I guess there’s a series happening at the blog.  I much prefer my Cleaning with Vinegar post to this one but last week I had to clean with bleach.

I think I’ve mentioned before that the new house has a jacuzzi tub.  I have been VERY excited about this.  Last week we finally had a night cool enough that I could enjoy it.  I drew a bath, got in, and then stood up and turned on the jets.  Gobs and gobs of black stuff came SHOOTING out at me.  I screamed and jumped out (thank goodness I had the foresight to stand up!).  Shaun came running in to see the black algae swimming around in the tub and his wife freaking out.  We drained the tub, with a rag over the drain-to catch the algae.  Because of the rag, it drained REALLY slowly and I had to go to bed.  The next day I used Clorox wipes, Scrubbing Bubbles, and then I filled the tub up and poured about 2 cups of bleach in there and ran the jets.  It bubbled up!

It is now clean and I have since done some research.  This is actually quite common!  It is suggested that you add 1/4 cup powdered dishwasher detergent to a full tub and run it for about 10 minutes.  I will be doing that and SOON!

I get asked a lot how I get it all done.  One of my secret weapons when I lived in California was that I could afford a cleaning lady.  Shaun and I kept the house neat and cleaned the kitchen, but, twice a month we had people in that cleaned our floors, toilets, mirrors, dusted, etc.  It was so nice to come home on the “cleaning lady” days to a sparkling, fresh smelling home.

With our new lifestyle, a cleaning lady is decidedly NOT in the budget.  After five years of not cleaning toilets, it was a rude awakening to have to clean them.  ICK.

Since I had to start cleaning again, I had to get new cleaning supplies.  Guess what I’m using for almost everything? (Well, if you read the title, then you already know).

That’s right, vinegar!

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My friend, Stephanie, mentioned it on Facebook and I decided to give it a try.  I got 2 spray bottles (one for upstairs and one for down) and I filled them with a solution of equal parts vinegar and water.  I’ve been using the solution in the kitchen, in the bathroom-everywhere!

For a deeper clean, I’m planning on mixing baking soda and vinegar.  I haven’t tried it yet, but I will be.  I just ran out of my old toilet bowl cleaner, so the next time I clean the toilet, I’ll be breaking out the baking soda.

So far, I am REALLY happy with the vinegar solution-it’s cheap too!!!

What do you use to clean with, that you can’t live without?