Vinegar Cleaning Products

I use vinegar to clean my home. I like to keep my children from playing in chemicals, so this is the number 1 cleaning agent used around here. I use two forms: full strength vinegar and a mixture of 50% vinegar and 50% water. I keep both in spray bottles and use the strength needed for the cleaning task at hand. For instance, to clean my kitchen counters I usually use the 50/50 mix, but for my toilet I use the full strength. This is a great way to replace those extremely expensive cleaning products that clutter up the cabinet under my kitchen sink. Here is a quick list of what I clean around my house with vinegar:

- Countertops
- Wooden cutting boards
- Stovetop
- Toilets
- Bath/shower
- Windows and mirrors
- Stains on carpets
- Tile floors

Really, anything that I would have pointed a bottle of 409 at in the past is not cleaned with a vinegar solution.

Here is the problem - I hate the smell of vinegar. Remember, I am a febreeze addict and I do not want to walk through my house smelling vinegar. To mask the odor I add lemon and orange peel to vinegar to add a citrus scent. I've also heard that infusing vinegar with citrus ups the cleaning power, but I can't say that I noticed a big before/after difference in the power of the product.

I use lemons frequently in cooking or mixing up a quick cocktail on a Saturday night and my daughter loves oranges, so I usually have no problem finding the citrus peels that I need. Personally, I prefer lemon to orange... But I prefer either to straight vinegar.

Recently we had a vinegar tragedy. A ball was thrown indoors, the jar was pushed off of the counter and broke, and I was suddenly without my supply of citrus vinegar. I was mad, but I eventually got over it.

So, I am whipping up a new batch. Here is a rundown of how to get started...

First you have to have a supply of citrus peel. This is the bowl of little tangerines my family has been feasting on to help me build up a supply.

They are an easy going bunch and put up with my weird requests. Each time they eat one they open the door to the fridge and deposit their peel into a baggie.

Once you have enough to fill whatever jar you are using about 3/4 full you can move forward. This is really easy. Just stuff the peel into the jar and pour vinegar in to fill up the jar. That is it.

Now let the jar sit for at least 2 weeks to infuse. The vinegar will change color, don't let that worry you. Strain the vinegar and put it into a spray bottle. I fill one with straight vinegar and one with and 50/50 mix of vinegar and water.

Once you have a supply you can then just keep a jar of vinegar and pop the citrus peels into it as they are available. That way you never run out and have to resort to regular vinegar again.