They're both excellent at breaking down tough grease and grime, but vinegar alone will simply run off of most surfaces, and dish soap is too thick to use on its own. But when you combine the two, you get an effective, sprayable miracle cleaner that clings to surfaces.
This match made in heaven has been a household staple for a long time and I make sure to keep it handy. To make the solution is simple and easy on the wallet! Pour equal parts of vinegar and Dawn into a spray bottle. Gently shake, then spray liberally onto the surface to be cleaned.
Dish soap and vinegar work wonders for that extra smudge-cutting and cleaning mixture. Mix in a spray bottle 1/4 cup of white vinegar with 2 1/2 cups of water, plus 1/2 teaspoon of dish soap.
Ways to Use this Homemade Cleaner
This Dawn & vinegar cleaner will cut through soap scum, clean sinks, glass shower doors and also the toilet bowl. Just spritz it on, scrub and rinse. For tough soap scum build-up, spray the mixture on and allow it to sit for about 30 minutes. Scrub and rinse.
Simply mix equal amounts of white vinegar and Dawn dish soap in a glass spray bottle, give it a good shake, and you're done! Optionally, you can heat the vinegar in the microwave or on the stove until it's warm before adding it to the dish soap.
To make the best homemade shower cleaner, just combine equal amounts of Dawn dish soap and white vinegar in a spray bottle and gently shake mix. Spray down your shower with it, wait half an hour, then rinse clean!
What's happening in there? A chemical reaction between the vinegar and the baking soda produces bubbles of carbon dioxide gas. The dish detergent in the vinegar helps the bubbles last longer than they would with just vinegar and baking soda.
Pour 2 cups Dawn and 2 cups vinegar into a glass bowl. Stir; heat 4 minutes in the microwave; remove and stir again. Shake well to mix the solution. Use as needed on shower doors.
To start, grab that bottle of Dawn (or any other dish soap) from your kitchen sink and the broom stowed away in your closet. Dish soap is designed to cut through tough grease and food stains on our delicate dishware, but it will also disintegrate the dirty marks and soap scum lining your tub.
The homemade shower cleaner recipes on a lot of websites call for a 1:1 ratio of Dawn to vinegar.
In this video, she shares that her secret to keeping her shower so clean is that she uses just white vinegar and Dawn dish soap. She pours this solution into a dishwand and uses this every so often to clean her shower wall, floors and glass doors.
Many hotels use ammonia-based cleaning solutions because ammonia readily cuts through dirt and soap scum. Because of the way it dries, ammonia also decreases the possibility of streaks on glass.
Mix up your window-cleaning solution: In a plastic spray bottle, mix together 2 cups of warm water with 1/4 cup white vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon of Dawn.
How do professionals clean showers? Professionals use acid-based cleaning solutions like vinegar for hard water spots and soap scum. For deep-set soap scum, cleaners will use heavy-duty detergents and degreasers. Bleach cleaning solutions are best reserved for cleaning the mold and mildew from grout.
The Rejuvenate No Scrub Soap Scum Remover is our top choice for glass shower doors thanks to its bleach-free, fragrance-free, and non-abrasive formula that leaves a streak-free finish and gets rid of soap scum and hard water stains on contact.
Vinegar can be a great cleaning solution for floors, counters, and tiles – but remember, you shouldn't use it on natural stone (like granite or marble) or natural wood (like hardwood flooring or wooden furniture).
Rinsing is not necessary! If you're simply using a vinegar and water solution to wipe and disinfect, you won't need to rinse. However, if there's also plenty of dirt and grime you're wiping away, you may also want to rinse with some extra water.
There are many uses for vinegar in laundry, including stain removal, odor elimination, and mold and mildew eradication. Vinegar can also be used as an alternative to commercial fabric softeners.
1. Cleaning The Shower Walls And Bathtub. Bathtubs provide the perfect spot for bacteria, dirt and grime to accumulate over time, and a white vinegar solution can be very useful in getting rid of them. Just spray the solution around the tub and the shower walls and let it rest for some time.
For a homemade shower-door cleaner, mix distilled white vinegar (heated first) with the grease-cutting power of dish detergent, such as Dawn, in equal proportions. Pour the solution into a spray bottle (like this Better Homes & Gardens Glass Spray Bottle, $5, Walmart).