Vinegar: The Do-It-All Liquid

Are you sick of buying a new product or chemical for everything your home throws at you?

Well, we’re excited to tell you that there is a solution — a do-it-all product that’s cheap, easily found, and can tackle pretty much any job around your home and office. We’re talking about the wonderful liquid known as vinegar.  And contrary to what most people think, it has plenty of effective uses outside of just cleaning. 

So hop in your car, pick up some vinegar and see what items you can cross off your to-do list in a couple hours!

 

 

 

Window Defroster

If you live in an area that drops below freezing, you’ve encountered the annoying event of frosty automobile windows. Typically, this requires you to vigorously scrape each window to remove the frost. But by using vinegar, you can effortlessly remove the frost from your car windows in a matter of seconds.

Here’s how:

Supplies:

• Spray Bottle
• White Vinegar
• Water

 

Simply mix three parts vinegar with one part water into your spray bottle. You’ll want to spray this mixture on your windows approximately 3-4 hours before you intend on driving to prevent the frost from forming.

When you need to drive, you’ll have frost-free windows that require little to no scraping. Plus the mixture can last up to a week between applications!

 

 

Animal Deterrent

Most animals hate the smell of vinegar. Use this to your advantage to keep them away from certain areas of your yard or home. 

Soak rags, paper towels, or newspaper in white vinegar for a couple of hours. Then cut them up into small pieces and hang them on and around the area you’re trying to protect. They solution usually lasts about 7 days, so reapply frequently to ensure its effectiveness as an animal deterrent.

 

Remove Carpet Stains

One of the best uses for vinegar is as a stain remover. Whether or not you’re already using this method, it’s too useful for us to leave off of the list.

There are plenty of variations of this cleaning method around, but we’ve found that simply dabbing and lightly scrubbing the stained area of carpet with white vinegar works sufficiently. If you’ve found a stain that’s a little more stubborn, try adding a little baking soda or Dawn dish soap to the mixture.  

 

Clean a Clogged Shower Head

If you have hard water or have owned a shower head long enough, it’s bound to become clogged with calcium and other minerals. You don’t have to continue to live with low or uneven pressure.

Detach your shower head and place it in a bowl or bag filled with white vinegar. Make sure it’s completely submerged and let it soak for about 24 hours. Once it’s done soaking, rinse it in warm water to remove any excess vinegar and reinstall it back in your shower– it should work like new!

 

Clean Lawn Mower Blades

Here’s one of the many reasons you should keep a bottle of white vinegar stocked in your shop: It can be used to clean and maintain your lawn mower blades.

After you finish mowing your lawn and your engine has cooled down, take minute to wipe off the grass and bugs from your blades with a vinegar-soaked rag. Doing this prolongs the life of your edge, the blades and prevents rust from forming. Plus, it’s always nice to have the cleanest lawnmower on the block.

 

Remove Rust

 

There is hope for the tools you’ve allowed to rust over by leaving them in the elements for too long. The acidity of vinegar eats away rust from metals, so bathing them in white vinegar for a couple days will restore their original finish.

 

Degrease and Clean HVAC Systems

It’s no secret that your furnace and air conditioner need proper upkeep to perform at their best. But did you know that many of the maintenance steps can be completed with the use of a little vinegar?

A dirty HVAC filter doesn’t always have to be replaced immediately. A simple cleaning may prolong the filters life for a couple more months:

1. Soak your filters in white vinegar for about 1-2 hours to remove imbedded dirt and grime.
2. Hang on a clothes line to allow them to completely dry.
3. Once dry, reinstall them back into your HVAC system.

Vinegar is also helpful to remove the grease and dust from the blades, grates and grills of your HVAC systems. Soak a rag and toothbrush with white vinegar and scrub/wipe down every dirty surface. You’ll be amazed how a little cleaning can improve the efficiency of your home.

 

Conclusion

It’s pretty amazing that a product that costs under $2 can accomplish so much. Especially when comparing it to store-bought products that only have one or two uses for double or triple the cost.

We want all our readers to save money, so try replacing all your cleaning products with vinegar for one week.

Did it work as well as your old products? Did it save you money? Will you go back to using cleaning supplies?

Let us know in the comments!  

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