Uses For Vinegar

In The Garden

Grow beautiful azaleas: Occasionally water plants with a mixture of two tablespoons vinegar to one quart water. Azaleas love acidic soil.

Kill grass on paths and driveways. Pour full strength on unwanted grass.

Kill weeds. Spray full strength on growth until plants have starved.

Increase soil acidity. In hard water areas, add a cup of vinegar to a gallon of tap water for watering acid loving plants like rhododendrons, gardenias, or azaleas. The vinegar will release iron in the soil for the plants to use.

Freshen cut flowers. Add 2 tablespoons vinegar and 1 teaspoon sugar for each quart of water.

Prolong the life of flowers in a vase. Add two tablespoons of vinegar plus three tablespoons of sugar per quart of warm water. Stems should be in three to four inches of water.

Neutralize garden lime. Rinse your hands liberally with vinegar after working with garden lime to avoid rough and flaking skin. Clean pots before repotting, rinse with vinegar to remove excess lime.

Health and Beauty

Soothe a bee or jellyfish sting. Dot or douche the irritated area with vinegar and relieve itching.

Relieve itching by using a cotton ball to dab mosquito and other bug bites with Vinegar straight from the bottle.

Take 1 cup of vinegar and warm water into a large glass and use to rinse your hair after you shampoo. Vinegar adds highlights to brunette hair, restores the acid mantel, and removes soap film and sebum oil.

You take 1 tablespoon full and swallow when you have the hiccups. It stops them instantly.

Relieve dry and itchy skin. Add 2 tablespoons to bath water.

Fight dandruff, by rinsing with vinegar and 2 cups of warm water, after shampooing.

Soothe a sore throat. Put a teaspoon of vinegar in a glass of water. Gargle, and then swallow.

Remove fruit stains from hands. Rub with vinegar.

Clean dentures by soaking them overnight in vinegar, then brush away tartar with a toothbrush.

Cloths Care

Get rid of lint in clothes. Add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle.

Prevent lint from clinging to clothes: Add one cup vinegar to each wash load.

Keep bright colours from running. Immerse clothes in full strength vinegar for 10 minutes before washing.

Freshen up the washing machine. Clean the hoses and unclog soap scum.
Once a month pour one cup of vinegar into the washing machine and run the machine through a normal cycle, without clothes.

Brighten fabric colours. Add 1/2 cup vinegar to the rinse cycle.

Take grease off suede. Dip a toothbrush in vinegar and gently brush over grease spot.

Remove tough stains. Gently rub on fruit, jam, mustard, coffee, tea. Then wash as usual.

Get smoke smell out of clothes by adding a cup of vinegar to a bath tub of hot water. Hang clothes above the steam.

Remove perspiration stains from clothes by applying one part vinegar to four parts water, then rinse.

Deodorant and anti-perspirants stains may be removed from clothing by lightly rubbing with distilled vinegar and laundering as usual.

Cotton and wool blankets become soft, fluffy and free of soap odour if 2 cups of distilled vinegar are added to the rinse cycle of the wash.

When dyeing fabric, add a cup full of distilled vinegar to the last rinse to set the colour.

To obtain a sharper crease in your knit fabrics, dampen them with a cloth wrung out from a solution of 1/3 distilled vinegar and 2/3 water. Place a brown paper bag over the crease and iron.

Deodorize a wool sweater: Wash sweater, then rinse in equal parts vinegar and water to remove odour.

After a hem or seam is removed, there are often unsightly holes left in the fabric. These holes can be removed by placing a cloth, moistened with
distilled vinegar, under the fabric and ironing.

Unclog steam iron by pouring equal amounts of vinegar and water into the iron's water chamber. Turn to steam and leave the iron on for 5 minutes
in an upright position. Then unplug and allow to cool. Any loose particles should come out when you empty the water.

Clean a scorched iron plate by heating equal parts vinegar and salt in a small pan. Then rub the solution on the cooled iron surface to remove dark or burned stains.

In The Kitchen

A mixture of salt and vinegar will clean coffee and tea stains from chinaware.

Freshen vegetables. Soak wilted vegetables in 2 cups of water and a tablespoon of vinegar.

Boil better eggs by adding 2 tablespoons water before boiling. Keeps them from cracking.

Marinating meat in vinegar kills bacteria and tenderizes the meat. Use one-quarter cup vinegar for a two to three pound roast, marinate
overnight, then cook without draining or rinsing the meat. Add herbs to the vinegar when marinating as desired.

Put vinegar on a cloth and let sit on the back of your kitchen tap and it removes hard water stains.

Brass, copper and pewter will shine if cleaned with the following mixture. Dissolve 1 teaspoon of salt in 1 cup of distilled vinegar.

Clean the dishwasher by running a cup of vinegar through the whole cycle once a month to reduce soap build up on the inner mechanisms and on
glassware.

Deodorize the kitchen drain. Pour a cup down the drain once a week. Let stand 30 minutes and then flush with cold water.

Unclog a drain. Pour a handful of baking soda down the drain and add 1/2 cup of vinegar. Rinse with hot water.

Eliminate onion odour by rubbing vinegar on your fingers before and after slicing.

Clean and disinfect wood cutting boards by wiping with full strength vinegar.

Cut grease and odour on dishes by adding a tablespoon of vinegar to hot soapy water.

Clean a teapot by boiling a mixture of water and vinegar in it. Wipe away the grime.

Clean and deodorize jars. Rinse mayonnaise, peanut butter, and mustard jars with vinegar when empty.

Get rid of cooking smells by letting a small pot of vinegar and water simmer on the stove.

Freshen a lunchbox by soaking a piece of bread in vinegar and let it sit in the lunchbox over night.

Clean the refrigerator by washing with a solution of equal parts water and vinegar.

Clean stainless steel by wiping with a vinegar dampened cloth.

Clean china and fine glassware by adding a cup of vinegar to a sink of warm water. Gently dip the glass or china in the solution and let dry.

Get stains out of pots by filling the pots with a solution of 3 tablespoons of vinegar to a pint of water. Boil until stain loosens and can be
washed away.

Clean food-stained pots and pans by filling the pots and pans with vinegar and let stand for thirty minutes. Then rinse in hot, soapy water.

Clean the microwave by boiling a solution of 1/4 cup of vinegar and 1 cup of water in the microwave. Will loosen splattered on food and deodorize.

Replace a lemon by substituting 1/4 teaspoon of vinegar for 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.

Firm up gelatine by adding a teaspoon of vinegar for every box of gelatine used. To keep those moulded desserts from sagging in the summer heat.

Prepare fluffier rice by adding a teaspoon of vinegar to the water when it boils.

Make wine vinegar by mixing 2 tablespoons of vinegar with 1 teaspoon of dry red wine.

Debug fresh vegetables by washing them in water with vinegar and salt. Bugs float off.

Scale fish more easily by rubbing with vinegar 5 minutes before scaling.

Prevent soapy film on glassware by placing a cup of vinegar on the bottom rack of your dishwasher, run for five minutes, then run though the full
cycle.

The minerals found in foods and water will often leave a dark stain on aluminium utensils. This stain can be easily removed by boiling a solution of 1 tablespoon of distilled vinegar per cup of water in the utensil. Utensils may also be boiled in the solution.

Unsightly film in small-necked bottles and other containers can be cleaned by pouring vinegar into the bottle and shaking. For tougher stains, add a
few tablespoons of rice or sand and shake vigorously. Rinse thoroughly and repeat until clean or determined hopeless.

After cleaning the bread box, keep it smelling sweet by wiping it down with a cloth moistened in distilled vinegar.

To eliminate fruit stains from your hands, rub your hands with a little distilled vinegar and wipe them with a cloth.

Grease build-up in an oven can be prevented by wiping with a cleaning rag that has been moistened in distilled vinegar and water.

Formica tops and counters will shine if cleaned with a cloth soaked in distilled vinegar.

No-wax linoleum will shine better if wiped with a solution of 1/2 cup of white vinegar in 1/2 gallon of water.

Stains on hard-to-clean glass, aluminium, or porcelain utensils may be loosened by boiling in a solution of one part vinegar to eight parts water. The utensils should then be washed in hot soapy water.