Put vinegar to good use

I absolutely love vinegar. I buy it in bulk and use it pretty much every day around the house. It’s a great cleaner for just about anything.

(I’m talking about white vinegar by the way, not apple cider vinegar)

Properties of white vinegar

• It’s a disinfectant so it kills germs
• It’s a solvent so it dissolves grease
• It’s a deodorizer (even though it has a nasty smell itself, it completely disappears and also takes other smells with it)
• It’s super cheap

7 ways I use vinegar around the house

Over the past year I’ve slowly gotten rid of a lot of specialty cleaning products and replaced them with vinegar. I simply buy it in bulk and then fill up a few spray bottles and normal bottles so I always have it ready.

All-purpose cleaner: home & bathroom

I clean just about anything with my basic vinegar mixture (one cup water, 1/2 cup vinegar + 6 drops essential oils). It perfect for greasy surfaces like kitchen counters or keeping bacteria away from your shower.

Fabric rinse for laundry

I’ve had a long history of experimenting with different types of laundry detergent and fabric softeners. I would never be able to get my laundry completely clean and odourless. Until I replaced my fabric softener with vinegar (1/2 cup of vinegar + 5 drops of tea tree essential oil). It deodorises the fabric and kills germs, plus it keeps your washing machine clean.

Dishwasher rinse

I’ve recently switched my dishwasher rinse over to vinegar and find that it works miracles. My glasses are just as clean, the dishwasher smells fresher and it’s soooo much cheaper.

Descale a kettle

Pour one cup of water + one cup of vinegar in your kettle and set it to boil. Let it sit for a bit before you pour out your kettle and do it once over with only water (to get rid of the taste).

Steam-clean your microwave

Put a dish with one cup water + one cup vinegar in the microwave for about 5 to 10 minutes (keep an eye on it). Once finished clean the inside with a sponge and all the dirt should come off easily.

Shower head cleaner

Just spraying this with my all-purpose vinegar solution usually doesn’t work. You need to soak it in vinegar for a few hours. What I do is take the head off and place it in a plastic bin filled with pure vinegar. If you can’t take off your shower head, you can simply fill a plastic bag with vinegar and ‘tie it around’ your shower head to soak.

Window cleaner

I use pure vinegar for this, but you can dilute it with some water if you like. Works great to clean any window in your home without streaks.

These are just a few examples of what you can do with white vinegar. Do you have any other uses for it? Let me know in the comments.