Your dishwasher may not come to mind as an important place to clean, but, it holds germs just like any other area of your kitchen. The good news is that cleaning this spot doesn’t have to be a pain. Just grab your white vinegar and get to work.
Especially since your dishwasher is supposed to disinfect your silverware, you want this machine to be free from germs itself. According to PureWow, all it takes is a little white vinegar and an empty cycle. In addition to being able to clean coffee pots, glassware, and stainless steel, white vinegar makes an excellent dishwasher cleaner. Simply fill a dishwasher-safe bowl or mug with 1 cup of white vinegar, place it on the top rack, and run an empty cycle, the outlet recommends. Plus, if you’re looking to make the inside extra sparkly clean, do the same with a cup of baking soda in a separate bowl. Make sure to run a hot cycle to get the full effect — getting grime and old food particles off of your appliance.
Jennie Varney, brand manager at Molly Maid, concurs: “The dishwasher should be cleaned regularly to maintain its efficiency. Fill a coffee cup with white vinegar or baking soda (or one of each), place it in the top rack and run a normal cycle with no other dishes in the unit.”
Vinegar is truly an all-purpose cleaner
While the bottle is out, try using white vinegar for other hard-to-clean spaces. Today suggests making a home-made cleaning agent with equal parts water and vinegar in a spray bottle. You can then apply it to your windows and clean them off with a sponge. This mixture is also a godsend for those pesky blinds — simply spray and wipe clean, the outlet explains.
Similar to the way you can use vinegar to clean your dishwasher, you can also pop a bowl of vinegar into the microwave, heat, and then cleanse the inside of your appliance with a sponge. The heat and vinegar help break up mildew and stuck-on food so that you can clean with ease, according to Today. Due to its acidity, vinegar makes the perfect natural disinfectant. Its main component, acetic acid, is a powerful compound that has the ability to break up grease, dirt, and bacteria, Healthline notes. So, when you’re cleaning heavily-used spots in your home, rest assured that vinegar can do the trick.
However, the smell of vinegar throughout your home may be overwhelming when used in larger amounts; try adding a few drops of pure essential oil to your concoction as needed.
Source: Read Full Article