Now that we have our ingredients and containers, let’s get started cleaning!
The first, and most basic, homemade cleaner you can make is to mix white vinegar 50/50 with water in a spray bottle. This is a multipurpose cleaner that you can use to clean all around your house.
Anywhere that you would spray 409, or any-other conventional cleaner, you can use vinegar and water. Use it to clean your kitchen counters, flours, cabinets, inside the refrigerator, clean wood floors, tile floors, laminate floors, clean windows and mirrors, clean sinks and bathtub and toilet, use it for general cleaning and dusting in living room, dining room and bedrooms. Just spray it on, and use a rag or microfiber cloth to clean and wipe it away. It really is that easy and versatile!
Vinegar has anti-bacterial qualities, as well as being an excellent degreaser, and general cleaner, so you can feel confident that when you clean with vinegar that things are actually being cleaned and disinfected, without any harsh fumes or nasty chemicals.
Now, speaking of fumes. I know that vinegar has a pretty strong smell, and some people (my husband included) really cannot stand the smell of vinegar. I find that the smell dissipates rather quickly, and actually helps to eliminate other odors around the house (like in the bathroom).
But if you are one of those people that doesn’t like the smell, you can either add some essential oil to mixture to help it smell better, about 10-15 drops will probably be enough, or you can just skip using vinegar and water as a multipurpose cleaner. There are also plenty of other ways you can use vinegar around your home where the smell shouldn’t bother you as much. And I’ll also be sharing my other favorite multipurpose cleaner next week, the one that my husband always uses, which doesn’t include vinegar.
*One thing to remember is that you should not use vinegar to clean porous surfaces such as granite or marble because it can damage the surface.
Have you tried using vinegar as a multipurpose cleaner?
Go here to read all the posts in the 31 Days to Green Clean series.
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Yes! I love cleaning with vinegar. Actually, I love to give my kids a spray bottle filled with it and let them go to town cleaning. At first my hubby didn’t like the vinegar smell, but I convinced him it was better to have it smell like salad for a little while then to have the bleach smell burning our noises.
I think my hubs would rather have the burning nose from the bleach smell! Ha! 🙂
Can you use the vinegar solution on bathroom tile? I have seen varying reports so I am not sure what kind of green cleaner to use on my shower…
I have read varying things about using vinegar on bathroom tile too. I think you would have to use A LOT of vinegar for it to start breaking down the grout between tiles. I think you shouldn’t use it full strength, but if it’s diluted it will probably be okay. I do use vinegar in my bathroom and we have a tiled shower, and I haven’t seen any problems, but, that’s just my personal experience. 😉
I love using vinegar! The smell doesn’t bother me, but it does bother my hubby. So now I infuse the vinegar with citrus peels. It mellows the smell and supposedly boost the cleaning power. Here are directions if you are interested: http://www.thegreeningofwestford.blogspot.com/2012/05/dont-toss-those-citrus-peels.html
I have some citrus peels sitting in vinegar right now – can’t wait to try using it!
Do you know if its ok to use vinegar on sealed granite (like a countertop)? I have been doing this in my kitchen, but now I’m not sure I should. :-/
Hi Nicole,
Thanks for your question. You should not use vinegar on granite or marble. The vinegar can permanently etch those natural porous stones. You can use my homemade multipurpose cleaner instead: http://www.liverenewed.com/2012/10/days-green-clean-homemade-multipurpose-cleaner.html
Hope that helps!
~Emily
Hi, I wanted to say, thank you for creating this blog. I happened upon it from pinterest. I have two young girls and hate using chemicals to clean with…but have always reluctantly bought them and used them thinking there was no alternative. My 5 year old now wants to help me clean so was looking for envrionmentally/little person friendly alternatives when I found your site. I have been using your vinegar solution almost everyday. It’s brilliant. I am astounded at how effective it is.
We purchased our first home three years ago and outside we have these dirty old blinds that have mold and grime on them. We have always been thinking to replace them but have held off as we just don’t have the extra cash. I thought I may buy some sort of cleaner, clean them and paint them.
Yesterday I went to the hardware store and was about to buy the supposed best product for the job….UNTIL I read the back and all the warnings and toxicity levels (you could not even dispose of the bottle without wrapping it in newspaper and then wrapping in plastic and then putting it in the bin). I thought ‘no way am I buying this, I’ll give vinegar a go first’.
I just spent 3-5 minutes scrubbing the blinds with vinegar and rinsing with water as a little test and I cannot believe the difference!! I had to scurry inside and send you a pin as thanks!!! http://pinterest.com/pin/160792649167481939/
So THANK YOU !! 🙂
Hi Chanel,
I’m so glad you stopped by! Your welcome! 🙂 And thanks for sharing your story – that’s awesome that the vinegar worked on your blinds, and that you avoided buying the expensive chemical-filled cleaner! That’s definitely scary that you have to wrap the bottle and container in newspaper and plastic before throwing it away!! Thanks also for the pin!
Hopefully I’ll see more of you here, please let me know if you have any questions!
~Emily
I just thought of something. Can apple cider vinegar be used in cleaning? My sinuses are so sensitive that I can’t take the smell of white vinegar, but I can usually stand the bragg apple cider vinegar. I made up the vinegar and water cleaner, but I haven’t been able to use it because of that. I don’t know if apple cider vinegar cleans as well. What are your thoughts on this?
Hi, I just stumbled across this on Pinterest and it’s great! Im curious about what the purpose of diluting the vinegar is. Is it just because of the smell? I understand full strength vinegar kills germs better. Thanks!