09 March 2014

31 Days of MOO No. 9 - Super Strength Vinegar Cleaning Spray


We all know that ordinary white vinegar is a powerful household cleaner, but sometimes we need a super strength cleaner, on that not only cleans but disinfects as well. There may be sickness in the house, baby may have started crawling or toddling, there may be pets in and out or a hundred other reasons.

This is the vinegar to use when you need super cleaning and disinfecting power.

You will need:
2 litre wide-mouth jar
Lemon rinds to half fill the jar
¼ cup of whole cloves
5 cinnamon sticks, broken up
¼ cup of lavender blossoms or 5 sprigs of lavender
2 tbsp of dried rosemary
1.5 litres white vinegar

Step 1. Put the lemon rinds in the jar, packing them down gently.

Step 2. Add the cloves, cinnamon sticks, lavender and rosemary.

Step 3.  Fill the jar with vinegar, being careful to remove the air bubbles (a skewer or chopstick is good for this).   Leave a 2cm headspace in the jar, the spices will swell as they absorb the vinegar.

Step 4. Place the jar on a sunny windowsill or in a warm spot (the top of the fridge is a great spot). Cover with a paper towel. Let the vinegar steep for four weeks. Shake the jar once a week to stir things up. Over the four weeks the vinegar will turn a dark brown colour and the spices will swell - this is normal.

Step 5. To use the vinegar, strain the solids (compost them). Pour into a clean  spray bottle (depending on size of bottle you may need to store the remaining cleaner in another bottle). Spray directly onto the surfaces you want to disinfect and clean - benchtops, basins, cooktops, fridges, highchairs, tables etc. - and wipe clean. Do not rinse off. Let the item dry naturally.

Notes:
This cleaner is an excellent way to use up older spices when you are ready to replenish them (herbs and spices typically have an opened shelf life of six months).  If you need to buy fresh spices for this recipe source them from a bulk or wholefoods supplier, Indian or Asian grocer for the best price.

Save lemon rinds when you juice lemons, keep them in the freezer until you have enough to use. You want the complete rind, it's the oils in the skin that you want for your cleaning vinegar.


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3 comments:

  1. Really good article, full of informative tips.I’ve been using vinegar as a cleaning agent around the house for years now. Just another nugget of useful information passed onto me by my mum!

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  2. I love green cleaners!!! And I've never used cinnamon sticks! That sounds really interesting! Thank you for sharing!

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  3. I had read your blog it is very informative and nice.i got a lot of information about green cleaning.Thanks for sharing this nice post.

    ReplyDelete

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