr8! Also just tried “shine only” spray of equal parts olive oil&vinegar–worked great!
Great tips… vinegar and baking soda, such great cheap cleaners!
This is a great post! I always use vinegar with a little bit of dish soap to mop our tile floor in our sunroom. It leaves it smelling so fresh!
PS – This post reminded me that I have to add vinegar to my grocery list… I just ran out last week! Thanks 🙂
Hey Cheryl! I too am a huge vinegar cleaning fan. I put a drop or two of either lemon oil or lavender oil to cut the smell of the vinegar which can linger. I also use apple cider vinegar diluted in water as my skin toner and it is amazing! 1/3 vinegar to 2/3 water and you wont believe your skin! I am linking up my Thoughts on Friday filled with foodie links i love! all the best, Alex
I use vinegar and water on my hardwood floors and it makes them so silky smooth! I love the idea of using it in the shower and microwave too. Thanks for the tips!
Vinegar is some amazing stuff! Have a great weekend, Cheryl!
Great post, Cheryl! I have a huge jug of vinegar just waiting to be used!
You just taught me so much about cleaning with vinegar. I dislike cleaning, but it’s gotta be done. Thanks for the tips.
I’m new to your linky party! Thanks for hosting!! Thanks for the info on cleaning with vinegar!
I’m a vinegar fanatic, I use for everything. I don’t like to use harsh cleaning products so vinegar, soap and baking soda are my go-to cleaning products.
Great tips! We also use vinegar to keep our dishwasher running smoothly. Put a small cup of vinegar on the top shelf then next time you run the dishwasher. It will clean out any build-up in the motor and make those dishes spot-free and shiny.
My mother always used vinegar as a cleaning agent. She said a little bit of vinegar and water and a lot of elbow grease is all you need!
Thanks for the great cleaning info. I’m all about natural means and methods.
I just saw this info on a television show this past week and thought I would share.
Drain Cleaner
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup baking soda
Let sit in drain for 20 minutes then flush with boiling water. Repeat weekly. 🙂
Great tips – I can’t wait to put the new ones I learned to use!
We use vinegar to clean with all the time – but add a couple drops of essential oil into the mix to take the icky stinge out of the smell!
Such a great post!! I have been trying to use vingar more lately with my cleaning my hardwood floors since my baby is girl is crawling all over them!!
Thanks so much for sharing! I, too, love vinegar. So many uses! I just wanted to let you know I shared a link to this post from my blog. Hope that’s ok!
Krista
Wow vinegar is versify It has many many use that you can’t imagine how good it really is other than for cooking. It can use as a stain remover or cleaner for getting rid of water grime on your bathroom fixtures. Well I really like your theme its breath taking.
Vinegar cleans so much – just do not like smell!
I can’t find a good windows cleaner. I will definitely try your way of natural cleaning with white vinegar. It sounds really interesting! Thanks a lot for sharing!
This is good information! We use vinegar a whole bunch for cleaning around our home (love using it in our laundry!) Have you ever heard of using cornstarch or arrowroot powder in your homemade window cleaning solution? I’ve heard it works a treat. Really appreciate the time you put into providing us all with these easy solutions. Thanks again for the great information!