Cleaning with Vinegar

Most of us hate to do it, but let's face, it has to be done. Unless you make good money and can hire a routine house cleaner (lucky you, I totally would if we had the money), you are doing the cleaning yourself. I'm not a fan of cleaning, so anything that makes it easier and less time consuming is awesome.
I use a lot of cleaning products, but my all time favorite is fairly cheap and you can buy a huge amount at once...VINEGAR! I learned in the last few years that they actually make a cleaning strength vinegar, and I LOVE it. Vinegar is fairly universal cleaner. It can clean your washing machine, dishwasher, microwave, stove, the vent above the stove (and those things get nasty). It also is great for cleaning floors and tubs, and is a great deodorizer for cleaning up things like vomit stains.

Using vinegar to clean the microwave. All you need to do for this is place about a cup of vinegar in a microwavable dish or bowl (I use my glass measuring cup) and nuke it for about 1-3 minutes (depending on the watts of your microwave). Basically, you want it to just start to bowl. Once that is done, all you have to do is wipe out the inside of the microwave with a damp cloth. The vinegar loosens all that junk up, so there is no scrubbing. All you need to do is wipe it all out.

To clean the dishwasher, it's the same basic concept. Pour about a cup of vinegar into a dishwasher safe dish or bowl (again I use the measuring cup) and start the dishwasher (don't add anything else). Let the dishwasher run it's course and bam, clean dishwasher.

For the washing machine, you will also need bleach, and some time. Pour 2-3 cups vinegar into washing machine, fill with hot water (I set it to medium load). Close lid and let it agitate for about 2-3 minutes. Open lid and let it sit for 1 hour. After an hour close lid and let it run it's course. Immediately after pour 1 cup of bleach in, let it fill. Close lid and let agitate for 2-3 minutes, open lid and let it sit for another hour. After an hour let it run it's course. I always run it through one more cycle with nothing in it, just to make sure there is no left over bleach, before washing a load of laundry.

To clean pee/vomit stains out of carpets or mattresses you will need boiling vinegar and some baking soda (you could do without baking soda, but it helps). First clean the mess, so that just the stain is left. Sprinkle baking soda on stain. Heat a cup of vinegar to boiling. Carefully dip the edge of rag into hot vinegar, and gently rub over stain. Repeat if necessary. This will not only help the stain disappear, it will neutralize the odor. This saved me the first time Sophia got sick after moving out of a toddler bed (I never realized how awesome those waterproof toddler mattresses are). Luckily, this trick really works to none of her potty training accidents or sick nights left proof on her mattress. You can let the area air dry, or dry it with a blow dryer (just be careful, I accidentally burned a tiny hole in her mattress).

The vent above our stove was caked with grease and oil and I never thought it would get clean, but with a toothbrush, baking soda, and vinegar, I got it almost brand new. I sprinkled baking soda over it and let it sit, then scrubbed it in a little with the toothbrush. I heated up some vinegar to boiling, dipped the toothbrush in it, and went to town scrubbing that thing down. It took some elbow grease and time, but it was well worth it.