Hello darlings!
Remember how I told you in my recent post about 5 more steps to a safe and natural baby environment that we refrain from using harsh chemicals for cleaning our house? Well some of you asked about the homemade cleaner I use and I am not one to disappoint so here’s the how to.
Vinegar is a solution of acetic acid in water and some flavor inducing chemicals in miniature amounts. It has been used as a cleaning agent for decades and with good reason. It can be used alone or together with baking soda as a more potent agent.
Here are some of the uses of vinegar in our house:
- All purpose cleaning solution
I use this solution to clean the floor, the kitchen cabinets, the stainless steel kitchen sink, the fridge, you name it! This is everyday use for us around the house. Follow the recipe below and use ~50ml per litter of water to clean the floor. If you live in a house with tiles I bet you’ll find they never looked better! If you have wooden floors or laminate floors make sure your mope is very well squeezed and there isn’t excess water.
In a 500ml glass bottle (or container) add:
Peels from a couple of oranges
Peels from a couple of lemons
15 clove heads
3 cinnamon sticks
400ml vinegar
It’s ready to use after a day. Once the vinegar runs out, you can refill the container for one more use without having to use fresh peels and spices. After the second time, get everything out, and make the solution fresh.
It keeps for months without going bad and the smell is super nice!
- Window and glass cleaner
Spray some vinegar into a piece of newspaper and clean your windows with it. It works like a breeze and guess what? You will save yourself and your family from the irritative chemicals found in all the sprays used for window cleaning.
- Carpet cleaner
Every year during our spring cleaning I take my carpets out in the yard and wash them. I use water to soak them and then I use white vinegar. I leave it to act for five minutes and then brush the carpets to remove any stains. I rinse with lots of water and let dry.
- Pet’s accident cleaner
Say you have a cat. And let’s just say that one day you forgot to put the cat litter in the house when you closed the house for the night. And let’s just say that said cat, out of no fault of his, pooped on your carpet. What would you do? Well in case the … uhm… poop was … uhm…. solid, then you have not much of a problem. Wear some gloves, pick up the poop and then spray the area with some vinegar, brush, add some more vinegar and rinse with water. Now if the poop is not …uhm…solid then you are in deep sh*t (sorry I couldn’t help myself). Get your clean cat sand and pure it over the affected area. Leave for 5-10 minutes to absorb the extra moisture. Then scoop them into the trash. Use a brush to gather all other material along with the sand left behind. Now take your vinegar and soak the area. Leave for 15 minutes. Rinse with water and repeat 2 more times. If you want to disinfect the area you could use hydrogen peroxide but I am not sure what that would mean for your carpet. Maybe do a test drive first?
Have you ever used vinegar as a cleaner? What kind of cleaning solution do you use?
Lots of love
