Have you discovered the wonders of vinegar yet? From the bathroom to the kitchen, this versatile product is a goldmine of possibilities. The best part is that it’s green. It’s enjoying a new-found popularity as people try to avoid toxic or harsh cleaning chemicals around their children and pets, as well as save money by making their own cleansers. Vinegar is cheap, versatile, and doesn’t irritate allergies like some fragranced cleansers. Below are a few of the wonderful things you can do with vinegar.

• Floors: To wash no-wax floors, add ½ cup of white distilled vinegar to a half-gallon of warm water.
• Streakless windows: Wash with a mixture of equal parts of white distilled vinegar and warm water. Dry with a soft cloth. This solution will make your windows shine and wont leave a film or streaks on the glass.
• Coffee maker cleaner (automatic): White distilled vinegar can help dissolve mineral deposits that collect in automatic drip coffee makers from hard water. Fill the reservoir with vinegar and run it through a brewing cycle. Rinse thoroughly with water when the cycle is finished. (Be sure to check the owner’s manual for specific instructions.)
• Deodorize the kitchen drain: Pour a cup of white distilled vinegar down the drain once a week. Let stand 30 minutes then flush with cold water.
• Clean the refrigerator: Wash with a solution of equal parts water and white distilled vinegar.
• Clean and disinfect wood cutting boards: Wipe with full strength white distilled vinegar.
• Ant deterrent: Ant invasions can sometimes be deterred by washing counter tops, cabinets and floors with white distilled vinegar.
• Shower doors: Rub down shower doors with a sponge soaked in white distilled vinegar to remove soap residue.
• Toilet bowl cleaner: Stubborn stains can be removed from the toilet by spraying them with white distilled vinegar and brushing vigorously.
• Grout Cleaner: There’s no need to use bleach on tile grouting when you can let vinegar soak on it and then scrub with a toothbrush.
• Unclog the shower head Corrosion and mineral deposits can be removed from showerheads or faucets by soaking them in white distilled vinegar. This can be done by saturating a wash cloth in vinegar and wrapping it around the showerhead or faucet, or covering the showerhead with a baggie filled with vinegar.
• Air freshener: Got that spray bottle of vinegar from the window cleaning? Spritz it in the air a few times to kill general odors. It smells vaguely vinegary for the first minute, then it just smells clean.
• Nasty air: Got a room that really reeks of smoke or paint fumes? Put a bowl of vinegar in there and just let it sit. If the room’s really bad, put out two or three bowls. The odor in the room will drastically improve in a few hours.
• Kill grass: To kill grass on sidewalks and driveways, pour full strength white distilled vinegar on it.
• Kill weeds: Spray white distilled vinegar full strength on tops of weeds. Reapply on any new growth until plants have starved.
• Frostless Car Windows: Wiping down your car windows and windshield with a three-to-one vinegar-water mixture can keep them frost-free in the wintertime.
• Freshen baby clothes: The addition of 1 cup of white distilled vinegar to each load of baby clothes during the rinse cycle will naturally break down uric acid and soapy residue leaving the clothes soft and fresh.
• Nighttime Accidents: If a child has an “accident” on a mattress, clean it with a solution of vinegar and water. Afterwards, pour some baking soda onto the mattress, and brush or vacuum the residue once it’s dry.
• Meat tenderizer: As a tenderizer for tough meat or game by mixing half a cup of your favorite vinegar to a cup of heated liquid, such as bouillon. Or for steak, mix vinegar and light olive oil together, pour over the steak and allow to stand for two hours.
• Boiling Eggs: Add a few tablespoons to the water when boiling eggs, and if any shells crack, the whites won’t leak out.
• Wilted Greens: If your leafy veggies are wilted, soaking them in cold water with a little vinegar will perk them right up.

My best advice if you really want to go GREEN is to use Heinz Vinegar. I’m not usually one to promote companies like Heinz but they are the only national brand I know of that only uses grain to produce their vinegar. There are some vinegar’s out there that are made with petroleum, NOT something that should be in a natural product. Read the ingredient list!