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Wednesday, March 11, 2009

An Easier Way to Clean with Vinegar

Cleaning with vinegar converts know that a 5% acidity solution of white vinegar will clean and disinfect a countertop (although you don’t want to use it to clean a marble countertop – trust me on this one), deter a kitchen ant invasion, and kill mold and mildew in the bathroom.

Once I had the big Ah ha! Moment, I filled up an old spray bottle with equal parts vinegar and water and got to cleaning. The Condo was clean but I wondered why it seemed that I needed to use twice as much of my vinegar and water solution to clean tough stuff like soap scum on my shower doors – my nemesis - than when I used other environmentally friendly cleaners.

The answer was right on the vinegar bottle. A regular bottle of white vinegar is already a 5% acidity solution.

Oh.

By adding water to the vinegar, I was reducing how effective it was as a cleaner and disinfectant. That’s why I needed to use twice as much vinegar to get the job done.

D'oh!

I solved the problem by screwing the spray nozzle of my old cleaning bottle directly onto the bottle of white vinegar. Now I’m cleaning more effectively with my 5% white vinegar solution (of course I but the empty bottle in my recycling bin.)


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And before you ask, no, The Condo doesn’t smell like pickles either.


This post is part of Works for Me Wednesday.

5 comments:

  1. Well shoot. Thanks for telling me! I've been putting water in it the whole time too!

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love a great idea. Putting the spray head right on the bottle is just a teeeny bit of genius. Knowing that a 5% solution cleans and disinfects is pure genius.

    I didn't know either of those things. I just use hot soapy water most of the time.

    My WFMW post this week is about keeping drinks cold.
    Have a great week!
    Kristin (The Goat)

    ReplyDelete
  3. We use vinegar to clean our wood floors.

    To get the "pickle smell", add some dried dill and garlic to the vinegar between cleanngs. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. a baking soda + water paste on soap scum, before vinegar spray will help take that scum right off

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks, as always, for a great post! Why not good for marble countertops?

    ReplyDelete

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