17 tips for 'green' cleaning and cooking with White Vinegar

Our philosophy at Decibel Designs is to keep our impact to a minimum, so in addition to our use of formaldehyde free plywood and no solvent finishing in making our cabinets, we try to use natural cleaners.

Almost all our cleaning can be done with white vinegar to wash, baking soda to scour, and citrus cleaners to degrease.

Here's 7 cleaning  and 10 cooking tips for white vinegar;

CLEANING

• 1. Glassware  1/2 cup of distilled vinegar added to a gallon of rinse water will remove soap film from glassware and make it shine.
• 2. Toilet Bowl Clean and deodorize you toilet bowl by pouring undiluted white distilled vinegar into it. Let it stand for about five minutes then flush. Stubborn stain may require scrubbing with baking soda.
• 3. Bathtub Wipe down bathtub with vinegar and soda to remove film buildup. Rinse clean with water.
• 4. Grease Filmy dirt and greasy residue can be removed from stove and refrigerator by wiping with vinegar.
• 5. Chrome To polish chrome and stainless steel, moisten a cloth with white vinegar and wip clean.
• 6. Coffee Maker To remove stale coffee residue, fill the reservoir with vinegar and run it through a brewing cycle. When cycle is finished, run two cycles of water to rinse.
• 7. Irons Remove burn stains from your electric iron by mixing one part salt with one part vinegar in a heated small aluminum pan. Use this mix to polish the iron as you would silver.

COOKING

• 1. Vegetables Liven up slightly wilted vegetables by soaking them in cold water and vinegar.
• 2. Cabbage Add two tbsp of vinegar to the cooking water of boiling cabbage to prevent the odor from permeating the house.
• 3. Meat A marinade of 1/2 cup of your favorite vinegar and a cup of liquid bouillon makes an effective meat tenderizer.
• 4. Flowers Add two tbsp of vinegar plus three tbsp of sugar to a quart of warm water (100 degrees) to keep fresh cut flowers blooming longer.
• 5. Rice A tsp of vinegar added to the water of boiling rice makes it white and fluffy.
• 6. Fish Reduce fishy odors by rubbing fish down with white distilled vinegar before descaling it.
• 7. Cheese Keep cheese moist and fresh by wrapping it in a cloth that has been dampened with vinegar and sealed in an air-tight wrap or container.
• 8. Eggs To produce better-formed egg whites, add a tsp of vinegar to the water. Effective for poaching eggs too.
• 9. Onion Odors Quickly remove the odor of onions from your hands by rubbing them with distilled vinegar.
• 10. Pickling Cider, Red Wine, Balsamic and other dark vinegars are very good for pickling, but may discolor lighter colored pickles such as pears, onions or cauliflowers. In this case, a distilled or white vinegar may be preferred.

So use white vinegar where ever you can to clean and cook. It's cheap, organic, and biodegradable. A low impact solution on your personal environment!