Vinegar Friday



Photo courtesy of Petr Kratochvil


TGIVF!

It's another Vinegar Friday...seems we just had one of those. How is it these things roll around so quickly?

Yesterday, the amazing Green Cleaning Team of my daughter, Jessica Taylor, and Erin Fitterer attacked my house with their green cleaning magic! Equipped with steamers, vinegar and baking soda, they steamed and scrubbed their way to a sparkling, disinfected and fresh home all without the use of any chemicals or toxins. Amazing! I can't tell you how good that feels. Of course, my home doesn't have that "clean house" smell it used to have after other cleaning people left -- you know, the Scrubbin' Bubbles, Lemon Pledge, Murphy's Oil Soap smell that was always welcoming upon first sniff, but inevitably would send me to bed with a headache later on. There simply aren't any odors at all. I guess that's the downside of green cleaning, although you can always add real lemon juice to the mix for a fresh lemony scent.

I was most impressed with the job Jessica did in the bathroom. She steamed the ceramic wall tiles and they literally shine. I have to admit, it has been awhile since that has happened! As I soaked in my uber clean bathtub last night, I thought about how appropriate it would be to dedicate this Vinegar Friday to bathroom cleaning and disinfecting. So here goes:

Let's start off with killing germs, which is kind of necessary when we're talking bathrooms. Full-strength distilled white vinegar is the answer here. I always have some handy in a spray bottle. Spritzing and then wiping the doorknobs will kill any germs that remain from hands that were washed in haste, or perhaps not washed at all. Eww. While you have the spray bottle in your hand, spritz the toilet seat (both sides) and all around the exterior of the toilet bowl. That will send the germs a-running.

In the meantime, fill the bowl with 1 to 2 cups of undiluted DWV. Close the lid and let soak for several hours. There will be very little scrubbing needed when it's time to lift the lid again. Vinegar's just amazing like that! For extra deodorizing power, add 3 cups of vinegar to the bowl and flush after an hour or so.

If you use sponges, loofahs or those germ-catching little poofs, fill a bucket with a 3-1 solution of distilled white vinegar and water and toss them in for an overnight soak. You might want to throw in your bath pillow and tub stopper while you're at it. In the morning, rinse the items well several times with cold water and hang them (preferably on the clothesline in the sun) to dry.

Shower door tracks can be cleaned by pouring undiluted DWV in them and letting them soak for several hours. Rinse them out with hot water and then brush away any remaining scum with an old toothbrush. If you don't have any old toothbrushes handy, you can always stock up on some cheap ones at the dollar store. But I only recommend using the cheap ones for cleaning!

And here's a quick trick to get rid of the hard water deposits on your shower doors. Simply spray them with the undiluted vinegar you've been using for disinfecting and hop in the shower. Let the steam and vinegar go to work on it, so you don't have to! For streak-free glass, squeegee them after you're done showering.

If your showerhead has seen better days, grab an old plastic bread bag, pour a cup of vinegar in, added to 1/2 cup of baking soda. Secure the bag over the showerhead and let it do its magic for an hour or so. After the bubbling has stopped, take off the bag and turn on the water. Voila! A shiny, efficient showerhead.

The tub and sink can be cleaned with straight vinegar sprayed on the surface and baking soda used as a scrub (just like you used to use Comet in your days of ignorance!). You can also fill the tub and sink with water and dump a decent amount of vinegar in them. Let them soak for awhile before draining and wiping.

Your grout will clean up nicely by saturating it with undiluted DWV and then putting the toothbrush to use once again after about an hour or so.

To rid your faucets of calcium and lime deposits, you can either use the plastic bag trick you used on the showerhead, followed by a good toothbrush scrubbing, or simply wrap the faucet tightly with a vinegar-soaked rag and letting it alone for the night.
Soap scum will come off easily by using the good ol' toothbrush dipped in some salt and sprayed with vinegar.

The mirrors and chrome will shine when you use a 50/50 mix of water and distilled white vinegar. For a streak-free shine, apply the liquid directly to a cloth and then wipe rather than spraying it directly on the surface.

Get rid of stale odors in your bathroom by spritzing the air with a mixture of baking soda (1 teaspoon), distilled white vinegar (1 tablespoon) and a cup of water.

When you are ready to get down on your hands and knees, like Jessica was for a good deal of time today, simply fill a bucket with a gallon of warm water with a cup of vinegar added to it and start scrubbing. Baking soda can be sprinkled on the floor for tough stains. Best part, other than the fact that you're not down there breathing in toxic fumes, is that there is no rinsing needed!

Ahh...the wonders of vinegar! And the wonders of a daughter who is not only a mother extraordinaire, but also industrious enough to start her own green cleaning business, scheduling her cleanings around her husband's schedule as much as possible. And on the days when he's working? Well, that's where the Green Grandma comes in, of course! Like yesterday, when I got to enjoy the company of the lovely little Lady Laura while her mommy made my house sparkle. What a good deal! And when I'm not available, there's always Laura's Aunt B. So in the end, everyone wins. And to think this whole business started out because of Vinegar Fridays! Now that's a testimonial!

Keeping it green with vinegar,

Hana

P.S. If you are in the Pittsburgh area and would like more information about the Green Cleaning Team, email me and Jess will get in touch with you.

Vinegar Fridays

TGIVF!

What a week! The elections were exciting to watch...at least in Pennsylvania where neck-in-neck results were coming in; 50/50 ties keeping us on the edge of our seats waiting for someone to pull ahead.

On the blog, we have dealt with some pretty heavy topics. I hope you liked the tips from Rosemary yesterday...tips on perfect gifts from child caregivers to working moms. Now before you SAHMs jump on me...I know all moms are working moms, but you know what I mean. If you are a stay-at-home mom, you don't need gifts from child caregivers, do you? So "working outside of the home" was implied here.

I thought I would end the week with some good ol' vinegar tips. I, myself, am loving so many of things I have learned about vinegar. How about you? Today, let's stick to distilled white vinegar in the kitchen.

• Can opener. I hope none of you reading this is actually still using electricity to open a can, which I find totally unnecessary, unless you have a condition, such as arthritis, which makes it difficult to open cans otherwise. I, personally, have a wall mounted can opener, just like my mother's, that works wonderfully! But it does get goopy, just like the handheld openers do. All you need to do to clean the goop off the wheel of your can opener, simply wet an old toothbrush with vinegar and scrub away. You will find your opener operating smoothly in no time.
• Lunch box. Have you ever opened a lunch box, only to be assaulted by some nasty odors? It happens to the best of us. Food is left behind in the box over the weekend and it is stinky when opened! Super Vinegar to the rescue! This is so cool, your kids might start leaving leftovers in their lunch boxes on purpose! Simply soak a piece of bread in DSV, put it in the box and let it do its magic overnight. This is a good thing to do with some stale bread you are not going to eat anyway.
• Aluminum pot. Do you cook in aluminum pots? I know there was an Alzheimer's scare awhile back that linked this insidious disease with aluminum, so people started tossing out their aluminum cookware. But the claims were later refuted. So, if you still use aluminum, you know how the pots can eventually end up with dark stains in them. Just put a cup of water and a cup of vinegar in the pot and boil for a few minutes. This should take care of the stains.
• Microwave. Cleaning the inside of the microwave couldn't be easier! Even if you have baked on, splattered food inside, all you have to do is put a microwave-safe bowl in the center of the oven with 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/2 cup water. Cook on high for :90 and then let sit for a few minutes. Do not remove right away! The liquid will be scalding hot! After it has cooled down a bit, just remove the bowl and wipe down the microwave with a damp cloth. Here's a tip for what to do with the hot liquid -- you can deodorize your drain by pouring in a cup of baking soda and washing it down with the hot liquid. Waste not, want not!
• Refrigerator. Have you ever had company and they open the refrigerator to retrieve a drink or place a dessert they brought on one of the shelves and suddenly, as if seeing it for the first time, you realize how dirty the inside is? Avoid the embarrassment by regularly wiping down the shelves with a 50/50 solution of distilled white vinegar and water. This will not only keep your fridge sparkling, but it will disinfect it as well. Sure beats spraying the shelves with a commercial chemically-laden cleaner full of toxins!! And then there is that sticky grime problem on the top of the refrigerator. Ick. This will require some full-strength DWV! Dilution is certainly not the answer for this one! Pour some on and scrub away. Do not expect the grime to just dissolve away, however. This one requires some old-fashioned elbow grease.
• Oven door. Again, we are talking full-strength here. Open the door and pour undiluted distilled white vinegar on the glass. Let it set for 15 minutes or so and then wipe with a sponge. If you haven't cleaned your oven door in awhile, you will be amazed that you can actually see inside of it when you flip on the light...I was!
• Counter tops. This is easy. Just wipe them down with a rag saturated with undiluted vinegar. They will be clean and disinfected!
• Sink. If your sink needs a good scouring, do not reach for the Comet! Simply add a little bit of DWV to a mixture of 1/4 cup baking soda and a tablespoon of liquid dish soap and scrub away!
• Chrome. Make your fixtures shiny with a homemade paste made by adding 2 tablespoons of salt to 1 teaspoon of distilled white vinegar. Cheap, simple...and non-toxic!!
• Cloudy glassware. Don't you hate drinking from cloudy glasses? Yuck. You can make them sparkle again by simply wrapping them (inside and out) with a cloth saturated in undiluted vinegar. Let them sit overnight and rinse them with hot water in the morning.
• Plastic containers. If your plastic containers (BPA-free, I hope) are stained, just wipe them out with some distilled white vinegar on a dishcloth. It should take care of the problem. This also works at getting any bad smells out of the containers.

Well, that's it for this week. I hope you will find some of these tips helpful as you tackle your weekend cleaning chores. Have a good one!

Keeping it green with vinegar,

Hana