Just A Spoonful of Vinegar
Whether we like it or not, it’s here…winter, the cold and spending time staying warm and cozy inside. This means more quality time with family and friends and more of a need to make sure your home stays clean. Since you won’t be able to air out rooms until spring, using natural cleaning methods is the best way to go! Here is your cleaning super hero for the season, vinegar! That’s right regular household white vinegar has so many uses you’ll have to find more things to clean…okay maybe not but at least what you have already will be clean.
Healthy Humidity: A few tablespoons of vinegar and a few cups of water can go a long way in the maintenance of your humidifier. Since all humidifiers use water, it is important to clean regularly to keep your humidifier running properly and cleanly with build of minerals or bacteria. Simply add about two tablespoons of vinegar and about two cups of water to the tank and shake to get the solution throughout the tank. Then dump it out. Add the same amount of vinegar and water to the base and let sit for 20-30 minutes and scrub in any tight areas with Q-Tip. Then dump it out. Do this just once a week or maybe more often depending on how many minerals are in your water.
Home Cooking: There is nothing like coming home for some good homemade meals- there’s also anything like the clean-up after preparing one of these meals. One trick to make this process a little easier and to make sure your pots and pans last until next holiday season. Take your copper bottom pots and pans and flip them over so the copper side is up. Sprinkle some salt on the copper, and then pour some vinegar over it, just a bit so the salt doesn’t wash off. Then take a scour pad or the rough side of your sponge and scrub. You’ll notice it will start to look like a brand new copper penny. Add vinegar and salt as needed. Soon you’ll have pots and pans looking as good as new ready for the next meal!
Drive Safely: With all the snow and slush covering the roads in the coming months, clean and ready windshield wiper blades can make all the difference. If you notice your windshield seems blurry even after using your wipers it might be time for a vinegar cleaning. Just adding some white vinegar to a damp cloth and gently wipe down each blade- don’t forget your back windshield if you have wipers there! This will help ensure the ride over the river and through the woods gets everyone safely to grandma’s house.
Fireplace Beauty: A toasty fire at home makes even the coldest winter nights seem cozy and warm. Remembering to clean the glass doors to your fireplace will not only make your roaring fire nicer to look at but it will prevent ash build up from catching on fire too! Use a solution of half water and half vinegar to remove the ash and dust. I would recommend using a spray bottle and cloth to wipe it down. Be sure to do both sides to avoid streaks in your cleaning. This will also work on shower doors! Then sit back, relax and enjoy your fire building skills.
Museum Ready: I know when I was younger, my sister and I loved art projects and they kept us busy all winter long! I also remember the frustration of having so many projects to do that paint brushes were left with paint on them and seemingly ruined. If only I had known about vinegar. Soaking paint brushes in hot vinegar and then rinsing with soapy warm water will leave brushes paint free and ready for the next masterpiece! Hint: if any paint gets on the carpet you can use vinegar to clean that too!
Vinegar is a great and chemical free way to clean just about everything in your home. With the cold and flu season upon us and everyone coming up for a relaxing holiday break, vinegar can help to keep everyone healthy. Here at Crane we’re testing to see if a 2/3 vinegar 1/3 solution will help melt the ice off a frozen car this winter in Chicago. Everyone gets their own bottle for the car; we’ll see how it works! If you have a specific use for vinegar that you’d like to share, please feel free to share! Wishing everyone a happy and healthy holiday season!