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The most versatile cleaner that I have in my cabinets is a mixture of white vinegar and Original Blue Dawn dish detergent. I found the recipe for the cleaner in an older tips and tricks book and later found it confirmed by hundreds of reviewers online. The original recipe and the many variants I found online state to heat the vinegar until hot. I have never heated the vinegar and have still had amazing success with this.
The recipe is a 1:1 ratio, so 1 cup vinegar + 1 cup dawn.
Bathroom cleaner
- For homes with hard water or teenagers it is best sprayed on thick and left to sit for 10-15 minutes or longer.
- This will become very slippery, so rinse the area very well or cut the amount of dawn in half.
- If you have tile with white grout, be cautious in letting this sit on the grout for too long as it can stain. (Landlord was impressed with the clean tile, not impressed with the blueish grout)
Other uses that I have found with this include:
Always test a small inconspicuous area if you are going to use this on carpet or on fabric. The vinegar can cause a bleaching type effect, especially on darker material.
Spot Carpet Treatment
- Get up what you can of the spot/mess before treating. Spray the area with the solution. Slowly and gently work from the center of the spot to the outer part. This will help get the most of the spot out. I do use another spray bottle of just water to help loosen up any debris for dried stains. This has worked on soda, pet vomit, red fruit punch, and blood.
Laundry Pre-treater
- Spray the area very well with the solution. Work the stain out in fresh cold water if you are not going to wash the garment right away. If you are going to wash it right away, work the solution through the stained area and wash as normal. I have used this on most of my clothes, sheets, and pet bedding. Grime and stains this works on are food stains, blood (nosebleeds, yay sinuses!,) moly gear oil, hydraulic fluid, other mechanical fluids and dirt, red clay, and grass stains.
General Kitchen Cleaner
- Hard water buildup on faucets, pet water dishes, range drip pans, and mystery gunk in the back of the refrigerator. Most of these applications are spray on wipe off. If there is a particular dish that is really cloudy due to hard water I spray it on leave it sit for 10-15 minutes while I work on something else. The range drip pans do need to sit longer if they are badly blackened. The mystery gunk in the fridge did take two applications to get the stuff soft enough to wipe up. I’m still not really sure what that was, I’m just glad it’s gone.
Litter Box Cleaner
- Cats and other animals have very sensitive noses. While I scoop the litter every day and do a complete change out every couple of weeks, I make sure to wash the litter box once a month. After I dump all the litter, I wipe the top and bottom of the box out with a paper towel. Then I spray both the top and bottom liberally with the dawn and vinegar solution. I let it sit for a few minutes and then add warm water to pan and wash the box with a rag that is dedicated to it’s purpose. I towel dry it and then blow dry it to be sure there is no dampness before putting in the new litter. I’ve used other cleaners before in washing the litterbox and the cat was not happy with those choices and let me know by going right outside the box.
