Vinegar to the Rescue! 6 Tasks to Tackle

If you're looking to get a jump on spring cleaning, using vinegar to clean your Mansfield and Ashland homes for sale is effective, economical, and easy. And you probably already have some in your kitchen. It's natural and safer than many commercially marketed cleaners too. Vinegar does a stellar job cleaning around the house, and it is especially effective for the following six tasks. 

1. Clean the refrigerator. Use equal parts vinegar and water mixture to spray the inside shelves, drawers, seals, and other surfaces. Wipe off with a damp sponge.
    
2. Make the microwave spotless. This one is a real game-changer; once you try it, you'll never clean the microwave with anything else. Use a microwave-safe bowl with ½  cup of vinegar and ½  cup water and heat until it's boiling (usually around 2 minutes for most microwaves). With the microwave off, let it sit inside and steam for a few minutes. Then take it out and wipe all the splatters and gunk right off with a sponge or paper towel. 
   
   
3. Banish offensive odors. There are many places, especially in the kitchen, where weird smells can hide. You can spray cutting boards or garbage cans and wipe them out to clean them. Soak plastic or silicone containers, or your instant pot sealing ring, in vinegar to get rid of any absorbed odors. 
    
4. Make windows and other glass surfaces sparkle. Vinegar is an amazing window cleaner. Spray it on undiluted just as you would any other window cleaner and wipe with a paper towel. It's also great for other glass surfaces in your home, such as glass cabinet doors or glass top tables. 
   
   
5. Floors and walls. Clean your floors with ½ cup vinegar to 1 gallon of water in a bucket for an economical clean. Make sure to use a mop that can be wrung out well to avoid excess water. Use a sponge or sponge mop with vinegar and water to clean dust off the walls too.
    
6. Clean the showerhead. Put enough vinegar in a zip lock bag to submerge the bottom part of the showerhead. Secure the bag and let it sit overnight. Remove the bag (you can scrub a little if needed) and run the water to rinse.

A Word of Caution

Although vinegar is a safe cleaner, there are still a couple of cautions:

• It is acidic, so don't use it on natural stone surfaces such as granite, marble, or travertine, since it will cause damage to the stone. 
• Vinegar and water cleaning mixture is best used alone. Don't mix it with anything that contains bleach, ammonia, or hydrogen peroxide since those combinations produce dangerous fumes. 

Getting an extra clean home and checking some of those tasks off your to-do list can be satisfying and stress relieving. Our REALTORS® can take the stress out of buying or selling a home and have the experience you need to get results. Contact us today to get started.