All-purpose Cleaning Spray

Whoever decided white would be a good color for kitchen cabinets probably didn't do much cooking.  I have a wall and a half of white cabinets in my kitchen, and they show every little splatter of this and spill of that.  When they're clean, the kitchen looks clean; when they're dirty, the whole kitchen looks a mess even if there is not a dirty dish in site.

I've tried several cleaning sprays, and some of them have worked pretty well.  But there was this one persistent stain that, I'm sorry to say, had been there for almost 2 years.  (It's been so long that I'm honestly not sure what it originally was.)  Nothing seemed to get it off.  I've squirted, sprayed, scrubbed, and even tried scratching it off.  Still there.

When I made my own all-purpose cleaning spray, I knew the true test would be the spray vs. THE stain.  I adjusted the spray trigger and gave it my best shot.  While I squirted down a couple of other cabinets, I let it sit on the stain and came back to it a couple of minutes later with my trusty paper towel.

Skeptically, I raised the towel and wiped.  GONE!!!  The 2-year stain was gone!

Hope renewed, I finished wiping down the rest of the cabinets to reveal my once-white kitchen again.  Looks like a whole new place.  And the all-purpose spray has found a new home in my cleaning caddy.


Here's how to home-make the all-purpose cleaning spray for your kitchen and bathroom:

- 1 tsp Dawn dish soap (the original blue kind works best)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 Tbs vinegar

Combine the ingredients in a 32-oz empty spray bottle, and fill the rest with hot tap water.  Rotate gently to combine.  (Try not to shake it so that the Dawn doesn't get to sudsy!)

Don't forget to label it, so that everyone knows what it is!  I write the ingredients on the bottle too, so I can easily make more.

Happy cleaning!