Here are 9 ways you can use vinegar to clean multiple surfaces/items in your home. Immediately dump your toxic chemical cleaners and stock up on vinegar instead!

◊ By Dr Supriya Mahajan Sardana, MD

Last but not the least, in our Natural Household Cleansers trilogy (Part 1 & 2: Make Natural Household Cleanser from Fruit Peel & How to Make Natural Detergent at Home), is the humble white vinegar. Although a little pungent, it is a very versatile multipurpose cleansing aid. Vinegar is diluted acetic acid usually in the concentration of 5%; hence it is a weak acid, safe to work with. Here is what you can do with it:

UNCLOG A BLOCKED DRAIN: Pour half a cup of baking soda with or without half a cup of salt, followed by half a cup of vinegar. Wait for 20-30 minutes before flushing with hot water.

USE IT AS A TOILET CLEANER: Add 1 part (cup) vinegar to the commode followed by 1 part baking soda. Allow the mix to fizz for 10-15 minutes before scrubbing with a toilet brush. For the sides, spray an adequate amount of vinegar all around the rim followed by sprinkling of some baking soda. Wait a while and scrub clean.

REMOVE MINERAL DEPOSITS FROM SHOWERHEAD: Put vinegar in a plastic bag, tie it around the showerhead and let it steep in the vinegar overnight. Scrub clean the next day.

CLEAN GLASS: Mix 1 tbsp of vinegar in a cup of water—with or without 1 tbsp of soapnut liquid. Spray on to glass and wipe dry.

CLEAN TILES: Mix 1 to 1 cup of white vinegar with 1 gallon (3.8 litres) of warm water. Use this to clean tiles.

WASH LAUNDRY: Half a cup of white vinegar can be added to the rinse cycle to give an extra boost to cleaning with natural ingredients such as soapnut, castile soap, etc. But if you are adding it directly with base cleansers like washing or baking soda, you will have to up the amount of base soda used because the vinegar will partly neutralise the base. Pertinently, while cleaning with a base, rinsing with an acid like vinegar or bioenzyme does help as it gets rid of hard water deposits and suspends them.

CLEANSE STAINLESS STEEL: Mix 1 part vinegar to 1 part water in a spray bottle and wipe clean.

AS A GENERIC HOUSEHOLD CLEANER: Mix together half a cup of SNL (soapnut liquid), 2 tbsp vinegar and 1/8 cup water. Combine in a bowl or spray bottle and use.

AS DISHWASHER: Mix together 1 cup washing soda, 1/8 cup finely grated castile soap, 1/8 cup SNL and 1 cup borax (NOT boric acid, but this is optional if you have qualms about using borax). Use this mixture for washing dishes. White vinegar is to be preferably added during the rinse cycle.

Hence, I conclude this series on Natural Cleansers, with the hope that the compilation will inspire, motivate and help many fellow city folks to come up with their own customised, safe and natural cleansing solutions pertaining to their respective households and, thus, in the process limiting the toxic/chemical burden on our resources!

The author is a consultant dermatologist in Delhi NCR and is an ardent proponent of natural living