The vinegar trials - humidifier mold
One thing I really wanted to do this year was to experiment with the power of vinegar. This stemming from my impromptu dance party in the kitchen last year after a vinegar steam bath made my nastified microwave look brand spankin new.
So last week when I stumbled upon the vinegar section in Walmart, immediately feeling the stabs of guilt over having made no progress whatsoever on any of the items on my 2012 list, I snatched up a big ol' jug.
I will pause here to say how surreal it is to have a nutrition label on something that has been purchased solely for the purpose of cleaning. Surreal, and I guess good, as this is the closest to being "green" I have ever gotten.
Except for my reusable shopping bags. I love bags. The type A has to assert itself somewhere.
Anyhoo, bing quickly provided a list of eleven thousand eight hundred uses for vinegar. One of those was humidifier cleaning. Which we so desperately needed for the cool mist humidifier in Trey's room. It had been in the back of my mind to get a new one, since his had a nice layer of green mold spots across the bottom.
Sorry for the bad-quality phone pics. Click to see larger. Though who wants to see a good pic of mold?
The instructions said to mix equal parts vinegar and water, to cover the molded area, and let sit. Didn't say for how long, so I let it sit for 2 hours. This may be because I'm an overachiever. Or it may be that I forgot it was there.
Either way, after the soaking I drained the vinegar-water, and rinsed with vigorous shaking. As in, that was my workout for the day. Guess what.
The mold was still there.
I mumbled about the stupidity of the Internet, looked with utter disdain upon the now non-returnable jug of vinegar, and wrote "HUMIDIFIER" on my next Walmart-run list.
A few hours later, just for kicks, I stuck my finger through the fill spout. The spout is about two inches wide and juts out downward from the mold-covered flat surface. I lightly swiped at what mold I could reach with my finger. It vanished.
Oh, the agony. The vinegar did work, but I couldn't take advantage of it because there was no way my hand was fitting in that spout, and even if it could, I couldn't reach far enough to get it all.
Enter stroke of genius.
I shoved all but one corner of a wet rag into the humidifier, turning it this way and that to reach all corners, again shaking vigorously. (Two workouts in one day, score!) Guess what.
In the words of Aden, "Mo, aw gaw!" A phrase he picked up on as we held another dance party in the kitchen.
Again, bad photo. The shadows make it look like there is still mold, but trust me, that thing is sparkly white!
My faith in vinegar is restored, and the trials will continue. One down, eleven thousand seven hundred ninety-nine to go.
So last week when I stumbled upon the vinegar section in Walmart, immediately feeling the stabs of guilt over having made no progress whatsoever on any of the items on my 2012 list, I snatched up a big ol' jug.
I will pause here to say how surreal it is to have a nutrition label on something that has been purchased solely for the purpose of cleaning. Surreal, and I guess good, as this is the closest to being "green" I have ever gotten.
Except for my reusable shopping bags. I love bags. The type A has to assert itself somewhere.
Anyhoo, bing quickly provided a list of eleven thousand eight hundred uses for vinegar. One of those was humidifier cleaning. Which we so desperately needed for the cool mist humidifier in Trey's room. It had been in the back of my mind to get a new one, since his had a nice layer of green mold spots across the bottom.
Sorry for the bad-quality phone pics. Click to see larger. Though who wants to see a good pic of mold?
The instructions said to mix equal parts vinegar and water, to cover the molded area, and let sit. Didn't say for how long, so I let it sit for 2 hours. This may be because I'm an overachiever. Or it may be that I forgot it was there.
Either way, after the soaking I drained the vinegar-water, and rinsed with vigorous shaking. As in, that was my workout for the day. Guess what.
The mold was still there.
I mumbled about the stupidity of the Internet, looked with utter disdain upon the now non-returnable jug of vinegar, and wrote "HUMIDIFIER" on my next Walmart-run list.
A few hours later, just for kicks, I stuck my finger through the fill spout. The spout is about two inches wide and juts out downward from the mold-covered flat surface. I lightly swiped at what mold I could reach with my finger. It vanished.
Oh, the agony. The vinegar did work, but I couldn't take advantage of it because there was no way my hand was fitting in that spout, and even if it could, I couldn't reach far enough to get it all.
Enter stroke of genius.
I shoved all but one corner of a wet rag into the humidifier, turning it this way and that to reach all corners, again shaking vigorously. (Two workouts in one day, score!) Guess what.
In the words of Aden, "Mo, aw gaw!" A phrase he picked up on as we held another dance party in the kitchen.
Again, bad photo. The shadows make it look like there is still mold, but trust me, that thing is sparkly white!
My faith in vinegar is restored, and the trials will continue. One down, eleven thousand seven hundred ninety-nine to go.
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