Vinegar is Magic!

For years, I've read about how fantastic vinegar is but I generally didn't care. Sure, it's cheap, but it reeks!! And there's no way it could possibly do all the great things my tub o' cleaning products does, right? Wrong!!!

In my quest to make our home healthier and save some cash, I decided to try it. I mixed a solution of 50/50 vinegar and water and have used it for a variety of purposes. See below for my review of each use.

Cleaning glass - I use this solution and a microfiber towel to clean the glass in our home. Beware, it starts off looking like a big, smeary mess but just keep wiping. All those ugly streaks will quickly disappear and leave you with a sparkling clean mirror or window.

Cleaning countertops - just spray countertops with this solution and wipe clean with a sponge. The vinegar is a mild disinfectant so it will kill many germs, mold and ickies living on your counters. I have to admit, I still use bleach to clean up after something really bad, like raw chicken, on my kitchen counters. But for everyday cleaning, the vinegar solution works great!

Bathrooms - I have been extremely pleased with how well this solution cleans my bathroom too! I spray down the sinks and countertops as well as the outsides of the toilets (you can also clean the insides of the toilets but I haven't tried that just yet). I wipe everything down with a damp spomge. Again, I'm amazed at how sparkling clean everything looks! I have also tried this in our showers and bathtubs and have had mixed results. It didn't do a great job in our shower but we had some soap scum build-up. I cleaned with traditional products last week and am hoping that regular use of the vinegar solution (using it like the "daily" shower cleaning products) will keep the shower cleaner. It has worked well for our bathtub but, again, the bathtub doesn't get used as much.

As for the smell...it stinks while you use vinegar. Some people add essential oils to make it smell prettier but the smell dissipates really quickly. I 'd read this before and was still leary. But really, the stink is gone within 20 minutes or so. Kick all of your toxic products out and give vinegar a try!