Saturday Share: 7 Uses for White Vinegar

I’m blogging late today. Darling Hubby and I spent the day shopping at the gardening centers.

I scored 2 very large clay pots, 21″ diameter, in a golden ocher glaze that I’ll use on the front courtyard patio.

I had DH place a new pot on either side of a huge pot filled with blooming red dianthus in the middle and asparagus fern spilling over the rim all around.

It was a fun day. A few minutes ago when I was cleaning up after dinner, I refilled the spray bottle of white vinegar that I keep next to the kitchen sink.

So, I decided sharing uses for white distilled vinegar would be a good info post.

Why Use Vinegar for Cleaning?

A gallon of store brand white vinegar costs only $1.99 at Walmart, Kroger, Target, etc. Or you can buy the name brand like Heinz for $3.99. For that low price, you can do all the things listed below.

Spend pennies instead of dollars and always have an effective cleaning agent that won’t harm the environment.

By the way, you might have seen “Cleaning Vinegar” in the stores recently. It costs more of course. There’s a minor difference between “Cleaning Vinegar,” which probably represents a new profit center, and white distilled vinegar.

Cleaning vinegar is reduced to 6% acidity instead of the 5% acidity of “regular” white vinegar. The label on cleaning vinegar says, “Safe for cooking, perfect for cleaning.” Personally, I’ll stick with the less expensive white distilled vinegar.

7 Uses for White Distilled Vinegar

1. Fill a spray bottle and use to clean your countertops. Vinegar is natural and biodegradable and possesses mild anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties. It won’t kill staph, but it will kill less threatening bacteria. I use it instead of commercial products like Windex Multi Surface Cleaner (which costs $2.99 for 23 ounces!).

2. Keep your drains smelling clean by pouring 1 cup of white vinegar down the drain once a week. Let it set for half an hour then flush the drain with cold water.

3. If your drains are slow to, well, drain, do this. Do NOT lean over the drain while you do this treatment. Pour 1/4 cup of baking soda in the drain then 1 cup of vinegar. The resulting chemical reaction will “boil and bubble” and clean out the drain. After 15 minutes, flush the drain with very hot water.

4. Clean your microwave the easy way. Place 1/4 cup of white vinegar and 1 cup of water in a large microwave-safe measuring cup. Boil for 2-3 minutes or until steam forms on the microwave window. Carefully remove the hot cup, and you can wipe away food residue with a dishcloth or paper towel.

5. Use it in your laundry instead of bleach.

6. Pre-treat the underarm areas of light-colored clothing by spraying with white vinegar. It’s not perspiration that causes stains there. It’s the interaction of deodorant and perspiration. Keep a spray bottle by the washer. Spray the underarm area then toss in the washer. If the fabric is color-fast, you can spray vinegar even on dark clothing.

7. Speaking of color-fast…In today’s world, many colored fabrics aren’t color-fast. You can keep the colors from running before laundering simply by soaking them for about 10 minutes in a pan with 1 cup white distilled vinegar.

Takeaway Truth

There you have it—an easy inexpensive way to clean up around the house using something natural and biodegradable.