The ULTIMATE list of ways to clean with vinegar! If you are looking to clean your home more naturally then this resource on how to clean your kitchen, bathroom and other areas around your home with vinegar is a great place to start!
I was excited to take the A Cleaner for Life challenge and partner with Four Monks Cleaning Vinegar to sponsor this post on cleaning naturally with vinegar. I have been using Four Monks vinegar for years as my go-to product for everyday cleaning! For more information, a coupon and cleaning tips, visit FourMonksClean.com.
For quite awhile now I have been talking here on the blog about how I have been trying to use more natural cleaners in our home. I am not an extremist by any means, but I do love the idea of using more natural things, especially in the places that my 3 little kids spend a lot of their time playing and touching everything.
When I first started on my little mission, vinegar was one of the main things I found that I loved to use! Why? A few reasons:
- All Purpose – It works well on most things! There is very little you can’t use vinegar to clean.
- Degreases – Its degreasing properties work wonders on everything from the kitchen to little finger prints on the windows
- Natural – Vinegar is natural and I can feel good about letting my kids help me while I clean! They love getting their own rags and wiping everything down right down with me.
- Effective – The natural acidity in vinegar is effective for killing germs, disinfecting surfaces, and deodorizing,
Even though I really do love cleaning with vinegar, I don’t really love cleaning as an activity. You get in a rut, things go south, and all of a sudden it looks like a tornado went through your home! To get things back on track and motivate me to really get back in the groove of cleaning, I decided to take the A Cleaner for Life Challenge, where I used Four Monks Cleaning Vinegar™ as my go to cleaner for a week. I loved the new easy spray bottles that were the perfect size and even have a nice easy to use spray nozzle. I was able to keep one in the kitchen and one in the bathroom for easy clean up where we make most of our messes!
I dove back into the computer and did quite a bit of research what to clean with vinegar and how to get the best results. After my week was over, my house is STILL clean and it is almost second nature to just reach for my bottle of Four Monks to clean up any and every little mess we might make around the home.
As I love to do for you here, I compiled a list of my research plus my tips from experience, to give you an easy checklist on what to clean easily with vinegar in your home.
Ways to Clean the Bathroom Naturally with Vinegar
- Tile Floors– Shine up dull floors by polishing or mopping with vinegar
- Faucets and fixtures– Take away water stains or mineral deposits
- Bath tub and shower enclosures- Vinegar fights hard water stains and mineral deposits. If they are extra tough, spray on vinegar and let it sit before scrubbing.
- Glass doors– Remove water stains or handprints
- Mirrors– Spray with vinegar and use a microfiber rag or newspaper to prevent streaking.
- Shower curtains– Spray with vinegar after use to prevent build up, or soak in vinegar water solution to remove a current build up
- Shower heads– Spray on and let sit then scrub away hard water deposits. For tougher deposits, remove head and soak in vinegar water solution.
- Shower door tracks- Vinegar will breakdown mold and mildew so spray it in the tracks then use an old tooth brush or q-tips to clean it away.
- Clean and deodorize drawers and cabinets – Wipe down the insides of cabinets and shelves to clean, dust and deodorize them.
- Toilet Bowls– Regularly spritz with vinegar to help avoid toilet rings
- Sinks– shine up sinks and remove hard water stains by spraying with vinegar and wiping down.
- Grout– Spray tile walls with vinegar to help grout resist mold and mildew. For grout that already has mildew, spray with vinegar then let it set for a few hours then scrub with an old toothbrush to remove.
Ways to Clean the Kitchen Naturally with Vinegar
- Clean and deodorize the refrigerator– Remove everything from inside the refrigerator. Spray the shelves and walls with vinegar then wipe down. If there are stubborn spills, spray vinegar generously onto a rag and let it sit for 5 minutes on the spill and it should wipe right up.
- Remove stains from refrigerator– For stains in the refrigerator spray undiluted vinegar on the stain and let it sit 5-10 minutes and wipe up.
- Clean tile floors– Spray and wipe or mop tile floors.
- Stainless steel appliances- Spray with vinegar and then use a microfiber cloth to wipe down.
- Stainless Steel Sinks– Spray with vinegar and scrub or wipe down. For stubborn spills, spray vinegar generously onto a rag and let it sit for 5 minutes on the spill and it should wipe right up.
- Faucets– Help remove hard water stains or mineral build up by with vinegar. Spray and wipe down, or for stubborn stains, let sit and then scrub.
- Small appliances– Spray vinegar on a rag then use it to wipe down small appliances like toasters, blenders, crock pots, can openers, etc.
- Cutting boards– The antibacterial properties of vinegar make it perfect to spray and then wipe down wood or plastic cutting boards that can absorb bacteria after washing.
- Stove tops– Vinegar works well to fight grease so it is a great way to clean your stove top. If you have stubborn cooked on food add a little baking soda to help scrub the food away.
- Oven– Just like the cook top, the oven often has grease splatters and cooked on food and can be cleaned in the same way.
- Kitchen table– We wipe down our table with vinegar after each time we eat. Perfect for food spills, greasy messes, and antibacterial for anything we left behind!
- Ice cube trays– If you have old ice cube trays that have gotten white with minerals throughout the years, spray them down with vinegar, let it sit, and then wipe away the deposits.
- Lunch boxes– Get rid of the “lunch box smell” by emptying the lunch box after each use and spraying with vinegar and wiping down.
- Pantry shelves– Empty your pantry shelves then spray and wipe down with vinegar. It not only dusts, and cleans them, it also deodorizes!
- Clean and deodorize trashcan– Another place that the antibacterial, deodorizing, and degreasing properties are great for! Spray and wipe down, leave a rag moistened with vinegar on any stain, or tough spill, for 5-10 minutes and then wipe away.
- Scissors– Vinegar can be great at breaking down adhesives and so perfect to remove the gunk that can build up on the blades of your scissors!
- Microwave– Clean the microwave like the oven or refrigerator, spraying and wiping, or for a deep clean fill a bowl with a mixture of water and vinegar and microwave it for 2-3 minutes to steam the cooked on food to loosen then spray with vinegar and wipe away.
- Dishwasher– Wipe down your dishwasher inside and out to remove odors and prevent build up. Also, put vinegar in the reservoir and run on an empty cycle to clean from the inside out.
- Vegetables– Rinse vegetables in vinegar and water to help extend the freshness.
Ways to Clean Around the Home Naturally with Vinegar
- Walls and baseboards– Spray a rag with vinegar and then wipe walls and baseboards to clean, dust and disinfect.
- Dust furniture– Same process as the walls and baseboards, spray a rag with vinegar and then wipe walls and baseboards to clean, dust and disinfect. I like to spray the rag rather than the surface just to avoid any potential of missing a spot and the liquid scarring the surface.
- Brick or tile fire place facades– Spray with vinegar and clean with a rag or scrub brush.
- Windows– Spray with vinegar and use a microfiber rag or newspaper to prevent streaking.
- Blinds– Use a rag or microfiber glove sprayed with vinegar then wipe down the blinds. I really like using the glove because I can just run my fingers through the slats and be done in no time.
- Washer and dryer– Wipe down the inside or outside of the washer and dryer with vinegar and a rag.
- Outdoor furniture– Keep outdoor furniture clean, and disinfected by wiping down with vinegar and a rag.
- Clean tools– Tools that have a built up gunk or rust can be cleaned with vinegar. If it is thick or stubborn, soak in vinegar then scrub with an old toothbrush.
- Wipe down closet shelves and walls– Empty shelves then spray with vinegar and wipe down shelves and walls to get rid of musty smell.
- Wipe down handbags and shoes– Use a rag sprayed with vinegar to brighten shoes and minimize scuff marks.
These are some of the MANY ways I have used vinegar in my home over the past years and especially the past week while I was doing the A Cleaner for Life challenge! REMEMBER: For more information, a coupon and cleaning tips, visit FourMonksClean.com.
What are your biggest cleaning challenges, or favorite ways to use vinegar while cleaning? I would love to hear in the comments!
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