Heroes of Green Cleaning: 2. Vinegar

You can usually find some type of vinegar in most homes: it is used as a seasoning when we cook and to compliment the food we eat. It is used in pickling. And there are those who use it to clean and disinfect.

Like our other two Heroes of Green Cleaning, 1. Baking Soda and 2. Water, vinegar is a great all-purpose disinfecting cleaner. It is kind to the environment, non-toxic to humans and good value for your money. It doesn't have an expiration date and will remain as potent as a condiment or all-purpose cleaner as the day you bought it.

Vinegar is basically diluted acetic acid produced by natural fermentation. A 5 to 8% solution is the vinegar we use as a condiment and a 15 to 20% dilution is for pickling (also called spirit vinegar).

Because it is an acid, though a weak one, you do have to be careful what you mix it with deliberately or unknowingly. Vinegar and chlorine bleach are a bad combination. They react to form among other things, chlorine gas, which is a very bad thing to inhale. If you have already used bleach in your home, take care that the vinegar you use does not come into contact with any residue, for example, left standing in drain pipes or even in your clothes.

White vinegar is simply distilled vinegar and is the one most commonly used for cleaning because it is the least expensive. There are some fancy specialty vinegars on the market but those are best saved for the kitchen and the table.

Vinegar will disinfect kitchen and bathroom counters. Don't use it full strength but dilute it to 2 parts vinegar 1 part water. Test the solution on a small spot first. And don't use it on marble at all. If you are worried about the sour smell, it goes away when the vinegar evaporates.

White vinegar can be mixed with baking or washing soda and an ecofriendly liquid detergent to make a scouring cleaner for pots and pans, stove tops and household surfaces. Don't forget to test it on a small spot first. In general, vinegar and baking soda or washing soda are safe for most surfaces.

A mixture of 50% vinegar and 50% water is good to use on bathroom and kitchen grout. Full strength vinegar will eat away at the grout so remember to dilute it.

Reuse old newspapers to clean your windows with a solution of 2 tablespoons of vinegar to a gallon of water.

Squirt the liquid using a clean reused spray bottle on your windows and wipe clear with the old newspapers. Paper towels leave streaks.

Another home remedy using vinegar gets out carpet stains. Use one part vinegar, one-sixteenth part lemon juice and one part cool water. Soak up as much of the spill as possible, re-wet the area with water, then apply the vinegar solution. Soak up as much of the liquid as possible. Rinse the area with water, soak up the water and allow to dry.

Use vinegar to polish brass or bronze.

Use three parts water to one part vinegar in a squirt bottle to wash fruits and vegetables. Rinse well.

Dissolve hardened epoxy and adhesives with vinegar.

Dissolve hard water stains around your bathroom fixtures. If you can leave the vinegar on to soak it makes for less scrubbing after.

Dissolve residue build-up in your appliances. Run vinegar followed by water through your coffee maker, clothes washer or dish washer. Take care if you have used bleach in the washers. Vinegar reacts with chlorine bleach to produce some nasty chemicals like chlorine gas which are very bad for you to inhale. In case you have used bleach, don't use vinegar.

Disinfect cutting boards with vinegar.

However, once again, if you have used bleach before, don't use vinegar because it reacts with the chlorine bleach. It may take a few washings and hard scrubbing with ecofriendly dish detergent to get the bleach residue out.

A little bit of research on the Internet produces more interesting green tips on using vinegar at home. It is not just better for you, your family and the environment to replace commercial cleaners that contain harsh chemicals with vinegar but it is penny-wise too.

Just don't use it on a valuable collector's copper penny. Use distilled water and soap for that.

For more green cleaning tips see:
Baking Soda our No. 1 Hero of Green Cleaning
Water our No. 3 Hero of Green Cleaning

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