[crazywoman]

By Stephanie Hancock


Vinegar is not just for fish and chips anymore; in fact, the uses of vinegar are endless. Vinegar has many uses around the home that most people are probably unaware. Every household should keep a bottle of vinegar in stock because it will eventually come in handy. There are many common uses of vinegar around the house and here are a few examples:

Clean your computer - Vinegar has several elements which make it a good cleanser. It has a well-known ability to disinfect. You can clean your computer, printer, fax machine, and other office gear with vinegar and water. Turn off all the components and mix equal parts of vinegar and water in a bucket. Wet a cloth in the solution and ring it out. Make sure that the cloth is not dripping wet, as you do not want water to fall into the interior of your keyboard or computer. This could damage your electronics. Wipe all the surfaces of your electronics and get them shining clean. Use cotton swabs around small or tough to reach areas, for example, in between the keys of the keyboard.

Clean your window blinds - Vinegar can also be used to clean your window blinds. These tough-to-reach spots are often left as is, but they no longer need to be. As you did with your computer, clean blinds with a solution consisting of equal parts vinegar and water. Put on a white cotton glove and dip your fingers in the solution and slide your fingers across the blinds, with fingers on each side of the slats. Be sure to get both sides of each blind. Keep a bucket of clean water near by to rinse off your glove occasionally.

Unclog and deodorize drains - If you have ever smelled pure vinegar, you know that it is extremely strong stuff. Its pungent smell indicates a level of strength that is high enough to unclog drains in a sink or tub. Of all the many uses of vinegar, this one is really handy.

Pour a half a cup of baking soda and then one cup of vinegar down the drain through a funnel. The mixture will foam up considerably and will unclog your drain. When there is no more foam, flush the drain with hot tap water. After five minutes, flush the drain again with cold water. This will also deodorize your drains. If you want to speed up a slow drain, pour a half of a cup of salt followed by two cups of boiling vinegar down the drain. Flush with hot water, then cold water and your drain will be much faster.

Get rid of the smoky smell - One of the most frustrating things about quitting smoking is trying to remove all evidence that you ever smoked. The smell tends to stay for months (if not years) on items such as clothes and furniture. Vinegar can be a great help in eliminating odors which tend to linger for an extended period.

If you have burned some food or if you smoke in your home, you can remove the smoky smell by placing a small bowl filled three quarters full of white or cider vinegar in the room where the smell is the strongest. In less than a day, the odor will be gone. If you want to dispel the smell of fresh cigarette smoke, wave a cloth that’s been moistened with vinegar around the room to absorb the smell. This is obviously more appealing than buying an assortment of air fresheners and deodorizers which merely cover up any foul or unwanted odor. Using vinegar helps assure that you actually remove the odor.

Get rid of mildew stains - Another one of many uses of vinegar is to clean mildew stains. You can apply full strength vinegar to heavy mildew stains or dilute half and half with water for light stains. You don’t have to worry about ventilation and you can apply white vinegar to nearly any surface without worry. You can also prevent mildew from forming on rugs and carpets by misting the back of the rug with full strength white vinegar in a spray bottle.

Shine up chrome and stainless steel - To clean chrome or stainless steel, spray it with full strength vinegar, then buff it to a high shine with a soft cloth.

Shine up your silverware or silver jewelry - Soak silverware or jewelry in one half cup of white vinegar and two tablespoons of baking soda for three hours. Rinse items with cold water and dry thoroughly with a soft cloth. They will sparkle and your mother will be proud!

Polish brass and copper - You can create vinegar paste to clean brass and copper. Use equal parts white vinegar and salt or vinegar and baking soda. Use a soft cloth or paper towel to run the paste into your brass or copper until the tarnish disappears. Rinse off with cool water and then buff to a shine with a clean soft cloth.

Get rid of pen marks - Nothing can be more frustrating than accidentally writing on a nice, clean white shirt or blouse. You can remove pen marks with white vinegar on a sponge. Keep repeating until the marks are gone. Your budding artist child’s decoration on your living room wall will disappear in no time.

Remove sticker residue - You can remove a sticker or decal that is on a painted surface by saturating the corners and edges with white vinegar. Scrape it off with a plastic card. The sticky remains can also be removed by soaking it with white vinegar and then wiping clean. You can un-stick the sticker or price tag from just about any surface using white vinegar.

Clean your scissors - Instead of washing your scissors with water, which will likely just rust the fastener, wipe them clean with a cloth dipped in full strength vinegar then dry them off with a clean, dry cloth.

Clean your piano keys - Clean piano keys with a solution of equal parts vinegar and water. Dip a soft cloth into the solution and ring out as much as possible. Wipe each key gently, drying with a soft cloth as you go. Be sure to leave the keyboard uncovered for 24 hours after cleaning.

Deodorize small spaces - You can use vinegar to deodorize a lunch box, car trunk or footlocker by soaking a piece of white bread in vinegar then placing it in the closed space over night. By morning, the smell should be gone.

Clean your coffee pot - If you are a coffee drinker, you know how important it is to fill your coffee pot with cold, clean water. But if your pot isn’t truly clean, it will be nothing more than a waste of time. Use a solution consisting of equal parts vinegar and hot water to thoroughly clean your coffee pot. Run the solution through a cycle on your coffee pot, then run three pots of clean water to clean the coffee insides out thoroughly. The solution will also clean the glass of your coffee pot or the inside of your carafe – just let it soak for a while, then rinse out well.

Brighten up bricks - Brighten bricks in your home by going over them with a mixture of one cup of vinegar per gallon of hot water – this solution works for brick floors or brick fireplaces.

Brighten wood paneling - By mixing one pint of warm water, two tablespoons of olive oil and four tablespoons of white vinegar in a small container. Seal the container and shake it to mix thoroughly, then apply it to the paneling with a clean cloth. Let it soak in for a few minutes then polish the paneling with a clean, dry cloth.

Clean carpet or rug - If your carpet or rug looks worn and dingy, you can bring them back to life by brushing them with a broom dipped into a solution of one gallon of water and one cup of white vinegar. The best part is – you don’t have to rinse the solution.

Remove carpet stains - Use a half cup of white vinegar and two tablespoons of salt to get carpet stains out. For tough carpet stains, add two tablespoons of borax to the mixture.

Make a spray-on carpet stain remover - Fill a spray bottle with one part vinegar and five parts water. In a second spray bottle, mix five parts water with one part non-sudsy ammonia. Spray the stain with vinegar solution to saturate it and let it settle, blot with a clean cloth then spray with the ammonia mixture and blot. Repeat the process until the stain is gone.

Remove grease - You can remove grease from kitchen surfaces using a solution consisting of equal parts white vinegar and water.

Paint over wood scratches - Use distilled or cider vinegar and iodine in a small jar to paint over wood scratches with a small brush. Match the shade of your wood by using more iodine or more vinegar.

Remove water rings on tables – Do you hate those water rings on your tables? Equal parts of vinegar and olive oil applied with a soft clean cloth, wiped over the stain with the direction of the wood grain will get rid of the stain. Use another clean cloth to polish it up. For leather water rings, use a sponge and full strength white vinegar to remove the stain.

As you can see, vinegar has many uses so it is a good idea to keep a bottle of vinegar handy because you never know when you might need it. From covering up wood scratches, to polishing silverware, there are a variety of uses of vinegar.
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I found this at:
There are a lot of advertisements there, and I do not endorse any of them. I hesitated to post the link, but figured I should give credit to where I found it. Also on the last page of the tips there are also readers comments with a few reader tips.
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Billie
4'8" Started LC WOL Aug 2003

BBcode

My mind not only wanders, sometimes it leaves completely.

[greeneyes]

You forgot my favorite.

Add a cup of white vinegar to the rinse water when you launder towels and they will come out nice and fluffy soft.

[crazywoman]

I was just gonna come back & post that I've been using vinegar instead of fabric softener lately. I just wish I could find something like it to git rid of static cling without using fabric softener. I still have some cling when I have things like nylon in the dryer..... Things that are really bad to cause static.

I actually haven't done a load of towels yet since I started using vinegar in my rinse water. But I saw a tip on just that is why I started using it.

I also use it as a rinse aid in my dish washer.
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Billie
4'8" Started LC WOL Aug 2003

BBcode

My mind not only wanders, sometimes it leaves completely.

[dab50]

Thanks, Billie, for posting this. Now I know where to come to find the list. Donna

[albert2383]

I'd like to share one as well. You can clean your tiles so that they sparkle as new.

Take one bottle of washing liquid, mix in a cup of making soda and 1/4th cupt vinegar, beat it with a fork. when foam forms apply it all all your kitchen and bath tiles. Let it dry for a 20 minutes. Then mix 1 cup vinegar in a bucket full of lukeward water. Take a hard bristle brush and scrub the mixture, finally wash it all off with the vinegar mixed water.

It does take considerable effort, but the result is worth it. Done once a month would be enough.

[Shannon]

Had to bump this one up... great ideas Billie!
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