Going green and staying healthy is on everyone's mind nowadays. But did you know that one of the best ways to keep your internal motors running in tip-top shape, is to use more natural cleaning products in your home?
One way to do this is to clean floors with vinegar. But more on this later.
Did you know that Americans, on average, spend 90 percent of their time indoors? Does this remind you of someone? The concentration of pollutants can be several times higher indoors than outdoors, due to the toxins released by household activities, like cooking, cleaning, etc.
The chemical-heavy cleaning products that you are using to clean your carpets, floors, and all other surfaces in your home, could be killing you from the inside out. Slowly, these chemicals seep into your bloodstream through the air and skin.
Keep on reading to see how you clean floors with vinegar to remove one major source of pollutants from your home.
Clean Floors With Vinegar, but What Kind of Vinegar?
You might have an assortment of vinegar sitting around in your kitchen cupboards. All the way from balsamic vinegar, to rice wine vinegar, to even some artisan pineapple vinegar all the way from Oahu, Hawaii.
But stick to using those for your dining pleasures, especially that last one.
The only vinegar that works for cleaning floors is distilled white vinegar. The simple kind. It has an acidity of 5 percent which is perfect for cutting through grease, grime, and dirt.
It is also cheap enough that you can use tonnes of it in cleaning all your surfaces, and still not break the bank or your budget.
Apple cider vinegar is also becoming popular for use in cleaning home surfaces. But it's a bit more expensive. And harder to find. It does smell nicer than distilled white vinegar, but that's easily fixable, with a few drops of your favorite essential oil.
There Are Certain Surfaces You Shouldn't Clean With Vinegar
Cleaning with vinegar is great, but it cannot be and should not be used on certain fragile and vulnerable kinds of floors.
Even when properly diluted, vinegar should never be used on granite, marble, stone, and waxed finishes. If you are unsure what kind of floor you have, or if you can use vinegar on it, do a patch test. Pick a small corner of your floor, and try vinegar on it.
Wait a few hours to see if any adverse effects arise. If it seems fine, you can go ahead. If any the color of your floor changes, or the floor seems harmed in any way, don't use vinegar on it to clean.
Three Kinds of Floors You Can and Should Clean With Vinegar
So which floors can you clean with vinegar? Let's take a closer look!
Tile
This is a no-brainer. Your bathroom's or kitchen's tiled floors will love a vinegar wash. Put half a cup of vinegar into one gallon of warm water, and away you go. Swish, swish, swish away all the germs, dirt, and grime.
Proper dilution is definitely key here. But tiled floors are one of the surfaces that seem to be strongly affected by vinegar's acidic properties. Wring out the mop after each pass into the vinegar water, and let the floors air dry for a glorious finish.
Wood
Clean wood floors using vinegar? You are probably surprised. Most people imagine that vinegar will damage wood flooring, but only if it's unfinished or waxed hardwood. Prefabricated or sealed hardwood floors do well with a vinegar wash.
Clean floors with vinegar solution of half a cup of vinegar and one gallon of hot water. Again, moisture is wood's deadly enemy, so avoid using a wet mop. Rather, wring it out completely and use a damp mop instead.
Carpet
Clean floors with vinegar, but carpet as well? Yes, indeed. Synthetic fibers love a spot cleaning using a vinegar solution. Combine one teaspoon of baking soda and one tablespoon of vinegar with 2 cups of warm water. Put this mixture into a spray bottle.
Spray this mixture onto the spot that you wish to clean, and let it air dry. It might fizz a bit, but that's quite normal. Don't panic and allow it to settle down. If stain removing is your goal, this vinegar solution works best for it.
If You Have Young Ones Around, Cleaning With Vinegar Is Perfect
One great thing about using vinegar to clean floors is that it is non-toxic and edible.
If you have young ones, especially babies, crawling around on the floors, touching it with their hands, or their tongues, you can rest assured that it's safe for them to do that.
This way you don't have to worry about them ingesting or absorbing some toxic chemicals into their fragile little systems, and getting sick because of it. That's one less thing for you to worry about, with regards to their growing bodies.
Not only that but vinegar is eco-friendly, which means it's great for the environment, which is something on everyone's mind.
Deep Clean Floors With Vinegar and Never Go Back Again
Maybe you've never thought about using that bottle of distilled white vinegar for cleaning before. It's been sitting there in your kitchen cupboard gathering dust.
Well, it's time to clean floors with vinegar and see them shine like never before.
It's easy on your budget, easy on the eyes, and easy on the senses, especially if you add some delicious smelling essential oils into the mix.
