Vinegar and Baking Soda - More than Just a Volcano!

Remember those volcanoes with vinegar and baking soda?  Up until last week, I think that was the only time in my entire life that I used distilled white vinegar:  making a 5th-grade volcano.  It's pretty common knowledge (and also commonly overlooked) that most cleaning supplies are chemical swamps.  These chemicals are damaging in two ways.  Primarily, they're bad for the environment, and, secondly, they're bad for people.  For a quick run-down of a lot of the chemicals found in standard cleaning products and why they should be avoided, I'd encourage you to check out this list:  http://enchantrix.co.za/common-chemicals-to-avoid/.

You're probably thinking, "Then how the heck am I supposed to clean my house if I can't use cleaners?!"  Allow me to re-introduce you to two old friends.  Distilled white vinegar, meet reader.  Reader, meet distilled white vinegar.

And also, baking soda, meet reader.  Reader, meet baking soda.

In case you thought these two items were still just for fifth-grade science experiments, please allow me to enlighten you!  These two products have literally ENDLESS uses!  You can clean your entire house, body, car, garden, you name it with just these two products!  (I'd like to add in here, I'm neither a sales person for either of them nor sponsored by them in any way.)  They are just THAT versatile that they deserve their own blog post.  

Laundry starting to look dingy or smell a little off?  No worries, just splash a little white vinegar in the wash.

Battling icy windshields in the winter?  Vinegar.

Need an air freshener for your fridge?  Baking soda.

Have a sore throat?  Vinegar.

Trying to get pet smell out of carpet?  Vinegar.

Forget to put on your deodorant this morning?  Baking soda.

Need to repel bugs?  Baking soda OR Vinegar

I've yet to find a challenge that one of these two items couldn't conquer.  The versatility of these two items are literally endless.  And, as an added bonus, once the packages are empty, they're recyclable!  This is just a tiny fraction of the feats that these two items can do.  For more information and suggestions, check out the following websites!

Vinegar Uses:  http://www.versatilevinegar.org/usesandtips.html

Vinegar Uses:  http://www.vinegartips.com/scripts/pageViewSec.asp?id=7

Baking Soda Uses:  http://lifehackery.com/2008/07/22/home-4/

Baking Soda Uses:  http://www.thenewhomemaker.com/bakingsoda

In our house, we will no longer be purchasing any nasty, chemical-laden cleaning products.  For both the sake of our own health and our environment, we're going to be hanging out with our two new best friends:  baking soda and vinegar. :)