Ingredients for Salads & Cleaners
Here’s a quick little fact that’s helpful in the kitchen and everywhere else in the house: most things are either water-soluble or fat-soluble. Given the fact that the “soluble” half of those descriptions means “dissolve-able,” if something is water-soluble, you can dissolve it and therefore remove it with water. If it’s oil-soluble, you can dissolve it with oil. This doesn’t hold true for every single thing you’ll come across — turmeric stains, for example, or industrial-strength glue — but when you’re tackling a basic cleaning project, you might as well see if you can handle your task by whipping out what you’d usually use to make salad dressings.
An acidic water-based liquid like vinegar or citrus juice is your best bet in the Homemade Water-Soluble Cleaners category. As far as the Oil-Soluble Cleaners go, you can use whatever oil you have on hand. I tend to use my least-expensive option to attack things like sticker residues and adhesive gums. Note that most things are water-soluble, so try your vinegar/citrus juice remedy first. If that doesn’t work, then go for the oil. If that doesn’t work, you might have to resort to Old-Fashioned Elbow Grease (scrub with a light abrasive, like lemon juice mixed with borax or baking soda to form a gritty paste). Soaking might work, too — I once had to leave water sitting in a fondue pot for a solid week to lift off the strands of burnt-on cheese. Should you find yourself in a impossible scenario wherein none of these suggestions work, try using a non-toxic cleaner like the ones made by Seventh Generation or another environmentally-minded company.
And by the way, if you’d like to make a salad dressing with your Solubility Cleaners, just whisk together the oil and vinegar/citrus juice in a 2:1 ratio, sprinkle in some salt and pepper, and add a dash of dried or fresh herbs/spices of your choice. You may also wish to add a teaspoonful of Dijon mustard to make it tangy, a bit of honey for sweetness, and/or some Greek yogurt or whipping cream to make your dressing thick and creamy. Making your own dressing is as easy as removing spots and residues!
Print This Post
Tags: household cleaner, oil-soluble, salad dressing, water-soluble
