For cleaning and disinfecting things – also good if you have a septic tank – and good for avoiding indoor air pollution, (which can be worse for your health than the real stuff outside).

I use vinegar and rubbing alcohol.  You need to be careful about inhaling the rubbing alcohol fumes, but, I think of it this way, people rub it on their bodies….so it can't be that bad.  

I put plain cheap white vinegar into a large spray bottle.  I put rubbing alcohol into a large spray bottle, and mark each bottle.   I buy these at Sam's club – the cheapest I've found so far.  I keep the rest in the garage on shelves, in my "extended pantry" for my sweet little kitchen.

I use the vinegar spray all the time.  It cuts through hard water stains, shines my sink up nicely.  As to the smell, well, just think salad.  (The x hated vinegar smell, I used to rinse my hair with vinegar and water, but he's an x for a good reason – there's something wrong with the man in the first place!)  **wicked smile**

Vinegar cuts through grease pretty darn good.  Vinegar disinfects things, for an extra umph of disinfecting I'll spray the alcohol over the vinegar, (or use only the alcohol.)  Vinegar residue left on counters is edible, unlike harsh chemical cleaners – you can't eat that – and you disinfect your kitchen counter tops with chemicals, then set your food ON IT, or set things that TOUCH your food ON THE RESIDUE?  Even soap residue is not good for you.    

Another plus – the vinegar fumes won't kill you, like using two chemical cleaners that are safe to use individually could.  I think it is ammonia products mixed with bleach products?  And heavens knows, cleaners have one or the other in them, what if you need to use two products to clean the mess??? And you are in a hurry???  Mind distracted…. Catch  my drift?  

We cook food in our microwave ovens, so why use a chemical cleaner in there that you can't eat?  White vinegar works great for cleaning mine.    (Check with your manufacturer's instructions, should be okay, though)

White vinegar in a spray bottle is my right hand man – a spritz here and there while cleaning cooking messes, to clean the sink, etc.  Even works GREAT on the floors!

If the vinegar alone is too harsh for you, you can mix it with water, perfectly fine, and it will still clean and degrease.  I just like mine full strength to get the maximum germ killing power out of it.  

Why am I such a germ-a-phobe?  The darn Fibromyalgia, I swear I catch everything thrown my way, and heaven forbid when I take my grandson to the doctor's for a well baby check up, I'll catch something, even though I'm so careful. Without fail – so I want to make sure everything is clean.  You know, I bet it is that PEN I they have at the doctor's that I use to sign the baby in – I'm so careful to touch NOTHING at all there, but the pen, that darn pen – Mommies with sick babies wiping babies noses – holding the pen…oh NO! I'm avoiding "THE PEN" next visit!!!  Using Grandpa's, (Charlie's).  He always has a pen in his shirt pocket.  **laughter**  He's not dressed unless he has a pen in his shirt pocket – comes from being a retired cop, gotta keep that pen handy for writing up tickets….**giggle**  He wont' wear, nor buy, a shirt without a breast pocket.  (WHAT kind of pocket do you call those?)

Alcohol – well, that evaporates off my cleaning rags/towels. So not all of it ends up in my septic tank.  

I do get picky when I've been handling raw meat – my sinks, cutting board and counter tops where I was handling the meat product get a nice thorough spray of alcohol and I wipe it off after letting it set a few seconds, up to a minute.  Oh, I apply the alcohol spray AFTER washing these items with dish soap and water.  The cutting board, though, goes into the dishwasher after the alcohol has been wiped off – I want to be REAL sure, (it is white thick plastic – very knife friendly), it is CLEAN.

I use spray alcohol to spritz all the door knobs in the house – and wipe.  I will even lightly spray light switches next, (by this time the rag is pretty damp from the door knobs), or spray the alcohol damp cloth.  I do this when I think about it – to keep the colds from spreading around from family member to family member.  Maybe 2 or 3 times a year, or more often if I remember.  And when I say door knobs, I mean ALL of them, even outside the house – AND even the ones to open cabinets with.

A spraying of alcohol, for some odd reason, makes my stainless steel sink shine.  I spray it on heavily…wait a minute or less, then wipe with a clean dry  rag, (the sink was already cleaned out with soap and water, or vinegar), and it shines up so nicely!  I like the alcohol spray when I'm spot cleaning the glass doors, or anything with glass.  Does wonders on my stainless steel appliances, (check your manufacturer's warning – it could wipe away lettering/numbers on control knobs!), for a quick wipe on the outside.  

Lastly – my glass top induction stove – white vinegar spray works great!  (as it does to spritz on glass windows too, and wipe off with a large kitchen towel)   And if I've have an open pot on a burner, and I really need to catch that spilled mess before it gets worse – well, any slight vinegar mist in the air will not poison my food.  And if you are a klutz and spray it into the open pot of food – oh well, at least you won't die from eating the food, right?  **smile**  Baking soda works as a great scrub on that stove top as well.  I keep it in a bottle with a lid with holes on it, like those you find the Parmesan cheese in at pizza restaurants.

I worry about cleaning chemical residue build up over years of using cleaners in the kitchen and house.  And did you know if you clean with common household cleaners, (chemicals),  and are a stay at home Mom, you are exposed to hazardous chemicals in the air, and residue build up from spending your days at home all the time.  No company would have you working unprotected in such an environment - and there you are, doing it for love – (the love you have for YOURSELF, your home, your family).  

I love my greenish, (don't know if rubbing alcohol is green but it sure is dirt cheap), solution.   And best of all, if you READ those chemical cleaners – they will tell you to wipe counters after cleaning with them.  Wipe with what?  What removes the residue?  Water, I guess…but am I willing to sacrifice our health?  I think not. : )   And think of what I can do with the money saved!!!    <— going shopping w/$ saved