Lynn's Vinegar and Dawn Cleaner, and Her Borax Sink Scrub

3 min read · from the video “Homemade Cleaner With Vinegar And Dawn” (4:37)

Lynn makes the blue cleaner everybody calls the miracle cleaner, but she cuts the Dawn back, using 1/3 cup of Dawn to 3/4 cup of white vinegar because the usual half-and-half version gives her bubbles for days. In a second video she mixes three tablespoons of borax with lemon juice to scrub the marks off her old cast iron sink, finishing with a couple of drops of blue Dawn.

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The vinegar and Dawn cleaner

Lynn calls this the one everybody calls the miracle cleaner, and she says it is a bathroom cleaner that works on showers, bathtubs, shower doors and around the toilet. She also says the recipe as it gets passed around calls for half vinegar and half Dawn, and that in her opinion that is too much Dawn and you will have bubbles for days.

Her version cuts it back to 1/3 cup of Dawn to 3/4 cup of white vinegar. She measures the 3/4 cup of white vinegar first, and says the recipe does call for white vinegar rather than apple cider; she has never tried cider herself and only suggests it if that is all you have. Then she measures out the Dawn, pours it into the vinegar and stirs it until it is a pretty blue color and mixed in good.

It goes into a spray bottle from there. She pours hers into a bottle, and says if you have one of those scrubbers with the reservoir that holds soap you could put it in there instead and scrub the shower with it.

How she uses it in the bathroom

She keeps the bottle in the bathroom so it is there when the mess happens. Her example is a house full of kids: spray the tub down once they are finished, and if they have been outside and left grass stains around the bathtub, spray it, scrub it and rinse it right off. She says it works good on shower doors too.

If the vinegar smell bothers you, she gives two fixes from her own kitchen. Add a few drops of whatever essential oil you have, or if you have no oils, a couple of drops of lemon juice for a citrus smell.

The borax and lemon juice sink scrub

The second video is a different mixture for a different job: borax with a little lemon juice for a cast iron sink. She keeps a box of borax under her kitchen sink and mixes this one in a little mason jar, making only a small batch because she is just doing the kitchen sink and the bathroom sinks.

The amounts are three tablespoons of borax and lemon juice measured by the bottle cap. She uses Dollar General lemon juice and starts with two of the little caps, then adds one more, so the batch is three tablespoons of borax to three little caps of lemon juice.

To use it she sprinkles some in the sink rather than pouring, and says it does not take much at all, wets a scrubby, and scrubs, working over the spots and the drain. The marks she is after are where her cast iron rubs against the sink while she washes it. At the end she adds a couple of drops of blue Dawn and works it in, which she says gives you a little soap lather to scrub with before she rinses it and looks at the results.

What she says about other sinks

Lynn is careful about how far she will take this one. Her sink is a real old white cast iron sink, and she says it works great on cast iron. Beyond that she only guesses: she believes you could use it on stainless steel or regular porcelain, but she says to do your research before you try it, and at the start she had already said she is not sure about all sinks and you will have to test it on your own.

She also gives the practical details on the box. She says borax has been around since 1891, that it runs about $7, maybe $8 a box, and that you will find it low on the shelf in the washing powder aisle.

Follow the labels on every product you mix, and test any cleaner on a small hidden spot first.

Lynn’s tips

Questions people ask

What is the ratio for the vinegar and Dawn cleaner?

Lynn uses 1/3 cup of Dawn to 3/4 cup of white vinegar, which is less Dawn than the half-and-half version she says gives you bubbles for days.

Can you use apple cider vinegar instead?

She says the recipe recommends white vinegar and she has never used cider, suggesting it only if that is all you have.

What does she clean with the vinegar and Dawn mix?

Showers, bathtubs, shower doors, toilets and around the toilet, and she points out it takes grass stains off the bathtub.

These notes are written from what Lynn says and shows in the video — watch it for the full method.

Where this comes from

  1. 0:00 what the cleaner is for
  2. 0:35 1/3 cup Dawn, 3/4 cup vinegar
  3. 1:11 white vinegar, not cider
  4. 2:05 mixing to a blue color
  5. 2:51 into the bottle, bathroom use
  6. 3:29 grass stains, essential oil
  7. 4:05 lemon juice for citrus smell
  8. 0:00 borax and lemon juice, test it
  9. 0:35 three tablespoons borax, caps
  10. 1:13 three caps of lemon juice
  11. 2:34 sprinkling it, cast iron marks
  12. 3:10 scrubbing, adding blue Dawn
  13. 3:45 the Dawn gives lather
  14. 5:07 old cast iron, do research
  15. 5:43 since 1891, price of a box

Each link opens the video at the moment Lynn covers it.

Video page: Homemade Cleaner With Vinegar And Dawn · Video page: One Benefit of Borax Most People Don't Know

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