Last week, I decided to explore uses for vinegar. Seems that the stuff is extremely versatile. And, it’s thrifty too.
I started by picking up this gallon size of distilled white vinegar at my local Fred Meyer. It cost $2.39. I also picked up an empty spray bottle (you’ll see why later).
Here are just a few of the ways I used vinegar in the last week.
Use #1: As a Garbage Disposal Cleaner.
Pour one cup of vinegar down your garbage disposal. Let it sit for 20 minutes. Then, rinse with cold water. Alternately, make vinegar ice cubes. The ice will also work to sharpen your blades.
Use #2: As a Coffee Maker Cleaner.
Run a cup of vinegar through your coffee maker. Then, run two cycles of cold water through. After that, I washed off the inside of my glass carafe and dried with a paper towel.
Use #3: As Fabric Softener.
I poured a little vinegar right into my HE washer in the place of fabric softener. It seemed to have worked just fine, and no vinegar-y smell.
Use #4: As bathroom cleaner.
Here’s where that spray bottle comes in handy! To make pouring easier, I used a funnel.
Reader Heidi left a great use for vinegar on my Facebook post last week about frugal household tips. She said to spray down the shower with vinegar and then scrub baking soda on top with a sponge. I did this and it sure foamed up right away!
Here I am spraying the germs away.
Use #5: As Floor Cleaner.
So my pal Keri said she uses vinegar in her steam cleaner. Well, I tried adding some to the Shark I use for my hardwoods and it made some really scary noises. So, I’m sticking to water for that. I’m guessing Keri meant more of a carpet cleaner.
At any rate, I did steam my hardwoods with just water (I own this Shark and love it by the way – unlike Swiffer, there are no batteries, cleaner, or pads to replace!). Then, I did a little scrubbing with 1/2 vinegar and 1/2 water. I ended up by going over it all one more time with the steamer. My floors are completely devoid of that nasty “grime” now.
Use #6: As a Worthless Science Expirement
I read that you could turn a chicken bone into rubber by soaking it for a few days in vinegar. Yes, this is true.
What other uses have you found for white distilled vinegar?
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i recently found out that it can be used as a stain remover, just spray it onto the stain, let it soak for a couple minutes, and wash! works REALLY well for me so far!
It also works great as a rinse if you forget the clothes in the washer too long and they get that funky smell!
I do this too! And use it on diapers that have a funky smell. Sometimes I also use it in a final “extra” rinse on DH’s work clothes and our 3 year old’s potty accident clothes. Or towels. LOL… the laundry uses are endless!!
It helps kill fleas! Mix equal parts vinegar and lemon juice and spray on furniture, carpet, etc. Just don’t spray ON the dog! (It is funny to watch her try to lick it off though!!)
another Worthless Science Experiment is to soak an egg in vinegar for 24 hrs. it dissolves the shell and what is left behind is really cool for the little ones to touch!
Oooo….I might just have to try that one!
I’ve heard it kills weeds in walkways, ditches, etc.
I use it as window cleaner, the best ever! I add a little essential oils to help with the smell
1 gallon water
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tsp dish detergent (liquid)I use Dawn
If you add a little rubbing alcohol to this solution any you spill will evaporate as will excess on your windows. just a cap full from the rubbing alcohol bottle is enough for a bucket worth of solution.
Using a 1/4 cup ofit in your laundry keeps colors from bleeding whcih means you don’t have to sort laundry….I’ve never done it but I have a few friiends who swear by it!
Also works wonders as a glass cleaner with newspaper sine we all rpobably have a consistant stack of newspapers with the inserts removed my mom used to run a “green” cleaning business and this is what she did! I love it too!
We also use it on new clothes and towels to keep them from fading. A trick I learned working in Macy’s towel department
1. I wash our towels with a splash of vinegar once a month to get out the mildew smell that inevitably creeps up from having to hang them up wet after every shower. I refuse to wash them daily so they get washed weekly and every few washes get the vinegar treatment to freshen them up.
2. Household cleaner recipe: 1 large plant sprayer bottle, 1 cup vinegar, 5 drops dawn, 2 drops essential oil like tea tree oil, fill rest with water. I clean the whole house with this and we’re healthier than when we used chemicals (plus my 3 year old can help clean).
3. My favorite: it kills weeds!! Spray full strength on your weeds on a sunny day and they will be wilted and dead by the end of the day. Beware overspray and I don’t recommended using this in grass as it’ll kill the grass too but we use it in gravel, cracks in the driveway and in our landscaping where we have mature bushes. It kills moss, dandylions, grasses and clover.
Julie, I love the idea of using vinegar to get rid of that “musty” smell. I will add that to my list to try!
Use in place of Jet Dry in the dishwasher!
Seriously?! That’s awesome b/c I’m OUT of Jet Dry and I refuse to pay full price!
it unclogs drains. use 1/4 cup of baking soda and 1 cup of vinegar. Pour the baking soda down the drain followed by the vinegar. Let that sit for 10-15 minutes then pour a gallon of boiling water down to wash it all away.
This worked very well. I am not sure WHAT was in the kids’ sink, but it is gone now!
I get it at Costco, 2 huge jugs of it for under $5! I use it to clean my washing machine (a front loader) in a bowl you do half vinegar and half water and clean it all out but make sure you rinse with water and dry the outside rubber parts so it doesn’t dry and crack it. Then put a couple cups into the inside and run the tub clean. I do it once a month so it doesn’t stink. I also clean the inside of my dishwasher with it.
We had an ant problem and used vinegar to get rid of them. We pored it all around where they were getting in and it worked! Plus it’s safe for kids and animals
I use it to remove the stains from my plastic food containers and to remove sticky ick on my scissors (thank you children!). I also use it to get rid of those nasty little fruit flies!
Come to think of it, we use it for a lot of stuff!! I could keep going. This stuff is great!
How do you use it to get rid of fruit flies?
We just set out a little dish of undiluted white distilled vinegar on the counter. We were having a real issue with those little stinkers for no apparent reason. I have no idea why it worked, but for us it did!
I hope I can put this on here but we found this website vinegartips.com while trying to find a way to rid ourselves of them. It has a TON of ways to use vinegar!! It’s pretty cool!
You put a bowl of apple cider vinegar out with a drop of dish soap in it. The vinegar attracts the flies and they land on it. Normally flies are able to land on water because of surface tension. When soap is added to the vinegar it takes away the surface tension in the water so that when the flies land on it they drown.
I cant believe no one else listed Remove Pet Stain Odors. Use it on cat boxes or urine in carpets. Your house will smell like pickles for a few hours, but it is better than the alternative!
It won’t take the color out of the carpet right?
It’s the only thing that gets “accident,” smell out of my son’s fleece pajamas. Soak in hot water/vinegar then run regular wash cycle.
My older son likes it for volcano making. Oh, and dyeing Easter eggs!
I use vinegar when I do laundry, a little bit in the Clorox dispenser if your machine has one, or where you put the soap in.
When we had our washer repaired last time, the repairman told me to do this, it gets rid of all smells on your clothes that the fabric softener can’t get rid of, and it takes care of the machine too!
I buy those big gallons of vinegar at Costco, around $3 for 3 gallons, not bad.
I also use vinegar to clean the coffee machine.
To set tie dye before washing…soak in vinegar for 20 mind bf washing. Also combine w rubbing alcohol and it removes stains…got gentian violet out of my quilted baby blanket.
Vinegar and water is my household cleaner. I use it on kitchen counters, in the bathroom, mirrors, windows. And the baking soda with the vinegar is good.
The comments above are really great for new ideas (bookmarking it now).
I use vinegar with baking soda to clean the stains out of my enamel cookware (like my Lodge cast iron enameled 5 quart pan that I cooked a chicken in last night).
Throw a small amount (just a dusting) of baking soda into the stained enamel pan.
Use just a splash of clear vinegar into the pan.
It will all foam and gyrate with dramatic action for a brief period (great for kids to watch as a “Science Guy” type of thing).
Use a soft sponge to work the mixture around till the stain is gone.
Rinse with water, and you have a nice clean and bright looking enameled pan again.
Cautionary reminder: don’t use your sponge to try and mechanically scower (spelling check) the stain out.
If you want to try and speed up things by aggressively scrubbing repeatedly with the baking soda and vinegar mix, you risk creating little micro-scratches into the enamel that you can’t really see with the naked eye, but they are there, and then attract even more stains into the enamel the next time you do something like tomato sauce in the pan or dutch oven.
Just be patient, and let the chemicals do their thing on the stains, then gently rinse and repeat if necessary.
–Bill In Seattle
The neighbor’s cat got in my garage and sprayed! I put out a few little cups of apple cider vinegar and in a few hours the smell was much improved. In 3 days there was no smell at all.
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