Revive Those Towels
Towels lose their softness and fluffiness after being used over and over again. That’s when they start looking dingy and rough — and they aren’t exactly the most comfortable to dry yourself off with after a warm shower.
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But, there’s a little trick to save them. Pull out a bottle of vinegar and include half a cup in your next wash cycle in the washing machine. The vinegar will magically revitalize your towels — making them fluffy, soft, and inviting once again.
Pesky Fruit Flies
Fruit flies are unwelcome in any household. But, if you have a little apple cider vinegar, you can say goodbye to these pesky critters flying around your kitchen all the time.
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Pour some apple cider vinegar into a bowl. Add a few drops of dish soap and place the bowl in a place that’s infested with the flies. Attracted to the scent, these pests will gather around and eventually drown
Dish it Out
Vinegar is actually a much simpler — and all-natural — way to clean your dishes, without having to use any of those harsh dishwashing tablets. Try running a cycle on your dishwasher, using a bit of vinegar. You may find that it leaves your dishes even cleaner than before!
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Not only that, though. Vinegar can keep your actual dishwasher sparkly clean, too! Every few months, pour vinegar in a cup or dish and run a short cycle with the dishwasher empty. It will clear out all the built-up soap scums in your machine, ensuring peak efficiency next time.
Clean & Unclog Garbage Disposal
Sometimes, you need to get your hands dirty — but it certainly doesn’t have to be from cleaning out the food bits trapped inside your garbage disposal. Thankfully, vinegar can be your savior in cleaning and unclogging that pesky disposal of yours!
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Simply sprinkle about a half-cup of baking soda into the disposal, followed by a cup of white or apple cider vinegar. You can thank us later…
Put Your Feet Up
Even if you’re at home, it’s important to treat yourself once in a while. Indulge in some self-care fun with an at-home pedicure, using just a bit of vinegar. It may sound unusual, but vinegar can leave your feet feeling softer and smoother than they’ve ever felt before!
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For a salon-worthy treatment at home, mix one part vinegar with one part mouthwash. Now, soak your feet in the liquid mixture for about 15 minutes before scrubbing with a callus brush or rock, and voilà!
Flea Treatment
Pets are prone to fleas and there are several flea shampoos available on the market to fix the problem. But, if you’re out of shampoo and you’ve forgotten to buy a new one — or you simply don’t want to spend the money — vinegar can also do the job.
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As you can see from the picture on the right, all it takes to create this DIY flea shampoo is one part vinegar, one part dish soap, and four parts water. Combine this mixture in a spray bottle and use it during your pet’s next bath. Vinegar is a non-toxic substitute that’ll take care of those pesty bugs in no time!
Heal Bruises Faster
Getting occasional bruises now and then is a part of life. But, did you know that you can get rid of bruises faster with a simple vinegar compress?
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If you get a nasty bruise, soak a paper towel in distilled white vinegar or apple cider vinegar, and press it on the bruised area for a few minutes. The properties in the vinegar help to quickly heal bruises, eliminating the associated pain and removing the mark along the way…
Preserve Your Produce
Washing new fruits with vinegar can help to preserve them for longer. Simply add half a cup of vinegar to warm water and let the fruits sit in the mixture for roughly 10 minutes. Then, rinse and dry them off before storing them in the fridge.
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The vinegar clears out all the extra gunk that rots the fruit faster. If you make it a habit to wash fruits in vinegar first, you’ll notice you’re getting an extra week out of the produce!
Bloomin’
A bouquet can liven up a room, for sure, but it also comes with a short life span. Flowers begin to wither the moment they’re cut. So, it won’t be long before your bouquet begins to droop and dry up.
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However, you can prevent this — simply add two tablespoons of vinegar and one teaspoon of sugar to the water in the vase before placing your new bouquet in it. This is a sure way to keep those flowers blooming!
Defrost Your Car Windows
Car windows are prone to frosting during the winter season. If you can’t defrost them properly, it can create a severe problem on the road, obstructing your vision while driving.
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However, a bottle of vinegar at home can be a handy solution to this. Mix three parts vinegar with one part water — and spray the mixture on the windows, windshield, and any other frosted surfaces of the car. Then, wipe them clean to prevent them from frosting over.
Clean Hardwood Floors
Hardwood floors require extra care, and non-toxic cleaners are obviously best. After sweeping, dusting, and vacuuming your hardwood floors, take a second before you begin mopping.
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Create a solution by mixing one gallon of warm water and half a cup of white vinegar. This mixture is not only a great solution for those hardwood floors, but it’s also completely safe for animals and children to be around.
Prevent or Reduce Lint
Lint and pet hairs are prone to cling to your clothes. And some cloth fabrics are prone to catch more lint than others. Sometimes, it doesn’t even come off after a wash.
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This can be a serious headache if you have somewhere important to be, and your favorite dress is covered in lint and pet hairs. Don’t worry! Just add half a cup of distilled white vinegar to your normal wash and watch the lint magically disappear.
Clean the Fridge
When a bottle of ketchup inexplicably leaks or a few forgotten veggies rot, your fridge becomes a mess! Only a thorough cleaning can save you in such a case.
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Sadly, water alone is not enough to remove all the residue and marks. Instead, wipe down the refrigerator using a mixture of equal parts water and white vinegar. Along with the racks, don’t forget to give the side walls a good cleaning as well.
Clean Your Washing Machine
Front-loading washing machines are highly efficient and great for saving water, but they do tend to develop a musty smell. Removing the debris from the crevices around the rubber seal isn’t enough, unfortunately.
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Vinegar to the rescue! Make a solution with equal parts water and vinegar, and wipe down the rubber seal around the door. Your washing machine will be odor-free and sparkling clean in no time!
Gadgets
Did you know you can clean your office gadgets with vinegar, too? Your computer, laptop, and tablet can all be cleaned using a simple vinegar solution.
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For this, mix equal parts of water and white vinegar. Take a soft, clean cloth. Dip the cloth in the solution and wring it out before wiping down those nooks and crannies.
Freshen Up Sponges
Cleaning things known as cleaning aids — like sponges — is actually lot more important than you think. After all, bacteria can start to breed on your sponges after using them over and over again. But, instead of chucking them, you can simply renew their life!
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Take a bowl and pour enough water to cover the sponge pieces. Add ¼ cup of white vinegar to it. Now, dip the dirty sponges and let them soak in the solution overnight. Tomorrow morning, your sponge will be as good as new!
DIY Clarifying Shampoo
People with particularly oily scalps know how difficult it is to keep their hair clean without damaging or drying it out. We’re here to tell you that clarifying shampoos are the best in such situations, but they can also be quite expensive. So, instead of purchasing expensive clarifying shampoo, why not make your own?
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Mix two parts of water with one part apple cider vinegar — along with few drops of your favorite essential oil. Shake up the mixture and apply it evenly to your scalp and hair. Allow it to sit for five minutes before washing it out.
Repair Scratched DVDs
Amid all the hubbub of streaming services, many of us still turn to our trusty DVDs now and then. But, those discs tend to get scratched quite often. In such cases, don’t toss them out as a lost cause — rather turn to your bottle of vinegar!
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Wipe down the bottom part of the scratched disc with a soft cloth soaked in white vinegar. Allow it to dry completely. Then, insert the disc into your player and enjoy a freeze-free and skip-free movie.
Odor-Free Garbage
The only thing worse than handling smelly trash is dealing with an even smellier trash can. Despite what you may think, though, there are ways to get rid of these horrid odors without having to bleach the bin into oblivion. Simply empty your trash containers and remove the lids.
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Then, pour water into the bins before adding vinegar. Let this mixture sit for 30 minutes until you’re ready to scrub the bins clean! Rinse, dry, and there ya have it — an odor-free and brand-spankin’ clean trash can!
Do You Respect Wood?
Scratches are bound to develop on your furniture over time, due to natural wear and tear. But, don’t give up! Maintain the pristine condition of your wooden furniture by using a little vinegar.
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Mix ACV and iodine together and then spread the concoction over the scratches. All you have to do is create a mixture containing cooking oil and white vinegar. Dip a rag in the mixture, and rub it on the scratch. Allow the mixture to sit for a minute or two before wiping away excess liquid.
Squeaky Clean
It’s not only winter frost that should worry you when it comes to your car. Over time, dirt and grime also build up on the glass surfaces of your car, creating the same vision-obscuring problem. In such a case, you’ll need something a little stronger than a normal glass cleaner.
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Spray a healthy amount of vinegar onto the surface. Then, scrub with a clean rag and wash away as normal. The acidity of the vinegar will efficiently cut through all that built-up grime, leaving your car windows sparkling clean in no time!
Sunburns, Wounds, & Bites
Even if you use sunscreen regularly, you’ll likely get an unfortunate sunburn at some point in your life. But, instead of just waiting out, try to calm your suffering with a little bit of vinegar.
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Pop a bottle of distilled apple cider vinegar in the fridge. Once it’s cool, pour it onto a soft cloth and gently pat the desired areas. The properties in the vinegar can help to minimize itching, peeling, and aching.
Clean Your Microwave
This is one of the most popular tried and tested cleaning hacks that uses vinegar. It’s natural for grease and gunks to build up the surface and ceiling of your microwave after regular use, making it dirty and unhygienic.
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To clean it, all you have to do is to put a bowl of vinegar in the microwave and let it heat up for about a minute. The steam from the boiling bowl of vinegar will efficiently loosen all the caked-on gunk. Then, simply wipe the micro clean with a cloth or sponge.
Make a Wrinkle-Releaser
Keeping a bottle of vinegar on hand in the laundry room has several benefits. After washing, you likely want to iron the delicate pieces to smoothen out those pesky wrinkles. But, instead of wasting time with the ironing board, try making a DIY wrinkle-releaser.
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Combine two cups of water, one tablespoon of white vinegar, and one teaspoon of hair conditioner in a spray bottle. After gathering the clothes from the dryer, mist them with the spray. The mixture will relax the fibers of the fabrics in your clothes, eliminating any and all wrinkles immediately!
Wiped Out
Vinegar can be an all-purpose solution for several car problems. In the case of old cars, streaky and sticky windshield wipers are a huge headache. They tend to smear water and dirt across the windshield instead of making it cleaner.
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But you don’t have to replace those wipers altogether for better cleaning. Just soak a piece of cloth in distilled white vinegar and rub it back and forth across the rubber of the wipers. It will remove the stubborn grime and dirt, leaving your windshield wipers as good as new.
Bye-Bye, Garden Weeds
Garden weeds can be an annoying problem for your beautiful outdoor or patio garden. No matter how hard you try, they always manage to find a way to come back and harm your beloved plants and flowers.
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But now you can get rid of unwanted garden weeds for good. Just pour a bit of vinegar onto the weeds and ta-da! Not only will all the weeds be taken care of, but the soil will be as healthy as ever.
Crystal Clear
Glassware should be handled with caution. Still, glasses and stemware can become cloudy while air drying or after being put in the dishwasher, and those cloudy deposits on glass can’t be removed that easily!
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To prevent this, all you need to do is to wrap the glasses in vinegar-soaked paper towels. Keep them like this for a while and the vinegar will rinse the deposits right off, making your glassware sparkle once again.
When Nature Calls
Regular use of the toilet can result in dirt, grime, and — well, you get it. If you ignore it for too long, you’ll likely have to resort to heavy elbow grease in order to get this “golden throne” even remotely clean.
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To avoid the tedious job, pour a cup of vinegar into the toilet bowl and let sit overnight. The next morning, sprinkle a little baking soda into the bowl, scrub, and then flush clean.
Shower Power
This is another much-talked-about miraculous hack using vinegar. Sometimes, during a shower, we feel the water pressure slowing down —and so, we look up at the showerhead only to find cruddy residue blocking the holes.
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To combat this problem, make a solution of one quart of water to ½ cup of vinegar and pour it into a plastic bag. Now, tie the bag around the showerhead to soak it for a while before brushing it clean using a toothbrush. The more build-up, the more time you’ll need to keep it soaking.
Boil Eggs
This one use of vinegar is common to almost every household and is even a beloved trick of professional chefs. When you’re boiling eggs, don’t forget to add a tablespoon of distilled white vinegar to the water.
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The vinegar will ensure that the shells don’t crack during the boiling process. It will also make the boiled eggs much easier to peel, saving lots of time and effort.
Remove Carpet Stains
Carpets and rugs can be nice, especially if you live in a colder climate. Still, with rugs and carpets, you run the risk of stains. That’s okay, though — vinegar is here to save the day.
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For those nasty carpet stains, all you have to do is take a spray bottle and mix 1/4 cup of white vinegar, one tablespoon of dish soap, and fill the rest of the bottle with water. Shake it up, spray the area liberally, and let soak for five to ten minutes before blotting with a clean, dry towel.
Clothing Stains
Vinegar doesn’t only keep the fabrics of your clothes healthy — it’s also an effective stain-remover. Spray vinegar on the fresh stains, and let it soak for a few minutes. Then, throw the clothing into the regular wash and the stains will come right off.
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Older stains are much harder to remove. But with vinegar, you can do that too! Just continue spraying vinegar and blotting it with a clean rag. Once the stain has lightened, throw it into the washing machine.
Natural Remedy
Seasonal coughs and colds are a common problem for almost everyone. There are also various home remedies available to calm and cure the effects of cold. One of the easiest is the use of vinegar, especially to soothe a sore throat.
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In case you’re suffering from a sore throat, sip on one cup of warm water mixed with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, as well as a tablespoon of honey. Both apple cider vinegar and honey have antibacterial properties that may help soothe a sore throat. Please note, though, that water should always be used to dilute the acidity of apple cider vinegar.
Sticky Icky
Stickers are all fun and playful until you realize it’s hard to remove them! Also, if you somehow manage to take them off, the sticky residue will leave the area marked forever! And you can’t do anything about it.
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It turns out, you can! To get rid of those pesky stickers for good, pour distilled undiluted vinegar on the top and sides of the sticker, and allow it to soak for 10 to 15 minutes. Then, use something like a credit card to scrape away the sticker, along with the sticky residue.
Scorched
Scorching the bottom of the pan while cooking is a normal accident in almost every kitchen. A burnt pan looks like a disaster at first, but a little vinegar and baking soda actually go a long way together.
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Place the burnt pan back on the stove and fill it with one cup of vinegar and one cup of water. Once the mixture is boiling, turn off the heat and add two tablespoons of baking soda to it. Allow the mixture to sit for one to two minutes. Then, toss out the liquid and clean the pan as per usual.
Stained Tiles
One of the many uses of vinegar is its efficiency in cleaning almost any surface, without any harsh chemicals. Even the most stained, grimy, and dirty bathroom tiles can be sparkling clean with a little bit of vinegar.
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Pour a gallon of warm water into a bucket and add half a cup of vinegar to it. Splash the solution over the tiles and let it sit for a couple of minutes to get the stubborn dirt to loosen up. Soak a mop with the solution beforehand, and get scrubbing!
Both vinegar and apple cider vinegar, although not always interchangeable, are two products that can work wonders inside and outside your home. Being that they’re all-natural, vinegar and apple cider vinegar are free from harsh chemicals or harmful toxins — and hence, can effectively clean, sanitize, deodorize, and disinfect all at once! Here’s a compiled list of some life-changing hacks using vinegar, or apple cider vinegar.