Practical Application: Vinegar and Baking Soda

Save money on cleaning supplies by using white vinegar and baking soda instead of packaged cleaners. Vinegar is a disinfectant and baking soda is an abrasive. Put some vinegar and water in a spray bottle (add a teaspoon of baby wash, dish soap, or Dr. Bronner's Sal Suds for a surfactant - oil remover). Spray your kitchen sink, sprinkle some baking soda on top, run a scrubby brush over it, and rinse. Voila!

Hear me out! I know this is radical because we've all grown up with Ajax, Comet, Lysol, and Mr. Clean. But here are the cold, hard facts:

1. You are paying for the packaging. Next time you're at the store, price a gallon of vinegar and a box of baking soda vs. a spray bottle of 409. I speak the truth!

2. You don't need strong cleaners, just smart ones. Most packaged cleaners have some very harsh chemicals - to the point that most require plastic gloves (I don't know about you, but I never wore them when suggested). Your house doesn't need anything more than an abrasive (baking soda) for hard surfaces, a disinfectant (vinegar), and a tiny bit of surfactant (liquid soap).

3. A lot of packaged cleaners are vinegar or baking soda plus other ingredients. Check the labels for yourself.

4. Everything that goes down the drain leads to our water supply. And, everything you buy is a vote, in essence, for a company to make more of it.

I will concede that packaged cleaners can smell rosy while vinegar smells like ... vinegar. But, when vinegar dries, it smells like nothing. Also, there are some appliances in which you should use approved cleaners, like dishwashers and washing machines, for example. I would just like to see everyone out there think outside the box when it comes to home cleaners. A household can spend a lot of money on packaged cleaners that could be spent wisely elsewhere.

Here's a couple bonus tips:

You can use a vinegar-water solution in any carpet cleaner machine instead of carpet cleaning chemicals. Remember, vinegar has no odor when it dries.

A lot of folks out there make their own laundry detergent. Personally, we get a big gallon of Dr. Bronner's Sal Suds. It's a concentrated, natural surfactant that doesn't irritate sensitive skin like most detergents. Somtimes I add baking soda for an extra kick on whites.

Vinegar can replace fabric softener. Personally, I like the smell of commercial fabric softener. I know I pay more for it, and I'm okay with that. But at least I know what I'm doing.

Baking soda is a good emergency toothpaste. We only use it in emergencies, though, because it tastes wretched!

You can wash your plastic shower curtain in your washing machine with a little bit of laundry detergent and a cup of vinegar. Sure beats trying to wipe it down.

For a drip coffee maker, once a month run through a pot full of water with 1/2 to 1 cup vinegar. It will clean and disinfect AND get rid of hard water deposits. Just be sure to run another cycle of just water after that before you make coffee.

Baking soda will smother a grease fire.

To clean fruits and veggies, sprinkle some baking soda in water. Soak and rinse the produce. Also works with combs and hairbrushes. (just not at the same time!)

The list goes on and on. Google "uses for baking soda" and "uses for vinegar". You will be amazed!