Hints from Heloise

Dear Readers: The nice weather is finally here, and the trend these days is to create and decorate outdoor living areas. After a little sprucing up, a porch or patio can seem like an extra room added to your home. And for me, there’s one cleaning solution that comes to mind: my favorite – good old, inexpensive, environmentally safe vinegar.

For everything from cleaning windows to removing salt deposits on clay pots, vinegar is the product to use. And all you’ll need to get going is a gallon of white vinegar and a few cleaning supplies.

For sparkling windows, add 1/2 to 1 cup of vinegar to 1/2 gallon of water. Spray on a window, then dry with crumpled newspaper. To make your clay pots look like new, just wipe with a cloth soaked in undiluted white vinegar. If your porch or patio has exposed brick that could use a little freshening, scrub with a brush dipped in full-strength white vinegar. – Heloise