The Wonders of Vinegar

I came across a great article on Yahoo! about cleaning with vinegar and I thought I would share it. Here is an excerpt of the article "25 Ways to Clean with Vinegar" by Emily Hsieh:

"The cleaning aisle at just about any grocery store is stocked with a dizzying array of options—and when it comes down to it, there are a lot of expensive, toxic, superfluous products crowding the market. Chances are, you already have one of the best, all-purpose cleaning agents in your pantry: white vinegar. As noted earlier, vinegar actually works as a great laundry booster, stripping away the chemical build-up that detergent leaves behind (and gets rid of clingy odors in the process). And beyond that, there are tons of other applications for the stuff around your home..." For the complete article: http://shine.yahoo.com/event/haven/25-ways-to-clean-with-vinegar-1371277/

The article also lists a great website for 1001 cleaning tips with vinegar. Here are some of the tips I like from www.vinegartips.com:

• Avoid the bad smell when you heat up a newly cleaned oven by using a sponge soaked in diluted white distilled vinegar for the final rinse.
• To clean a grease splattered oven door window, saturate it with full-strength white distilled vinegar. Keep the door open for 10 to 15 minutes before wiping with a sponge.
• Remove soap buildup and odors from the dishwasher by pouring a cup of white distilled vinegar inside the empty machine and running it through a whole cycle. Do monthly.
• To prevent good glassware from getting etched by minerals, wash then spray with full-strength white distilled vinegar. Give the glasses a hot water rinse before letting them dry or drying them with a towel.
• Remove white water rings from wood with a solution of equal parts white distilled vinegar and vegetable oil. Rub with the grain.
• Remove perspiration odor and stains on clothing, as well as those left by deodorants, by spraying full-strength white distilled vinegar on underarm and collar areas before tossing them into the washing machine.
• Forgot that you left wet laundry in the machine and it now smells moldy? Pour a few cups of white distilled vinegar in the machine and wash the clothes in hot water. Then run a normal cycle with detergent.
• Get cleaner laundry! Add about 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar to the last rinse. The acid in white distilled vinegar is too mild to harm fabrics, yet strong enough to dissolve the alkalies in soaps and detergents. Besides removing soap, white distilled vinegar prevents yellowing, acts as a fabric softener and static cling reducer, and attacks mold and mildew.
• Eliminate manufacturing chemicals from new clothes by adding 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar to the water.
• Give acid-loving plants like azaleas, rhododendrons, hydrangeas and gardenias a little help by watering them with a white distilled vinegar solution now and again. A cup of white distilled vinegar to a gallon of tap water is a good mixture.
• Stop ants from congregating by pouring white distilled vinegar on the area.
• Discourage cats from getting into the kids’ sandbox with white distilled vinegar.
• Preserve cut flowers and liven droopy ones by adding 2 tablespoons white distilled vinegar and 1 teaspoon sugar to a quart of water in a vase.
• Kill weeds and grass growing in unwanted places by pouring full-strength white distilled vinegar on them. This works especially well in crevices and cracks of walkways and driveways.
• Create an all-purpose window cleaner with a few ounces of white distilled vinegar in a quart of water.
• Give leather upholstery an extra shine by cleaning it with hot white distilled vinegar and rinsing with soapy water.
• Make your car extra shiny by adding a few drops of white distilled vinegar to your bucket of water.

There are so many more great tips on the website, so check it out!