Friday, March 8, 2013

A New Twist on an Old Cleaner

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Vinegar.  Good old plain vinegar.  It is an excellent household cleaner.  I use it all the time around the house.  When added with a few other ingredients, vinegar is great for cleaning windows, wooden floors, as a furniture polish, as an all purpose cleaner, it is great as a fabric softener for you clothes, and even as a great conditioner for your hair!
 
 
Vinegar can be used in the garden to get rid of pests, you can use it on your vehicle for getting rid of decals, polishing the chrome, cleaning vinyl upholstery to name just a few.  It can be used in many different ways to help your four-legged friends......keep a dog from scratching it's ears, remove odors, and even to keep cats from fighting with each other!  There are many human health benefits with vinegar as well, including losing weight.
 
It is non-toxic, has been around for thousands of years, it is economical, environmentally friendly AND it is all natural.  You can't get much better than that.

 
 
If you type in vinegar on your search bar, hundreds of thousands of links will pop up encouraging you to try vinegar for every situation in your life that you can imagine.
 
Now that I have demonstrated just how great vinegar is, I want to let you in on a little secret.  With my day to day cleaning, I like vinegar to smell nice and when I mean nice, I mean like lemons, limes or even oranges and there is an easy way to get that aroma in your vinegar.
 
 
 
Every time you peel an orange or use a lemon or even a lime, save those peelings!!!  I keep a mason jar under my kitchen sink filled with vinegar.  Actually a few mason jars at varying stages of 'steeping'.  I like to call it 'steeping' as it reminds me of a tea bag soaking in hot water, just waiting to be enjoyed.  I wait for at least a week to ensure the peelings have soaked long enough then strain through cheesecloth before using.
 
So if you have a few mason jars laying around and have just enjoyed an orange, throw the peelings in with some vinegar and in a week, you will have a wonderful cleaner.  Trust me, you won't go back to plain ole vinegar.....you will want the deluxe version. 
 
 
 
Happy cleaning and remember to give your loved ones a hug!
 

7 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting this. I have a question. After you strain the peels, do you compost them?

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  2. Oh yes--I've made this before. Your idea to have various jars steeping under the sink is a good one. I've had more than one batch go bad because the peelings were at varying freshnesses (is that a word?).

    I'd like to invite you to share this post and up to two others at Farm Girl Blog Fest #28, which is live right now. You would be a great addition to the wonderful posts that are shared!

    Farm Girl Friday Blog Fest #28

    Hope to see you there!
    ~Kristi@Let This Mind Be in You

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  3. I started doing this and you are right, citrus vinegar is awesome! If I can't put the peelings in vinegar, I will put them in the freezer. They keep nicely.

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  4. Thanks so much, love this tip! Thanks for sharing at The Gathering Spot this week :) Have a wonderful Sunday!

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  5. Yes! I do love using vinegar and will definitely try this 'deluxe' recipe - I do appreciate you sharing with Home and Garden Thursday,
    Kathy

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Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment! I love reading all of them. Have a wonderful day.

Debbie

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