Now does this sound like me? You're right, I've never been in a cleaning frenzy in my life! A woman who will switch sleeping on sides of the bed so the sheets only have to be washed half as often, doesn't get in that kind of frenzy.
But I have inexpensive laminate floors, and never know how to clean them as I don't want them to warp. I have a steam cleaner but it's a hassle to get out, hook up, fool with the water, cleaning pads, etc., so I don't often use it. (Besides, it is in my storage room snuggled behind the camping gear.) The spots in my living room were getting more and more noticeable, so I did a search on the "best way to clean inexpensive laminate flooring". The answer I got was to use a solution of half vinegar and half boiling water. You can use a mop, a spray bottle, or whatever you want. I have a spray bottle and got that out.
Why boiling water and not just very hot tap water? I decided to see if hot water would work just as well, and I don't know how it could have worked any better. I had some black scuff marks that didn't respond to normal spot cleaning, so I sprayed my solution on them, and wiped them up with a paper towel. Immediate results! The spots were gone instantly, and I went through the room looking for spots to attack. I even used it on part of the kitchen floor, and intend to do a proper job of it just before I leave for NY.
Now if I could find a solution for keeping the dust down. No matter if I use a dust mop, broom, or vacuum cleaner, I can see tons of dust when the afternoon sunbeams shine into the room. It's almost as bad as if I had a dog!
The vinegar water solution works on cleaning just about anything, so I'm going to use the rest of it on my kitchen countertops. And I'm never going to pay for another commercial spray cleaner that contains a bunch of chemicals I don't want in my house. By the way, you don't have to scrub or rub hard - the vinegar does the work. So why do we need all that chemical-laden crap to begin with.
I guess the natural solutions are the way Grandma did it in the old days, and it's good enough for me.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Yeah, its really funny how vinegar has so many uses and yet we spend money to buy over-priced cleaning products. There are others that have multiple uses, like baking soda. I think doing a search on-line would save us tons of money in the long run, plus storage space, right? :)
ReplyDeleteDo you use white vinegar or apple cider vinegar? I would imagine that both would work. My wife uses white vinegar to wash off vegies, etc., works well.
ReplyDeleteThe natural way is the best way:)
ReplyDeleteVinegar is all Mom (who is chemical sensitive) uses. We found it works really well in my Green Machine (small spray carpet cleaner) and took up a lot of the black marks on the carpet in her mobile when she moved in.
ReplyDeleteAmen! The chemicals are not any better than the vinegar and ammonia used for years. Not together of course. You can pretty much clean and disinfect anything with one or the other.
ReplyDeleteWhen we rent a Rug Doctor from Walmart, our cleaning solution for the rug cleaning tank is one part white vinegar to four parts water. We may run the Rug Doctor three or four times in the same room until the solution is no longer brown when we go to empty it. The carpets always look so clean when we're done.
ReplyDeleteFor a counter and sink cleanser use baking soda and salt in equal measure. Get wet enough to make a paste and scrub away with a sponge. You can also use that solution to clean RV toilet bowls. Just make sure to rinse well after you scrub.
Yesterday I paid $182. to have my carpets and in chair cleaned. the chair came out great the carpet to me is not cleaned. Maybe I can get my daughter to go over the bad places with the vinigar and water. It isn't spills its just walking paths. really makes me angry to see that after spending that much money
ReplyDeleteGood news! My question also, do you use white or apple cider vinegar?
ReplyDeleteI know for coffe pots its white.
One afternoon years ago I was standing in the kitchen looking at the dust the sunbeams allowed me to see in the air, shaking my head at them as I'd just cleaned. I was silently lamenting the fact that no matter how often I dusted, it was forever in the air and would be a never-ending job. Just then my step-son, who was 3 at the time, came around the corner and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the full of dust sunbeams cutting across the room too. His eyes got big and he smiled and squealed, "SPARKLES!!!" I've looked at the dust I see in them differently ever since. :)
ReplyDelete