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One very cheap easy-to-get product you should be stocking on your shelves is vinegar. It is a versatile product that can do many, many things. It’s a couple of dollars for a gallon. A little does go a long way.
One of the best qualities of vinegar is its virtually indefinite shelf life. Cheap, long shelf life and endless uses. That’s the kind of thing you want on your shelves.
If you never really thought much about the value of vinegar, check out these forty uses for vinegar.
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1. Cleaning Bathrooms
Vinegar is an extremely effective cleaner, especially when combined with baking soda. Alone, it’s great for wiping down bathroom tiles. It’s safer than bleach and leaves the tiles spot free. Pour the vinegar into a spray bottle and spray on tiles and stained grout. Let it soak for an hour and use a scrub brush to get in the grooves then simply wipe away.
2. Kill Weeds
If you’re tired of pulling weeds that grow up through cracks in the sidewalk, spray them with vinegar. If you want to use vinegar as a weed killer in your garden, you can use a paintbrush to target the plants you don’t want. It will kill all plants.
3. Clean Dishwashers
It sounds silly, but sometimes you need to wash the dishwasher. Putting a cup of vinegar in the bottom of the dishwasher and running it through a cycle will clean and deodorize your dishwasher.
4. Fabric Softener
Vinegar is a safe fabric softener. Add it to your washing machine to soften your clothes while keeping your colors bright. Your clothes will not smell like vinegar. It washes away in the cycle.
5. Cleaning Dog Ears
Using a vinegar and water solution to gently clean your dog’s ears can prevent ear infections and itching.
6. Clean Windows
Vinegar is an excellent window cleaner. You can combine it with dish soap or use as a rinse agent. It leaves windows in your house or car streak free.
7. Color Saver
Vinegar is an excellent color saver. If you’ve got a new pair of black pants, soak them in vinegar overnight before you wash them. The vinegar locks in the color. You won’t have the fading black after several washes.
8. Preserve Flowers
Adding vinegar and a little sugar to a vase of cut flowers will keep them brighter and livelier just a little longer than a basic water solution.
9. Remove Stains
Vinegar is a great stain remover. Add a little vinegar to a stain and let soak for a few hours. Toss it in the laundry and wash as usual.
10. Clean the Coffee Machine
Running a cup of vinegar through your coffee machine once a month will help remove any hard water residue. It will prolong the life of your coffee maker and your coffee will taste great.
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11. Keep Drains Clean
Vinegar is great for keeping drains clean and smelling fresh as well as removing the hard water junk and gunk. If you have a clog, dump some baking soda down and then add vinegar. Middle school science fairs have taught us what happens when we mix the two ingredients. The fizzing and bubbling will remove the clog.
12. Clean Showerheads
Showerheads that are clogged because of hard water can be soaked in vinegar. Rinse away and the showerhead will be back to normal.
13. Clean Toilets
Hard water stains clinging to your toilet bowl will benefit from a vinegar bath. It’s best to spray the stains considering they will be right at the water line. Allow to soak and then scrub. You may need to repeat it a few times.
14. Remove Carpet Stains
Carpet stain remover. ALWAYS test first. Add a little vinegar to stain, let soak and then gently rub the area. Don’t scrub. Rinse with water.
15. Peel Eggs
Add a little vinegar to the pot you are boiling eggs in. It makes the peeling process much easier. No more crumbling shells.
16. Wash Fruit
Wash your fruit with a water and vinegar solution. It’s better than a straight water wash.
17. Keep Cheese Fresh
Vinegar can keep your block cheese fresher for longer. Soak a cloth in vinegar and then wrap it around your cheese. It will keep it from drying out and molding.
18. Soothe a Sore Throat
Gargling with a vinegar, water and salt solution can help ease a sore throat.
19. Treat Your Skin
Vinegar in your bath is a cheap and easy option to give yourself an at-home spa treatment. Run a bath, add a cup of vinegar and soak away your dead skin. Your skin will feel softer and cleaner.
20. Remove Dandruff
Dandruff is a problem for a lot of people who don’t want to use special shampoos. Giving your scalp a vinegar wash once a week can help treat and eliminate dandruff.
21. Kill Fungus
Yellow toenails aren’t pretty. Nail fungus can cause all sorts of problem. Soaking your feet in vinegar and water solution can help kill the fungus and improve your foot health.
22. Clean Your Hair
If your hair is dull, it might be due to hair products like hairspray, conditioner, and relaxers clinging to your hair. Washing your hair with vinegar once a month will strip the leftover residue from your hair, leaving it shinier and fuller.
23. Repel Pests
Repel spiders, ants and other critters with vinegar. Spray it around doors, windows and the foundation inside. Even mosquitoes are going to want to avoid the vinegar.
24. Clean Patio Furniture
Cleaning plastic patio furniture can get rid of those ugly white stains that tend to be present every spring. Just wipe them down with a vinegar and water solution to return them to their former glory.
25. Clean Your Fridge
If your fridge is a little stinky, wipe everything down with vinegar. The smells will be gone, and your fridge will look and smell great.
26. Remove Tupperware Stains
Spaghetti stains on your Tupperware or other similar products are no joke. Add some vinegar to the containers and let soak. Rinse away the vinegar along with the stains and the odors.
27. Clean Ovens
Ovens are notoriously difficult to clean. Oven cleaners are toxic and dangerous. Wipe down simple stains with vinegar. For more difficult stains, putting a baking soda paste on the area and then adding vinegar will help break up the caked-on buildup.
28. Remove Clothing Stains
Black or dark-colored clothing that suffers from deodorant stains can be renewed by wiping away the stains with a little vinegar. You might need to bring in the big guns with a combination of Borax and salt if it’s a heavy stain.
29. Clean Chrome
Wipe down chrome bathroom and kitchen fixtures with vinegar to leave a streak-free shine.
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30. Clean Shoes
Leather shoes and purses that have stains or other marks can be clean with a cloth soaked in vinegar. Gently wipe at the stain—no scrubbing.
31. Remove Ice from Windshields
Northerners know three parts of vinegar to one-part water put on a windshield before the freeze can save you from having to scrape windows in the morning.
32. Clean Microwaves
If your microwave has been attacked by chili, you know the caked-on mess it can leave. Save yourself a lot of cleaning by pouring equal parts vinegar and water into a microwave-safe bowl. Nuke it for five minutes and then wipe away the mess.
33. Clean CDs and DVDs
CDs and DVDs, if you have them, could benefit from a gentle vinegar wash. Spray with vinegar and then wipe away with a scratch-free towel.
34. Remove Sticky Residue
Vinegar is the go-to solution for the sticky residue left behind by price tags and labels. Add a little vinegar, let it soak and then wipe away.
35. Remove Wax
Vinegar is an excellent wax remover. If a candle has melted or dropped wax on furniture, you can use vinegar to wipe away the residue. It’s also an easy way to clean crayon from walls and furniture.
36. Clean Wood Floors
Wood floors with wax build-up will shine again after being wiped down with vinegar. You can also use a vinegar solution to clean vinyl and linoleum floors.
37. Clean Mattresses
Mattresses are not so easy to throw away, even if there’s been an accident. A quarter cup of vinegar mixed in a spray bottle with two cups of water can remove odors and stains on a mattress.
38. Clean Your Grill
Clean your outdoor grill with vinegar. Spray on, let soak and then use a grill brush to scrub away the burnt-on food.
39. Clean Window Blinds
Clean your window blinds with half water and half vinegar. Spray on and then wipe away.
40. Cure the Hiccups
Swallowing one teaspoon of vinegar will usually make hiccups go away.
The uses for vinegar are truly endless. Vinegar is safe for septic systems and is much safer to use than any other chemical-based cleaner. It’s safer than bleach. It cleans, disinfects and deodorizes.
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