April’s Home and Garden

Here are a number of tips for cleaning that use mainly vinegar or baking soda and are easy to do.

For Scrubbing: Baking soda can be used as an alternative to cleanser. We have melamine countertops, which became stained red from spilled jello. They are easy to scratch up and ruin. A wet rag and a little baking soda, and the stains came right out without damaging the counter.

Window Cleaner: For a quick and easy window cleaner, mix one part white vinegar with one part water in a spray bottle, and use as you would commercial window cleaner.

Floor Cleaner: Mop linoleum or tile floors with a mixture of 1/2 cup vinegar in a bucket of warm water. The vinegar odor will go away after the floor dries. You can also add lemon juice, and essential oils such as lavendar, tea tree, rosemary, eucalyptus, or cedar. All of which have antiseptic, antibacterial or antifungal properties. (tea tree-antibacterial, antibacterial, antifungal; rosemary-antiseptic; cedar-antiseptic, fungicidal; lavendar-antiseptic; eucalyptus-antiseptic, antibacterial, antifungal) Or use a steam cleaner. I use one on my kitchen and bathroom floors and it works really well.

Vinegar is also good for a number of other things, such as:
Unclogging shower and sink sprayer heads: For the sink sprayer in my kitchen sink, I filled a sandwich bag three quarters of the way with vinegar. Then I pulled out the sprayer hose and placed the sprayer part in the bag, fastening the bag to it with a rubber band. I let it sit in the sink this way overnight. All the holes were unclogged, the water stains were gone, and the chrome was shiny! You could do the same with your shower head, or remove it and place it in a container of vinegar to soak overnight. You can safely pour the used vinegar right down the drain.

Laundry: In your laundry it will help soften and whiten it, as well as clean soap scum and other deposits from your washer. See also Greener Cleaning for getting pet urine out of clothes.

Cleaning your coffee maker: Fill the coffee pot with one third vinegar and two thirds water. Pour this into the coffee maker and run it through the brewing cycle. Repeat two more times with plain water, to rinse out the vinegar. Letting the coffee pot cool for 15 minutes in between.

I hope you find these tips useful. Healthy cleaning!