Adding This to White Vinegar Creates a Cleaning Spray That’s Heaven-Scent

Let’s face it: Nothing cleans your surfaces, mirrors, and grimy baseboards as effectively and naturally as white vinegar (or “straight vinny”, as a late great-aunt of mine used to call it. An obsessive cleaner, she and vinegar were on a nickname basis). The reason it works so well is due to vinegar’s acidity, which works brilliantly to dissolve gunky buildup. While it won’t disinfect, vinegar solution does make a great daily household cleaner. Unfortunately, while it’s one of the most effective natural cleaners out there, it doesn’t smell great. Luckily, there’s a simple way to solve that problem! Read on to find out how to make white vinegar smell downright amazing.

How do you make cleaning vinegar smell better?

There are a few methods you can use to improve the smell of white vinegar. If you have some time, you can go the absolutely most natural route and use add-ins like herbs or citrus peels. This is a great way to use orange or lemon peel that you might’ve otherwise either thrown in the garbage or compost bucket. When it comes to herbs, you’ll want to use fresh, light ones like lavender, mint, or rosemary. If you’re lucky enough to have your own garden, you can even use fresh rose petals! But stay away from herbs that might leech their color, like goldenrod or elderberry. These could potentially stain your vinegar solution and then your surfaces — you want clean countertops, not stained ones.

To make your own vinegar cleaning spray using fresh ingredients, start with two sterilized or new spray bottles. Add your scent mixture of herbs, rind, or petals to the bottle, then pour in your white vinegar. Let the vinegar solution steep for 10 days straight, after which you can open it back up, strain out the liquid using a sieve, and pour that into a fresh spray bottle.

For safety reasons, be sure to store your solution in a cool, dry place and keep an eye on it. If it begins to look cloudy, throw it away. If stored properly, your vinegar spray should last for quite a while, though the exact expiration is not always consistent and will depend on how it’s stored.

Can I add essential oil to vinegar and water for cleaning?

If you don’t want to wait a week, adding essential oils to your vinegar solution is a quicker way to go. All you need to do is add a few drops of your favorite essential oil (three is usually the maximum, or it will be too strong) to your vinegar spray bottle, make sure the cap is on, and shake vigorously for a few seconds to evenly mix the scent.

What essential oil smells good with vinegar?

When it comes to essential oils, I like to use different scents for different purposes, but I find lavender to be a great all-purpose scent — I use a bit of it behind my ears and on my wrists at bedtime, as well as adding a few drops to my own vinegar cleaning spray, and it smells good on both me and my bathroom floor. But I also like certain ones for cleaning only, like lemon (Buy from Amazon, $14.23), grapefruit, or fresh balsam pine (perfect for the holidays).

With these wonderful scents to infuse your vinegar cleaning solution, you’ll have your house sparkling and smelling like your favorite scent in no time!