As Imbolc is now behind us and we begin to head towards spring (although this can sometimes take a little longer to make itself felt this far north!), our thoughts in the Homecare team at Newbold start to turn towards spring cleaning!
We always try to be as ecologically friendly as possible with our cleaning products. And believe it or not we use vinegar in a surprising number of ways to keep the beauty of Newbold House shining through!
So we thought we’d share with you a few of our top vinegar tips for keeping your own place clean – you’re best using distilled white vinegar for these techniques, otherwise your place might end up smelling a little like a salad dressing!
Cleaning Glass and Mirrors
At Newbold we have a lot of period cut glass panelling and vintage mirrors, not to mention our 8 bathrooms! So our cleaning buckets always contain a spray bottle filled with a solution of 20% vinegar and 80% water. Spray this on the glass or mirror then rub or wipe it off with a loosely crumpled sheet of newspaper – yes it may sound counter-intuitive, but it actually works, and doesn’t leave those annoying streaks the way cloths and cleaning fluid do!
Cleaning Carpets
A combination of lots of delicious home-grown food and big, hungry, workshop groups means our dining room carpet can often end up with spots of spilled or dropped food which have been accidentally trodden in, leaving a dark mark. To lift these off easily and quickly we use a few tablespoons of vinegar mixed in a bowl with warm water. Dip a clean toothbrush in the solution then brush onto the spot. Brush lightly for a minute or so in all directions (take care not to fray the pile of the carpet with too much pressure). Blot with a dry cloth, and, if necessary for more stubborn stains, repeat the process – although you’ll be surprised how quickly what seemed welded on lifts off!
Cleaning Showers
As with glass, a vinegar and water solution is also great for cleaning showers. Ours get a lot of continuous use so it’s also important for us to ensure the shower heads are kept clean to avoid build-up of scale and bacteria. Many people use bleach to soak their shower heads but who wants to get under a shower that may still have traces of bleach inside – it’s not good for the skin and it’s not good for the environment! Instead we remove the shower head and soak it in 1 litre of very hot water with 4 fl oz distilled vinegar for a few hours. If you have a non-removable showerhead, fill a small plastic bag half full with vinegar and tape it over the fixture. Rinse out and scrub the nozzles afterwards with a toothbrush to remove any loosened particles.
There are loads more ways in which vinegar can replace many of the harmful chemicals in your home cleaning. For more vinegar tips check out: http://www.versatilevinegar.org/usesandtips.html
Michael Dresser
With a background in music, theatre, graphic design, and office and project management, Michael brings creativity to the Homecare team, and order to the Communications team!
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