Visiting family a few weeks ago my sister-in-law mentioned that she was now doing what we do at our house and planning meals on the fridge door and it was making a huge difference. (Ours is defrosting in the fridge at the moment. Steak on toasted ciabatta bread, lettuce, red onion, tomato, avocado, onion marmalade chutney……. mmmm.). Meanwhile my mother at the age of 74 has become a white vinegar convert because of me and in turn is spreading the word to all she meets. I was talking to someone the other day about the usefulness of white vinegar and they said they couldn’t live without their Jiff but even my husband who was a Jiff fanatic happily uses our white vinegar spray and wipe. My mother–in–law has become a bush baby dwarf bean plant convert after I gave her some seeds last year (very easy to grow). It’s nice to see people’s lives getting a little easier just from simple things that you do in your life. It all helps to make us the eighth happiest country in the world NZ eighth happiest country in the world – National – NZ Herald News – maybe if we all work at it we can move up in the ranks after the next survey!
Domestic cleaning
My mum rang me this afternoon to find out how she could get her whites a bit whiter. I told her the same answer I tell her for every domestic cleaning question she asks me ‘white vinegar’ – I’m surprised she keeps asking! Looking up my Reader’s Digest white vinegar bible I found the following comment “there are so many benefits to be reaped by adding 200ml white vinegar to the rinse cycle of a washing machine that it is surprising that it isn’t mentioned in the owner’s manual of every washing machine sold” pg. 355. My cleaning rags are soaking in white vinegar at the moment as it is has antibacterial properties and does a good job at removing smells. Time to put white vinegar on the shopping list again.
Parsley, Peas and Vinegar
Last Friday night was lamb roast at my mums. To say thanks we bought round a pot of parsley and some home grown pea pods – wow my life has really changed over the last year. Mum mentioned that she had been telling one of her friends about our use of white vinegar spray and her friend wanted to know what quantities to use. I smiled because I pretty much use trial and error with mine and don’t really get people who don’t just do the same but I went and looked up my guru book that I wrote about a few weeks ago – Reader’s Digest “Extraordinary uses for ordinary things” (2007). Their ‘recipe’ is 2 parts water, 1 part white vinegar and a few drops of washing up liquid. This is pretty much the quantities I use as well although I just throw it all in from sight. Our newest white vinegar use is in the rinse cycle of the dishwasher – leaves our glasses absolutely sparkling. Not sure what it will do long term to the dishwasher – will be able to tell you in a few years time!
Book of the Month
My favourite library book this month would have to be Reader’s Digest ‘Extraordinary uses for ordinary things’ (2007). It has 2209 ideas in it – the vinegar section which is presently my favourite section is 26 pages long! We already use white vinegar as our main house cleaner – spray and wipe, window cleaner, floor cleaner, toilet cleaner, bathroom cleaner, dishwasher rinse aid, stains on carpet, oven cleaner, stain remover …….. so I was interested in things that we don’t use it for. These are a couple of my favourites .
- Keep frost from forming on your car window when parked outside by spraying the outside of the window with 3 parts white vinegar to 1 part water. One coating should last for a couple of weeks. Won’t be able to test this one for a few months now.
- Pour 4 tablespoons of white vinegar into your bottle of washing up liquid and shake. Helps with fighting grease so therefore will need less. I tried this today on some incredibly dirty/greasy roasting pans (after having put most of the grease in the rubbish bin as you are meant to) and it was much more effective than just plain washing liquid.
- Splash white vinegar under your arms and let dry as an antiperspirant. I tried this one today – it worked pretty well. Still in it’s testing stages though!!
- Add a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to cat/dog drinking water – will give your animal a healthier coat and deter fleas. I’m not sure about this one but won’t do them any harm to try?
This is definitely a great book if you are looking for interesting ideas for saving money or reusing things. Well worth a read.
Ants and husbands
I went to clean the kitchen bench last night and found to my horror that my bottle of orange fragrant vinegar spray and wipe was empty! I was pretty sure hubby hadn’t been madly cleaning while I was at work but I still thought I’d ask. “It’s OK” he calmly replied “I used it on the ants”. Seemingly we had a trail of ants on the garden wall coming over from the neighbours and seeing as we have stopped buying fly spray hubby thought there was no harm in using my spray and wipe. I have to say he is sort of getting the hang of the ‘vinegar stuff’ as he calls it but when it is getting close to the end of the vinegar I would rather have a clean house than worry about ants in the garden. Seemingly ants aren’t supposed to be too keen on citrus or vinegar – I have yet to prove or disprove this theory – but in the meantime we have a beautifully orange fragrant garden wall and probably some lovely smelling ants wandering around the garden.
White vinegar cleaner update
We have been using white vinegar and baking soda as our main household cleaner for the last eleven months. I don’t mind the vinegar smell that much but hubby often comes in and asks what I’ve been cooking when I’ve been cleaning! I’ve read comments on line from women whose husbands won’t let them use vinegar to clean as they can’t stand the smell. Well last week I found the solution. A friend bought me a voucher for my birthday so I was able to purchase things that would normally be luxuries. At the Body Shop I came across their home fragrance oil range – their Satsuma fragrance ($11 for 10 mL) is exactly the same smell that orange citrus shop bought cleaners have. So today I did my cleaning along with a few drops of fragrance in my homemade spray and wipe bottle – it was gorgeous. It is still in the testing stages for me as you have to be careful as to what substances do to surfaces but so far it is looking positive.
White Vinegar Convert
Today was one of those WOW days. Hubby came and told me had cleaned the toilets!! Still recovering from the shock I asked him what he cleaned them with – “that vinegar stuff”! They of course weren’t cleaned to a woman’s standard but it didn’t really matter as it was such a break through moment that I really couldn’t complain. In addition I got the bath cleaned and the window sills in the bedroom – all with that “vinegar stuff”. I think he sorts of likes the fact that he can just wander around with the one spray bottle. Last week we were shopping in a unfamiliar supermarket so we were going up each aisle and it was such a shock when we hit the cleaning products aisle. I suddenly realised that in our normal supermarket it is an aisle we haven’t got near in months!
Will white vinegar harm my appliances?
It’s interesting sometimes to have a look at what people are searching for when they hit your blog. Some of the searches have been people worried about using vinegar on their appliances or their stainless steel. I wonder if people worry about their normal cleaners which usually carry warnings on the side re touching, inhaling etc and rarely ever disclose ingredients. Anyway just in case this type of search happens again relax searcher – I have been using vinegar for over 5 months now and am still smiling. There have been no problems on any surfaces that I have used – laminate floors, glass, porcelain, plastic bath, brushed stainless steel, stainless steel, mirrors and chrome. In general though think of white vinegar just like any other cleaner – don’t use it unless you have to. Most stainless steel is easily cleaned by a dry soft cloth or a slightly damp cloth – you don’t need vinegar for it. One of the big advantages of vinegar that I have found is I can change from surface to surface without having to change cleaner which is great in places like the bathroom or kitchen. I was a bit dubious at first about it in toilet bowls but combined with baking soda it keeps the toilets way healthier than toilet duck used to. I still have to trial it in the shower – that will be my next test. So if you’re reading this give vinegar a go without worry – you will become a convert and your shopping bill will thank you.
Vinegar update
Well I’m just about to finish my first spray bottle of white vinegar and still have litres of the stuff stored in the cupboard. White vinegar as a cleaner is definitely an economically sensible purchase as well as eco friendly. The thing I still like best is the fact I can use it while I’m in the kitchen cooking if I see a stain or fingerprints all over the fridge etc as spraying isn’t going to be harmful in any way.
The Summer 09 Greenpeace magazine ‘kakariki’ has a page of useful eco cleaning recipes – some ecocleaning recipes can be accessed from
Green cleaning – share your recipes | Greenpeace New Zealand Weblog. You can also pop your own recipes on the site. I like the look of the toilet cleaning recipe. I always use toilet duck but it gets used up quickly so I would rather use a cheaper alternative. Recipe: Sprinkle baking soda into the toilet bowl, then squirt with vinegar and scour with a toilet brush. Will clean and deodorise. I still have my bathroom weekend cleaning to do so we will see how it goes!
Positive cleaning experience
I think one of the things that stands out for me using vinegar/water to clean is that I feel positive about cleaning! I hate cleaning but if I have to clean I like to be able to do it in a low key casual way. Using my vinegar/water cleaner I can clean with the cats roaming around underneath my feet or touch things or eat/drink while cleaning without having to worry as vinegar isn’t going to do anyone any harm. I even cleaned my kitchen bench the other day with a visitor right there beside me at the bench. I didn’t have to worry about the spray fumes getting near my visitor or the problem of sitting at a bench that still had cleaner residue on it.
In contrast if I clean my appliances with my store bought stainless steel towelettes there is a list of encouraging instructions regarding my health – ‘avoid breathing vapour, avoid contact with eyes, avoid contact with food and food preparation surfaces’. After that comes all the first aid instructions including calling the Poisons Information Centre!
In addition to these wonderful ‘safety instructions’ there are no ingredients listed on the towelette packaging or the box itself. It is difficult for consumers to become better informed about the products they are using when companies provide no product information. I guess it’s another good reason to try and produce things at home where you know what the ingredients are.
My mirrors came up really well today so I can give the vinegar cleaner the thumbs up C for mirrors – it evaporated really quickly after wiping leaving no smudges. It was just as good to use as my normal Mr Muscle glass cleaner.