One great thing to have around the house is white vinegar. Firstly because you can use it in a variety of recipes from salad dressings to marinades to cakes. Secondly because it is a very powerful cleaning agent.
From wiki:
White vinegar is often used as a household cleaning agent. Because it is acidic, it can dissolve mineral deposits from glass, coffee makers, and other smooth surfaces. With most such uses dilution with water is recommended for safety and to avoid damaging the surfaces being cleaned.
Remember when I had Korean night at home? Well, the kimchi we ate left major stains all over my lovely melamine bowl. This is a picture of the bowl after I scrubbed it with detergent.
Thankfully I had already discovered the joys of using white vinegar to get rid of impossible stains on my cookware/dinnerware. So I just poured a little white vinegar into the bowl, added a bit of water, and got to work scrubbing. Voila:
White vinegar’s also really great for shining up stainless steel pots and pans. (I like using stainless steel cookware where I can as opposed to non-stick stuff because I hear that the non-stick coating gradually comes off the inside of the pot into your food…)
Here is my precious Scanpan saucepan:
After washing with detergent, this is often what it looks like on the inside:
And here’s what the inside looks like after a quick wash using some white vinegar, water and detergent:
Ain’t that great =) And it only costs about $3 for a fairly big 474ml bottle. (I think it’s much cheaper at Fairprice – $2.70 as opposed to $3.15 at Cold Storage). Not a bad investment, eh?
Wow! Looks brand new!
I know doesn’t it? I was so excited when I first tried this (I found the tip in some magazine or something)…
great tip! shall try it on my scanpan too… i burnt the base making beef bulogi today!
Lazy Susan: Remember if it helps if you have a good sponge eh? My 3M sponge gets all the crusty stuff off pretty easily sans vinegar… The vinegar is good for taking out the more stubborn bits of residue.
Very cool. I should try that out on some of the pots and pans with stubborn stains.
Do you read Real Simple magazine? April’s issue has a good section on using everyday items (salt, rice, lemon etc) to clean. Pretty interesting!
How funny that you should mention this… I have just put up a post for someone to win the March issue of Real Simple! Yes I know the magazine and I love it! Haven’t bought my April issue though…
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Great tip, Mrs M! My pots are getting real grubby. Will get some white vinegar this weekend, together with tonnes of things I need to buy
And I love your minced pork mee sua recipe, looks easy to do and full of homemade goodness! Keep those tips coming!
Thanks apprenticehousewife! =) If you give the recipe your own twist and it works out well be sure to share your variation with us!