Vinegar... in the space between Thanksgiving and Christmas

Image by George Hodan

TGIVF!!

If you're like most of us, you'll be planning your Christmas decorating as you're washing your last dish on Thanksgiving night. Unless of course, you're too caught up in Black Friday plans... but that's another subject altogether.

Before you start hanging lights around windows, it's a good idea to wash them first. But it's a bad idea to pull out the Windex, or some other toxic substance that you'll be squirting about.

Here's my eco-friendly recipe for streak-free clean windows just in time for the holidays.

Mix a 75/25 (water/distilled white vinegar) solution in a spray bottle and spritz away.

Here are some tips to make cleaning your windows a bit easier:

• Never wash your windows with any kind of liquid spray when the sun is shining on them. This will simply produce streaking, and you'll have to go back and do them again. If you're using a Norwex Envirocloth and Window Polishing Cloth, you're good to go, sunshine or not. But when you use a liquid spray, do the side of the house where the sun isn't shining.
• If there's a waxy build-up on the glass from commercial window cleaners, mix a solution of 2 cups water, 1 cup DWV and a teaspoon of liquid dishwashing soap. Spray it on and wipe. This should take care of the wax residue.
• If there are paint splatters on the windows from a recent, or not so recent paint job, dip a clean paintbrush in undiluted DWV and brush the paint right off. If there is a substantial amount of paint on the glass, heat up some full-strength vinegar and apply it to the window with a brush or rag. Allow it time to soak in and soften the pain before scraping it off with a razor blade.

Once the windows are clean, those dirty mini blinds and shutters look even dirtier. Don't you hate that?! You can always blame dirty windows on the weather or road construction, but when it comes to indoor dust and dirt, it's pretty much obvious where the blame lies. So now that the windows are letting the sun show off a bit, don a pair of cloth gloves and dip your fingers into a 50/50 solution of DWV and water. Slide your fingers between the slats. What could be easier? Yeah, I know... not having blinds or shutters in the first place!

Oh, and let's not forget the curtains. This is a good time to toss them in the wash with some eco-friendly detergent and vinegar. If the weather cooperates, you can hang them out to dry and they'll be wrinkle-free and ready to hang. 

It's beginning to look a lot like Cleanness... everywhere you go...

Keeping it green with vinegar,

Hana

For more tips like this, check out my book, Vinegar Fridays on Amazon.com or discounted at Lulu.com.

Vinegar Friday

TGIVF!

It's been quite a week on the blog. Apparently more people are interested in greening their periods than I anticipated! Welcome to all of you who are new to the community! This is Vinegar Friday, a weekly GG feature extolling the many virtues of vinegar.

Quite honestly, after 11 months of writing about vinegar, I am running out of "themes." But I thought I would at least give you a few related tips about cleaning furniture.



Vinyl

Using a soft cloth, apply a mixture of 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar, 1/2 cup water and 2 teaspoons of liquid soap. "Rinse" with another cloth dampened with plain water and buff with a soft dry cloth.

Leather

Combine 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar, 1 tablespoon rubbing alcohol, 1 teaspoon olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon liquid soap. Apply to the leather with a cloth and then brush the leather gently with a soft brush. (This works well on leather shoes and boots, as well).

You can also make a leather polish by adding 1/3 cup vinegar and 1/3 cup water to 2/3 cup linseed oil.

Wood furniture

Before dusting your wood furniture, dampen your dust cloth with salad dressing...well, not really, but pretty much so, since you are mixing together vinegar and olive oil (50/50 blend). Of course, you don't want to saturate the cloth. Just lightly dampen it to attract the dust.

If you are looking to polish your furniture, rather than simply dusting it, add 3 parts vinegar to 1 part lemon oil (or for a heavier polish -- 1 part vinegar to 3 parts lemon oil). According to Emily Thacker's The Vinegar Book that I mentioned last week, the reason this works so well is because the vinegar will dissolve and draw out the dirt while the oil enriches the wood. Won't it be nice to have your furniture smelling good naturally?

Yet another recipe for furniture polish requires that you reach into your liquor cabinet (which, understandably, not everyone has). Here you combine 1/4 cup linseed oil with 1/8 cup of vinegar and 1/8 cup of whiskey. And let's face it, if you start chugging down the whiskey (which I am in no way recommending!), you won't even care if the furniture is polished or not!

Scratches on your furniture will disappear if you carefully apply a 50/50 blend of vinegar with iodine. Stick to white vinegar if you are applying it to light-colored wood and use apple cider vinegar for deeper colors. Using a thin, craft paintbrush will work best.

Blinds and shutters

I love shutters. I have them in my living room topped with lace valances. What I don't love is cleaning them. However, vinegar and an old pair of cloth gloves make the job a whole lot easier. And in a couple of years, I am quite sure I will be able to convince my (now 2-year-old) granddaughter that the chore is actually a lot of fun!

Using a 50/50 solution of distilled white vinegar and water, dip your gloved fingers into the liquid and then slide them between the slats. What could be easier? ...  Yeah, I know ... not having blinds or shutters in the first place!

Well, that's it for another Vinegar Friday. If this was your first visit, I hope you will go back through previous weeks and reap what you can from the vinegar tips I have provided. And keep checking back ... sometime in 2011, Vinegar Fridays will be available for purchase in a handy, organized book.

Keeping it green with vinegar,

Hana