Published On Monday, May 09, 2011 By ThurstonTalk. Under: Biz Reviews. 

Submitted by: Dwayne Boggs (Dwayne is a home inspector serving the Thurston County area home inspection market)

I just came back from a wonderful trip to the Grand Canyon with my mother. I would strongly recommend this trip to anyone. It was a great trip and yes at forty four years old I’m still a mama’s boy.

My mom I were talking about the old days when she, as a single mom, would give us chores to do. Every spring it seemed the list got longer and longer of chores she would toss our way.

Being at the beautiful Grand Canyon sparked our interest in talking about the environment and the impact even simple spring cleaning can have on it.  By forgoing traditional chemical-based cleansers and digging into your pantry or refrigerator for green spring cleaning tools you can clean while having less of an impact on the environment. One great cleaning solution to use is white vinegar which as a kid most of us used because it was cheaper than buying a chemical based product.

White vinegar isn’t just for making salad dressing, it’s also a miracle tool for a myriad of cleaning tasks that improve the local environmental impact over some of the common chemical based cleaning solutions.  Years ago my mother told me to white vinegar to clean my coffee maker – to clean out all those nasty deposits.

I still use white vinegar to clean my coffee pot and so do many of my friends but vinegar has many other uses; saturate a towel and wipe down that nasty, accumulated dust on top of your refrigerator, or pour it in a bowl and let it sit overnight to absorb odors in the air.

• To make your windows really sparkle, spray them with white vinegar and wipe down with balled-up newspapers. Don’t worry, the ink wont bleed onto the window pane.
• Add half a cup of white vinegar to your wash cycle to prevent lint from sticking to clothes or add it to the rinse cycle to fluff those wool sweaters.
• Banish fruit flies by leaving a bowl (preferably one you’re not going to use for food) of undiluted vinegar out on the counter or wherever else they appear.
• Unclog a drain by pouring 1 cup baking soda and 1 cup vinegar into it, let it sit for a few minutes, then flush with hot water. Halve the recipe and use it to deodorize your garbage disposal.
• Use undiluted vinegar in a spray bottle to slaughter germs in your toilet, sink and tub in the bathroom

So please give these basic vinegar cleaning tips a try — you can clean just as good or better without using any potentially harmful chemicals this spring.

About the Author

Dwayne is a member of the Olympia Master Builders and a former past President of the  Washington Association of Property Inspectors, Dwayne is also a committee member for the Washington State Pest Management Association (WSPMA), Dwayne has been serving the Thurston County home inspection markets of Olympia home inspection , Lacey home inspection and Tumwater home inspection for many years. Boggs Inspection Services can be reached at 360-480-9602.