Here’s a riddle for you: What can you use to clean your house, kill weeds, dress a salad and flavor potato chips?
You probably guessed it since you clicked on this article, but let's do a drum roll anyway... It's vinegar.
Vinegar can be used for SO MANY things, it's hard to keep up. The wonders of vinegar are endless. Below we list 30 uses for vinegar, many of which are good alternatives if you don't have a surface-specific product in your home. How many of these vinegar hacks have you heard of?
30 Uses for Vinegar
1. Clean brick siding: Did you know vinegar can lighten up some of those dirty bricks? Just don't let it sit too long. The acidity in vinegar can help clean masonry and improve your home's curb appeal.
2. Coffee maker: Do you love coffee as much as we do? Using vinegar is a low-cost way to keep your coffee maker clean.
3. DIY Enthusiasts: Vinegar can help remove rust from tools and concrete.
4. Clean paint brushes: Sometimes no matter how much you wash them, your paint brushes still have hardened paint on them. Soak them in vinegar to remove old paint and soften the bristles, too!
5. Degrease your kitchen: Vinegar is great for cutting through grease. Spritz some vinegar around and wipe down your stove, oven, microwave, or cabinets that may have grease or sludge on them from cooking.
6. Deodorize: Vinegar is a powerful deodorizer. Use it to easily neutralize bad smells around the house, including yucky bathroom smells, overpowering food smells, musty basement smells, and more!
7. Clean metal: Metal can get dirty quickly. Polish chrome and metals with vinegar in a flash.
8. Clean your BBQ: Vinegar is great for getting sludge, oil and old food off your grill. While it can't quite compare with Goo Gone Grill & Grate Cleaner, it's a solid alternative. Simply spray the grill grates with vinegar, let it sit for 10-20 minutes, then scrub the remaining particles. You'll be ready for any summer summer barbecue.
9. Remove stickers: Use vinegar to remove remnants of stickers from your car or walls. The acetic nature in vinegar gently wears away the glue or sticky materials, lifting them without damaging the surface. Again, not quite as potent as Goo Gone but a decent option.
10. Clean windows: You can clean your windows with vinegar for a streak-free finish.
11. Clean refrigerator: Vinegar works to neutralizes odors. Use it in your refrigerator to get rid of old food or sour milk smells and clean the surfaces in the process.
12. Get rid of carpet stains: Get rid of food, wine, coffee, and blood stains from your carpet using vinegar. This is a good option if you don't already have a product in your home like Bac-Out Stain & Odor Remover. Acting fact is key. Scrub the stained area with vinegar and allow it to break up stains.
13. Get rid of sweat stains: Are you a gym rat or workout warrior? Vinegar works on those awkward yellow sweat stains and white deodorant marks.
14. Clean microwave: Don’t let last week’s dinner haunt your microwave. Vinegar is great at neutralizing bad smells.
15. Clean faucets and showerheads: Descale your faucets and showerheads with vinegar.
16. Prevent ice and frost on windshields: Studies have shown that vinegar can actually prevent ice and frost from forming on windshields. Simply spray a combination of water and vinegar onto your windshield during cold weather or before a snow storm.
17. Remove gum: Vinegar can remove gum from surfaces by making it less sticky and allowing it to detach easily.
18. Remove glue: Vinegar is also good for removing glue by making it less sticky and allowing faster removal.
19. Remove candle wax: Soften and lift candle wax from surfaces such as carpets, fabrics, wood and metal.
20. Clean the toilet: Hide the embarrassing bathroom smells by cleaning your toilet with vinegar! Your guests will never be the wiser.
21. Get rid of crayon or ink marks: Vinegar is good at erasing ink and crayon marks from wood, plastic, metal, tile, fabric and more.
22. Clean dishes: Clean dishes with vinegar to get the old food smells out.
23. Clean up pet accidents: Sometimes our pets have accidents. It’s inevitable. Neutralize the horrid odors with some vinegar.
24. Get rid of water rings on wood: Wet a rag with vinegar and go with the grain as you gently rub away the white water rings on your wooden tables.
25. Clean leather: Vinegar will soften leather, freshening it up so it looks and feels like new. Keep those leather couches or leather jackets looking fresh.
26. Polish cutlery: Use vinegar to polish your silverware and remove stains and rust.
27. Fabric softener: Replace your fabric softener with vinegar. Vinegar will soften as well as completely deodorize your fabric as opposed to just masking smells.
28. Clean smelly shoes: After that workout or hiking adventure, deodorize your smelly, sweaty shoes with vinegar.
29. Clean hands: Sometimes when we cook, our hands get greasy and smelly and the smell won’t dissipate no matter how many times we wash them. Vinegar can help degrease and deodorize your hands to get rid of that onion or garlic smell.
Vinegar should be a household staple for cleaning and maintenance because of its wild versatility. If you're interested in improving the look around your home and outdoor space, check out one of Green Gobbler's concentrated vinegars.
30. Clean irrigation system and gardening tools.
