I’m pretty darn fond of my dog (to put it in not Crazy Dog
Lady language) but not vet bills for things I can easily avoid. I looked all
over to replace my cleaners with pet safe versions. I left the store
empty handed and frustrated because companies do not have to print ingredient
lists on cleaning product labels – so they don’t.
Ugh.
I could take the lazy way out and never clean the house for
the safety of my dog but clutter makes me cranky. You do not want to see me
cranky. Think a very short and very pale She Hulk kind of cranky. Not good.
I knew frugal and green folks cleaned with vinegar because a
5% acidity solution of white vinegar will clean and disinfect a counter top
(although you don’t want to use it to clean marble or natural stone because
it will ruin the finish), deter a kitchen ant invasion, and kill mold and
mildew in the bathroom.

I filled an old spray bottle with equal parts vinegar and water and got to cleaning. Cleaning with vinegar works!
However I wondered why it seemed that I needed to use twice as much of my vinegar and water solution to clean tough stuff like soap scum on my shower doors – my nemesis - than when I used commercial cleaners.
The answer was right on the vinegar bottle. A regular bottle of white vinegar is already a 5% acidity solution. By adding water to the vinegar, I was reducing how effective it was as a cleaner and disinfectant. That’s why I needed to use twice as much vinegar to get the job done.
D'oh!
I solved the problem by screwing the spray nozzle of my old cleaning bottle directly onto the bottle of white vinegar.
I can clean counters while I cook (hey I’m already standing there so why wait?) and don’t have to worry if an accidental spray get into food on the stove because it is just vinegar.

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I filled an old spray bottle with equal parts vinegar and water and got to cleaning. Cleaning with vinegar works!
However I wondered why it seemed that I needed to use twice as much of my vinegar and water solution to clean tough stuff like soap scum on my shower doors – my nemesis - than when I used commercial cleaners.
The answer was right on the vinegar bottle. A regular bottle of white vinegar is already a 5% acidity solution. By adding water to the vinegar, I was reducing how effective it was as a cleaner and disinfectant. That’s why I needed to use twice as much vinegar to get the job done.
D'oh!
I solved the problem by screwing the spray nozzle of my old cleaning bottle directly onto the bottle of white vinegar.
Lazy spray bottle realness.
I can clean counters while I cook (hey I’m already standing there so why wait?) and don’t have to worry if an accidental spray get into food on the stove because it is just vinegar.
However, sometimes even pure vinegar needs a little oomph to
cut through grease and the
I-have-no-idea-what-the-ring-is-in-the-kitchen-sink-but-it-is-icky-and-will-not-go-away-quietly.
Soaking orange
peels in a jar of vinegar for two weeks makes a powerful cleaner because the
oils in the orange peel (all citrus actually) are an excellent cleaner and will
shine your sink too.
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Making citrus cleaner is more work than slapping a sprayer
on a bottle of vinegar. You have to search all over for a big enough jar to
hold the vinegar and orange peels while it infuses, pour the stuff in one jar,
wait, strain out the peels, and eventually pour it into a spray bottle. Then
there is the waiting. Oh the waiting! Two. Whole. Weeks.
Welcome to my first world problems.
I don’t have time to wait. I have a dirty sink now. I made
lazy citrus vinegar cleaner instead.
Orange vinegar cleaner
I stuffed small pieces of orange peel in a spray bottle,
filled it up with vinegar, and shoved it under the kitchen sink. I started
using it right away. My lazy citrus cleaner works well although it cleans better
once the citrus infuses the vinegar after a couple of weeks. You can tell because the vinegar
turns orange.
Then I left it that way.
So far, the orange peels have not molded. The vinegar might
be pickling the peels and preventing that. I’m not sure. All I know is I have
homemade citrus cleaner and a clean house.
And no Hulk outs in my future.
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9 comments:
Wow a good post! I never thought to use citrus peel in my vinegar cleaning ! I bet it smells nicer as well :) I hope this will work with lemons, I have to try it soon :)
I'm going to have to try this. I love cleaning with vinegar anyway, but orange citrus vinegar sounds good. And I think I'll also have to try creativepinkbutterfly's idea with the lemons, too.
Pretty cool. I'd love to have you link this at What to do Weekends. Hope to see you. Linda
http://www.craftsalamode.com/2013/03/what-to-do-weekends-11.html
I totally get the mini-she-hulk thing...been there! :) I like your lazy cleaner solution! It works for me. We have a new puppy so I should be thinking about these things! Thanks for sharing at the Rock N Share!
Get pickled! Cute very cute. Great recipe!
Love it! I do this the LONG way, but may have to try this one.
Interesting. Never thought of making cleaner like this. I will have to try it out.
This post was so funny, not because of the cleaner, but because of your humor! Thanks for sharing this on Domestic Superhero's link party this week!
pickled, cute! We use vinegar a lot! Thank you for sharing and joining in the fun at the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop xo
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