White Vinegar and baking soda as cleaning products (buy, natural, environment)

[GK advocate]

Originally Posted by plaidmom

Baking soda and vinegar also makes an excellent drain cleaner. Flush with boiling water. If you do this on a somewhat regular basis you can avoid commercial "drain cleaners" altogether.

For scubbing pots I prefer to use baking soda and lemon (plus I like the smell). If I have a scorched pan, I make a paste of baking soda and a little water, then use 1/2 of a lemon as a "scouiring pad". Toss the used lemon in your garbage disposal. The citrus oil cleans and deodorizes that too.

I have tried using baking soda and vinegar as drain cleaner.. It works wonder for me..

[susan42]

Originally Posted by B'ichela

I was watching G word on Planet Green. they were showing the power of baking sode and white vinegar at cleaning. Being they are both foodstampable items I bought some. Results? Worked like a charm! Granted my house smells like a salad bar. (just a tiny bit, I had my windows open.) it got the gunk off my microwave and sinks that the regular commercial stuff left behind. On the linolium floor in my kitchen it got the ground in dirt out. without out too much sweat on my part.

Now here is my question. What else can these two products be used for? Can they clean a slightly soiled electric oven? I hae yet to try that.

I am amazed that two everyday grocery items can out perform commercial cleaning products. Is there any other grocery products that can be used to clean with too?

I clean my windows with vinegar and hot water-great shine. Lemon juice is also good for getting prints off SS appliances etc.

[ECG]

Before tossing that used lemon, you can use it to clean your sinks and then rinse the sink with water.

You can also use the inside of the peel of a Green Plantain to clean the inside of your tub, scrub the tub with it and then rinse it off.

[Skyecrafts]

White Vinegar Rocks! We are cleaning up our home to try and sell it when the market gets a little bit better. My shower is from 1976, all original tile. It was caked in grime, really bad. I thought the tiles were destroyed because that was the way it was when I moved in. I just would use Tilex and try and keep it clean. So, one day I soaked rags in vinegar and left them in my shower on the tiles for a couple of hours. The grime came off. My shower actually looks nice and retro chic and I don't have to pay thousands to put in that plastic tub thing.

[KarenBo]

Originally Posted by maggiekate

use it to kill weeds

How? Do you pour it straight on? Spray it? Wouldn't it harm other plants as well? Weeding is the bane of my existence.

[gentlearts]

Take a dirty old coin and rub a paste of baking soda and water over it for a minute or two...you'll be amazed!

[maggiekate]

Originally Posted by GoHokiesGo

I started using White vinegar to clean everything in my house. It seems to work better than nearly all cleaner products, and I can just use one product to clean nearly everything. It's definitely cheaper as well. I love the stuff!

Also it saves you money, and also if ever a sunburn you get in a cool tub vinegar helps!
Also it is used to wash tile with water more money for us!

[nightbird47]

I love using vinegar and soda in the drain and watch as it bubbles. I've found this works as well as with commercial cleaners unless you wait until the clog is too bad (or have the core of the stopper stuck sideways in the drain when it came apart like mine, plummer time there)

I wasn't happy when I got a faux marble ie plastic vanity. It has to be cleaned with bleach or ammonia, which I'm allergic to, so I use the green products and seventh generation. I've also discovered you can tile over it so that and beadboard sheets are going to be its fate.

When I wash out the glass jars I save, after washing I use a fifty fifty vinegar/water mix, fill them and let them sit a few hours before I dump them and let them dry to get anything I might have missed with soap. I soak the lids too.

[MaryleeII]

Ok, I'm a fan of vinegar for cleaning, and vinegar and baking soda to clean drains.

But I have never gotten good results using baking soda as a scrub. We have a black sink, and I don't want to scratch it up using comet, etc. I've tried baking soda, seems no matter how much I rinse, it dries so streaked it looks worse than before! Same for everything I use baking soda on---it dries with so much residue it looks worse than when you started, no matter how much I rinse! So, what am I doing wrong?

[recycled]

I use a top loading machine at home for clothes washing. I use Trader Joe's powder laundry detergent, which is a mix of washing soda, borax and coconut based cleaner. I stir about 1/3 cup powder detergent in a plastic bottle with hot water before putting it in the machine to dissolve it real well.

After the wash cycle, I pour about 3/4 cup (200 ml) white vinegar as the rinse water is filling up to help remove any soap residue from clothes in the rinse cycle. The vinegar also works as a fabric softner. I air dry the clothes and don't notice any vinegar smell left on the clothes. Towels feel pretty soft, even when air dryed on a hot sunny day.