Vinegar Fridays

TGIVF!

Another week has flown by. Did anyone use any of the tips from last week to spruce up their kitchens? Are you ready for some more ideas on how to use distilled white vinegar to disinfect and clean your home? Good. Because I am ready to share some with you.

This week we are turning our attention to the walls in our houses. If you haven't cleaned them lately, perhaps now is the time, before we start decking the halls! 

With the summer humidity behind us, remnants of it may remain in the form of mildew on our walls, particularly in the basement. But it is relatively easy to get rid of. Grab your distilled white vinegar (which you are probably buying by the gallon now) and pour it, undiluted onto a cloth or sponge. Simply wipe the mildew away. This is also a good way to deodorize the walls and clean the residue away left behind by smokers in the home.

To clean woodwork, dilute a cup of vinegar in a gallon of warm water with a cup of baking soda mixed in. Dampen a soft cloth with the natural cleaning solution and wipe.



Photo courtesy of Petr Kratochvil

 Revive the luster of wood paneling by wiping with a damp, but not wet, cloth. The solution? 1/2 cup vinegar, 1/4 cup olive oil and 2 cups warm water.

Now this one is for the more ambitious ones among us. If you are planning on getting the wallpaper off your walls, make the job a bit easier by saturating the surface with a 50/50 solution of vinegar and hot water. Hint: the application is a bit easier when you use a paint roller.

How about crayon on the walls? It is always such a pleasant surprise when you discover your little one has exercised his artistic license on the wall of your dining room! But once again, vinegar comes to the rescue. Apply undiluted distilled white vinegar to the wax scribblings and then erase them by scrubbing with an old toothbrush sprinkled with baking soda. Voila! Artwork gone, paint unmarred.

Enjoy getting your walls in shape for the upcoming holidays! For those of us in Pennsylvania and the surrounding areas, it is going to be more like spring cleaning this weekend, as we enjoy temps in the 60s and plenty of sunshine.

Keeping it green with vinegar,

Hana