Uses for White Vinegar in the Kitchen & Bathroom

One of the cheapest cleaners available is simple white vinegar. Here are some great frugal ideas for you to use in your kitchen and bathroom.

Use white vinegar to wash no-wax floors. Just add ½ cup of white distilled vinegar to a half-gallon of warm water. And you don’t need to rinse!

Mix 1 tsp of white vinegar, 1 teaspoon of liquid detergent, and 1 pint of lukewarm water to remove stains from carpets. Apply the mixture to the stain with a soft brush or clean cotton rag and gently rub. Rinse with a towel moistened with clean water and blot dry. Repeat this procedure until the stain is gone. Then dry quickly, using a fan or hair dryer. This really only works if the stain is not oil based and if the stain isn‘t old.

Wash your windows with a mixture of equal parts of white distilled vinegar and warm water. Dry with a soft cloth. This solution will not leave the usual film or streaks on the glass.

Did you know that you can use a vinegar mixture to clean your woodwork? Well you can! Simply mix 1 cup ammonia, ½ cup white distilled vinegar and ¼ cup baking soda with 1 gallon of warm water. Wipe this solution over woodwork with a clean sponge or cloth and rinse with clear water. Dirt and grime comes off easily and the solution will not dull the painted finish or leave streaks. (You can also use this solution to clean walls and blinds.)

Remove the rings resulting from wet glasses on wood furniture by rubbing with a mixture of equal parts of white distilled vinegar and olive oil. Rub with the grain and polish for the best results.

Freeze vinegar in ice cube trays and run through your garbage disposal with cold water to keep your disposal clean and odor free!

Run white vinegar through your coffee maker to clean it of any mineral deposits that build-up from hard water. Just fill the reservoir with the vinegar and run a complete cycle. Make sure you run a couple cycles of plain water after the vinegar cycle to rinse the reservoir and automatic dripper completely.

Boil a solution of 1/4 cup of white distilled vinegar and 1 cup of water in the microwave. Will loosen splattered on food and deodorize. (Boiling plain water may work if the microwave debris isn’t real bad.)

Wash appliances with a solution of equal parts water and white distilled vinegar.

Looking for a natural way to get rid of ants or fruit flies? Place a bowl filled with ½ quart water, 2 Tbsp. sugar, 2 Tbsp. cider vinegar and a couple of drops of dish soap to attract the fruit flies. To get rid of ants (or keep them away) simply wipe down your cupboards, counters, etc with full strength vinegar. Of course it’s always best if you can eliminate whatever is attracting them, (ripened produce, etc).

To keep your stainless steel appliances clean all you need to do is wipe them down with vinegar and a soft cloth. This will keep them streak-free. (Try in an inconspicuous place first to make sure it will work good on your appliances.)

Use 1 ½ cup to 2 cups white distilled vinegar in the bottom of dishwasher, along with regular dishwasher soap and wash full cycle to keep your glassware streak free.

Bathtub film can be removed by wiping away with full strength white distilled vinegar and then with baking soda paste (mix baking soda with water till it forms paste). Rinse clean with water.
Rub down shower doors with a sponge soaked in full strength white distilled vinegar to remove any soap residue.

Stubborn toilet stains can be removed from the toilet by spraying them with white distilled vinegar and brushing vigorously. You can also deodorize the bathroom by pouring a cup of white vinegar into the toilet and letting it sit for half an hour.

Soak your showerheads in white distilled vinegar overnight or for several hours to loosen debris and hard water build-up.

Check back later this week for more uses for white vinegar!

Storage Idea

The house we live in was built around 1920. This means the rooms and especially the closet space is pretty darn small. We have struggled since we had April to fit everything she has into one of the small bedrooms. It would be difficult with a good size closet, but with a closet that is literally only 6 inches wider than the closet door (which is a single door by the way) it is almost impossible. So her things flow into the other rooms also.

One idea we had thrown around was to replace her current bed with a loft bed so we could store things underneath. Of course we'd have to get one that wasn't very tall. I had mentioned a bunk bed some time ago but Layne didn't think that would work for us because we wouldn't gain any storage.

Then a local furniture store had this bunk bed on sale in their ad last weekend:


Soooooo.......... my idea is to buy this metal bunk bed, have April sleep on the top & use the bottom portion for storage. To do this we will put a piece of plywood (or something sturdy) on the bottom bunk to keep from having anything fall through the slats. Then we can stack totes, boxes, or even use the plastic drawer sets on the bottom bunk. If my daughter should have anyone sleep over we can remove the storage items and put an air mattress on the bottom bunk.

The next question is how to keep the bunk bed from looking junky & cluttered? Well, I've thought about this. What I have decided to do is to buy a cute shower curtain and shower curtain hooks & install them on the bed to "hide" the storage items. I thought it would be a cute way of incorporating some color & a cute design into her plain pink & purple room. : )

We ordered the bed on Friday and it is on backorder for now. We should receive it mid-February. I may buy a shower curtain before then, but will wait on the shower curtain rings - just to make sure that I get some that fit. If the bottom rung is too big in diameter we will have to get creative and find another way to hang them. (I'm thinking those office supply rings that you can get in various sizes perhaps.)

Spring Cleaning Recipes

This time of year everyone starts to get spring fever. We've been cooped up in the house for a few months while the snow and temperatures continued to drop. Now that we've actually had a few days with the temps above 32 we start to get antsy and want it to get warmer. I personally have spring fever (although I don't look forward to the heat & humidity of the midwest summers). I want to be able to open the windows and let some fresh air in.

Still, while it's not warm enough to do that now there are things I can do to start getting ready for the cleaning rituals of spring. I can get my cleaners made and have them on standby. For each of these cleaners make sure you have a clean spray bottle. I also suggest marking on the bottle what the ingredients are so you don't accidentally add something that could cause a chemical reaction.

These cleaning solutions are incredibly easy to make and are very budget-friendly. The best part is that you know what is in them and there aren't a bunch of crazy chemicals!

Floor/Woodwork Cleaner
1/2 c. ammonia
1/3 c. vinegar
2 Tbsp baking soda
1 gallon water

Multipurpose Cleaning Solution
2 c. rubbing alcohol
1 Tbsp ammonia
1 Tbsp dish soap
2 qt water

Furniture Polish
Combine 1 part lemon juice with 2 parts vegetable oil (How easy is that?!?!)

Christmas and Babies

I'm trying something new. I have been waiting till the night to update my blog, and it seems that things get so busy and I don't get around to it, or I think all day of all kinds of stuff to blog about and by the time comes that I get around to it I have forgotten. I should make a list - I do love lists! But I never get that far. I am going to try to do some of the writing in the morning and then finish it up and actually post it at night. We'll see how that works.

Last weeked we were out of town visiting my brother and his family again. I actually accomplished a minimal amount of Christmas shopping for April. It's so hard to come up with ideas for a child that has everything. She is the only grandchild on my husband's side of the family and 1 of 2 on my side. So needless to say, the girl wants for nothing. We have a smallish house and her room is packed with stuff. I keep trying to talk her into giving some of her things away to less fortunate children, but right now she is having none of that. Most the stuff in there she never even plays with! And of course with all the time I've been off work with whatever mystery illness hasn't helped the bank account to prepare for Christmas either!

This morning at about 6:15 I got a text message from my friend, Rhonda, that she is in the hospital and should have her baby later today. I'm so excited for her - she has wanted this for about 15 years and her dream to be a mom is finally coming true. I know she will be fabulous and is very excited to finally meet the little person - they don't know what they are having so everyone is waiting to see if they should buy pink or blue! (I wrote this part this morning. When I spoke to her earlier this afternoon she was only dilated to 2 cm. Afraid it's going to be a long labor. - Sorry Rhonda!)

Tonight over supper Layne decided he was going to work on cleaning our junk room - you know that one room of the house that ends up being a catch-all for everything that you really have no idea of where to put but you aren't ready to get rid of. I decided I better jump on the wagon because a LOT of that STUFF is mine! So I have been a freecycling fool all night! I separated the items into postings and am awaiting to people to arrive as I type this to pick up some of these items. Woohoo!! I tell you, it really is invigorating to get it cleared out. Too make it really fun I even broke out a bottle of beer that has been in the fridge for a couple months. Boy am I fun or what?!?!?

No tip for tonight- sorry. I probably owe you guys a whole book of tips! Gotta get back to tossing while the feeling is still fresh!