Are you aware of the amazing cleaning powers of white vinegar? If you’re not then take the time to get informed, and a cleaner and more sparkling home will be yours. White vinegar is not just for pickles. It is one of the cheapest and most versatile cleaners around. It does not streak, it is safe for hands and it is environmentally friendly. Find out why the frugal-minded should think about cleaning with vinegar.

Use White Vinegar in Your Kitchen

• Cooking odors. Eliminate cooking odors by using 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to 1 cup of water. Boil white vinegar in water to eliminate unappealing odors left over from cooking.
• Smoke. Eliminate odors in a smoke-filled room by placing a small bowl of white vinegar in the room.
• Jars. Eliminate the odors of peanut butter, spaghetti sauce or mayonnaise from jars you want to keep by thoroughly rinsing them out with white vinegar.
• China stains. Remove coffee or tea stains from china cups using an equal mixture of salt and white vinegar.
• Stainless steel. Remove spots on stainless steel by rubbing kitchen items with a cloth dampened in white vinegar.
• Pots and pans. To loosen hard-to-clean stains in aluminum, glass or porcelain pots or pans, use ¼ cup of white vinegar to 2 cups of water. Boil white vinegar with water in the pan. Wash in hot, soapy water afterwards.
• Glassware. Clean glassware using ½ cup of white vinegar to 1 gallon of water. When white vinegar is added to rinse water, it will help eliminate dull soap film from glassware and leave it looking sparkly.
• Food stains. Soak pots and pans stained with food in white vinegar for a half an hour. Afterwards rinse in hot, soapy water.
• Microwave. Use vinegar to clean your microwave oven. Add ½ cup of white vinegar to 1 cup of water in an uncovered bowl and place in the microwave oven. Set on high for 3 to 4 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes. Finish by wiping out the oven cavity.
• Coffee maker. Unclog a coffee maker by adding white vinegar to the 6-cup level and water to the 10-cup level. Then put in an empty paper filter. Turn on the coffee maker and complete the brew cycle. After the cycle is complete, discard the vinegar solution and used paper filter. Run the coffee maker for a complete cycle with fresh water before brewing coffee.

Use White Vinegar on Your Clothing

• Grease and odors. When washing an item of clothing that is greasy or smelly, add white vinegar to the cleaning water to cut down on the grease and remove the odor.
• Deodorant stains. Rid washables of anti-perspirant and deodorant stains by rubbing lightly with white vinegar. Afterwards, launder as usual.
• Rinse water. Rinse clothing with 1 cup of white vinegar. Add a little vinegar in your last rinse water to ensure that your clothes get a thorough rinse.
• Detergent. Eliminate undissolved lint and detergent in a washing machine by using white vinegar. Pour 1 cup of vinegar into the bottom of the washing machine tub and run through the normal cycle, without clothes, using the hot-water setting.

Other Creative Uses for Vinegar in Your Home

• Cat box odor. For all those cat lovers among you, use vinegar to eliminate litter box odors. After cleaning the litter box, rinse it out and pour about ½ inch of white vinegar in the box. Let it stand for about 20 minutes and then swish it around. Rinse with cold water and dry the box.
• Clogged drain. If a drain is clogged, pour a handful of baking soda and 1 cup of white vinegar down it. When the bubbling stops, rinse with hot water. Repeat if necessary until the drain runs freely.
• Hard water deposits. Soak your shower head in vinegar overnight. In the morning, rinse in hot water to remove water deposits and keep it flowing.
• Fruit stains. Remove fruit stains from your hands by using a small amount of white vinegar. Wipe with a cloth afterwards.
• Fluff blankets. Use 2 cups of white vinegar to fluff blankets. Vinegar added to a washer tub of water makes a good rinse for both cotton as well as wool blankets.
• Home pests. If ants or other insects are a problem in your home, vinegar can help. Pouring vinegar across windowsills or below baseboards stops them from coming in, as they will not cross it.
• Iron burns. Remove burned-on or dark stains from an electric iron by rubbing it with white (or cider) vinegar and salt, heated first in a small aluminum pan. Polish the iron in the same way you do silver.