Holy Wow! Vinegar can do THAT?! {Tips}

Do you ever start a project and then get pulled away by one thing or another (homework help, burning dinner, or children falling out of trees?).  Yeah, I'm sure no one ever has this problem{enter sarcasm here}! Well, of course that happened to me the other night.  By the time I came back to my painting project - what did I find?  My VERY favorite paintbrush completely encased in dried latex paint.  I had (what felt like) miles of cabinets yet to paint, a sleeping toddler, an opportunity to paint... yet my favorite brush was in no condition to do so.

Somewhere in the depths of my brain I seemed to remember hearing that vinegar could clean dried out paintbrushes.  Knowing that I didn't have much to lose I dropped it into a glass full of my cleaning solution (1/2 vinegar, 1/2 water).  I came back in about a half and hour and Lo and Behold {yes! I was pretty sure I could hear angels singing!} the paint was softening.  A little work on it under some running water and the brush was good as new!

I can only imagine how well this would've worked if I had used 100% vinegar.  I looked around on line and found that many places suggest you actually heat the vinegar a bit and let the brush soak for hours.

photo via: www.tastyexploration.com

I have long been a proponent of cleaning with vinegar ever since I learned that vinegar kills 99% of bacteria, 82% of mold, and 80% of viruses.  We all know it's environmentally healthier and is SO much cheaper than buying all sorts of glass cleaners, anti-bacterial sprays, etc.

Here are some other tricks you do with Vingear:

• Remove mold and mildew in showers and tubs by scrubbing with vinegar
• Remove stains from linoleum by pouring vinegar on and leaving for 10-15 minutes
• Clean toilets and disinfect cutting boards
• Get rid of lime and calcium build up on fixtures by soaking in vinegar for a few hours and then scrubbing with a toothbrush.
• Deodorize your garbage disposal, microwave, and fridge.

Anyway, I was so excited I had to share!  Have a great week!