When you run out of cleaning supplies and need to tackle a quick stain, or when you are on a budget, you prefer to use quick DIY methods to make your own homemade cleaning solutions. One of such cleaning solutions is the combination of vinegar and Dawn dish soap.
However, before making your cleaning concoction it is important to know If it has any negative impact on your health and environment.
In this article were going to explain the safety of vinegar and Dawn dish soap solution, the right ratio, the ideal uses of this solution, the steps to create the solution, what not to mix with Vinegar, and what not to mix with Dawn dish soap.
Is It Safe To Mix Vinegar And Dawn Dish Soap?
It is safe to Mix vinegar and Dawn dish soap.
Vinegar is fairly acidic in nature and when you combine it with dish soap (which has alkaline pH), the two substances neutralize each other to make a safe and neutral cleaning solution that will remove tough grease and grime from many surfaces without creating any toxic fumes that could be harmful to the health.
What Happens When You Mix Vinegar And Dawn Dish Soap?
Both dawn dish soap and vinegar are great for cleaning. But each has its drawbacks.
Vinegar alone will run off most surfaces easily and will not easily stick to the dirty surfaces you intend to clean.
Dawn dish soap is far too thick to use as a sprayable cleaner.
However, when you mix both together, you end up with an extremely effective cleaner that’s easy to spray and combines the grease and grime removing properties of both vinegar and dish soap.
It also sticks to any surface and rinses off easily.
Vinegar and Dawn Ratio
When trying to make a vinegar and Dawn dish soap solution, it is important to use the right ratios as you don’t want to use too little vinegar or too much dish soap.
For most household surfaces, the perfect ratio of Dawn to vinegar is 1:1. This means you use equal parts vinegar and equal parts Dawn.
However, if you prefer a cleaning solution with a much lighter consistency that will be easily rinsed off with a little water, then the sweet spot is a 3: 1 ratio. This means if you use 3 cups of vinegar, you’ll mix it with 1 cup of dawn dish soap to get the right cleaner.
Uses for Dawn Dish Soap & Vinegar
When combined, Dawn dish soap and vinegar result in a powerful cleaning solution that can be used to remove grease and grime from many different surfaces around your home.
Here are the ideal uses of dish soap and vinegar cleaning solution:
1- Shower Cleaner
Showers tend to accumulate a lot of dirt and soap scum over time. Dish soap and vinegar solution can help you clean off all that nasty stuff.
Just spray the solution all over your shower and let it sit for a few minutes, then scrub with a cleaning brush and rinse well. Your shower will be sparkling clean.
2- Weeds
Tring to deal with weeds in your backyard can be a time-consuming and often costly endeavor. A great solution for removing those unwanted plants is to use dish soap, salt, and vinegar solution.
The active ingredients in this solution will kill off the unwanted plants in your lawn.
To protect the other parts of your backyard, cover the healthy crops and horticulture with tarps before spraying the cleaning solution all over the weeds.
Within 48 hours after using the solution, the weeds should be completely gone.
3- Gnat Cleaner
Gnat around your home can be irritating as most of these tiny insects and fruitflies perch on your food and furniture.
A dawn dish soap and vinegar cleaning solution is a great way to kill those pesky little creatures.
Just make a cleaning solution with dish soap, apple cider vinegar, water, and a little bit of sugar. This cleaning solution will attract the gnats to surfaces you spray it on and will instantly trap and kill off the little bugs.
4- Sink
If your sink has accumulated a lot of stains and dirt build-up from constant usage, then the dawn dish soap and vinegar combo can be of great use.
Just spray the mixture on the sink, let it sit for a while, and scrub off with a sponge before rinsing. The mixture will dissolve any dirt and food residue that may be stuck on your sink.
5- Cooktop
If you’re a family of foodies, your cooktop will likely end up with lots of food stains and grime over time.
To remove all this dirt and restore the shiny surface of your cooktop, you can use the dawn and vinegar combo.
Simply spray it all over the cooktop and wipe it down with a clean towel after a few minutes.
6- Bathroom Mildew
Bathtub mildew is often hard to clean off. However, this cleaning solution can be used to remove mildew that may be on your shower curtains, bathtubs, floor tiles, and toilet.
It will cut through all the build-up and help you to easily remove it with water.
Just spray the solution all over your bathroom surfaces and rinse with water.
7- Hard Water Stains
Hard water stains can ruin the look of your faucets, tubs, and stainless steel appliances. This cleaning solution can help remove those mineral deposits very easily.
Just spray it on the surfaces with hard water stains and let it sit for a few minutes. Then wipe off with a towel and rinse with water.
8- Trash Can
This cleaning solution is also great for removing the nasty odors and grime that your trash is home to.
Simply spray it inside the trash can, let it sit for a while, and rinse properly with a hose till all the dirt comes off.
How to Make Vinegar & Dawn Dish Soap Cleaner?
Making vinegar and dawn dish soap cleaner is a pretty easy process and you can make it by following these steps:
YOU’LL NEED
1- 1 cup Vinegar
2- 1 cup dawn dish soap
3- Spray bottle
STEPS
Step 1: Add 1 cup of vinegar into a measuring cup.
Step 2: Microwave the Vinegar for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. You want it to get warm but not too hot.
Step 3: Pour the vinegar into a clean spray bottle.
Step 4: Add 1 cup of dawn dish soap into the spray bottle.
Step 5: Shake the spray bottle to help get a well-mixed-up solution. Your DIY household cleaner is ready for use!
Pro Tip: If you want to make a large batch to store up, ensure to put a label on the spray bottle to help with easy identification of the cleaning mixture.
What Can You Not Mix With Dawn Dish Soap?
Although Dawn dish soap is great at cleaning dirt and grease all by itself, it might be tempting to consider mixing it with all kinds of other cleaning products in hopes that they would increase its effectiveness.
However, not all combos are the same and some can turn into a complete disaster and can be very dangerous.
Here are a few things you should never mix with dawn dish soap:
1- Bleach
Bleach should never be mixed with dishwashing liquid because it contains chlorine which is often a volatile compound.
When combined with dishwashing liquid, bleach forms a gas that is very toxic and dangerous to breathe in.
2- Store-Bought Disinfectants
Store-bought disinfectants are usually already made with a variety of chemical ingredients for proper disinfection.
Mixing them with dawn dish soap is likely to create a volatile reaction with the ammonia that’s in the dish soap, so it is best to never mix these two products.
What Should You Not Mix with Vinegar?
Vinegar is a great universal cleaner for removing grime and disinfecting surfaces around the house. However, there are some key products you should never mix with vinegar.
Here are things you should not mix with vinegar.
1- Bleach
Vinegar is a fairly acidic compound and when combined with bleach, it creates chlorine gas.
This gas has terrible fumes that can cause coughing, watery eyes, and lung damage when breathed in.
2- Hydrogen Peroxide
It might seem like a good idea to mix hydrogen peroxide and vinegar since they are both great disinfectants, but combining the two creates a toxic and highly corrosive compound known as peracetic acid.
This acid is harmful to the lungs and causes irritation to the skin and eyes. It is also likely to be corrosive and damage the surface you were trying to clean.
3- Liquid Castille Soap
Mixing liquid Castille soap with vinegar is a fruitless waste of time and money that only yields nasty curdled soap gunk.
The combo does not create an effective cleaning solution as all it does is break down the Castille soap to create an unpleasant by-product that will leave you with more mess to clean up.
4- Baking Soda
Baking soda and Vinegar is also another combination that’s best avoided because it results in the production of salt and water.
It is an ineffective cleaning solution and combining the two together at the same time is simply creating a salt solution that won’t do much to remove grime and dirt.
If you do want to get the benefit of baking soda and vinegar, it’s best to apply the baking soda to the surface first and gently scrub and then spray the vinegar on it.
This way you get the slight abrasive action of the baking soda first before adding the vinegar for additional cleaning.
5- Commercial Cleaners
All-purpsoe cleaners such as Lysol can be harmful when mixed with Vinegar as it produces chlorine gas.
Conclusion
There are many DIY cleaning combos to use and many of them are often ineffective and unsafe.
But the combination of dawn dish soap and vinegar is a safe and highly potent grease and dirt removing compound that you have now learned all about.
You can use this easy and affordable homemade solution in many different ways that have been discussed above.
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