Using Vinegar for a Sparkling Clean Kitchen

Today I want to share some great tips for using vinegar to clean your kitchen!

But first. I just need to say that last week kicked my tush! It’s our busy season at work and at home and I just felt good that the kids were fed and had clean clothes to wear. Anyone out there relate?

I came home Wednesday and decided to just rest for a few minutes on the couch after dinner before going over my daughter’s spelling words for her test. FOUR HOURS LATER my hubby woke me up and told me it was time for bed! I had slept for the whole evening! He said he figured I needed it and left me alone. I love him.

So I was really thankful when it rained this weekend causing two out of our three sporting commitments to be canceled! Instead of running all over the place, my hubby went with my oldest to his baseball tourney in Texas, my awesome in-laws took our two younger kiddos to a movie, and I got some time to catch up on the cleaning and the laundry. Oh. The. Laundry.

An Ugly Kitchen

But that brings me to today’s post because I had the chance to really clean our kitchen! Now, if you’ve read my post about our kitchen you know it’s nothing to look at. And it’s one of those things that even after I clean it, it still looks dirty. But I have a few days off work coming up in about a month and I’m planning to paint the cabinets and change out the hinges and hardware. It’s all we can afford right now, but it’ll make a huge difference. So I wanted to get it cleaned and organized beforehand.

Vinegar

I love to use vinegar when I clean. It’s a natural disinfectant and also works great on mold and mildew. The best part is…it’s CHEAP!! You could just buy a jug of vinegar and pretty much clean your whole house for a couple of bucks.

You can make your own cleaner using vinegar, water, and a few drops of essential oils. All you need is:

Spray bottle
1/2 c. vinegar
1/2 c. water
6 drops of sweet orange or lemon essential oils
funnel

Place the funnel in the mouth of the spray bottle. Pour in the vinegar and water, then add the essential oils. Screw the nozzle on and gently shake to combine. You are ready to go! I made some over the weekend to use on my countertops and stovetop. I’ve read that if you have granite or marble, you may not want to use vinegar to clean them. I have Formica and it works great on that surface.

Microwave Cleaning Hack

After getting the countertops and stove cleaned I went to work on my microwave. I learned this trick years ago and it never fails. Fill a large bowl with water and add about a half a cup of vinegar. Place in your microwave and heat for about 10 minutes. The condensation from the water heating up loosens the food particles from the surface of your microwave. When the 10 minutes is up you can remove the bowl and wipe the inside clean. It literally comes off with just a swipe!

Dishwasher

While I was waiting on the water in the microwave to finish heating I loaded the dishwasher. A friend of mine recently told me that she uses vinegar in place of rinse aids in her dishwasher. I decided to give it a try and it works! My glasses come out sparkly clean and you don’t have to worry about build-up or residue.

Cleaning Glass

The last tip I’m going to share I received at one of my bridal showers 15 years ago! One of the things the hostess had guests do was write a household tip on an index card and put them in a box. I was able to go through them later and glean the wisdom of those women who had gone before me and there were some great tips!

One of the tips was to use vinegar to clean glass. She suggested using old newspaper to wipe it clean after spraying on your windows for a streak-free finish. She was right! It will also work on the door of your microwave or if you have a glass-top stove. I don’t know what it is about newspaper but it really does leave a streak-free surface!

For More Tips…

The options of using vinegar in cleaning your home are endless! To find out more ways, check out this informative article posted by Better Homes and Garden.

I hope you enjoyed these tips today! I’m calling this kitchen week on the blog because in the next post I’m going to share how I decluttered and organized my kitchen, plus some of my favorite products for cleaning!

Have more tips for using vinegar in the home? I’d love to hear them in the comments! Have a blessed day!

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