Other Uses Of Vinegar

Vinegar is used mainly for cooking, pickling, salad dressing and as condiment for certain foods like fish and chips. Asians are very fond of using vinegar for pickling. In Asia you can find myriads of pickled fruit and vegetable items. Two very popular Chinese pickle items are pickled ginger and pickled leek bulbs. Korea has its specialty in the form of kimchi, the spicy pickled Chinese cabbage. This article is not about vinegar as a cooking item but about the other uses of vinegar.

There are so many types of vinegar, with different countries having their specialties. The Chinese rice vinegar, Italian balsamic vinegar and of course, the apple cider vinegar. There is even artificial vinegar! I was surprised when I saw artificial vinegar on the shelf of my neighborhood supermarket. As I was only using the vinegar for cleaning purposes, I bought the artificial vinegar as it was cheaper.

Because of its mild acidic nature, vinegar has been used for many other purposes apart from cooking and pickling. Vinegar is commonly and popularly used for domestic cleaning purposes. This article will discuss the many other uses of vinegar.

The instructions provided for the various uses of vinegar, vary according to the type of use. To me, this is too troublesome to remember. Of course, one can always refer to the instructions for the specific use of vinegar, when there is a need to. I suppose if you follow the exact instructions, the results will be more effective. As for me I prefer the easy way out, and very practical too. So before going into details for each type of use of vinegar, let me share with you my very practical and time saving way of using vinegar for my general cleaning purposes.

I use a spray bottle, fill it with 50/50 vinegar/dish washing liquid. I use it mainly to clean my toilets/shower rooms, including everything inside the toilet, that is, the wash basin, toilet seat and cover, shower and toilet spray handles and hoses. I spray the vinegar-dishwash mixture all around everything in the toilet, and of course the floor. After giving the floor a good scrub, I then give the whole area a thorough wipe and spraydown with plenty of running water. My toilets are always spick-and-span. You can take a look at the photo on the right showing one of my spotlessly clean toilets.

This period I have another regular use of my vinegar-dishwash mixture. My son has not been well and I have to take care of him. He has Wegerner's Disease. Recently he had to undergo an “open-window” surgery on his right chest to clear infection from his right lung. Each day I will have to help him dress the wound after his shower. Quite often, the excess liquid will ooze out and stain the shirt. My vinegar-dishwash mixture comes in handy. I will spray the mixture direct onto the stained spots and leave it for a few minutes. After a quick scrub, the stain will be easily washed away with running water. I believe this method will also be able to remove other water-soluble stains from clothes, such as that of beer, fruit juices, coffee, tea and ketchup.

Okay, let's get on with the more specific, other uses of vinegar. I have selected 25 of them.

Around the kitchen:

1.Get rid of sticky streaks off your scissors. Ever got irritated with the sticky streaks left over after cutting sticky tapes? Don't worry. Scrub them off with a cloth or sponge dipped with full-strength vinegar

2.Clean stained kettle. Pour in three cups of full-strength vinegar into the kettle, boil for five minutes and leave the vinegar in the kettle overnight. Rinse clean with running water, the next day.

3.Get rid of odor from the kitchen. Boil a pot of half cup of vinegar and 1 cup of water until the liquid is almost gone. The foul odor should disappear by then.

4.Remove grease and odor from stove and kitchen top. Soak cloth with equal amount of vinegar and water, and wipe off the affected areas. This will also eliminate odor from the greasy surface. The use of spray bottle will be more effective on stove.

5.Refresh your refrigerator and microwave oven. Mix equal amount of vinegar and water to wipe clean with a cloth, the interior and exterior of your refrigerator and microwave oven.

6.Disinfect your cutting boards. Use full-strength vinegar to give your cutting boards a good scrub. Then rinse well with water to clean off.

7.Clean china, crystal and glassware. Add a few ounces of vinegar to your dishwasher, and your china, crystal and glassware will come out shiny without any stain.

8.Cleaning jars and containers. Cleaning empty jars containing residues, like mayonnaise, peanut better or mustard is often a messy job. Fill half the jar with liquid mixture of equal parts of vinegar and warm soapy water. Close the jar and give it a good shake, and leave it for a few minutes, before cleaning it with running water. If stubborn stain remains, use a bottle brush to finish the job.

9.Clean your vacuum flask. Fill half the vacuum flask with warm water and a quarter cup of vinegar. Close and shake well, then rinse it with running water.

Laundry area :

10.Clean your washing machine. We need to clean our washing machine periodically to rid of soup scum and dirt stuck in between hidden grooves. Pour in 2 cups of full-strength vinegar into the washing machine and run the machine through a full cycle wash without any clothes or detergent. This should do the job.

11.Remove perspiration discoloration and ink stain. Don’t throw those clothes away just because they are discolored with old sweat rings around the collars and under the sleeves. Make a paste from two parts vinegar and three parts baking soda. Scrub the affected parts with the paste, and let it set for 30 minutes before washing. For more stubborn stains, pour a bit of full-strength vinegar on the spots and rub the parts before putting them into the wash.

12.Unclog and deodorize drains. Pour half a cup of baking soda into the drain, followed by one cup of full-strength vinegar. After the foam subsides, pour hot water into the drain, and wait for five minutes. Then flush the drain with cold water. This will clear most blockages and at the same time deodorizes the drain.

Around the garden:

13.Reduce unwanted weeds, pests and ants. Fill a spray can with full-strength vinegar, and spray around affected areas and onto the weeds. This will reduce, if not eliminate the weeds and pests.

14.Get rid of those stubborn bird droppings. Spray on the messy spots with full-strength vinegar and wipe or wash them off. Or you can just use cloth soaked with full-strength vinegar and wipe off the spots.

For the Car:

15.Clean windshield wiper blades. Dampen a cloth with full-strength vinegar and run it along the full length of the blades.

16.Keep car windows frost-free. Fill a spay can with 3 parts full-strength vinegar and 1 part water. Spray the outside of the car windows. Or you can wipe the area with a cloth soaked with the mixture.

For those who have pets:

17.Remove scent from soiled area. For housebreaking your puppy or kitten, make sure you wipe clean of soiled areas with an equal mixture of vinegar and warm water. This will remove the scent from the affected prohibited spots.

18.Directly protect against fleas and ticks. Fill a spray bottle with equal parts of full-strength vinegar and water. Spray onto the pet’s fur and give it a good rub down. You can also clean the ears with the solution. Cats may not like this treatment because they hate the smell of vinegar.

Miscellaneous:

19.Remove carpet stains, Mix 2 tablespoons salt with half cup of full-strength vinegar. Rub into stain spots with cloth dipped with the mixture. You can use a spray bottle to do the job. Let dry, and vacuum clean the spots.

20.Remove candle wax. Soak a cloth with equal parts of full-strength vinegar and water. Then soften or melt the wax on the affected parts with a hair dryer blower, and wipe off the softened or melted wax with a paper towel. Then use the vinegar-soaked cloth to wipe off whatever that is left of the wax.

21.Remove glue, stickers and price tags. To remove those sticky and stubborn stickers and price tags off the products, wet the stickers with full-strength vinegar. Wait a few minutes, and then scrape them off with a plastic scrapper, or plastic cake knife or simply use expired credit card or phone card. This method is also effective for getting glue off from any surface or wall.

22.Get rid of ballpoint pen marks. Dab full strength vinegar with a cloth or sponge and rub against the ballpoint pen marks until they disappear.

23.Control dandruff. After shampooing your hair, thoroughly rinse with a mixture of 2 cups apple cider vinegar and 2 cups cold water.

24.Prolong freshness of cut flowers. Mix 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar and 2 tablespoons sugar with the vase water and put in your cut flowers. This will prolong the freshness of the cut flowers. Change the water after a few days and add in new vinegar-sugar mixture.

25.Get rid of rust. Soak rusty tools with full-strength vinegar for a few days, and wipe them clean. Spraying full-strength vinegar onto rusty bolts and nuts and screws will loosen them for easier removal.

I hope you can follow some of the methods here to solve your little nagging household problems, from time to time. As for me, I still prefer my easy and practical method of using equal amounts of full-strength vinegar and dishwashing liquid to do most of my cleaning chores.

Well, it's up to you. Happy cleaning then!

Honestly I have not tried every one of the above methods. So I am not guaranteeing that all will work like "clockwork orange", or in other words, "effectively". So please use your discretion. "If in doubt leave it out" or "Try at your own risk". LOL!!

If you find this article interesting or beneficial, you may go to my "Profile" page to read my other articles by simply CLICKHERE:

By the way, the copyright to this article is owned by Justin Choo (a.k.a. Good Guy). Please do not “copy and paste”! Thank you.