We have really hard water in our house. Like super bad. It has ruined all of our dishes and silverware, our nice knives, the faucets, the sinks, the shower, etc. etc. I know we should invest in a water softener, but we just haven't yet. So, we live with it. When guests come over, instead of using our best dishes, we do the whole red solo cup and plasticware thing :) It's wonderful lol. But really, it's just plain embarrassing how our dishes always look dirty. I have tried everything, and nothing seems to work. I even tried vinegar once, but that was putting a cup of it in the dishwasher. Didn't really do much. But....the vinegar I guess needs to be more potent because it really does work :)
I just took some vinegar I got from the store, put it in a cup and put my silverware in it. Left it there for a few seconds. Took them out and wiped them down.
And tada!!! What a difference! I can't believe they look like this. I was seriously about to buy new silverware and really all it took was just a few seconds of being in vinegar.
So, once I realized the vinegar had such a great effect on my silverware, I was wondering about a few other things. So I tried it on our cups. All I did for this was soak a towel in some vinegar and rub the cup with it. Then I rinsed the cup with some water. And what.do.you.know! It worked too :) See the difference! Now you know why we did the whole red solo cup thing with guests :) They were nasty!
Another glaring spot in our kitchen encrusted with hard water stains is the fridge water dispenser. It was seriously caked on with white gunk. Once again, I just dipped a towel in some vinegar and rubbed it on the tray and voila!
Vinegar is seriously my new best friend! Is it bad that I'm so excited to clean the bathrooms now? lol. I can't wait to see our once brown water stops that are currently completely white :)
Another good thing? The hubs will stop cleaning our dishes with CLR. That stuff can't be good for you. I cringed every time he pulled it out. Vinegar is a much healthier choice :)
We used to have the same problem with our dishes. We finally found something called Lemi Shine which you use in your dishwasher and they always come out sparkly now! I've found Lemi Shine at places like Target and Walmart and it's fairly inexpensive. Haven't checked the ingredients but the name hints of lemons? Either way, it works really well and we don't have to do any manual soaking or scrubbing.
ReplyDeleteOR just add a little vinegar during your 'rinse' cycle of the dishwasher! Cleanse dishes, glasses AND the dishwasher at the same time!
DeleteI discovered Lemi Shine about a year ago. It's amazing. Found it here in Canada at Canadian Tire. Just put a little bit in with regular detergent when you run the dishwasher. I use vinegar for everything else pretty much.
DeleteWe love Lemi Shine and use it every other load with our dishwasher. They also make a rinse agent which is great. And I love vinegar/water combo to get scum off of bathroom tile. :)
DeleteWe have the exact same problem. So happy to learn I can restore my glasses. Vinegar is such a wonderful thing. I use it as fabric softener (really works, no smell, and as added bonus will help fight calcium buildup in the washing machine) and to rinse my fruit with, but I didn't think to use it on my dishes. Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDeleteDoes that CLR work anyway? It never has for me! Love the idea of natural and cheap. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI have NEVER had CLR clean ANYTHING I used it on....through the years I must forget and try it again....lousy stuff!
DeleteOur dishwasher re-pair man told us about Lemi Shine....fantastic stuff!
I agree. I also tried CLR and it did nothing. I now keep vinegar in the kitcken, bathroom and laundry, a gallon in each for cleaning.
DeleteWe dump 1/2 to 2/3 cup vinegar in every dishwasher load: http://babytoolkit.blogspot.com/2008/06/clean-as-whistle-dishwasher-hack-from.html
ReplyDeleteSame here.........the repairman told us to do that!
DeleteI am so very glad we don't have and have never had hard water!! But yes, vinegar is also my best friend from cleaning windows, mirrors to the hardwood floors to cleaning the coffee maker to keeping the dishwasher clean. The stuff is cheap and most of all works. If you want more ideas on what to use vinegar for check out pinterest! in the meantime, I sympathize with your hard water situation...I can't imagine what it must do to your hair and skin.
ReplyDeleteThat looks amazing! We have glasses that are stained like that too so I'm going to give the vinegar a try-thank you SO much for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteIf you have a minute to spare I'd be thrilled if you could share this post at my weekly Say G'Day Saturday linky party which has just started.
Best wishes and happy weekend!
Natasha in Oz
www.natashainoz.com
Hve you tried putting vinegar directly in the rinse aid dispenser of your dishwasher (instead of commercial rinse aid solution)? It has done wonders for me at home.
ReplyDeleteI use vinegar in almost cleaning everything. I put it as a rinse agent in the dishwasher, use it to get scorch marks out of my pans (oops), mixed with olive oil as furniture polish, mixed with alcohol for cleaning windows, add it to the laundry. The stuff is the wonder cleaner in my house!
ReplyDeleteVinegar is an amazing cleaner and we use it on alot of different things. One thing that it's great for is to get chrome faucets clean and shiny again. Just wipe it on and buff it off. It's also excellent for shower doors (just be sure to keep it away from marble and granite).
ReplyDeleteMaude
I just cleaned my ice/water dispenser with vinegar yesterday. I totally understand the hard water and the lack of a water softener. We will eventually get one. Here's another use...any shirts with stinky pits? I pour vinegar in a bucket, dip the pits in it, let them sit for a bit,and then wash. Takes away the stinkies. I also soak a paper towel in vinegar and wrap it around the end of faucets and secure with a rubber band. Leave it for a while and all the crusty lime and whatever else is on there comes off. Repeat if you have to.
ReplyDeleteI probably clean with vinegar or vinegar and mild soap more than with any other cleaning product. I have some silverwear that has been looking a bit dull and this post is a reminder to try putting vinegar on them.
ReplyDeleteLemi Shine is what you need for the dishwasher with regular dishwashing detergent. I love vinegar, I use it on everything. I don't buy regular cleaners anymore just vinegar.
ReplyDeleteI always have vinegar in the house, I get jittery if I don't, lol. I will definitely try this with my dishes as my dishwasher is on it's last legs and nothing I've tried so far helps for too long.
ReplyDeleteWater softeners are so cheap these days! We just moved into a home that didn't have one. It took us a good six hours from start to finish, but the difference in using less detergent, less body wash, less shampoo, etc is amazing and almost instant!
ReplyDeleteAnd my hard water only made it through my brand new softener for about a week.... it's going to require a plumber and getting a filter added to the house also. So that nice 'cheap' water softener just uncovered a problem that will end up costing a few to several hundred dollars. OR... I can buy vinegar! BTW... hard water users don't need to use MORE shampoo, body wash, and detergent - they just need to realize that the hard water makes the soaps not want to lather up. Just sayin!
DeleteI just moved into a place with a dishwasher and I'm having this problem. Every time I pull most things out, I have to wash them again by hand. I need to give this a try and pick up some of that Lemi Shine everyone keeps talking about in the comments.
ReplyDeletemy 90 year old mother lives alone in a rural area with extremely hard water. washing the dishes by hand seemed to always make the dishes clean and free of the hard water stains and mineral build up. however using the disheswasher always caused the dishes and glasses to come out cloudy and covered with mineral build up. But both types of cleaning use the same hard water. why is this; because the diswasher uses veryy high temperatures to wash and then dry the dishes. something occured to me to turn off the hot air drying on the dishwasher or open the dishwasher immediately after it has stopped and allow the dishes to slowly air dry which is what happens when washed by hand. guess what....it worked her dishes are much cleaner and nearly completely free of hard water build up. give it a try and see if this works for you.
DeleteWe have extremely hard water and when I run the dishwasher, with Cascade, Rinse Aid and I pour some Vinegar in the bottom of the dishwasher... I still had to re-wash several things by hand. Because our heating source is Propane, I line dry our clothes , adding 1 cup of Vinegar to the rinse cycle, and Gain Fabric softener and our clothes smell sooo good. With the dishwasher frustration, I decided, that If I had to re-wash so many things, I wasn't going to put it through a full cycle, just a "Quick Wash" and NO dry ( saving propane too ). I wipe everything off pretty well before loading anything, because if I don't it'll smell before I'm ready to run it. It's just my husband and I now, kids are grown. Running the Quick Wash and Air Dry, made a big difference, everything's much cleaner, so what Anonymous said in the above post is absolutely true. I'm also a HUGE Vinegar and Baking Soda person and I haven't bought any commercial cleaning products in a couple of years. Love it for so many reasons
DeleteI have the same issue! I found the "natural" rinse aid and used it, I had been using vinegar (filled up rinse aid dispenser plus 3 "glugs" poured into the bottom) and now ALL my silverware has a nasty white film I can't scrub off! I am going to try this vinegar soak and go back to vinegar in the dishwasher. I'm about to just hand wash everything from now on.
DeleteIf you can afford to invest in a water softener, you would be amazed at how much that helps with keeping things clean. You skin feels better after a shower, your hair is softer, soap, shampoo, detergents are more efficient. It even is better for the fibers in your clothing, bedding etc.
ReplyDeletewhere would i get this vinegar from?
ReplyDeleteyou can buy white vinegar at any grocery store and actually every kind of store that sells cooking products, cleaning products, so your convenience stores like gas stations even, the big stores like Target, Kmart, Walmart you name it, they've got vinegar believe me! Good luck, I love using it on just about everything
DeleteI get white vinegar and baking soda at Dollar tree.I always have a few of each in my house.
DeleteDollar Tree doesn't have a gallon -size, but I have a few on hand at all times( for $1 each)and every few days I run some vinegar through the washing machine rinse cycle and through the dishwasher. I also saw a good idea on here, that I now use, for keeping the showerhead clean( but its a 2-person job.). Fill a sandwich baggy 1/2 full with vinegar.hold the baggy up and around the showerhead/sprayer, tie a string around the baggy or use an elastic band wrapped around the baggy to submerge the showerhead in vinegar. The entire spray side, where the little water holes are, must be in the vinegar. Leave the baggy on for a few days.Of course, you have to have another shower to use in the meantime. After a few days, remove and throw out the baggy, wipe the showerhead/sprayer with a damp cloth to remove any vinegar. hard waterstains are gone!
DeleteWorked like a charm!! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI love the internet. Just ask the question, and tada I have many options to try and I dont have to buy someones book, and have them charge my credit card every month thinking i want more of their books!
ReplyDeleteA water softner may not be what you need anyway. Have your water tested, you may just need a rust and sediment filter, works like a charm and no extra and unnecessary salt added to your water. Check with a plumber first, it's worth the time to treat your water correctly
ReplyDeleteQuestion: Are you folks soaking your silverware and glasses in vinegar, or running them through the dishwasher with vinegar instead of regular dishwashing detergent?
ReplyDeleteI use Cascade and a Rinse Aid... but I pour about 2 cups of White Vinegar in the bottom of the dishwasher, before starting it, and I air dry the dishes. ( made a big difference ) I think she was just saving time by putting the not so clean silverware in a glass with vinegar, so then she could pull each out, wipe them off and then put them away. Because there are so many uses for Vinegar and I don't buy commercial cleaning products anymore, I use allot of Vinegar. In California, Smart & Final has 1 1/2 gallon jugs for about $3.50, more in the bottle and cheaper than the grocery store, so I grab a few and it lasts me a while.
DeleteIf you have a Sav-a-lot near you, they have a gallon of vinegar for $1.29 (Florida and Michigan prices). Cheaper than Walmart or Meijers. Can't find it in our Dollar Tree stores. I also use it in my wash, dishwasher, shower, sink and stainless steel appliances. Just don't ever mix it with chlorine bleach. Never!! It produces toxic fumes.
ReplyDeleteNice Alicia very clean using Vinegar. Thankyou for sharing with us for Alicia and guest in here.
ReplyDeleteIs there anything vinegar can't do? I swear it's a miracle product!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the tip, I'm going to try it! Believe it or not, I was shopping for new glassware this past weekend!
ReplyDeleteWOW I have never known that vinegar could make such a difference. It is amazing! I am going to clean my glasses with it. It will be the best surprise for my husband. He hates dirty glasses but I couldn`t find the right method to clean them. Thank you for sharing your post. Best regards!
ReplyDeleteFantastic method. You could clean your silverware with baking soda and water. It works, too! Greetings!
ReplyDeleteJust tried vinegar on my fridge water dispenser. Did not remove any of the stains.Thought I finally had a solution, but did not work at all.
ReplyDeletecan I use apple vinegar for the same purpose?
ReplyDelete