Good afternoon fab friends and followers. I hope that this week has been great for you, or in the very least, not torturous…

Here it is folks; the long anticipated 1st Kues & Hints post.

Today’s offering brings to you the wonder that is vinegar. This one has it all! Remarkable cleaning capacity, deodorizing dexterity, and a complete curtailment of unsafe chemicals. Wooo!

I switched to vinegar a couple of years ago for almost all of my cleaning tasks. I love it!! A cleaning “tool” that is safe around my kids?? That doesn’t pollute our water or air?? Sign me up!

Most everyone knows (if you didn’t before, you do now), that vinegar is great for glass; from windows to water glasses and everything in between. I remember hearing years ago that vinegar was terrific at removing hard water etching from coffee decanters and the like, but I never was able to put that to the test myself since I’ve never owned a coffee pot (no, I’m not making the Starbucks shareholders rich, I’m just not a big fan of coffee). I did however, try it on a beautiful clear and cobalt glass tabletop fountain that I’ve had for years. It was amazing! I hadn’t been proudly displaying this particular fountain for a few years because the etching was so bad. Yeah, finally, I remembered the vinegar trick and put it to the test. Holy cow! There’s so very little residue or etching left. And all I did was wipe the surface areas that weren’t submersible with a vinegar soaked paper towel. The bowl (with the hole in the bottom for the spout) got a couple of good swishes while I plugged the bottom with my finger. No extensive cleaning, no soaking, just a relatively quick wipe and rinse. I am so happy that I can now have the fountain back out for folks to enjoy. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to take pictures until I was done rinsing and reassembling it. (Insert very homer-like smack to the head here please)

I’ve been using vinegar to clean the kitchen and bathrooms for a couple of years now. Everything from the tub/shower walls, the counters, the faucets and fixtures, the drains, the stove surfaces, to toilets. And pretty much everywhere in between. I love it. Vinegar deodorizes like a champ! (fabulous for freshening drains!)
Here’s a couple of sites with plenty of cleaning tips and tricks with vinegar: Vinegartips.com and The Vinegar Institute. Definitely check them out for tips on using it for darn near everything!!

It was about a year ago that a friend told me about using a vinegar rinse on her hair to really remove any styling product or conditioner build up. I thought…”Really? Putting vinegar in your hair? Really?” Once she saw the look of hesitation and doubt on my face she was very quick to point out that the vinegar smell completely disappears once your hair is dry. I looked up a couple of articles/blog posts about vinegar rinses and sure enough; there were multiple recipes for darn near every hair type and affliction. Some of them take some brewing and time, others are quick to mix up and ready to use. Now, I’ve never been one for styling products. My hair is so ridiculously fine that any product just weighs it down. Product will pull a curl out of my hair faster than it takes to put the curl in in the first place, not that my hair can hold a curl on its own anyway but given my need to wash and condition my hair on a daily basis, I thought it was certainly worth a shot to make sure that there wasn’t any build up of oil or conditioner. Wouldn’t ya know it? My hair felt a bit softer and cleaner when I was done. Now, to get the most effectiveness out of your rinse is not for the faint of heart. The best way to do it is to rinse with Cold water. Or you can opt to leave it on without rinsing for better results.
Here is the recipe site that I like: Apple Cider Vinegar Benefits
They also have a great wealth of information to be found on their Left Sidebar, with cleaning tips, vinegar info, etc…

And on those notes…I will depart for now. If you’ve found one of these tips particularly fabulous or you have one of your own to add, please, grace us with your wisdom and insight by leaving a comment below or emailing it to me.

Hoping you find a new world of clean,