Frugality

30 Uses For Vinegar! (And How The Stinky Stuff Saves You Money)

(Guest post by Yazmin Cruz)

I’m in love with vinegar! And after discovering the many uses for this common household product, you will too.

I’ve used vinegar everywhere from the kitchen to the bathroom, and below I share a laundry list (literally) of different ways to use it around your home to save you major mullah!

(Note, that I’ve tried most of the suggestions below with positive results, but you should test your concoctions in an inconspicuous place in case things go awry.)

Uses In The Kitchen

1. Remove coffee and tea stains from china by cleaning with vinegar.
2. Pour a cup of vinegar down the drain to deodorize your kitchen.
3. Cooking smelly food? Add a couple of tablespoons to a bowl and leave it on the kitchen counter. Vinegar neutralizes odors. This trick comes in handy when I cook fish.
4. Boil a ¼ cup of vinegar to loosen splattered food on microwaves. Then use the vinegar to wipe clean. Careful, don’t burn yourself!
5. Deodorized a smelly lunch box by wiping it clean with vinegar.
6. Mix vinegar with salt to form a paste. Then scrub with steel wool to remove discoloration from copper-bottomed pots and pans.
7. Run about ½ of vinegar through your coffee machine once a month to clean your coffee maker.

Uses In The Bathroom

8. Use a damp rag to wipe down fixtures in the bathroom and kill germs. Vinegar is a natural disinfectant and it won’t sear your airways like bleach. Yikes!
9. Grimy bathtubs, tile, and curtains can be wiped down with vinegar to look like new. Have soap scum, mildew, or mold? Vinegar can take care of it.
10. Unclog a showerhead by immersing in vinegar once a week. You can dispose of used vinegar adding to toilet. See tip below.
11. Rusty rings on toilets will be a thing of the past once you add vinegar to the bowl.
12. Get spotless windows and mirrors by wiping down with vinegar and newspaper – a reusable microfiber cloth also works!

Uses In The Laundry Room

13. Skip expensive fabric softener and use vinegar to make clothes smell fresh and feel soft. Don’t worry your clothes will not stink! Vinegar fights hard water.
14. Don’t you hate yellow armpit stains? Combat the yucky pit stains by immersing T-shirts in white vinegar.
15. Build up on irons and steam irons can be wiped away with vinegar.

Uses In The Garden

16. Starve weeds by spraying full strength vinegar on them until they die.
17. Excess lime on pots can be removed by cleaning them with white vinegar.
18. Find relieve after mosquito and bug bites by dabbing vinegar on the itchy spots. This always works after mosquito’s feast on me.

Uses For Personal Stuff

19. Forget the fancy toner in your beauty routine and use vinegar to clean your face.
20. Gargle vinegar to relieve a sore.
21. Combat athlete’s foot (or stinky feet) by immersing your feet in vinegar. Don’t do this when you have a cut or it will sting.
22. Fight nail fungus by soaking toes in vinegar. It will take time, but you’ll see a difference. I had to do this for months after a pedicure went terribly wrong – TMI, I know.
23. Add shine and remove excess hair gunk by rinsing your mane with vinegar.

Other Cheap and Handy Uses

24. Potty training your pets? Eliminate animal urine stains and odor from carpets by wiping it clean with an old rag and vinegar.
25. Remove decals, bumper stickers, or price tags by wiping down with vinegar and a little bit of alcohol.
26. Repeal ants by spraying vinegar around doors and window frames, under appliances, and along other known ant trails.
27. Rub the fur of dogs with full strength vinegar to remove skunk odor. Don’t forget to rinse them thoroughly.
28. Create an all-purpose cleaner by combining lemons, baking soda, and vinegar.  This solution is great for cleaning the bathroom sink.
29. Make dyed eggs brighter by adding a splash of vinegar to the water and food coloring mix.
30. Use vinegar and a lint-free cloth to clean your glasses. No streaks, I promise.

I can’t live without vinegar — it’s cheap, eco-friendly, and oh so useful!

Do you swear by vinegar also? Let me know how you use it around your home. And btw, vinegar is not the only cheap and sexy product in your home. Check out our post on secret uses for ammonia, salt, foil and baking soda too!

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Yazmin Cruz is a staff writer at the money and coupon blog, BargainBabe.com

(Photo credit: Chiot’s Run)