Uses For Vinegar

The following is a list of uses for vinegar. These have been collected from around the 'net on various discussion boards and email groups over the past few years. None of them are guaranteed to work, but I've had good luck with several of the suggested uses.

CLEANING

• All-purpose floor cleaner: mix 1/2 cup to 1 gallon of water.
• Glass Cleaner: Combine a quart of water with 1/2 cup of the vinegar and add it to a spray bottle. Use as you would glass cleaner.
• Use white vinegar straight or diluted with water to clean windows. Wipe it off with wadded up newspapers and you won't have any streaks.
• Linoleum floor cleaner: Add 1 cup citrus vinegar with two gallons water of water and mop as usual.
• Stick-on hooks come off from painted surfaces if you squeeze a few drops of vinegar behind the hook.
• Remove price labels by coating the label with several coats of white vinegar. Let it soak in and after several minutes the label will rub off.
• For rust stains and hard water deposits apply vinegar full-strength until spot disappears, then rinse. Repeat if necessary
• To make a homemade anti-fogging glass cleaner try 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water and mist, This also reduces ice build-up on the outside of cars. Pour into a small dish, and set in a room to absorb odors.

BATHROOM

• A vinegar soak can work wonders on a clogged showerhead. If you don't want to remove the fixture, use a heavy-duty plastic bag that is big enough to cover the showerhead. Fill the bag with warm (not hot) white vinegar and tie the bag over the showerhead so that the head is immersed in the vinegar. Allow this to soak all day or all night (8 to 10 hours), then remove the bag and enjoy an invigorating shower.
• To remove decals and non slip bathtub strips saturate a cloth or sponge with hot vinegar and squeeze over decals.
• Lime deposits around faucets can be softened for easy removal by covering the deposits with vinegar-soaked paper towels. Leave the paper towels on for about one hour before cleaning. Leaves chrome clean and shiny.
• Vinegar removes deposits which clog your metal shower heads and sink aerators. Combine 1/2 cup white vinegar and one quart water submerge the shower head or aerators and boil 15 minutes.
• If you have a plastic shower head, combine 1 pint white vinegar and 1 pint hot water, completely submerge the shower head and soak for about one hour
• To clean ovens: Spray or pour the vinegar on burned or soiled areas. Close the oven door and allow it to sit for 2 hours. Wipe clean with a sponge or rag that has been moistened with warm water. You may need to repeat.

LAUNDRY

• Eliminate soap residue by adding 1 cup of white vinegar to the washer's final rinse. Vinegar is too mild to harm fabrics but strong enough to dissolve alkalis in soaps and detergents DO NOT USE VINEGAR IF YOU ADD CHLORINE BLEACH TO YOUR RINSE WATER. IT WILL PRODUCE HARMFUL VAPORS.
• Since vinegar breaks down uric acid, add 1 cup vinegar to the rinse water for babies' clothes.
• To make wool and cotton blankets soft and fluffy add 2 cups white vinegar to the rinse water.
• Add 1/2 - 1 cup baking soda to washing cycle; add vinegar to rinse cycle (or use a fabric softener ball for timed release).

KITCHEN

• Mix vinegar with salt to create a paste for a good surface cleaner. It really cleans tarnished copper.
• Remove stubborn hard water spots and streaks on glass with undiluted vinegar.
• Aluminum care is another great area for vinegar. Brighten aluminum utensils by cooking acid foods such as tomatoes, apples, or rhubarb or by boiling 2 tablespoons vinegar per quart of water for 10 minutes in the pan. Prevent discoloration in the bottoms of double boilers or egg poachers by adding 1 teaspoon vinegar to the water in the bottom pan.
• If you have deposits around your sink from hard water, soak a rag with vinegar and wrap it around the sink. Leave it there overnight and the deposits will be gone in the morning.
• To fix discoloration of pans, try heating a solution of 1 tablespoon vinegar per quart of water in each pan until discoloration disappears.
• Clean coffeepots and remove lime deposits by boiling equal pans of water and white vinegar. (Boiling time depends upon how heavy the deposits are.)
• Clean tea pots by boiling equal parts of vinegar and water for several minutes and let stand an hour. Then rinse with plain water before using tea kettle.
• Dishwasher: Put vinegar in the section where one would put the 'jet dry' product. Even with hard water, dishes come out cleaner than they ever did before!

EATING

• CITRUS VINEGAR - Fill a glass quart jar with the peelings (remove any of the white pulp) of any citrus fruit: grapefruit, orange, lemon, lime, etc. Cover the peelings with white vinegar and allow it to sit for about 2 weeks, occasionally shaking the jar. Remove the peels and strain it as well. Use on salads or any way you would use plain vinegar, but wouldn't mind the added citrus taste.

PERSONAL CARE

• It's good for sunburn.
• Vinegar makes a good hair rinse.
• Use apple cider vinegar if you have indigestion. Put 1 tablespoon in 6 ounces of water and drink it.
• UnShampoo: dissolve vinegar in your hand with water and rub into scalp. Rinse well. Then use a spray bottle and spray apple cidar vinegar into the hair for a conditioning rinse.

OUTDOORS

• Vinegar can be used as a weed killer. It works either full strength of diluted up to 1:1 with water. Pour on cracks in the sidewalk where weeds grow. Don't pour on the lawn because it will kill the grass too.
• To make a homemade anti-fogging glass cleaner try 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water and mist, This also reduces ice build-up on the outside of cars.