White Vinegar

Make sure your white vinegar says "Made from Grain" on the label.

In some countries, white vinegar is made from petroleum.

Things I Just Don't Buy Anymore...

1. Garbage pail liners
-save your grocery bags from the store to use

2. Jewelry
-I like making my own

3. Scarves
-again, easy and fun to make!

4. Swiffer cloths
-I bought some fleece from the fabric store and cut it to fit the bottom of the Swiffer broom. $4/yard

5. Single-serving yogurt
-we have small plastic containers in to which we partition plain yogurt from a large tub. $2.50 for 8 servings as opposed to $0.50-0.60/single serving

6. Rubber bands
-save the ones that hold together your fresh broccoli.

7. Windex
-I use white vinegar and a spray bottle.

8. Sponges
-I hear they hold tons of bacteria. I use rags instead and launder them.

Have any other ideas?

Clean the Coffee Maker

Your coffee maker will last longer and your coffee will taste better if you do this simple step to clean your coffee maker once every 6 weeks or so.

1. Place one part white vinegar and two parts water to completely fill the water section of your coffee maker. Turn the pot on and let it run through. Let this sit in the coffee pot for 15-20 minutes.

2. Dispose of the vinegar solution. Rinse the pot.

3. Run three cycles of plain water through the pot to rinse out the vinegar.

Another use for white vinegar...

If you have an old paintbrush caked with paint and you feel there's no hope...just soak it in white vinegar for a few minutes and rinse it out! Don't buy a new one....

Cleaning the Fridge

I don't love cleaning the fridge. But I've started to just zap it with my 1:4 mixture of vinegar and water. I just clear off one shelf at a time and scrub with a rag. The vinegar keeps the glass looking good yet eliminates odors and spills.

Pesticides

Pesticides are water-resistant. That way rain doesn’t wash them off prior to harvest. However, that means we should wash them with something more than just water.

To counter these chemicals, you could buy some sort of spray. But DIY: soak the produce in equal parts water and vinegar.

The Many Joys of White Vinegar

Vinegar has so many wonderful uses. As long as one doesn't mind his or her home smelling like Easter eggs, white vinegar can be used (diluted 1:4 with water) to clean any surface in the home, including:
~Counter tops
~Showers
~Floors
~Refrigerator Interior
~Microwave Interior
~Windows
~High Chairs
~Laundry Odor Removal

I switched to white vinegar and water for much of my cleaning because I was worried about my crawling child's exposure to the hazardous chemicals usually found in cleaning supplies. Also, cleaning with white vinegar is far less expensive than buying 'natural' cleaning products. I purchased a $0.99 spray bottle at the discount store and can refill it nearly endlessly with my enormous $2 bottle of vinegar for a cost of next to nothing per use.