Let’s make vinegar smell good! It’s so easy to make DIY infused vinegar for cleaning. A couple steps and a little patience and you’ll be cleaning with lemon-y goodness. If you’re like me and don’t like the smell of white vinegar, this is an easy way to naturally give your white vinegar a subtle scent while cutting that sharp pickle-y smell. Better yet, it’s simple, natural, and inexpensive! This isn’t the first time I’ve written about this – I made some adjustments and thought it would be fun to share the updates with you.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- white vinegar
- add-ins – citrus peels work best – you can also add fresh herbs if you’d like!
- mason jar(s) with secure lids and/or spray bottles
- funnel
- fruit and vegetable peeler
THE SIMPLE STEPS:
- Wash citrus and/or herbs and dry.
- Use a fruit and vegetable peeler and peel the zest from the fruit, taking care to just get that bright first layer and not the lighter colored part of the rind. The essential oils are in that bright first layer, that’s why you want just that – no juice, no rind.
- Add citrus peels and herbs to the bottle or jar.
- Using a funnel, fill the bottle or mason jar with white vinegar.
QUICK TIP: Fill a glass spray bottle half way with vinegar and your citrus peels then when it’s ready to use to clean, just fill up the bottle with filtered water.
HOW TO USE IT:
- Let ‘steep’ in a cool, dark place for a day or two or up to a week. This will allow the natural essential oils from the citrus peels to infuse into the vinegar. I haven’t noticed a significant enough difference in the scent when waiting longer than a day or two!
- Strain off the peelings (pour through your funnel) and toss the peels or use a couple to clean your garbage disposal with by adding a handful of ice cubes and running cool water. Alternatively, you can keep the citrus and herbs in your bottle if you plan on using it up within a week or two.
- Place in a spray bottle or sealed bottle and use as you would use regular vinegar but this time your vinegar will have a wonderful scent!
A ratio of 50% water to 50% infused vinegar works best for general cleaning. Use it on counters, bathrooms, as a fabric softener (strained) – anywhere you’d use a vinegar-based cleaner. Vinegar-based cleaners are not safe to use on stone surfaces because of the acid content.
Have some extra citrus around? Or just want to have better smelling vinegar? This is the perfect simple formula for vinegar that smells good and a safe, inexpensive household cleaner! I love sharing my DIY cleaning recipes – go here to see all of them!
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