8 Ways to Use Vinegar to Clean the Kitchen

The bottle of vinegar that is tucked away in the back of your cupboard can be put to better use than just sitting there gathering dust. Vinegar does not receive the credit that it deserves. It can multi-task, whereas we may struggle with just one or two tasks. Vinegar can be used in a variety of ways. It acts as a neutralizer, powerful cleaning agent and as an effective home medicine. I shall concentrate on how vinegar can be used in the kitchen. I would recommend using white vinegar for cleaning purposes. It will work better than apple cider or other varieties.

1. Window cleaner

Are you tired of using commercial cleaners that leave streaks? You may wonder whether you should have just left the windows alone, as they looked cleaner before you washed them! But that need not be the case any longer. Use a quarter of a cup of vinegar in a quart of water to wash your windows with and wipe off with newspapers. The result will be windows that sparkle nicely. If that seems a bit too messy, try adding a 50/50 solution of water and vinegar in a spray bottle and clean your windows in the same way in which you would use a commercial cleaner.

2. Oven cleaner

Finish off a clean oven with some white vinegar, as a final rinse. This will help neutralize the alkali that is present in commercial oven cleaners. It will also prevent the oven from smelling badly next time you decide to bake something.

3. Fridge/ freezer

Vinegar is a great solution to use when cleaning the inside of your fridge. Food smells interact with one another and can become quite unpleasant. Heat up some vinegar and wipe the inside of fridges with a damp cloth soaked in warm vinegar. Leave it for a few minutes and then wipe clean.

4. Use in your dishwasher

If you often run your dishwasher but still end up with streaky, dull looking dishes, you can soon change that. Pour 1/4 of a cup of vinegar into your dishwasher rinse cycle and your dishes will be streak-free and sparkling too.

5. Clean counter tops

If you use a bleach solution to clean your counter top after handling raw meat, rinsing alone will not remove the bleach smell. Spray the area with bleach solution and you will soon notice the smell of bleach disappear. Be very careful if you do this though! Mixing bleach with vinegar produces chlorine gas. So just use a few drops at a time on the counter tops, more as a spot neutralizer than in larger quantities, and you will be safe.

6. Get rid of water stains

However much you clean your sink and taps (faucets) you may find that water stains collect and make the sink area look dirty. Try soaking a paper towel or two in vinegar to help get rid of hard water deposits and leave it there overnight. In the morning, it will be easy to wipe clean. The result will be a sparkling, clean sink area!

7. Microwave

Keeping the microwave clean can be difficult, especially if stuck on food is not removed quickly. Make up your own microwave cleaning solution and your troubles will be over. Place one tablespoon of vinegar into a small cup of warm water, with a little squirt of dish soap into a microwave safe bowl. Place in the microwave on high for about 3 minutes and let it stand for a further 15 minutes. Wipe the microwave with a damp sponge. The steam and vinegar will help to loosen up the build up that you find in your microwave.

8. Coffee pots

Remove coffee stains from your coffee pot by soaking vinegar and water together. The vinegar will easily remove stains that build up.

Vinegar has so many more uses around the house and garden, and can be used as an effective medicine too. It truly is a marvel and can produce great results. So save yourself a lot of money on lots of commercial cleaners, and invest more time and effort into discovering the many useful ways that vinegar can help make your life easier.

Source:

http://frugalliving.about.com/cs/tips/a/vinclean.htm