Today, it is about taking a step toward fewer chemicals in the house. I am in love with vinegar! No really. It is the most amazing natural product that I have found...you can eat it.
For a year now, I have been putting vinegar in the rinse cycle of my cloth diapers, soiled sheets, or any laundry that needs odor control:) I was skeptical at first because it has such a strong odor itself. But, I have been pleasantly surprised at the lack of odor in my dry diapers, etc..
Today, I decided to get rid of some chemicals that we use to clean our kitchen and bathrooms and replace with vinegar. I guess I am just a skeptic at heart because I am a bit skeptical here as well. This is a test. Vinegar is a natural disinfectant...another positive to using it on the cloth diapers...and a great reason to use it in the kitchen and bathrooms. However, my nose tells me that Clorox and Pine-sol are the smells of clean. But I had to ask myself...why? These smells (good or bad) are what smell clean to me because that is what I have trained my nose and brain to believe. I have to admit that neither of those smells are wonderful. I will be retraining my nose and brain to believe that vinegar is the smell of clean:) We'll see if it works...haha.
Even Peter joined me on this experiment and cleaned the inside of a kettle with vinegar. He was amazed by how clean it was and told me that vinegar is amazing. This is wonderful because sometimes I drag him along on this "healthy lifestyle journey" kicking and screaming...well almost. But today he is a believer too.
One of the best things about using vinegar is that I will no longer have chemicals under the cabinet in the bathrooms that pose a danger to little ones. Also, the child that used to wipe down the bathrooms with clorox wipes each morning will now spray them with vinegar and wipe with a paper towel (I prefer to throw away the towels that we use for bathroom cleaning). No more daily chemical exposure.
Here are the squirt bottles (purchased at Wal-Mart for around $3 each) that we now keep under the counters in every bathroom and the kitchen. I am using full concentration vinegar as it comes already diluted and I want real disinfectant.
We will see if this experiment on the journey of healthy lifestyle works for our family. I am hopeful that it will because it is quite cost effective as well:)
