Vinegar! It’s one of those strangely versatile substances like baking soda. As part of my ongoing on Homemade Cleaners Series, I thought I’d go over my own uses for vinegar when cleaning up the bar:
- A spray-bottle cleaner where the ratio is 1:1, water to vinegar. Not a big fan of the smell, but it’s a good, effective all-purpose.
- In the dishwasher, use in conjunction with, or instead of, Jet Dry.
- For lingering odors, like when we fry up fish or whatever, I put out a small glass bowl of straight-up vinegar and leave it out until it’s evaporated. No more waking up to the smell of fish grease in the morning.
- Cleaning out the coffee machine. Brew a full pot. Your machine may have a “clean” cycle that you have to turn on specially for this process—I don’t know if that makes a difference. Either way, once your pot of vinegar has been brewed, your machine is good as new. No rinsing required.
*Bonus, not at all related to cleaning, but I can’t pass up an opportunity to make you even more Smartini: put a splash of vinegar in the water when you hard-boil eggs. They will be a lot easier to peel. It’s true.
For an additional laundry list on the wide world of vinegar, see The Vinegar Institute, which also informs us that May is National Vinegar Month. HOW did we miss this at the bar. Were we too busy celebrating Cinco de Mayo?
2 tips left at the bar:
I love vinegar (especially in BBQ) but for cleaning too! I will most assuredly be mixing up a bottle for my ever dirty kitchen.
And running it through the coffee maker.
AND OH MY GOSH the eggs. Peeling hard boiled eggs makes me lose my religion Every.Single.Time.
Thanks, Merry (Bar)Maid!
The coffee maker tip is intriguing! I don't drink coffee, but have a coffee maker to clean and my parents use theirs A LOT and I'm certain it could use a good cleaning. I'll have to try it out.
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