20 Household Uses for Vinegar | From Laundry, to Cleaner & More

Many of us have a love affair with vinegar – it’s something that we always (and I mean = always!) have in our cabinet. It helps me keep my house clean, helps my laundry stay soft, and helps my pocketbook.

Vinegar has been around for 10,000 years – but has been produced commercially for just 2,500 – it is probably one of the ONLY products in your cabinet that has such a long history.

One of the best aspects about Vinegar is that it is cheap, versatile, and much less harsh than most of the commercial cleaning products – Vinegar does it ALL. I usually buy 4 jugs at a time at Costco and it lasts us forever!

Even better, repurpose your old glass bottles and use them to make your own cleaner with vinegar.

Why buy anything else when you can just pick up a cheap jug? Check out the uses:

1. Clean Counters & Refrigerators.  Use a solution of half water & half vinegar.
2. Kill Weeds & Unwanted Grass by saturating with Vinegar.
3. Remove Grease from Oven by Spraying with Full Strength Vinegar.  Let sit for ten minutes.
4. Freshen your House/Room. Place a bowl of Vinegar inside a closed room overnight.
5. Remove mineral deposits from coffee makers.  Fill the water reservoir with full strength vinegar & run a full cycle.
6. Clean a tea pot by boiling vinegar.
7. Deodorize toilet bowls by filling with 3-4 c. Vinegar & scrubbing the sides.  Let it sit 20 minutes.
8. Clean stains & smells from carpet. Use a solution of 1 C. Vinegar to 1 Gallon hot water – brush on carpet or use in a carpet cleaner. Let it sit 10 minutes to soak up, then vacuum thoroughly when it’s dry.
9. Saturate unwanted wallpaper with vinegar to remove it more easily.
10. Safely disinfect baby toys by adding a cup of Vinegar to warm, soapy water & scrub clean.
11. Clean your Microwave. by heating a cup of vinegar and a cup of water to allow it to steam.  Then wipe clean to remove stains/odors.
12. Wipe plastic containers clean using a sponge soaked in vinegar.
13. Clean a dishwasher by running vinegar through a full wash cycle.
14. Remove odors from a lunchbox by soaking a sponge in Vinegar. Leave that lunchbox overnight, then rinse.
15. Clean a smelly drain by mixing a cup of hot vinegar with a cup of baking soda – pour down the drain, let sit 15 minutes, then rise with hot water.
16. Clean grills using a solution of half hot vinegar and half hot water.
17. Remove build up on faucets by soaking a paper towel in vinegar and placing it around the faucet – let it sit overnight.
18. Get RID of fruit flies by putting 2 cups in a small jar – if you add a cheap funnel (like from the auto section of your Walmart) they will crawl in but won’t be able to crawl out.
19. Use to make shower cleaner- see our recipe here on the blog to use this in your shower.
20. Use it as fabric softener – by putting 1/2 C. in the rinse cycle of your machine. Works terrific without the build up.