25+ Household Uses for Vinegar

Lately,  I’ve been pinning ideas for natural cleaning tips like crazy!  I love the idea of cleaning really well without any crazy chemicals or REALLY expensive green products.  One of the simple, inexpensive things that keeps coming up in those tips is vinegar.  Check out all the ways you can use vinegar to make your house cleaner:

How To Clean With Vinegar!

De-gunk a microwave:  mix 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar and 1/2 cup water in a microwave-safe bowl. Bring it to a rolling boil inside the microwave. Baked-on food will be loosened, and odors will disappear. Wipe clean.

Make your glassware shiny: soak paper towels or a cloth in full-strength white distilled vinegar and wrap around the inside and outside of the glass. Let sit awhile before rinsing clean.

Make your sink shiny: for faucets that have lime buildup, scrub with a paste made of 2 tablespoons salt and 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar.

Freshen counter tops:  clean and help them smell better with a cloth soaked in undiluted white distilled vinegar.

Deodorize a drain or garbage disposal: pour in 1 cup baking soda, then one cup hot white distilled vinegar. Let this sit for 5 minutes or so, then run hot water down the drain.

Smelly containers, be gone: wipe them with a cloth dampened with white distilled vinegar.

Stinky lunchbox rescue:  place a slice of bread that has been soaked in white distilled vinegar in the lunchbox. Leave overnight.

Easy-clean your miniblinds:   wear white cotton gloves.  Dip gloved fingers into a solution of equal parts white vinegar and warm tap water, and run your fingers across both sides of each blind.

Keep ants away: spray undiluted white distilled vinegar outside doorways and windowsills, around appliances or wherever you find the pests coming in.

Chase away fruit flies: leave out a small dish of undiluted white distilled vinegar.

Make stuck on grease go away: wipe anywhere grease gathers with a sponge soaked in white distilled vinegar.

Dad will love this one:  spray a solution of half water and half white distilled vinegar on the cooking surface of the grill to keep it clean.

Renew sponges and dishrags by placing them in just enough water to cover them. Then add 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar. Let them soak overnight.

Don’t let your washing machine smell bad:  Once a month pour one cup of vinegar into the washing machine and run the machine through a normal cycle, without clothes.

Throw out your fabric softener:  use vinegar instead of commercial fabric softener.  It gets rid of odors, softens fabrics, and helps to get rid of static.

Clean grout:  let full-strength white distilled vinegar sit on it for a few minutes, then scrub it with an old toothbrush.

Keep the air in the bathroom fresh:   make a solution of 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar, and 1 cup water.  Put in a spay bottle and spray as needed.

Try this for carpet stains: a paste of 2 tablespoons white distilled vinegar and 1/4 cup salt or baking soda. Rub into the carpet stain and let dry. Vacuum up the residue the next day. (Always test on an out-of-sight part of the carpet first).

Fix Fido’s mistake:  blot the area, then add a white distilled vinegar-and-water solution. Blot until it is almost dry. Then sprinkle baking soda over the area and let it dry. Vacuum up the residue the next day.

Remove white water rings from wood: mix a solution of equal parts white distilled vinegar and vegetable oil. Rub with the grain.

Sanitize kids’ toys:  fill a clean bucket (or bathtub) with hot water and a cup or two of vinegar. Soak the toys, then lay out on a towel or cloth and let air dry.

Spiff up vinyl baby books or board books: wipe with white distilled vinegar. Wipe clean with a damp sponge or cloth.

Sticky scissors:  clean with a cloth dipped in undiluted white distilled vinegar.

When your hands get stinky after slicing onions:  pour vinegar over your hands to get rid of the odors. 

Show off that bouquet your husband gave you:  to keep cut flowers fresh, add 2 tablespoons vinegar and 1 teaspoon sugar for each quart of water.

 What are your ideas for how to clean with vinegar?

Find more uses for vinegar at Vinegar Tips, The Happy Housewife, Cupcake Apothecary, and Design Happens

Featured and Pinterest Friendly pictures from Southern Living.   Click on the other pictures to visit their original sources.

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