DIY CLEANING PRODUCTS

HOW TO : Make Your Own Safe

Cleaning Products

Wonderful Winegar!

Kitchen Remedies:

Besides adding zest to salad dressings, white vinegar is handy for many cooking tasks

1.

Adding a few tablespoons of white vinegar to the water when poaching eggs helps the whites stay formed. Add a few tablespoons to the water when boiling eggs, and if any shells crack, the whites won’t leak out.

2.

If your leafy veggies are wilted, soaking them in cold water with a little vinegar can perk them right up.

3.

After chopping an onion, you can eliminate the odor from your hands by rubbing them with a bit of white vinegar.

4.

When cooking any vegetables from the cabbage family (like broccoli or cauliflower), adding a little vinegar to the water will perk up the taste and reduce the gassiness they can induce. This also works when cooking beans, making Mexican food a far more attractive option.

Cleaning House: Vinegar can help with a variety of cleaning tasks, since the acid acts as a disinfectant and an odor neutralizer.

5.

Clean and deodorize the garbage disposal by mixing equal parts vinegar and baking soda and putting it down the drain. After letting this fizzing mixture sit for a few minutes, flush out the drain with warm water for a clean and stink-free sink.

6.

The steam from a boiling a bowl of vinegar and water can loosen caked-on food and get rid of odors in the microwave, too.

7. One of my favorite vinegar remedies and my personal weapon against fruit flies is to set out a small dish of white vinegar and some smashed fruit, covered with plastic wrap with some holes in it–the flies crawl into the trap, but can’t get out.

8.

If your stemware is cloudy from the dishwasher, wrap the glasses in paper towels soaked in vinegar, let them sit, and the cloudy deposits will rinse right off.

9.

There’s no need to use bleach on tile grouting when you can let vinegar soak on it and then scrub with a toothbrush.

10.

Bring lightly scuffed or dirty DVDs back to life by wiping them down with some vinegar on a soft cloth.

11.

If you have water condensation marks on your wood, just rub the piece of furniture with equal parts vinegar and vegetable oil to remove them. Make sure to rub with the grain, and then invest in a set of coasters.

Cleaning Clothes:

Vinegar works magic on upholstery and fabric, too.

12.

If a child has an “accident” on a mattress, clean it with a solution of vinegar and water. Afterwards, pour some baking soda onto the mattress, and brush or vacuum the residue once it’s dry.

13.

Spraying vinegar onto deodorant-stained shirts before the wash can remove the discoloration. It’s also great for fighting mustard, tomato sauce, or ketchup stains.

14.

Adding a cupful of vinegar to the rinse cycle of your washing machine can freshen up bright colors and give you cleaner laundry. Acetic acid won’t harm fabrics, but it dissolves the soap residue that can dull dark clothing. It also acts as a fabric softener, a static reducer, and a mildew-inhibitor.

15.

Vinegar will also loosen chewing gum stuck to car upholstery, rugs, and carpeting.

Outdoor Solutions:

Tough enough even for the outdoors, vinegar can function as a car cleaner and an organic pest remover.

16.

If your car still sports a bumper sticker from two elections ago, remove it by spraying the decal with white vinegar to saturate the area, and the sticker will peel off in a few hours. (You might need to spray it a few times.)

17. Wiping down your car windows and windshield with a three-to-one vinegar-water mixture can keep them frost-free in the wintertime.

18.

Destroy weeds and crabgrass growing in sidewalks and driveways by pouring vinegar onto them. A half-and-half solution of vinegar and water can even kill garden slugs if it’s sprayed directly onto them.

19. To extend the life of cut flowers, add a few tablespoons of vinegar to the water in their vase, along with a teaspoon of sugar.

Vinegar is one of those kitchen cupboard wonders–

it can do as much for a salad dressing as it can for a

pet’s coat or neutralizing odors.

Here are a few clever ways to put vinegar to

work for your pets.

Skanky Skunks!

Pet Protection:

There’s no need to use chemicals near pets when vinegar can handle most cleaning and bathing tasks.

20.

Wipe out itchy ears with undiluted vinegar to keep dogs and cats from scratching at them.

21.

Cats avoid vinegar, so to keep them from scratching furniture or sitting on certain areas, spray a vinegar solution onto the spot.  You’ll need to do a patch test before spraying vinegar on fabric.

22.

For outdoor areas, soak a sponge in vinegar and place it in the forbidden area to keep cats away. If kitty likes to mark his territory, spraying the area with vinegar can help eliminate the smell and deter recurrences.

23.

Vinegar also gets rid of skunk odour.   Soak the animal with a half-and-half vinegar and water solution, and then rinse with fresh water.

24.

Shine Enhancer
Mix one cup of whte vinegar to one quart of water and rub or spray it on the coat of your dog.

25.

Ear Helper

Vinegar hampers unfriendly bacteria and other microorganisms that are a common cause of ear infections in dogs and cats–keep infections at bay by wiping ears out weekly with a cotton ball saturated with equal parts water and apple cider vinegar.

Miscellaneous

Vinegar can disinfect, deodorize, and de-gunkify just about everything. From shower curtains to sofa cushions, there’s not much that it can’t do. As an alternative to expensive and harsh cleaning chemicals, vinegar is something you can feel good about keeping in your cupboards.

White vinegar and baking soda can even remove product buildup from hair and leave it soft and manageable. A product that can clean you, the dog, your car, and your house is what I’d call a good, green buy.

Drudgy Drains

Baking soda is alkaline, a base, with a pH of around 8.1. Vinegar is acidic, and most commercial distilled white vinegars contain 5 percent acetic acid and has a pH of about 2.4. Neutral is 7.0.

There is one instance when I recommend combining baking soda and vinegar, and that is in the drain. Sometimes the bubbling and hissing in the drain when you combine these two is enough to dislodge hair and gummy buildup. (I recommend a cup of baking soda down the drain, followed by a cup of vinegar.)

Otherwise, readers take note that when you combine baking soda with vinegar you end up with a neutral liquid that isn’t much use for cleaning.

Skin Soother
Mix 1/2 cup raw apple cider vinegar to 1 1/2 cups water and use as a rinse after your dog’s bath to help soothe skin affected by chronic skin infections or irritations.

Make Dog Shampoo

INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup glycerin
1 cup all natural dish soap
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 quart water

Mix ingredients into a large bottle, shake, and use as needed.

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