20 Uses for Vinegar in the Home

We’re lovers of minimising the products and chemicals involved in our household cleaning and maintenance. In a perfect world, we wouldn’t have to worry about the contents of our cleaners or the confusing ingredient lists on the back of products. However, these days it’s getting more and more difficult to clean our own homes without having to worry about the health of ourselves and our families. Keep it simple and look towards wonder products like vinegar to help you around the home! Check out our list of amazing uses below!

After reading this, you’ll realise that vinegar’s uses are practically endless! A simple way to think of it is if you’re trying to clean something, try vinegar first. The only thing you have to be cautious of is using white vinegar on natural stone, limestone and marble surfaces!

Other than that, go to town with vinegar throughout your home including your laundry and the outdoors!

We love keeping spray bottles on vinegar both in a full-strength dilution and in equal quantities of vinegar and water. This means that we’re ready to go and get the job done whenever required.

Check out this full list below of our top 20 ways to use vinegar around the home! These are mostly all for white vinegar, but there is an apple cider vinegar idea included in here too!

1. Brighten clothing: add half a cup of white vinegar to your rinse cycle

2. Banish smells: rub white vinegar on your fingers before and after slicing onions or garlic when cooking. We love to keep a spray bottle of vinegar in the kitchen (also for kombucha and cleaning purposes) which is perfect for this too!

3. Clean jewellery: combine a couple of teaspoons of baking soda and 1/2 cup of white vinegar. Soak your jewels for 2-3 hours then rinse with cold water and dry.

4. Unclog the Shower Head: in a glad bag combine equal parts of hot water and vinegar, place over your shower head and secure using ties or a rubber band. Leave for a few hours to remove hard water and limescale!

5. Get rid of bugs and ants naturally: combine equal parts of water and vinegar and spray in the required areas

6. Remove coffee/tea stains from mugs: combine salt and white vinegar and scrub to remove

7. Deodorising: spray into smelly drains or flush down the drain and leave for 30 minutes before rinsing with cold water. Great for both the shower and tap drains.

8. Cleaning windows naturally! Remove chemicals from the equation by spraying your windows with equal parts water and white vinegar. Wipe with old newspaper or a paper towel to dry.

​9. Sanitise chopping boards: spray and wipe your chopping boards with undiluted white vinegar.

10. Natural weed killer: spray undiluted vinegar on unwanted weeds to kill them!

11. Help flowers last longer: combining 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar and 2 tbsp sugar into the vase with water!

12. Clean blinds and shutters with ease: mix equal parts of hot water and white vinegar, spray the solution and wipe clean.

13. Revive old paintbrushes by soaking them in undiluted white vinegar until the paint is removed, then wash with hot soapy water.

14. Remove stains from underarms and collars/cuffs: saturate the area in white vinegar as a spot treatment to remove stubborn stains and even deodorant marks! Vinegar is also great at removing the sweaty smells too!

15. Reduce stiffness in new jeans and towels: add 1 cup of white vinegar to the wash for fluffy towels and soft jeans! Vinegar is just a great fabric softener for all types of garments/blankets!

16. Prevent colours from running/fading: add a small cup of vinegar to the cycle to lock in the dye.

17. Speed up the cleaning process in your microwave by placing a bowl of hot water and vinegar in the microwave to release caked-on food.

18. Clean grout easily by leaving it soaked with vinegar, then scrub with a toothbrush

19. Clean and disinfect the fridge/freezer: vinegar is a wonderful natural way to kill of mold and mildew while also remove odours and cleaning the interior!

​20. Carpet cleaner: mix 1/4 cup of baking soda with 2 tbsp of white vinegar. Rub into the stain, let dry and vacuum the next day. This is ideal if you have pets who may have left a little accident in the house while also neutralising the associated odours!

​Please remember, it’s important that you avoid using white vinegar on limestone, natural stone or marble worktops!

​For even more ideas, check out this great article! 

Do you have a great way to use vinegar which we haven’t listed above? Share your ideas with us in the comment section below or on our facebook page to keep the conversation going!

From our home to yours,