Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Simple, Safe, Effective and CHEAP Homemade Spray-on Cleaner

I know I may be late to the cleaning party on this one but I've just made the most amazing discovery! Did you know that plain old vinegar mixed with water is a great household cleaner? How simple and cheap is that?

Ok - so "discovery" really isn't accurate. After all, there are probably thousands of websites that promote cleaning with vinegar. But it's a discovery to me because I hadn't actually tried it myself and so had yet to discover how absolutely great it really is.

Here's what I did:

Mix plain white vinegar 50/50 with plain water in a spray bottle.

(Not too difficult, I know - but I set it apart in this post so it wouldn't get lost.)

Now here's the cool part. For years, I've battled a slight mineral buildup on the outside rim of the plastic base to my shower. I don't know when exactly this build up happens - it seems I'll just look down one day and there it is. Of course, it also attracts dust and becomes a grimy looking line just below the shower doors. I've used several cleaning products and had finally taken to just scraping it off with a knife now and again.

Well, scrape no more! I sprayed my 50/50 vinegar/water combo on there and presto! It wiped right off! (Ok - it wiped off with a little back and forth pressure after sitting for a minute. But it sure beats scraping it with a knife.) And the best part is no nasty fumes. In fact, it just reminds me what fun it is to color Easter eggs.

Vinegar will supposedly kill mold, as well, but mine didn't take all the discoloration out of the caulking around the bottom inside of the shower, although it did fade it somewhat. For that job, I guess I'll still have to use bleach until we can re-caulk the shower.

Anyway, if you haven't tried vinegar mixed with water as a general cleaning product, go buy yourself a spray bottle and give it a go! It's super cheap, completely safe for kids and pets, works way better than I would have thought and makes your house smell like Easter fun. What's the down side?

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