10 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do with Distilled White Vinegar

Distilled white vinegar’s acidity and natural properties as a disinfectant have made it a household cleaning staple for generations. In fact, vinegar has more uses around the house than most people even realize. Check out these 10 brilliant hacks that make use of this non-toxic, all-natural ingredient to achieve a cleaner, healthier home.

5 Uses for Vinegar in the Kitchen

1. Eliminate grease. Tackling some particularly tough grease on a dish? Amp up some hot soapy water with a tablespoon of vinegar to cut through the grease and deliver sparkling results.
2. Clean your dishwasher. To prevent soap residue from building up in your dishwasher, add 1 cup of vinegar to a complete cycle on a monthly basis. (This will also help remove spots on your glassware!)
3. Clean your microwave. If grime is clinging to the interior of your microwave oven, microwave a mixture of 1 cup of water, a ¼ cup of vinegar, and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice long enough to create ample steam. As the mixture steams, it will start to break down the grime and make it easy to wipe away with a clean rag.
4. Shine stainless steel. If your stainless steel sink or cookware is getting spotty, polish it with a clean rag that’s damp with vinegar to restore its shine.
5. Freshen up a kitchen drain. You can combat a smelly sink by pouring 1 cup of vinegar down the drain on a weekly basis. Make sure to wait at least half an hour before running any water.

3 Uses for Vinegar in the Laundry Room

1. Clean your washing machine. To freshen up your washing machine and break down soap residue, add 1 cup of vinegar to your washing machine, and let it run through a regular cycle without any clothes.
2. Eliminate stains. Forget Oxiclean. If there’s a stubborn stain on your favorite shirt, rub vinegar into the stain to make it easier for your washing machine to remove. Afterward, wash the garment in the highest heat that the fabric can tolerate.
3. Brighten colors. Adding a ½ cup of vinegar to your washing machine’s rinse cycle will help bring out the colors in your clothing and remove lint as well.

 2 Uses for Vinegar in the Bathroom

1. Eliminate mineral build-up on plumbing fixtures. Faucets and showerheads can become clogged with calcified minerals, but soaking them overnight in vinegar can cause the minerals to dissolve. You may need to tie a plastic bag full of vinegar onto plumbing fixtures that you can’t remove so that they can be soaked properly.
2. Clean glass shower doors. To eliminate the hard water spots and soap residue on your shower door, wipe the glass with a vinegar-soaked sponge or cloth. Rinsing is not recommended.

How to Clean Your Microwave with All-Natural Ingredients

If you’re like most Americans, your microwave oven is an essential home appliance that you use on a regular basis. Because microwaves get put through so much use, that means that they also end up needing a good cleaning more frequently than almost any other appliance.

How often have you looked inside your microwave to find crumbs, specks of liquid, and a blob of who-knows-what on the walls or turntable? It’s not exactly the squeaky clean and sanitary conditions in which most people would prefer to warm up their food. By that same token, scrubbing and disinfecting your microwave with bleach or other harsh chemical cleaners also raises some health concerns.

Luckily, there’s good news: you can clean and disinfect the inside of your microwave using 100-percent, all-natural ingredients.

Here is what you’ll need:

• ½ cup of distilled white vinegar
• 1 cup of clean water
• 3 tablespoons of freshly squeezed or bottled lemon juice OR a few drops of lemon essential oil
• 1 microwaveable bowl
• 1 clean rag

Step 1: Get Your Mixture Ready

Pour the cup of water and the ½ cup of vinegar into your microwaveable bowl. The smell of the vinegar can be a little too strong for some people, so to neutralize the odor, add the 3 tablespoons of bottled or freshly squeezed lemon juice or a few drops of lemon essential oil.

Step 2: Heat It Up

Place the bowl into your microwave, and set it on high for at least 4 minutes. The mixture needs to create steam in order to loosen grime, so microwave the mixture for an extra minute or two if necessary. Carefully remove the bowl from your microwave so as not to burn yourself with the liquid or on the bowl (oven mitts recommended). Set the bowl aside for now, but don’t throw out the mixture just yet.

Step 3: Wipe, Wipe, Wipe

With your clean rag, start wiping the interior of your microwave. If necessary, dip your rag carefully into your hot vinegar mixture to attack those extra-stubborn spots that are still clinging on for dear life.

You’re all done! If your microwave’s gasket needs some TLC as well, scrub it gently with a water and baking soda mixture (best applied to a clean sponge), and then rinse it with a damp cloth.

Top-Rated Healthy Hand Soaps for Sensitive Skin

Even though hand soap is meant to wash away dirt, grease, and harmful substances, the ingredients in soap itself can have negative effects on sensitive or allergy-prone skin and overall human health. The average bottle of hand soap contains allergy-triggering artificial fragrances and dyes, as well as toxic ingredients such as triclosan, SLS, and parabens.

If you’re looking to switch out the hand soap in your home for soap with healthier and more eco-friendly ingredients, this list is the perfect place to get started.

Puracy Natural Liquid Hand Soap in Lavender & Vanilla

Puracy uses plant-based formulas to create a number of cleansers that are great for your skin and also better for the environment than traditional hand soap. This hand soap contains zero harsh chemicals. That means no triclosan, sulfates, or petrochemicals. It’s also vegan as well as gluten-free, which makes it a great option for those with a gluten sensitivity.

This hand soap was formulated by doctors and gets its fragrance from vanilla and lavender essential oils--no artificial fragrances here. It also contains aloe vera, sea salt, and Vitamin E, which serve to balance and hydrate skin naturally.

This soap also gets brownie points for being biodegradable, made in the USA, and certified cruelty-free (never tested on animals).

Buy on puracy.com!

Seventh Generation Free & Clean Hand Soap, Unscented

This is another excellent plant-based liquid hand soap that can give you soft, clean skin without a single harsh chemical. It contains no dyes, fragrances, phthalates, or triclosan, making it a great option for anyone who wants or needs a completely unscented soap.

The ingredients that go into this product are both globally sourced and USA-based, but the product itself is manufactured in Tennessee, USA. The bottle is made with 100% post-consumer recycled plastic, and Seventh Generation sells large refill packs so that you can keep using the same bottle again and again--that’s an eco-friendly win!

Buy on seventhgeneration.com!

EO Botanical Hand Soap in French Lavender

EO stands for “essential oils,” and that is exactly how this brand gives their soaps, gels, and lotions such a therapeutic smell. For their lavender soap, they source the lavender from French farms that have on-site distilleries. This allows the essential oils to be extracted from the freshly-picked lavender, yielding the most potent scent possible.

This soap contains zero sulfates, parabens, artificial dyes, or artificial fragrances, but what it does contain is a formula comprised of mild amino acid cleansers and a healing blend of chamomile, calendula, aloe vera, and white tea extracts.

Buy on eoproducts.com!

Best All Natural Cleaners to Use Around the Home

If you take a look under your sink, you'll probably find an assortment of store-bought cleaning products. Cleaners for your kitchen. Cleaners for your toilet. Cleaners for your shower. Cleaners for your windows. The list goes on and on.

What you may not know is that these cleaners contain dozens of toxic chemicals – even those which are labeled as “all natural”. Ditch these products and use the natural cleaning ingredients below instead. Not only are they a healthier alternative, but they are cheaper too.

• Vinegar. Vinegar is mother nature's all purpose cleaner. It can be used to clean and disinfect a nearly any surface in your home, and is a powerful stain remover. WikiHow shows a variety of ways to clean with vinegar here.

• Baking Soda. You may use baking soda to deodorize your refrigerator, but it can be used for so much more. In addition to removing odors from your fridge and laundry, baking soda is a non-abrasive cleaner that can be used on metals, countertops, floors, and more. Combine with vinegar to make your very own all-purpose cleaner.

• Lemon. The strong citrus scent of lemon can be used to overpower even the most foul of odors. Use it to clean your garbage disposal, grout, faucets and handles, and much more. Click here for a list of 24 things you can clean with a lemon.

• Salt. You use salt on your eggs and margaritas, but did you know you can also use it for tough cleaning jobs around the house? Salt is an abrasive cleaning agent, meaning you can use it to scrub away really tough grime like greasy pans or mildew spots. When combined with vinegar or lemon, it acts as a catalyst, boosting cleaning power and forming a strong cleaning paste.

At GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration, we are committed to making your home as safe and healthy as possible. That is why we offer specialty cleaning services such as air duct cleaning, dryer vent cleaning, and mold removal to homes and businesses across Long Island. If you live in Nassau or Suffolk County, visit our website or give us a call at (631) 940-8100 to speak with one of our cleaning professionals.