Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Say goodbye to expensive cleaning supplies and hello to vinegar! Learn how this versatile ingredient can be used for all your cleaning needs.
Cleaning Supplies Eating Up Our Budget
By now, if you are following how we designed our Budget steps one, two, and three, you should start to see where your money goes every month.
One item we noticed that cost us a bit was “cleaning supplies.”
We asked ourselves whether spending over $20.00 a month out of our budget was necessary.
Then it happened, I realized how much more we could save after hearing my mothers voice in my head.
When I was younger, my mother told me she liked using vinegar to clean windows.
I thought she was nutty, but the saying”you will understand when you get older” now makes sense.
Cheap Ways To Use Vinegar To Clean
Below is a list of cleaning supplies I used to purchase, even with coupons, but the expenses were still too high.
- Windex or Window Cleaner
- Floor Cleaner
- Brasso
- Fantastik
- Scrubbing Bubbles Shower Cleaner
- Wipes
- Stainless Steel Cleaner
- Stainless Steel Wipes
- Silvo
- Liquid Plumber
- Oven Cleaner
- Leather Wipes
The list goes on and on, and I didn’t realize the many uses for vinegar.
Vinegar is used for cleaning, and various ideas have surfaced all over the web.
Vinegar kills bacteria and mold and can beat germs all over the house.
Add a slice or two of lemon or orange to your vinegar to boost the smell while cleaning.
This is why I now keep a spray bottle with 5% Vinegar ( available at the grocery store) and use it for cleaning.
A 4-litre jug of vinegar can run you $1.99 when it is on sale but save you hundreds long term.
Money-Saving Ideas Using Vinegar
You know when you’re making a recipe and it asks for an ingredient you don’t have such as “Buttermilk”.
Did you know you could make buttermilk by mixing a tablespoon of vinegar in a cup of milk and letting it stand for 5 minutes to thicken? No Kidding!
I’ve made buttermilk this way for years, and it works perfectly every time.
I also spend money on purchasing air fresheners for the house as I wouldn’t say I like the smell of cooked food.
Who knew you could simmer vinegar and toss lemon peels or cinnamon sticks to freshen the air?
My favorite by far is vinegar to clean Patent Leather using distilled vinegar.
You can also use potent vinegar to kill weeds on your property.
We spend around $5.00 or more on leather wipes each month.
Yup, kiss that budgeting expense goodbye.. yay!
Discussion: What other uses for vinegar do you have?
Please leave your comments below.
Thanks for reading,
Mr. CBB
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Thanks for sharing! As a college student, buying cleaning supplies is frustrating and not at the top of our shopping lists. Next time I run out, I am buying vinegar.
You’re welcome Elizabeth. I honestly didn’t realize how expensive cleaning supplies were until I monitored my budget. Even now that I use coupons to buy practically everything and our stockpile is huge we will turn to vinegar as it depletes. If you are in College and focus on your finances and saving while you are young , you will be golden. Knowledge is power. Good luck, and pop back in for more tips on saving and budgeting.
I hope you’re still using vinegar today 11 years later.
Mr. CBB
I’m worried about the vinegar stripping the finish off of my wood floors/cupboards…I’ve read horror stories about people having to resurface or buy entirely new cupboard doors b/c they wiped down their cupboards w/vinegar weekly. Not sure if it was straight solution or diluted.
Just a heads up!
I do agree for using it for cleaning windows, surfaces, floors and bathroom but those wooden items worry me.
Yeah, I dunno about using it on the wood floors. I just installed some in our home and would be worried about it. Maybe there is a wood expert out there. I presume it would be diluted as concentrated is too strong. I love using it on Stainless Steel, so easy! Thanks for your comment!
I use vinegar in warm water to clean my hardwood floors and haven’t had a problem. I’ve been doing this for years now. I also clean houses and use it to clean laminate floors as well. I use about 1/2 cup vinegar in a bucket of warm water.
This is a great blog. I have recently heard that you can use vinegar in your rinse cycle of the washer.You use vinegar full strength right in your compartment on the washer and especially with the front loaders it cleans and takes out the odor that a lot of people get with them. I always had a stale smell to mine but now NO smell. All my clothes come out static free and smelling fresh. I have been doing this for almost a year and never had any of my laundry fade or bleach out. Go ahead give it a try. NO more $$ for fabric softener or washer cleaner. Happy Washing !!!!!
Hi Michele,
My mother-in-law mentioned that we should start putting a load on with vinegar to get the smell out of our machine. We haven’t tried yet but will certainly give it a go. I would love to not pay for fabric softer again as that can get pretty costly. Thanks for your post. I look forward to more of your comments. Cheers Mr.CBB!
Yup, save money on fabric softener, they’re full of chemicals and not good for your clothes/skin.
We are getting used to using vinegar for so many things around the house. I’m so glad I wrote this article and investigated uses of vinegar. It also saves money and is good for your health!
This is so true. My daughter and I both broke out in a rash, went to doctor. The doctor actually suggested this because he said vinegar will not leave any chemicals on your clothing. Been doing this now over 10 years and happy to say no complaints. Yes you do save a lot of money and plus it comes on sale
Wow, I’m glad that solved your problem. So what type of mixture do you put in each wash? I’ve read it doesn’t make your clothes smell like vinegar in case any readers are wondering. Thanks Cheryl for your comment.
I just use the compartment to fill with vinegar. I love it !!!! I love some of the suggestions for vinegar. Things are just getting too expensive to buy.
We mainly use water and vinegar for most cleaning jobs now. I don’t think we’ve bought cleaning supplies for a couple years.. not since the Greenworks coupon buy 3 save $5.00 and on every bottle was another coupon… oh goodness we have so much! Cheers Mr.CBB
ammonia is better for oven cleaner
vineagar
baking soda
rock salt
tooth paste
lemons.
bleach
can clean your whole house
I never realized how widely used lemons were for cleaning. Thanks for your post. Mr.CBB
Another trick for ridding your HE front loading washer of funky ‘odours’ is to leave the door wide open after you’re done washing each load. Also, weekly or monthly, wipe down the rubber seal, door and inner drum with a cleaner – preferably vinegar 😉
BTW: Did you know that vinegar is much better as a fabric softener? Commercial fabric softener is a flame accelerate – why do you think children’s clothes come with a warning to not use it on the clothes?
Yes someone had told me to use vinegar instead of fabric softener. As soon as our stash is depleted I’m going to give that a go.
My mother in law has a front loader with a bit of an odour and she does what you suggest. It’s a great tip. Thanks for sharing and stopping in! Mr.CBBx
I have a spray bottle with cleaning vinegar (from Food Basics – not for eating… labelled for cleaning only)… I also make my own cleaning wipes…. much like baby wipes only with full strength cleaning vinegar… no more lysol wipes or clorox wipes… talk about savings!
Can you share how you make your wipes I am interested. What type of paper do you use or whatever it is you use.. cheers.
It isn’t vinegar related…but you had mentioned using vinegar in milk to make buttermilk…well Lemon juice works the same way. 1tbsp on lemon juice to one cup of milk and let it sit for 5 minutes. Great and easy substition:)
One question for everyone out there, the vinegar in your HE front load washer, can you use it in replace of your laundry detergent…and is it safe for the HE. Thanks!
I had no idea you could use lemon juice as well. Thanks for that tip! I always like to hear new tips from fans. We don’t have an HE washer but I’m sure someone here does! Maybe it’s a question I can ask my facebook fans! Join in at facebook
I have 2 sets of patio doors with tracks that get sooo dirty but as my mother use to do as I was growing up I clean them with vinegar & water and dry them with newspaper only black & white as colour leaves streaks on the them also in the tracks as well.
We do this with our patio doors but have yet to use newspaper. I’m going to give this a try. Thanks for the suggestion. Mr.CBB
I use vinegar to clean the kitchen counters all the time, we soaked the grills of our BBQ in vinegar and baking soda to get the gunk off and should the day ever come that I get around to cleaning more than 1-2 windows in this house Ill be using it for that as well. I did see somewhere online that it works on keeps ants away – but so far my ants have proven that wrong and I had to use chemical warfare instead.
I actually just posted a great post on facebook where a lady put vinegar in a jar, filled it to the top and added organge peel. Let it sit for 10 days and there you have orange infused vinegar for cleaning… Cheers and thanks for your post. Mr.CBB
I use a lot of vinegar around here. The other day I ran some through the coffee maker to clean it out, the hot vinegar from that was used to soak the lime buildup out of the cats water dish, then poured down the drain all through the house with baking soda to give them a bit of a clean out. I have one of those Rubbermaid Reveal mops with an extra mop head and it’s loaded with vinegar and water for fast clean-ups of the floors around the house. I t was on sale and I used Canadian Tire money too to pay for it. I clean with vinegar all the time… leaves a nice fresh scent, not chemically!!! I did save one of those containers from the bathroom cleaners to add vinegar and paper towels for cleaning windows and mirrors…
Good for you! We don’t mind the clean smell of vinegar but like I mentioned on FB we boil it on the stove with half water and some cinnamon and the house smells lovely. We used to get all sorts of cleaning supplies cheap with coupons and now we don’t bother. We have years of cleaning supplies in our stockpile but hardly use it. Weird how things change. Cheers Mr.CBB