Clean the Dirt in your Home Office

All your home office equipment needs to be kept clean and this can be done with vinegar, so mix equal parts of white vinegar and water in a bucket and using a microfiber cloth dipped in the solution and rung out wipe everything clean.  Use cotton buds dipped in the solution for areas such as keyboards.

Clean your Computer Mouse

If you have a mouse with a removable tracking ball, use half and half vinegar and water mix to clean it. Remove the ball from underneath the mouse by twisting off the cover over it and using a cloth that has been dipped in the solution and wrung out wipe the ball, then use a cotton bud and the solution to clean inside the ball chamber.  Leave to dry for a few hours before reinserting the ball.

Clean your Window Blinds

To make cleaning blinds less arduous do it this way.  Wear some white cotton gloves and moisten the fingers in a solution of equal parts water and white vinegar, then slide your fingers across each slat wiping them clean.

Get Rid of Smoke Smell

If you have recently burned your dinner or have a chain smoking visitor,  remove the lingering smell by placing a small bowl of white or cider vinegar in the same room. If the smell spreads to other rooms, place bowls there too. The smell should be gone in less than a day.  You can also help disperse the smell of cigarette smoke by waving around a cloth that has been moistened with vinegar.

Clean Chrome and Stainless Steel

Using an old spray bottle filled with undiluted white vinegar, spray your fixtures for a lovely shine.

Shine Your Silver

Make your silverware and jewellery shine like new by soaking them in a mixture of 1/2 cup white vinegar and 2 tablespoons baking soda for a  few hours. Rinse them under cold water and dry thoroughly with a soft cloth.

Clean Your Piano Keys

Here is a simple and effective way to get those sticky fingerprints and stains off your piano keys. Moisten a soft cloth with a solution of 1/2 cup white vinegar and 2 cups water, then gently wipe off each key. Then use a dry cloth to wipe the keys dry and then leave the keyboard uncovered for 24 hours.

Restore Your Rugs

If your rugs or carpets are looking dull and shabby from too much foot traffic, bring them back to life by brushing them with a clean soft broom dipped in a solution of 1 cup white vinegar in 1 gallon (3.7 liters) water. Your long suffering rugs will perk up, and you don’t even need to rinse off the solution.

Remove Carpet Stains

You can remove many stains from your carpet with vinegar: Rub light carpet stains with a mixture of 2 tablespoons salt dissolved in 1/2 cup white vinegar. Let the solution dry, then vacuum.  For larger or darker stains, add 2 tablespoons borax to the mixture and use in the same way. For tough, ground-in dirt and other stains, make a paste of 1 tablespoon vinegar with 1 tablespoon cornstarch, and rub it into the stain using a dry cloth. Let it set for two days, then vacuum.

Get Rid of Water Rings on Furniture

To remove white rings left by wet glasses on wood furniture, mix equal parts vinegar and olive oil and apply  with a soft cloth wiping in the direction with the wood grain. Using another clean, soft cloth to buff.  To remove white water rings from leather furniture, dab them with a sponge soaked in full-strength white vinegar.

Steam Clean Your Microwave

To clean your microwave, place a glass bowl filled with a solution of 1/4 cup of vinegar and 1 cup of water inside and turn the microwave on using the highest setting for a few minutes.. Once the bowl cools, dip a cloth or sponge into the liquid and use it to wipe away the messy splatters of food.

Give Some Shine To Your Shower Doors

To remove all those water spots and leave your shower door looking clean and shiny, wipe them down with a cloth dipped in a solution of 1/2 cup white vinegar, 1 cup ammonia, and 1/4 cup baking soda mixed in 1 gallon (3.7 liters) warm water.

Clean and Disinfect Shower Door Tracks

Use vinegar to remove the build up of dirt and grime from the tracks of your shower doors. Fill the tracks with about 2 cups of white vinegar and leave it there for a good few hours. (If the tracks are really scummy, heat the vinegar first in a glass container for about 30 seconds in your microwave.) Then pour some hot water over the track to flush away the gunk. You could use an old toothbrush, to get up tough stains.

Clear the Air in your Kitchen

If your kitchen is stinking of last night’s dinner, then boil up a cup of water with ½ cup of white vinegar, keep it on the boil and you will be surprised at how quick those nasty smells evaporate and you can breathe easy again.

Make All-Purpose Cleaners

For quick cleaning around the kitchen, keep two spray bottles filled with these vinegar-based solutions:

  • For glass, stainless steel, and plastic laminate surfaces, fill your spray bottle with 2 parts water, 1 part white vinegar, and a few drops of dishwashing liquid.
  • For cleaning walls and other painted surfaces, mix up 1/2 cup white vinegar, 1 cup ammonia, and 1/4 cup baking soda in 1 gallon (3.7 liters) water and pour some into a spray bottle. Spray it on spots and stains as required and wipe off with a clean cloth.

Make an All-Purpose Srub for Pots and Pans

Simply mix equal parts salt and flour and add just enough vinegar to make a paste. Work the paste around your pots and pans, then rinse off with warm water and dry thoroughly with a soft dish towel.  You will be amazed at how clean they come up.

Get Rid of Berry Stains

White vinegar is great for removing stains on your hands caused from berries and other fruits.

Unclog and deodorise drains

One of the most effective ways to unclog and deodorize a drain is to combine vinegar with baking soda. It’s also far gentler on your pipes (and your purse) than commercial drain cleaners.

  • To clear a clogged up sink, use a funnel to pour in 1/2 cup baking soda followed by 1 cup vinegar. When the foaming subsides, flush with hot tap water. Wait five minutes, and then flush again with cold water.  Blocked sink no more!
  • To speed up a slow drain, pour in 1/2 cup salt followed by 2 cups boiling vinegar, then flush with hot and cold tap water.

Removing Mildew

When you want to get rid of mildew stains, try white vinegar first. It can be safely used without additional ventilation and can be used on almost any surface such as bathroom fixtures and tiles, furniture, painted surfaces, plastic curtains, clothing etc. To eliminate heavy mildew build up, use it full strength. For light stains, dilute it with an equal amount of water. You can also prevent mildew from forming on the underneath side of rugs and carpets by spraying with full-strength white vinegar.

Disinfect Toilet Bowls

Here’s a great easy way to keep your toilet bowl clean. Pour 2 cups white vinegar into it and let the solution soak overnight before flushing. Doing this on a regular basis, about once a week, will help keep away those ugly water rings that appear just above the water level.

Clean Your Toothbrush Holder

Get the grime, slime, and sticky toothpaste out of the grooves of your toothbrush holder by using cotton buds dipped in white vinegar.

Wash out your rinse cup

If several people in your home use the same rinse cup after brushing their teeth, give it a weekly clean. Fill it with equal parts water and white vinegar, or just full-strength vinegar, and leave it to soak overnight. Rinse thoroughly with cold water before using.

Get Rid of the Nasty Paint Smells of a Freshly Painted Room

Place a couple of shallow dishes filled with white vinegar around the room you have just painted.  This will very quickly get rid of that pungent strong smell.

Polish Brass and Copper items

Give your  brass, bronze, and copper objects a lovely shine by making a paste of equal parts white vinegar and salt, or vinegar and baking soda (wait for the fizzing to stop before using). Using a soft cloth rub the paste into the item until the tarnish is gone. Then rinse with cool water and polish with a clean soft cloth.

Burnish Your Scissors

When your scissor blades get diry and sticky, don’t use water to wash them off as they are likely to rust. Instead, wipe the blades with a cloth moistened with white vinegar, and then dry off with a clean dry cloth.

Remove Candle Wax

Candles are lovely but the wax can so easily end up on your furniture.   To remove, soften the wax using a hair dryer on hot heat setting then blot up as much as you can with paper towels.  Remove the remainder with a cloth soaked in a vinegar and water mix then wipe dry with a paper towel.

Revitalise Your Leather Furniture

Has your leather suite lost its luster? To get it back to its former glory, mix equal parts white vinegar and boiled linseed oil in a spray bottle, give it a good shake, and spray it on. Wipe it evenly over your furniture using a soft cloth, give it a few minutes to soak in, then rub it off with a clean cloth.

Get the Salt off Your Shoes

Our poor shoes really suffer in the winter with the dirty slush, ice and snow and is made worse with the salt that is used to melt it.  The white stains are ugly and can be very damaging if left for any length of time.  So, to remove it, wipe with a cloth dipped in white vinegar.  A great result every time.

Erase Ballpoint-Pen Marks

Have your little darlings decided that the walls in your home are their scribble pad?  Don’t despair, get some white vinegar and using a sponge or cloth dab the scribble and wipe until the pen marks have disappeared.

Conceal Scratches in Wood Furniture

Those annoying scratches that appear on your wooden furniture can be made a lot less noticeable by mixing some white or cider vinegar with iodine and using a small paintbrush to paint over the scratches.  Use more iodine for darker woods and more vinegar for lighter woods.

Keep Car Windows Frost-Free

If your poor car is parked outside during the cold winter nights, you can prevent frosty ice from forming on your windscreen by spraying it with a solution of 3 parts white vinegar to 1 part water, lasting for several weeks.

Clean windshield wiper blades

When you are experiences a blur when you turn your windscreen wipers on, they probably just need a clean which you can do by just wiping them down the whole length with some white vinegar soaked in a cloth.

Carpet Care In Your Car

It’s good to vacuum your car’s carpet to pick up all the bits, but for the ground in stains you could mix up a solution of equal parts water and white vinegar and sponge it into the carpet.  Leave for a while and then mop up with a dry cloth.  This is also a great method for getting rid of salt residues during winter.

Refresh Your Refrigerator

Using equal parts white vinegar and water to wash both the interior and exterior of your fridge, including the door seals, shelves and vegetable and fruit bins. Use neat white vinegar where there is mildew.  This will not only get rid of it but help it from returning.

Washing out your Dishwasher

To keep your dishwasher operating in tip top performance and to prevent the build up of soap scum, pour a cup full of white vinegar where the washing liquid goes and run the machine through its cycle.  It would be good to do this once a month, especially in hard water areas.  Check this out first in your dishwasher owner’s manual, or check with manufacturer.

Remove odours from your hands

It can be tricky to get strong onion, garlic, or fish odours off your hands after making a meal. However, you will find these pungent smells much easier to wash off if you rub some distilled vinegar on your hands before and after you slice your vegetables or clean your fish.

Whiten your grout

You can get rid of the ugly sight of discoloured and stained tile grout by dipping an old toothbrush in undiluted white vinegar and scrubbing the grout until it looks like the white it once was.

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