I was surprised last week when there was a decent amount of interest in my post with five uses for coconut oil that don’t involve food.
So, this week I thought I’d share a similar type of post with something else I use a lot, but rarely for cooking-related purposes: White Vinegar. White vinegar is cheap – I mean really cheap – readily available, and fantastic for a lot of uses. If you are cooking with it, please be sure to find organic white vinegar – it’s worth the extra cost because it is made from corn and corn is one of the most heavily GMO products in our food supply. If you feel strongly about GMOs, you may want to just buy organic all the time, regardless of its purpose.
In any case, white vinegar is a chemical conscious consumer’s (say that three times fast) best friend. Here are some of the ways I use it around our house:
- Laundry additive to get the stink out. Anyone that has a dog knows what dog laundry
- Grout haze remover. Okay, I know this one is only appealing to folks with a DIY home improving nature, but a solution of 1 part white vinegar to 1 part water is the best grout haze remover I’ve ever found! When applied with a scouring pad, it takes up haze lickety-split. Sure, you can buy expensive chemicals to do this, but why? White vinegar works as well or better and is not toxic.
- Weed killer (for real). If you are burdened by weeds – and who isn’t? – you can use white vinegar to kill them without chemicals. This works really well in situations where they are growing in a concrete crack, like in a sidewalk or driveway. Pour the full strength vinegar on them and you’ll be weed free in no time (I just put it full strength into a pump sprayer and spray like I am using weed killer chemicals). Incidentally, boiling water works well to kill weeds also – especially if not around lawn, as it will kill pretty much all vegetation.
- Vegetable wash. This technically involves food, but not as an ingredient. An easy vegetable wash is 1 tablespoon of white distilled vinegar in 1.5 quarts of water. I use this mostly for times when I can’t get organic fruits or veggies, especially strawberries.
- Prevention of ear infections after swimming. When I was a kid, ear infections from swimming pool water hanging out in my ears was a problem. As a result, my grandma made us wash out our ears after swimming in the ocean or in a pool with a solution of 1 part rubbing alcohol and 1 part white vinegar (stored in a dropper bottle) to prevent ear infections. This works well and I do it to this day after I swim. I find I get water that just stays in my ears, and, by putting a dropper full of this solution in my ear, covering it with a tissue or cotton ball, and then tilting my head to let it drain, the pool water drains away as well and the ear canal is clean as a whistle.
And, there you have it – five uses for white vinegar. I know you guys must also have uses for it, so please let me know in the comments!
View Comments (11)
It works great when added to a foot bath for smelly feet!
Also, with some dish soap for a shower cleaner.
Smart, TaraElisabeth! I hadn’t thought about it for a foot bath! With some dish soap, it also does well for windows, like showers!
You talked about using it in the wash…for my hubby’s stinky work uniforms, I use baking soda with warm water for the wash, and put white vinegar in a downy ball. The baking soda & vinegar would neutralize each other, but it seems to work very well like that.
Added with DIY Laundry soap, its a clear winner for me.
That is a good idea! I will have to get the baking soda a try with the doggie laundry!
I have DIY laundry soap on my to-do list to learn how to do. I buy one that is supposedly “more natural” from Whole Foods, but I think I can do better with some of the recipes out there. Do you have one you prefer?
The one I prefer is: (small batch) 1/2 cup grated Zote, 1/2 cup grated Fels-Naptha, 1 cup Borax, 1 cup A&H Washing Soda, 1 cup Purex Crystals
All natural, its not….but I MUCH prefer the lack of strong smells.
I make a big batch, about x4 the above ingredients, and fill up a gallon bucket. At 1/2 tablespoon a load, it lasts us 6-8 months. After its grated and mixed, I like to run it through my little Ninja to make it finer. plus, the powder coats the soap shreds and doesnt clump! ?
I’ve been doing this for almost 2 years. The cost is roughly: $3-ish per box of Borax, A&H Washing Soda, Purex Crystals, and about $1 each for the Zote & Fels-Naptha….so $11 for 6mo of power laundry soap! And I have half a box left of the Borax & A&HWS!
I ran out and just bought a small bottle of Tide…I thought I was going to choke on the smell from one load!
Thank you! I have read a lot of recipes that call for Fels-Naptha, which is something I hadn’t heard of before searching out a DIY laundry soap recipe. Your 6 month supply of soap is what I pay for one bottle of natural liquid, so I really need to get going on this!
I agree that commercial detergent is crazily perfumed!
I love cleaning with white vinegar, but I recently heard that it can damage grout because of the acidity. Have you heard anything about that, Angela?
That’s interesting, Debbie, I haven’t heard that. I wouldn’t use it full strength for cleaning tile – only diluted with water. I haven’t had an issue when using it as a grout haze clean up. For cleaning our tile floors, I use a steam mop (love!!!), so I can’t speak to ongoing use. Good point!
I use white vinegar for windows and mirrors. I buy it in the big size at Smart & Final and put it in a spray bottle. Also put it in my car windshield wipers as it takes care of buildup from the water. I spray it down the sink for odors and use it to clean the stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops.
All good tips, thank you Sue! I hadn’t thought of the windshield wiper fluid!!
A vet told me to use alcohol/vinegar recipe to clean my dog's ears. Kills mites!
Thanks for hints. I love vinegar. I use in washer rinse like you do and don't need dryer sheets (ugh) or fabric softener.