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Cleaning products with vinegar


19 Vinegar Cleaning Hacks That'll Save You Money

Vinegar is a natural cleaning solution that yields numerous benefits in and around your home — and it's so cheap!

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Family Handyman

Clean Rusty Tools With Vinegar

Catherine Miller found a much easier way to clean rusty tools than scraping and sanding them. She poured white vinegar into a tin can (we used glass) and put a rusty wood chisel in the vinegar to soak overnight.

The next day, with the help of a Scotch-Brite pad, all the rust came off with little effort. The blade still needed sharpening, but the chisel was almost as good as new. Catherine wraps larger tools in a vinegar-soaked rag, covers the rag with a plastic bag or plastic wrap and then leaves it for 24 hours. After cleaning off the rust, you just rinse the tool in the clear water and wipe it dry.

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Get Rid of Salt Residue on Shoes

You can clean off the residue quickly with a simple solution you can make at home. Fill a spray bottle with water and add a couple of tablespoons of white vinegar. Shake it up and spritz the mixture onto a clean paper towel. Gently wipe your shoes and watch the salt residue disappear. Keep the spray bottle near your shoe collection so you can clean off your shoes as the season goes.

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Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner

Try using this homemade all-purpose cleaning solution on countertops and surfaces to disinfect and freshen your home. The recipe includes vinegar, which removes stains and odors, plus anti-microbial essential oils to keep your home germ free. Check out the instructions for this DIY all-purpose cleaner.

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Family Handyman

Vinegar Gets the Gunk

I like to keep my lawn equipment really clean. For items like my string trimmer, I simply scrub off all the muck with an old dish brush and white vinegar. It takes about 15 minutes for my string trimmer to go from drab to fab. — Richard Johnson

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Family Handyman

The Best DIY Gnat Trap to Try

Tired of the annoying gnats around your home? Gather a few small jars, pour in four tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and whirl in a few drops of liquid dish soap. With the lids off, place the jars wherever you see the most gnats. The gnats will be drawn to the smell of the apple cider, but once they land in the mixture the soap makes it difficult for them to escape.

These non-toxic traps work like a dream. I set them out one night and the next morning, all the gnats were in the jars! — Gina Kinnan

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Add Vinegar to Your Dishwasher

Use vinegar in your dishwasher to give your glassware an extra sparkle and prevent filmy residue from hard water.

To give this trick a whirl, make sure your dishwasher is full — the best and most environmentally conscious way to go — then grab a small bowl that’s dishwasher safe. Pour it half full of white vinegar (yes, we’re optimists) and stabilize it in the top rack. To avoid damage to the dishwasher’s gaskets, don’t pour the vinegar directly into the rinse aid compartment. Then add dishwasher soap and run a regular cycle.

From its top-tier position, the vinegar should evenly distribute among both levels. Then remove and enjoy your gleaming glassware.

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Erase Algae with White Vinegar

Forget renting a power washer! To eliminate that unwanted icky green stuff on your patio, spray it with full-strength distilled white vinegar.

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Family Handyman

Thin Wood Glue

I recently wrote to the Borden Company, asking what to do when their Elmer’s wood glue becomes too thick to use. They suggested mixing in a drop or two of vinegar. It sounded like an old wives’ tale, but I tried it and found it really works.

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Simple Cleaner Soft Scrub 

Industrial soft scrub cleaners can contain strong chemical ingredients, but you can get your tub and shower just as clean with a homemade cleaner. This simple soft scrub recipe will clean a bathroom faster and better. It uses a mixture of baking soda and vinegar, which dissolves hard mineral deposits and easily cuts through soap scum.

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Yulia-Bogdanova & amazon.com/Shutterstock

Turn Pink Hydrangeas Blue with Vinegar

Unlike baking soda, distilled white vinegar is acidic, and acidic soil is the secret to turning your pink hydrangeas blue. (Note: This doesn’t work on white hydrangeas. ) Vinegar also enhances the soil of acid-loving plants like azaleas, rhododendrons and gardenias. Use a cup of white distilled vinegar to a gallon of tap water.

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Vinaigrette Scratch Remover

Minor scratches in wood furniture don’t need to be sanded out; you can hide them. Mix one part vinegar with three parts canola or olive oil and wipe it on the scratch using a soft cloth. The scratch virtually disappears, and you can dress your salad with the leftovers.

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Natural Toilet Bowl Cleaner

Many commercial toilet bowl cleaners use chlorine bleach, but not this natural toilet bowl cleaner. Instead, castile soap and baking soda get the job done. Plus, you won’t have to worry about accidentally exposing your pets or children to toxic toilet water.

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Family Handyman

Brilliant DIY Indoor Fly Trap

Wondering how to get rid of annoying flies around your home? Wash a plastic beverage bottle and cut off the top. Stick the cutoff top upside down in the bottle’s bottom. Mark a line slightly below the bottle’s spout. This will serve as a “fill to” line. Fill with apple chunks, the riper the better, and two cups of white vinegar to deter bees from the trap. Place the cutoff top upside down in the bottle. Flies can easily get into the wide opening, but it’s difficult for them to get back out.

Note: The better the bait, the more effective these fly traps will be. Any type of decomposing fruit or vegetable will work, too. Try different ingredients to see what’s most effective in your house. Because you’re using rotting food to attract the flies, make sure to place the homemade fly trap where the smell won’t bother you or the neighbors.

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Lemon and Vinegar Cleaner

Skip the expensive store-bought surface cleaners and make an all-purpose homemade cleaning solution using vinegar. Just mix one part distilled white vinegar, two parts water and a squeeze of lemon juice. This homemade cleaner works in the kitchen, bathroom and on floors. You can add a little baking soda to help whiten grout and sinks, just rinse with water after scrubbing. Check out these 14 clever uses for baking soda at home.

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Homemade Window Cleaner

Forget using chemical cleaners to wash windows. They’ll look clean as a whistle with this all-natural homemade window cleaner, which uses vinegar and cornstarch to buff those fingerprints away.

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Family Handyman

DIY Wood Stain

No need to buy a stain for your next woodworking project. It only takes a few common household ingredients: steel wool, coffee grounds and vinegar.

Place a steel wool pad into a Mason jar and add about 1/4 cup of used coffee grounds and about one to two cups of vinegar. Close the container, shake the mixture and let it stew overnight. Open the container and gently mix the stain. Using gloves, remove the steel wool and apply the stain to the project. As the stain dries it will become darker, so let the stain set for 20 minutes before applying the second coat. Repeat until you get the desired color.

Check out these pro tips for using varnish and stain.

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An Old School Remedy

A little research will show you that cleaning wood floors with white vinegar and water is highly contested, but it’s definitely worth a try if you’re looking to avoid harmful chemicals.

Depending on the strength of acetic acid (the chemical component in vinegar that breaks down oils and sugars) you’re looking to apply to your floors, go for anywhere from a half cup to a full cup of vinegar per gallon of water. Another plus? If you’re into natural remedies, you likely already have a variety of vinegars in your cabinet or refrigerator (but probably avoid the red wine variety). Learn how to clean floors of all kinds.

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Clean Grease

Vinegar (acetic acid) cuts grease and doesn’t streak, which makes it ideal for cleaning glass. We recommend a solution of 50 percent white vinegar and 50 percent tap water. In most cases, vinegar is a great all-purpose cleaner, but there are some things that you shouldn’t clean with it. Here are seven things you should never clean with vinegar.

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via amazon.com

A Clear Staple

Even professionals clean with vinegar. For an all-purpose cleaning solution, here’s what Shepard and his crew recommend: Mix equal measures of water and vinegar and a bit of freshly squeezed lemon juice. Pour in a spray bottle and shake. “The lemon juice adds a sweet citrus smell while adding additional cleaning oomph. The citric acid in lemon is also an effective cleanser and a great deodorizer,” says Shepard.

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Vanessa Grimes of MaidGift advocates cleaning a baby’s nursery with vinegar. “When it comes to children’s rooms, it’s kind of difficult because most eco-friendly items do not offer the disinfecting elements,” she says. “And, the ones that do, have such harsh chemicals. I like to clean the nursery with plain white distilled vinegar and a few drops of scented oils, which cleans and also disinfect the surfaces. Baby’s room is left with a fresh, clean smell.”

Up next, see the many incredible uses for toothpaste.

Originally Published: July 24, 2021

The Do's And Don'ts Of Cleaning With Vinegar

Not many people know that November 1st is National Vinegar Day, but to be honest, this versatile household staple deserves a celebration.

Vinegar is the unheralded hero of the home, as helpful in flavoring our sauces as it is cleaning countertops or killing weeds. It’s safe, powerful, inexpensive, and always on hand for quick cleanups between your weekly cleaning service. We may use our favorite branded cleaners for specific chores, but nothing is more dependable than vinegar in a pinch.

The possibilities seem endless, but it’s crucial to understand that vinegar is not safe for every surface around the house. We’ll explore how to clean with vinegar, so you can understand the best times to use a vinegar cleaning solution and the best times to find an alternative.

Why Is Vinegar Good for Cleaning?

There are many types of vinegar, but the multi-functional centerpiece of many DIY green cleaning solutions is distilled white vinegar. Composed of 5% acetic acid to 95% water, distilled vinegar is safe to consume and strong enough to clean. Its acidity goes to work on grime and dirt, dissolving and loosening messes to make them wipe clean.

What You Can Clean With Vinegar

You can create an all-purpose vinegar spray by mixing one part vinegar with one part water, adding in a few drops of essential oils as desired for a more pleasant aroma. A vinegar cleaning solution can be used for cleaning counters, wiping down mirrors, polishing fixtures, and much more. Let’s look at different areas in the house to see how it fits into your cleaning routine.

Vinegar in the Kitchen

Vinegar is an excellent kitchen cleaner because it’s both potent and non-toxic. You won’t have to worry about food coming into contact with hazardous chemicals, giving you peace of mind as you tidy your floors, counters, and appliances.

Here are some of the best ways you can use a vinegar cleaner around the kitchen:

​​You can also make a handy glass cleaner for windows and hard water-marked dishware. It’s efficient at removing stains and grime from numerous kitchen items. Let it sit for several minutes in plastic containers or cookware to get rid of grease and water stains.

Vinegar in the Bathroom

Vinegar’s odor-killing power is an enormous help in the bathroom. Like the kitchen, there are many non-porous bathroom surfaces that can handle your vinegar cleaner.

Try using these tips to clean your bathroom:

​Vinegar can power through soap scum, remove mold and mildew, and break down hard water minerals, three essential needs when trying to tackle the cleaning chores between maid service visits. Try pairing vinegar and baking soda for extra-strength cleaning and deodorizing around the kitchen and bathroom.

Vinegar in the Bedroom, Living Room, and Laundry

You can use vinegar in any room and not only on hard surfaces. Add ½ cup of it to the washing machine to give your laundry detergent a color-protecting boost. Alongside baking soda, it can remove stains and odors from your carpet or freshen up a mattress.

When You Shouldn’t Use Vinegar

Vinegar probably sounds like the universal answer to any cleaning problem, but there are plenty of places where you would be wise not to use it. There are also plenty of products that you must never mix with vinegar. For instance, although they make an incredible cleaning duo when used one after the other, mixing vinegar and baking soda is completely useless.

For safety reasons, never mix vinegar with hydrogen peroxide or bleach.  When you combine them with vinegar, these cleaning chemicals create dangerous gasses that irritate the eyes, skin, and respiratory system.

Your trusty vinegar cleaning solution can also be harmful to certain materials around the home. The following are some of the critical places to avoid cleaning with vinegar.

Metal Surfaces

Vinegar is effective on stainless steel and enameled cast iron surfaces, but it can be corrosive for most metals. Even some varieties of stainless steel, such as smudge-proof stainless steel, can degrade from vinegar. Be careful using vinegar on metal cooking utensils, countertops, and appliance surfaces.

Stone Countertops

Vinegar’s acidity is problematic for natural stone surfaces. It will etch your countertops, dig through the protective sealant, and take away most of the luster. Do not use vinegar on the following materials:

​Instead of vinegar, stick with water and a cloth to wipe away dirt. Abrasive cleaners are a quick way to damage most stone fixtures, so basic approaches are usually the best way of protecting your investment.

Electronic Screens

Vinegar can make a great glass cleaner, but you cannot treat electronic screens like your average window. For a safer formula, use a mixture of one part distilled water and one part isopropyl alcohol. Mix them in a spray bottle, and use a microfiber cloth to clean dust and smudges off the screen.

Wood Floors

Like stone surfaces, wood floors can also face damage from vinegar. The acid will dissolve away the finish, making your floor look dull and worn. Refer to your flooring manufacturer’s recommendations for appropriate floor cleaners.

Targeted Disinfection

Among the many advantages of vinegar as a cleaner, perhaps the most notable is its safe use as a disinfectant. Vinegar has been shown to have antimicrobial benefits, effective in killing various foodborne pathogens such as:

​Vinegar can reduce many of these germs in the house, which is why it’s great for kitchen surfaces. Still, vinegar should not be your go-to germ-killer, as it’s not an EPA-registered disinfectant. If you’re concerned about particular illnesses in the house, you should opt for a certified disinfectant or schedule a maid service that specializes in disinfection and sanitization.

Let Your Cleaning Service Manage the Mess

Vinegar is a must-have for every household, a convenient tool for countless cleanup chores. Follow these tips on cleaning with vinegar, and you’ll make cleaning easy and worry-free every time.

Even though vinegar can do it all, it can sometimes be hard for you to do it all, especially after a long day of working and looking after the family. Get some relief with a local cleaning service matched to fit your needs, budget, and schedule. Request a booking today, and see how easy it is to find the perfect cleaning solution.

Sofa cleaning with vinegar and soda

Why has this folk method gained such immense popularity? First, it's a cheap cleaning - after all, baking soda and vinegar can be found in any household. Secondly, these substances have an obvious effect of action: vinegar is used as a stain remover, and soda very effectively absorbs any odors, including after the coating has been treated with vinegar.

Cleaning the sofa with vinegar at home using the wet method:

How to clean a sofa at home using the dry method

In this case, only soda is needed. It absorbs both odors and moisture well. But unlike vinegar, it does not work well on old stains. Therefore, soda is used in emergency cases, as soon as a coloring liquid has been spilled onto the surface of upholstered furniture.
Sprinkle generously on the stained area. Leave the substance for 45 minutes. After that, you need to carefully clean the soda from the upholstery with a stiff brush. If the stain remains, after a few hours you can try wet cleaning with vinegar.

Effects of using vinegar and soda

These substances are only available. They should only be used in emergencies and not as a permanent method of cleaning upholstered furniture in the home. Neither baking soda nor vinegar are gentle cleaning agents, and therefore adversely affect the quality of the upholstery.

Negative aspects of the use of soda and vinegar:

Which method of cleaning furniture is safe and effective

Upholstered furniture with all types of upholstery should be cleaned by professionals. Only professional cleaning allows you to remove stains without damaging the fabric itself or the skin. Masters use special chemistry that does not cause allergies, for example, Kiehl and Formula 9 preparations0. They are absolutely safe for children and pets.

An important point: our company provides professional cleaning services with a guarantee. We are financially responsible for the work performed. Therefore, do not experiment - seek the services of experts in their field.

We have implemented a convenient dry cleaning calculator

Vinegar is an all-purpose cleaner. Composition application

Universal detergent - vinegar. Natural and effective.

Plain white vinegar is an all-purpose cleaner. Natural, safe and effective. Vinegar is widely available, cheap and easy to use; it can be safely used for cleaning where there are children and pets. The vinegar in the household cleaners I list below is capable of polishing, removing limescale, conditioning, and mildly disinfecting almost any surface in the home. If you're willing to put in a little time and effort to 'chem' vinegar at home and make your own natural cleansers, further cleaning will be a matter of minutes and a pleasure. Almost -)).

Why make detergents at home.

Are the stores full of household chemicals?

  1. To know for sure that your household detergent is completely safe and natural (especially important for people suffering from skin diseases, asthma and allergies who react poorly to various additives and fragrances in industrial detergents).
  2. To keep your home and environment clean with harsh chemicals.
  3. To eliminate the possibility of household chemical poisoning in children and pets.
  4. To save money, because natural detergents from the store are very expensive.
  5. Just for fun and creativity (you only need a few ingredients and you can choose your own natural fragrance).

See also: How to Make Apple Cider Vinegar at Home, Apple Cider Vinegar - Application

Natural Vinegar Cleansing Ingredients

Here I am listing the composition of homemade cleansers for various household purposes that I found online and tried out. The unit of measurement in most formulations is a measuring cup of a standard volume of 250 ml.

Glass and mirror cleaner

2 cups water + 1/4 cup vinegar + 1/2 tsp. basic dish soap without additives with a neutral pH (Fairy Original, Dawn Blue, etc.). Mix without shaking the bottle (to prevent the soap from foaming), apply to a glass or mirror surface and wipe with a clean, dry microfiber cloth (such cloths do not leave fibers). For particularly dirty surfaces - mix the product in a container, soak a rag in it and rinse the window. The product dries quickly and leaves no streaks. I really like this simple window and mirror cleaner , I have it pre-mixed in a spray bottle and use it regularly.

By the way, according to some, if you wipe the windows of your car with vinegar and water in a ratio of 3:1 before the promised frosts, then the windows will remain clean, without frost, and they will not need to be scraped off later. I haven't tested this remedy because we don't actually get frost. If you tried it, tell us about the result in the comments below this post.

See also: How to get rid of bad smells at home.

Limescale Vinegar

Vinegar is great for removing scale in the kettle and limescale on chrome, stainless steel or brass faucets and surfaces near faucets. If you have heavy water (like we do, because England is built on limestone), then you are familiar with the problem of white lime deposits where ordinary tap water regularly gets. To descale your kettle, pour vinegar into the kettle to coat the bottom of the kettle and the heating element. Let stand for 15 minutes, listening to the funny hiss of the lime reacting with the acid of the vinegar. Now add water to the allowed limit and bring the kettle to a boil. Discard the water with vinegar and rinse the kettle with plain water. Now it's shiny inside and looks like new.

Apply 5% vinegar to limescale near faucets. Stainless steel or chrome taps themselves, in case of serious deposits, can be wrapped with a rag soaked in vinegar. Now we have to wait. How long to wait depends on how dirty your faucets and surfaces are, ranging from 15 minutes to several hours. Then the surface can simply be rubbed - the limescale will come off easily, and then wiped dry and lightly polished with a rag, it is not necessary to rinse off the vinegar. If you clean the bathroom and kitchen with vinegar regularly, then stainless steel faucets will shine, and limescale will be minimal or absent. Which naturally brings us to the next point.

Bathroom detergent: sink, bathtub, shower

An effective bathroom cleaner must not only deal with dirt, grease and limescale deposits, but also soap residue. All this together creates a nasty whitish coating in the bathtub and sinks, but the tiles, doors and shower floor are most susceptible to it. Try this Natural Effective Vinegar Bathroom Cleanser :

2 tbsp. vinegar + 1.5 tbsp. dish soap. Gently mix the ingredients without shaking the bottle. Spray this composition from a spray bottle with a thin layer, spread it over the entire surface with a sponge. Leave for 15 minutes (in places of special pollution and plaque deposits - for several hours, periodically re-applying the product). Scrub the surface with the hard side of a sponge or brush, then rinse with water. Wipe dry with a clean cloth.

I use dish soap and chlorine to clean the kitchen sink (no vinegar, because chlorine and vinegar cannot be mixed), because the kitchen sink accumulates much more germs and bacteria than the bathroom.

Mildew Vinegar

Vinegar is a mild mold killer. Bleach, for example, removes mold much faster and more effectively, but if you want to avoid the unpleasant side effects of using bleach (pungent smell, risk of ruining clothes), use undiluted vinegar. The stronger the vinegar, the better it works against black mold. First, clean the area affected by black mold, scrub the mold from porous surfaces with a brush. Then apply vinegar from a spray bottle, let it dry, and reapply it. Black mold from joints and seams between tiles after exposure to vinegar should be removed with a brush with stiff bristles. Rinse off the dirt with water, pat dry and reapply the vinegar.

When it comes to removing black mold from silicone joints, which are particularly prone to it, ordinary vinegar cannot cope with it, you have to use products with bleach.

Rust Vinegar

Scrub the rust area with a cloth heavily dampened with vinegar until the rust stain is removed. Small metal objects affected by rust can be soaked or even boiled in vinegar. Vinegar also works on rust stains on clothes.

After the rust has been removed from the metal surface, coat the entire item with a thin layer of vegetable or mineral oil. The oil will protect the metal from corrosion, as well as give shine and a better look to the entire product.

Granite cleaner: cleaning and care All-purpose bathroom cleaner: sink, bathtub, shower Home Detergents: Natural, Safe, Effective Household detergents, composition and use Limescale remedy. Faucet and granite counter BEFORE cleaning with vinegar Limescale remedy. Faucet and granite counter AFTER cleaning with vinegar

Granite cleaner: cleaning and care

2 tbsp. vinegar + 1 tbsp. water. Mix in a spray bottle, spray onto granite countertops in kitchens and bathrooms, and wipe with a clean microfiber cloth. Don't worry, 5% vinegar won't damage your granite countertop, it's protected with a special product (see below for which countertops you can't use vinegar on).

Attention: never clean the granite countertop with alcohol!

For lime deposits on granite countertops (near faucets), use pure 5% vinegar without water as described above (see photo of my kitchen faucet).

Where else can vinegar help - all-purpose cleaner

Where NOT to use vinegar

How to make household detergents with vinegar

Having tried the compositions of home detergents, many 'fall in love' with them and categorically declare: I will never buy household chemicals in the store again! We are against categorical and fanaticism in anything. Therefore, at home, in addition to detergents with vinegar, we use other chemicals for their intended purpose, which, perhaps, I will also write about. If you decide that most of your household chemicals will be taken up by household detergents with vinegar, I recommend taking this seriously -)).

Purchase plastic spray bottles, preferably in different colors. Purchase a large (5L) bottle of white distilled 5% vinegar from a hardware store or online. Get your favorite essential oil (tea tree oil, lavandin oil, rosemary oil are especially good for cleaning). Mix a little (a glass or two) of the compositions you need, because natural homemade detergents do not contain preservatives, so their shelf life is not as long as that of industrial ones. Clearly sign each bottle (you can indicate the composition so that you don’t have to look for it later to prepare a new batch). You can make stickers, or you can use indelible markers, as I did (see photo). Always have clean rags, microfiber cloths and cleaning sponges on hand. Put everything you need in one place. Now cleaning will be a matter of minutes: get the right bottle and rag, sprinkle the contaminated surface and wipe.

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