Some good advice from my mom!

1905

Well-Known Member
I spent 8 days recently in FL, my dad is critically ill, nothing I can do and I'm sad.

I'm changing the subject right now. Ladies, my mom cleans everything with a solution of half white vinegar and half water. I swear, I would never believe this, but this works, She cleans the chrome faucets- they shine! The granite counters, literally everything, her house is fresh smelling, she does not like chemicals.

She went to visit my sister in CT and the maid service my sister uses told her this is what they clean with.

I went to do my laundry and my mom said she does this: (she showed me how whie her whites were),- half Tide, and half white vinegar, her bottle of Tide will last twice as long. I did this at home and wow- My clothes came out very clean smelling and clean. I'm excited my laundry detergent will last me twice as long! I guess it doesn't take much to get me excited.

She told me to google uses for vinegar, I went to the Readers Digest 150 uses, and you can really do so much, make mouthwash, kill bugs, clean wood, get stains out, get rid of odors, clean produce, etc....I thought some of you may enjoy it. I think it may be a good way to save money and not use so many chemicals. Just don't mix it with dishwashing liquid!
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
I have recently been learning some of the amazing uses for vinegar myself. As someone who never bought it, because I can't stand the smell, I now by it by the gallon.

Also is great for pet stains in the carpet, not only removes the stain but permanently gets rid of any odor. :)
 

Star*

call 911........call 911
(raises hand)

?? HOW do you do the Tide/ vinegar in the wash - does the vinegar just go RIGHT in with the tide? Or do you use the measuring cup that comes with the Tide and make it 1/2 and then use the same amount of vinegar as detergent?

ALSO - if you don't like the smell of vinegar - you can use peroxide the same way to clean - (I would check however with the granite company to see if vinegar CAN be used - I KNOW for a FACT it can NOT be used on MARBLE) FYI. So if you have marble floors - DO NOT use vinegar - it will pit your floors. Granite is much harder....but I'd still check.

Waiting to hear about the vinegar because I use BORAX to get the man stink out of clothes and it whitens everything -
 

1905

Well-Known Member
Star- My mom and I both have this little tiny drawer in our washers that say, "Fill to line", I pour in some detergent and some vinegar to the line, both together. You can mix them together in the detergent measuring cup. Whatever you normally do, mix them together. husband hates vinegar- he has no idea I have been doing this to his clothes, or that I have been cleaning anything with it. It only smells when you first put it on something, then it goes away.
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
Marg mentioned this to me a while back for Jett's clothes and it is AWESOME - when I was washing the maggoty linens that Raven used (and no I am not exaggerating, they smelled like beer and vomit) - I soaked them in the washer with 1/2 gallon vinegar for a full load, for an hour then ran the heavy wash cycle with the regular amount of unscented detergent. I have super preggo nose right now and after an extra rinse, they smell the same as my other clothes!!!!!
 

Star*

call 911........call 911
I tried it UAN and it worked wonders for the smell - THANK YOU!!!!!! Now to sneak the vinegar into the laundry room so DF doesn't make a "stink" about it......

Thanks
 

trinityroyal

Well-Known Member
You can also use vinegar to remove tea stains from the tea pot, the counter, the mug, the wall, and anywhere else that monster-tots spill it when they knock over your freshly made pot of tea.

Works a treat for unclogging drains too: A 1/14 cup of baking soda + 1/2 cup of vinegar. Let it bubble up like a little volcano and then rest for 30 min or so. Use a kettle-full of boiling water as a chaser, and voila, clean drain, without any of those lung-rotting drain cleaner chemicals.

As UAN mentioned, great for getting whites whiter in the wash. Also, if you have horribly smelly clothes (such as Little PCs utterly rank hockey stuff, that could knock a buzzard off a *sewage* wagon -- to use husband's colourful phrase), it takes away even THAT smell.
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
I've tried most of this stuff - with mixed results. Smell-killing, works. Drain cleaning... well, I don't know what goes down my drain that doesn't go down yours, but it doesn't work on ANY of our drains. Maybe we're just exceptionally grungy?
 

tiredmommy

Well-Known Member
I love using vinegar on a barely damp cloth to clean/dust my woodwork. I especially like it because it doesn't trigger Duckie's asthma. I also use it to clean windows/glass/chrome, deoderize laundry, clean up cat messes, etc. It truly is a go-to item in my house.
 

Star*

call 911........call 911
I'm going to try it DF's nazzy old clothes and our towels.........I can not stand to use a towel that smells unfresh........it's worse than being a sock snob.....Sometimes I've washed them twice to get the funk out of them -

But I'll tell you one thing......the funky odor in my upright front loader is GONE baby! I've tried bleach and other stuff and nothing worked - except now ------DEFUNKIFIED my GE........sweet. (um not that I make a habit of smelling the inside of my washer) but man is the difference AWESOME......

Thanks UAN.

As far as whiter whites? Well I'm kinda MEH on that - BUT I'd tellyou too - WE have the most horrible , earth and once it gets on something it's like stink on a muskrat.......
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
Yes, white vinegar has dozens of uses and it really, really helps get out the smell of urine.
The only thing I don't use it for is eating, because it's got free radicals. I use apple cider vinegar for food items.
Also, I think it was Star, awhile back, who suggested a drop of cinammon oil after cleaning the house. Wow, does that work! I love it. :)
 
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