Vinegar, Eureka, Love

I cleaned all day today and Oh, my! Vinegar, how I love thee. But, wait. Let me back up.

I recently let my housekeeper go because I could not afford the expense. I have put this decision off for a long time (a year?) because her family depends on the income. I know times are hard for me, but she needs a job, too.

Anyway. It's just me and the mop now. I'm saving money.

So, I threw the mop out, too. And I got this. It's not here yet. It arrives tomorrow, but I'm terribly excited.

I know. Excitement over a new floor cleaner. But, really. I have a lot of tile in my house. Like 1,000 square feet of tile. That's a lot of mopping, baby. This ... this new love of mine uses just water. Hot water. Like, super duper hot water. And I get to swish it back and forth across my floor like June Cleaver while it steams and disinfects my floor. What is that you ask? How much cleaner do I have to buy for this new floor cleaner?

I'm so glad you asked. Nada. Zip. Nothin'. Wa-t-e-r. Cha-ching. I'm saving money again.

So, yes, I have the inital expense of the steam mop, but I'm saving my back and money in the long run. And I don't have to keep buying new mops or replacement mop heads.

So, I'm thinking of how else I can save money on cleaning and into my head pops the word, "vinegar". My grandad drank vinegar and used turpentine for everything. I thought the old genetics were getting me again, but then I googled "cleaning vinegar" and lo and behold! Greatdaddy wasn't the only one who loved vinegar. I heard boastful claims of vinegar cleaning everything in the house, garage and beyond.

At reports like this, I am apt to scoff. I did.

But, being the open-minded gal that I am, I bought a couple of jugs of white vinegar at Wal-Mart. $1.84 per bottle. I figured, hey - it's cheap. Let's try it.

Ya'll. Brace yourselves. Vinegar is like - amazing. I began cleaning the kitchen and half way through I was seriously having fun. I found that a dry cloth with straight vinegar cut the greasy fingerprints on my stainless steel fridge and dishwasher. It cleaned my black glossy stovetop like I was in a commercial!

By this time, I yelled for my pre-teen daughter to come witness the miracle in the kitchen. I sprayed the front of the black and stainless steel microwave and in one wipe the smudges disappeared. She said, "Give me that!" And took off with my vinegar.

We both went crazy. We sprayed her shower where she has dribbled red shower gel down the white tile wall. The tile reappeared under the shower gel. "Cool.", she said. That was it. She cleaned her tub. Her shower wall. Her sink. Straight vinegar on the mirror = no streaks! What in the world? We were having a ball.

Next thing I knew, she had snuck the vinegar and rag into her room and was cleaning the windows.

We had so much fun. This is not fiction, my friends. I'm telling you. Vinegar rocks. We both cleaned our respective bathrooms, the kitchen, the guest bath (where the vinegar took out the potty mildew ring, thankyouverymuch!) and left glistening glass shower doors in my bathroom. I cleaned all that with ONE product today and it cost me a third of a bottle. So, what is that ... $1.84 divided by 3 = 61 cents.

And no elbow grease. I saved money. Again.

And that is why Vinegar, I love thee.