Vinegar: How I Love Thee!

I know it’s odd, but I really do like vinegar.  It is a tasty condiment for swiss chard and spinach, makes sweet and sour sauce possible, breaks down the phytic acid in my whole wheat bread, and is perfect in dishes and dressings where a little tang is needed.  I use vinegar pretty frequently in my kitchen, but this blog post isn’t about my kitchen.  It’s about my bathroom.

My bathroom?  Yep!  And no, I don’t eat in my bathroom.  As it turns out, vinegar is my favorite tool for cleaning.  Nothing (that isn’t full of scary chemicals) breaks up the hard water residue and calcium deposits like vinegar.  It really is amazing.  I keep a giant spray bottle full of vinegar specifically for cleaning purposes.  Some people dilute it with water, but I keep mine full strength.  We have some seriously hard water here, and honestly, I’ve just never tried it diluted.  One day….  For now I’m having success with it the way it is.

All I do is spray down whatever needs to be cleaned and wipe it dry with a cloth.  I use on the vanity, toilet, all of the fixtures, the tile surround in the shower, the tub, and even the floor.  The only thing I don’t use it for is scrubbing the toilet bowl.  I like ajax for that.  I do know of people who use vinegar to clean the bowl too, but my mama used ajax, and for whatever reason I haven’t veered away from that!

Aside from the fact that vinegar actually works with very little elbow grease, I love that I can have my children right beside me while I clean.  There are no chemicals to worry about, and often times, Hannah will ask me if we can eat vinegar to which I always reply with a resounding, “YES!”  One other nice thing about vinegar is that it has natural antimicrobial properties.  In other words, it kills or inhibits the growth of various microorganisms and can be used as a natural disinfectant.  Vinegar is also CHEAP!  We most definitely save money using vinegar instead of other cleaners.  Every few dollars saved adds up.

Now you’re probably wondering about the smell.  Yes.  It smells like vinegar.  However, it doesn’t linger all that long.  You could always light a candle to help.  It doesn’t bug me so I usually don’t bother.  I know some people put essential oils in with the vinegar to give it a different scent.  I’m lazy.  What can I say?  But really, the other stuff smells too.  It just smells like chemicals.  Yeah, I’ll take the vinegar scent over chemicals any day.

I dare you all to give this a try!  You just might be surprised at the results.