If there’s one area of your home that deserves more attention, it’s your entryway. This space sees more footfall than any other, with you, your family, and guests coming and going year-round. With this constant stream of people comes an accompanying flow of dirt, dust, debris, and moisture.
This only gets worse in the fall and winter, but cleaning daily can be overkill. In between more thorough cleans, there is one affordable home hero that cleaning experts suggest spraying around your front door and entryway: vinegar.
Ahead, cleaning experts explain why a quick spritz of this household staple is one of the things people with clean entryways always do.
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As Karina Toner, Cleaning Expert and Operations Manager at Spekless, explains, ‘Shoes track in dirt, people touch the front door and handles constantly, and outdoor odors, dust, and moisture all tend to collect right around the entrance. A diluted vinegar spray can be a useful little trick for keeping that area fresh between more thorough cleanings.’
Of course, vinegar is by no means a replacement for a full-on disinfectant, but cleaning with vinegar is a tried-and-true, all-natural and non-toxic alternative. ‘Its acidity can help break down grime and cut through lingering odors rather than simply covering them up with fragrance,’ she adds.
Spraying vinegar on the front door is also an effective hack to remove ants and other pests. ‘Ants are repelled by it,’ explains Ashley Torres, Cleaning Expert and Team Leader at Karen’s Green Maids. ‘Ants travel long distances based on chemical trails. When you use vinegar to wipe down the entranceway, you’re removing the chemical trail they’ve been using to find their next food source.’
‘Since you’re removing their ability to track their next meal, they’ll go searching elsewhere. Spraying vinegar on your doors and entryways keeps them constantly searching for their next food source; however, it doesn’t eliminate them. Therefore, you will need to repeat this process weekly or biweekly.’
Keep in mind, also, that this natural pest control method is a deterrent, not a cure. If you’re dealing with a significant pest problem, as with any, it’s best to call pest control instead.
How to Apply Vinegar to Your Front Door and Home Entrance
Pets can also contribute to entryway odors.
(Image credit: Future / SOHO MANAGEMENT LONDON LTD (JAMES MERRELL))
To freshen your entryway, Karina advises mixing white vinegar, available at Walmart for under $3, with water, and adjusting the vinegar-to-water ratio depending on the cleaning task at hand.
‘For a reliable everyday spray, mix equal parts white vinegar and water in a reusable spray bottle,’ she says, adding, ‘I prefer a reusable glass bottle because vinegar is acidic and glass holds up well over repeated use.’ For this, we recommend the Vivaplex Amber Glass Spray Bottles, also available at Walmart. ‘For lighter cleaning or for sensitive surfaces where you might be concerned about a lingering vinegar smell, you can dilute it further and go with one part vinegar to two parts water.
‘Give the bottle a quick shake before spraying, then mist the solution onto a microfiber cloth rather than soaking the front door itself. Wipe the door, handle, and nearby hard surfaces, then allow them to dry.
‘Misting onto the microfiber cloth instead of directly on the door gives you much better control and prevents liquid from running into seams, hardware, or areas where you don’t want moisture sitting.’
That being said, so long as you’re careful, you can also spray this solution (from a distance) directly onto your doorsteps, doorframe, and around the entryway.
‘I’d also give the door frame, nearby baseboards, light switches, and the wall area around the entrance a quick wipe, since these spots collect plenty of fingerprints, dust, and grime from people coming and going,’ adds Karina. ‘If you have a console table, bench, or other hard surfaces in the entryway, those can get the same treatment as long as the surface or material is vinegar-safe.
‘Then there’s the part of the entryway that takes the biggest beating: the floor. You can use a more diluted vinegar solution on some hard flooring, but the material matters here, so always check the manufacturer’s recommendations first. I’d also wipe down shoe trays and the area underneath them regularly, since they’re often catching water, salt, mud, and whatever else gets tracked inside.’
There’s just one important caveat to cleaning your entryway with vinegar − don’t just reach for it blindly to apply on every surface, and always test it on small, inconspicuous spots first.
‘Do not apply vinegar to marble or unsealed wood flooring as it will cause discoloration that cannot be reversed,’ warns Ashley. ‘Test a small section of paint near the bottom of your door to see if it affects the finish before applying vinegar to the entire door. Lastly, do not mix vinegar with bleach as it creates toxic fumes that are difficult to ventilate effectively in small spaces such as entryways.’
What to Shop
If you’d like to try your hand at this all-natural way to get rid of musty smells in your entryway, you can shop the essentials, along with other recommendations, below.
All prices were correct at the time of publication.
Liba Amber Glass Spray Bottles
These colored spray glasses provide natural UV protection to prevent homemade cleaning solutions from degrading. They’re also BPA-free and reusable.
To quickly remove dust and subsequent bad odors from your entryway, robot vacuums make the job easier than ever. This advanced design from Roborock provides dynamic, uninterrupted cleaning with ease.
Great Value Cleaning Vinegar
Cleaning vinegar is another handy item to keep in your selection of non-toxic cleaning supplies. This one can be used in kitchens, bathrooms, and laundry.
MR.SIGA Microfiber Cleaning Cloths
These microfiber cleaning cloths are the perfect addition to your entryway cleaning routine, particularly if you prefer color-coded cleaning.
Burning your best candle is another easy way to make your entryway smell beautiful. Just make sure you’re still cleaning and not simply masking odors.
Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir Reed Diffuser
You can also use one of the best reed diffusers for a burst of freshness. This is my favorite for an entryway space, with a bold yet sophisticated scent that truly lasts.
Meet the Experts
Karina is a Professional Cleaner and Operations Manager at Spekless Cleaning, which provides residential and commercial cleaning and maid services in Washington. She has over six years of experience overseeing all operations and quality control at Spekless, and her advice has also appeared in The Spruce, Architectural Digest, Apartment Therapy, and more.
Ashley is the Cleaning Expert and Team Leader at Karen’s Green Maids. She has more than five years of professional cleaning experience and runs the crews that clean hundreds of Chicago homes a month. The company has used green, non-toxic products since day one, so vinegar is something Ashley works with in real homes every week, and the entryway is the first thing her teams touch on every job.
‘The nice thing about this routine is that it doesn’t have to become another big cleaning project,’ adds Karina. ‘A quick wipe of key points in the entryway every week or two can help keep the spot looking great, particularly during muddy or rainy seasons.’
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