vinegar and lemon

Vinegar and Lemon are often used as greener cleaning alternatives.  Or so I've found out.
 
As you may or may not know, I've taken up residence as a maid for a few households in the Rexburg area.   I was raised in a clean household where we did chores every Saturday to keep our environment.  I like things that way.  My own apartment is spotless.  It freaks Tyler out a little bit, how uptight I am about keeping things put away and clean.  Now I'm putting my excessive cleaning instincts to good work, and learning quite a bit as I do it.  One of the ladies I work for only lets me use vinegar, lemon, baking soda, and (now that I've talked her into it) hydrogen peroxide.  As I learn about what products work best, I figure someone should benefit from my incoming knowledge.  So here you go, people! 

White distilled vinegar works great, but smells terrible (hence the lemon).  I recommend filling a spray bottle with 2 parts water and 1 part vinegar, the squeeze in a little fresh lemon.

Here's where I've seen this dynamic duo have alot of success in cleaning:

Grease on the Stove
 
 The acid from the lemon works up the grease, especially with the vinegar.  If you spray a little on and let is soak for a bit then it should wipe right off.  If you have big amounts of grease cooked onto your stove top, it will take a little repetition.  This does NOT work on cooked on food.  Vinegar and lemon also works on (allegedly) hard-water deposits.  I'm a little iffy on that one, but I'll try it and let you know.  (If your really serious about hard water, use a razor blade to scrape it off.)

Toilet rings
Pour a little vinegar (under half a cup) in your toilet bowl, even if you don't have time for scrubbing.  One of the gals I clean for does this.  The rest of her toilette was grody, but there wasn't  a ring in any of the toilets.  Go ahead and let it sit overnight if the ring is really built up.


Microwave blowout 
 
Ew.  The word blowout just sounds gross!  I hate it when stores advertise "blowout sales!" I just think of a really bad messy diaper.   
Anywho, you can either use your spray bottle and let it soak for a bit, or microwave the mixture until it hits a rolling boil.  Either method loosens up the grime and makes most of it wipe away!  

Toothpaste 
Ya know how the kids get a little excited and squirt the stuff all over?  Once it gets hard it usually takes tons of elbow grease to get it off.  Letting it soak in a little vinegar/lemon mixture makes it wipe up way easier.  Still takes a little muscle though.

Mopping
Floors will sparkle (and smell great!) if you fill your sink with warm water, pour in a little vinegar, and squeeze some lemons.  I like to do lots of lemon, otherwise the kitchen smells like vinegar for a few minutes. When it comes down to it, I think store-bought cleaning solutions are the better way to go.


This site claims several other uses for vinegar, but I haven't tried them out so no guarantees.
As far as I'm concerned, there are plenty good reasons to grab a bottle, mix up some spray and add it to your cleaning supplies.