29 Handy Household Uses for Vinegar
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If you think vinegar is just for salads, think again. This inexpensive kitchen multitasker repels insects, removes rust, and cleans everything from tile to silver.
Versatile Vinegar
One of the best products you can get for your house might already be in your pantry: vinegar. Beyond being a popular ingredient for meal prep, there’s a long list of household uses for it.
Thanks to its high acidity, vinegar is a versatile household product. It can get rid of stains, cut through crud, and be used in the garden. While there are many different types of vinegar, white vinegar and apple cider vinegar are the best choices for being a potent cleaner without damaging surfaces.
Not convinced that you can replace your chemical cleaners for a bottle of vinegar? Read on for 29 ways you can use vinegar around the house.
Control Insects in the Garden
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Create an earth-friendly insect trap by filling a closed container with a cup of apple cider vinegar. Add in small slices of banana peel and 1 cup of cold water, and then shake. Poke holes around the top and place it on the kitchen counter near a fruit fly infestation. You’ll be catching critters in no time. Discard the trap and replace it with a new one when it gets, um, too gross.
Wash Your Dishwasher
Your dishwasher washes all the food residue off your dishes. But who washes the dishwasher? You can, by pouring 1 cup of vinegar into the bottom of the tub and running it through a cycle without any dishes. Doing this once every month or two will remove built-up soap residue and keep it in squeaky clean shape.
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Clean Your Shower Heads
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Got a clogged shower head? Put boiling water in a bowl with 1/2 cup of vinegar. Soak the shower head for 10 minutes and watch those clogs disappear. If you can’t remove the head, partly fill a plastic bag with full-strength vinegar and tape it over the fixture. Let it sit for an hour and remove, and you’ll be shower-ready!
Remove Rust
Renew rusty tools by soaking them in full-strength vinegar for several days. Once the rust dissipates, rinse and dry them well. This method also works well for screws and bolts.
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Clean Your Wood Floors
Wash your hardwood or prefinished floors the old-fashioned way. Add 1/2 cup vinegar to 1 gallon of hot water and mop or scrub as usual (make sure to barely wet your mop or cloth). To lessen the smell of vinegar, add a drop or two of essential oil to your mix. Lemon- or lavender-scented oils are excellent options. Make sure to dry the floor completely with a towel afterward.
Tip: Don’t try this technique on waxed floors because it will strip off the wax finish.
Save a Dried-Up Paint Brush
Don’t throw that synthetic paint brush away just because it’s caked with dried paint. Soak it in a cup of vinegar until the bristles loosen up. Then wash it in warm, soapy water. Still stuck together? Boil it in vinegar for 10 minutes and follow up with another soapy water bath. Your paint brush should return to its old pliable, useful self.
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Remove Smoke Odors
Tar and resin from cigarette smoke can stick to furniture and leave an odor long after the smoke evaporates. To break through and eliminate that icky residue, spray orange-infused vinegar onto hard surfaces, let it sit and then wipe it down with a dry cloth. You may need to repeat the process a few times if the situation is super stinky. Avoid spraying this solution onto fabrics.
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Clean Ceramic Tile
Make your own cleaning solution to freshen up dingy tiles around tubs and sinks. Just add a 1/2 cup vinegar, a 1/2 cup ammonia, and a 1/4 cup borax to a gallon of water. Scrub ‘em up, and let ‘em shine! Rinse thoroughly with water and allow the tile to air dry.
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Test Your Soil
Conduct a quick, inexpensive test for excess alkalinity in your soil by putting some dirt in a container and pouring about 1/2 cup of vinegar into it. If the soil fizzes or bubbles up, it’s too alkaline. Mix some peat moss or sulfur into your soil to make it more pH neutral.
Unclog a Drain
Clear a clogged drain by pouring a 1/2 cup of baking soda into it, followed by 1 cup of white vinegar. It will bubble and foam, and once that stops, flush the drain with hot water. After about 5 minutes, rinse with cold water. This approach is effective, nontoxic, and less damaging to your pipes (and wallet!) than commercial drain cleaners.
Sanitize the Cutting Board
Unlike your plastic cutting board, you can’t just stick your wooden cutting board in the dishwasher because water warps wood. To properly clean a wooden cutting board, spray it with undiluted white vinegar, let it sit for no more than 5 minutes, and then wipe it off with a damp cloth.
Extend the Life of Flowers
Enjoy fresh-cut flowers for as long as possible by adding equal parts white or apple cider vinegar and sugar—2 tablespoons is good to start with for an average-sized vase—to the water to extend the life of flowers. The vinegar lowers the pH levels of the water and prevents bacteria, and the sugar feeds the flowers.
Clean the Coffee Maker
Mineral and coffee oil buildup can harm the taste of your coffee, which is why it’s important that you clean a coffee maker every 3 to 6 months. The good news is this is an easy, set-and-forget task to accomplish: Fill the coffee maker’s water chamber with equal parts water and white vinegar and start the brew cycle. Halfway through, pause the cycle to let the vinegar work its magic cleaning and disinfecting. Wait 30 minutes, then allow the cycle to finish.
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Refresh and Brighten Your Laundry
Are your bath towels starting to feel gross? Bacteria left behind after showering and built-up laundry detergent can make towels start to stink. To get them smelling fresh again, run them through a cycle replacing the detergent with 1 cup of distilled white vinegar.
Vinegar can also do wonders to brighten white clothes and linens that have gone dingy. Simply add ½ cup of vinegar to the drum of your washing machine alongside your preferred laundry detergent. The vinegar will remove yellowing and make white fabrics look like new. Acidic vinegar can wear the rubber gaskets in your washing machine, however, so think carefully about using it too frequently.
Clean the Windows
Achieve streak-free, shining windows by making your own window cleaner. All you need to do is combine one part white vinegar to two parts water in a spray bottle. It’s a simple and effective recipe!
Clean the Microwave
Spills and splatters are inevitable in the microwave. Before you get scrubbing, make cleaning the microwave easier by loosening up the grime. Fill a bowl with equal parts white vinegar and water, and pop it into the microwave for 5 minutes or until it boils. Once the time is up leave it inside for another 3 to 5 minutes to allow the steam to soften things up. Then you can grab a cloth or sponge to wipe it away.
Kill Weeds
Avoid using strong chemicals in the yard—instead, reach for the vinegar. You can kill weeds by spraying or brushing the leaves with vinegar. Take care not to use vinegar near plants that you want to keep since the natural herbicide can kill them, too.
RELATED: Solved! Does Vinegar Kill Weeds?
Clean Stainless Steel
Stainless steel looks sleek until you start noticing fingerprints all over the fridge. To get rid of the prints and any other residue, spray stainless steel surfaces with vinegar and then wipe down with a microfiber cloth. Finish off with a small amount of mineral oil to make the stainless steel shine.
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