Vinegar: a precious friend for cleaning your home

In addition to its cooking use, white distilled vinegar is as a useful, economical and eco-friendly cleanser, as well. A great number of ordinary activities can be performed by the use of the sour liquid, featured by strong antibacterial properties and versatile applications. Though household cleaning is the most common usage of vinegar, its specific characteristics make it suitable for other practical uses, effecting as a natural product to clean cars, keep cats and insects away, treat plant diseases and get flowers healthy. As for household uses, here is a list of things that can be cleaned with white vinegar.

1. Dilute 250 ml vinegar with 2 litres water to clean floors and rinse with plain water. The application is particularly suitable for terracotta floor tiles or after walls painting to remove dust and plaster stains.

2. Combine equal parts of warm vinegar and water to clean windows, crystal lights and knick-knacks. The resulting acidic patina will act as a repellent against flies and other insects.

3. Bottles and glasses become bright and shiny, if they are washed with a solution of 2 or 3 tablespoons vinegar per liter of water. Let them dry upside down, after rinsing.

4. Apply a solution of half olive oil and half vinegar to clean wood furniture, moving the cloth with the wood grain. Use a dry, soft cloth for final polishing.

5. By varnished wood furniture, wipe with a cloth dampened with warm water and vinegar. Dry with a clean cloth soon afterwards.

6. Scrub brass and copper with a mixture of coarse salt dampened in hot vinegar. After rinsing with plain water, dry with a soft cloth.

7. Chemical fabric softeners can be replaced by pouring some tablespoons vinegar inside the addictive compartment of the washing machine. Any trace of detergent will be removed and vinegar odor will vanish by drying, but some drops of essential oil can be added, if desired.

8. Some tablespoons vinegar added to usual detergents clean your laundry thoroughly.

9. Vinegar is an efficient natural method to remove calcium buildup, mold and mildew spots. Wipe your stainless sink, taps and fittings, shower doors, bathroom fixtures and tiles with a sponge soaked in vinegar. Rinse carefully and dry with a clean cloth. For more resistant deposits, you can spray undiluted vinegar on the surface and let it sit for some minutes or hours, depending on stain resistance. Then, rinse thoroughly and dry with a clean cloth.

10. To remove lime deposits from boilers and similar containers, boil a solution of 1/3 water, 2/3 vinegar and a handful of table salt for some minutes. Let the liquid sit for 12 hours and rinse well before use.

11. Clean your washing machine periodically by using 4 liters vinegar diluted with water as a descaler and run a whole 90 degree cycle without any clothes. Empty dishwashers can be cleaned by pouring 1 liter vinegar inside and run for a full cycle.

12. Fill the iron tank with equal parts of water and vinegar. Let it steam for some minutes in an upright position and rinse with plain water after cooling.

13. A sponge soaked in vinegar is a useful method to clean a refrigerator, both inside and outside, as well as to eliminate unpleasant odors. Before final drying, wipe the surface with a cloth dampened with water.

14. Grease can be removed from the oven by scrubbing the inside with a sponge soaked in undiluted vinegar, repeating the application several times, if necessary.

15. To remove burned food from metal pots and pans, cover the bottom with plain vinegar and let it sit for 30 minutes. To speed up process, boil water and plain or slightly diluted vinegar until the food residues are not entirely removed.

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