by Michelle Cannon

Created on: March 14, 2008   Last Updated: July 18, 2008

While most people recognize that vinegar is a top-notch window cleaner and can be used to clean a coffee maker, mention using it for the entire house and you're certain to be faced with some funny looks! The fact is that vinegar can be used as a mainstay in your home cleaning supply kit. In our home and natural cleaning business, vinegar is the one ingredient we always have on hand. Even if we should run out of just all other cleaning ingredients or products, we can still manage to the do the job effectively and professionally if we have vinegar.

Vinegar cuts through soap scum, polishes chrome, disinfects and freshens the air. It's great for getting rid of mold and mildew as well. Vinegar also has powerful disinfecting properties. Vinegar has been shown to kill 99% of bacteria, 82 percent of mold and 80% of viruses. "But what about the smell?" someone may ask. The good news is that as vinegar dries, the smell evaporates with it leaving the air clean and smelling fresh. Can chlorine bleach claim that?

Can I add other ingredients?
Yes! Combine the vinegar with other ingredients and you've created some top-notch cleaning products. Add salt, and chrome not only shines, but lime scale deposits vanish. Add some baking soda, and you've got a wonderful scrub for shower doors, sinks, toilets, and more. Mix baking soda and vinegar in the toilet to for a chemical-free, toxin-free, septic-safe product for getting rid of any clog (works in sinks too!).

Add essential oils and not only have you created some wonderful fragrances but they have their own disinfecting and healing properties as well. Lemon or Orange oil will not only clean your kitchen but give you an "uplifted" spirit. Add eucalyptus to your vinegar and water and you've go the world's best grease cutter! Mix a few drops of eucalyptus, rosemary and tea tree oil to rid your home of the cold or flu germs!

What about laundry?
In the laundry, vinegar helps clean and disinfect clothing. Toss in some baking soda and/or borax and you've created a highly effective laundry booster! Add vinegar to the final rinse for softening and freshening the clothes. I've even removed water stains from wood using vinegar and olive oil.

Vinegar has at least 100 uses that I can think of.. From gardening tips to removing the smell of cat urine from carpet; treating a cold or sinus infection to taking the burn out of a sunburn. This could be a book really (and probably already is!) but suffice it to say that you can clean cheaply, effectively and thoroughly without ever purchasing another toxic cleaning product if you simply keep vinegar in the kitchen cabinet.

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