Don’t you just love it when you step into a clean home with sparkling, almost reflective, surfaces and a pleasant smell? There is something about being clean and staying clean that makes your mind feel at peace. But, clean homes do not come easy. It takes a lot of effort mopping the floor, vacuuming the rug, and wiping the dust off shelves. Along with so much effort, cleaning a home takes a lot of chemical-laden products too, which can actually harm your health in the long run. Due to this reason, it is better to use all-natural ingredients when cleaning your home. Not only are they safe and effective but also help you save some money. By using vinegar, you can achieve the same sparkling results you would achieve by using expensive chemical cleaners. Whether you need to descale or deodorize your home, you can just pull out a bottle of vinegar to do the trick. Here are a few ways in which you can use vinegar to clean your home.
1. Spruce Up Your Wood Floors
Vinegar comes in handy when you want to clean and add shine to your wood floors. Just add half a cup of vinegar to a gallon of hot water and mop away. Just be careful to wring the mop after dipping it in the solution as too much water will get absorbed into the wood, causing it to swell and warp. Wipe off excess water with a towel as you clean. Do not use vinegar if your floors are waxed and do not wipe your floor too often as standing water might give rise to mildew or mold.
2. Wipe Off Crayon Marks
If you have kids in the house then you know how each wall of your home becomes their work of art when you leave them alone. Fortunately, vinegar can be used to erase crayon markings without damaging the paint job. Just dip a toothbrush in half a cup or one cup of vinegar, depending on how big your child’s masterpiece is, and gently move it over the crayon marks in small circles. The vinegar will break down the wax so you can simply wipe it away.
3. Clean Your Microwave
Your microwave is an appliance that is quite difficult to clean. No matter how much you scrub, the stubborn liquid stains and the odor do not seem to go away. This is where vinegar comes in handy. Just take a bowl of vinegar mixed with water and microwave it for 5 to 10 minutes to let it steam. The steam will effectively loosen up the grime and will help you get rid of the toughest gunk just by wiping the interior with a clean damp cloth. Do place a wooden toothpick in the bowl before you microwave to prevent the solution from boiling and spilling over.
4. Descale Your Tea Kettle
When you use your kettle consistently to make tea, the interior of the kettle will gradually start getting coated with limescale, a calcium deposit that gets left behind as water evaporates. Since vinegar is a descaling agent, it will get rid of such unsightly deposits. Fill the kettle halfway with a mixture of water and vinegar in a 1:1 ratio and bring it to a boil. Once the solution boils, turn off the heat and let it sit for 30 minutes to an hour. Drain the solution, rinse the kettle with water, and wipe it with a damp cloth. Boil clean water in the kettle again to avoid getting a vinegary aftertaste when you sip your next cup of tea.
5. Deodorize Your Cat’s Litter Box
If your cat’s litter box gives off a foul stench no matter how many times you clean it, then you can use vinegar to get some relief. Empty your cat’s litter box, fill it with half an inch of vinegar, leave it for 20 minutes, then rinse it with cold water. You can then refill the litter box and breathe easy as the vinegar gets rid of the smell.
Vinegar is a safe ingredient to use around the house as long as you don’t combine it with bleach or ammonia. You need to be careful as such combinations can give rise to toxic vapors that can harm your health.
