Real Homemaking

 

Maybe the oldest use for vinegar yet (besides as a food). Cleaning with vinegar is much safer than using commercial products. White Distilled vinegar is best for cleaning.

 

Cheap Cleaning Solution

1/3 part white vinegar

1/3 part rubbing alcohol

1/3 part water

3 drops dishwashing liquid

Mix this into a (recycled) spray bottle and you have the equivalent of the floor cleaner. Just spray and mop; also great for deodorizing a room and for a fast cleanup. Use this on any tile floors with great results, the alcohol is added to make it dry faster.

Window Cleaner A quarter cup in a quart of water makes a good window cleaner. When you use vinegar in your water to wash windows, dry with newspapers. Your windows will sparkle! Keep a solution of 50/50 white vinegar and water in a spray bottle to use for cleaning windows.

Tarnished Copper On heavily tarnished copper or copper-alloy to be cleaned up, use a paste made of salt and vinegar.

Dishes White vinegar mixed with water to rinse off the dishes after washing them to take the soap off and leave them squeaky clean. This also takes the soap residue off of your hands at the same time.

Pour 1/4-cup vinegar with dish soap- water must be hot (not boiling hot). This is great for cleaning your Corning ware dishes (it removes all the stains and grease), cleaning your stainless steel pots and pans etc., clean your oven and all of stove top (this is better than oven cleaners. it will remove all of the grease. just dab on and let it set for a few minutes then wipe clean), and cabinets in kitchen.

Use 1/4 cup vinegar to your dishwasher rinse cycle for streak free, sparkling dishes every time!!

Floor Cleaner Add ½ cup vinegar to a gallon of water to keep your vinyl no wax floors clean and shining. Use those mops with the detachable, washable heads, and squirt distilled vinegar on the floor, mop it up and squirt more as needed.

Carpet Spot and Stain Remover As a carpet spot and stain remover - take a trigger spray bottle and fill with one part white vinegar to seven parts water. Take a second spray bottle and fill with one part white, non- sudsy ammonia and seven parts water. Saturate stain with vinegar solution. Let dwell for a few minutes and blot thoroughly with a clean, white cloth. Then go over the area with the ammonia solution, let dwell and blot again. Repeat until the stain is gone.

Coffee Maker Fill the water reservoir half way and run the coffee maker as you normally do and then run it once full of water and the coffee maker will be spotless.

Grease Cutter Vinegar is an excellent grease cutter. In college cafeterias we boil out our fry vats every week with vinegar and water. Very cost effective and very safe-no harsh chemicals, no risk of fire. We also use straight vinegar to clean the grill hoods. Again, very inexpensive and does a fantastic job.

Waxing a Floor When waxing a floor after scrubbing with a floor stripper, use 1 cup of vinegar to rinse water. It neutralizes the chemicals and makes wax or floor finish adhere better.

Oven Cleaner To keep your freshly-cleaned oven from stinking up your house next time you bake something, wipe it with white vinegar poured directly on the sponge as a final rinse. It neutralizes the harsh alkali of oven cleaners.

Remove Water Stains Remove water stains from leather by rubbing with a cloth dipped in a vinegar and water solution.

Remove Stains in Flower Pots The staining that occurs in clay and plastic flower pots and their saucers comes right out–no scrubbing needed. Just fill the kitchen sink with cold water and add plain white vinegar about 2/3 cup water with 1/3 cup vinegar. Soak pots and saucers until they look clean and new (sometimes takes up to an hour). Wash with soap and water before reusing.

Clean Raw Wood White vinegar can also be used to clean raw wood, such as a wooden cutting board. Pour straight vinegar onto the wood and then use a sponge to literally push the dirt away. Be sure to wipe in the direction of the wood grain, starting at one end and working to the other. This way the dirt you are trying to get rid of won’t be pushed back into the wood grain.

Whirlpool Tub Pour 1 gallon of white vinegar into the water of our whirlpool tub, once a year and run it. This will keep the jets from clogging up from soap scum, etc.

Hard Water Deposits Use vinegar to get rid of the hard water deposits around your sink. Soak a paper towels with vinegar and place them around the area that needs to be cleaned or for cleaning the faucet you can soak the towel and wrap it around and then rubber band it in place. Do this overnight and the next morning it’s a cinch to wipe clean. This has been safe for brass faucets as well.

Microwave Clean your microwave, use 1 Tablespoon of vinegar, one cup of warm water and 1 or 2 drops of dish soap in a small microwave safe bowl.

Furniture Polish Shine and protect your furniture using equal parts of white vinegar and vegetable oil. Wipe it on and buff with a soft cloth.

Brassware To clean brassware to like-new condition without scrubbing, soak in 1:10 parts of white vinegar: water. To clean brass lamps, unscrew sections, soak in bucket. All green and black tarnish comes off in no time.

Steam Vac Use distilled vinegar steam vac to rinse your carpets with after shampooing. The carpet will stay fresh longer, it removes any detergent residue. Use a quarter of a cup, per gallon of water.

Rust off Cast Iron White vinegar solution 2 parts vinegar 1 part water to clean the rust off cast iron pans. Cleaning antique cast iron pans soak the pan overnight in the vinegar solution and the vinegar just dissolves the rust. Very rusty pans many take an extra evening. Don’t leave it in there too long or you will not have a pan. The vinegar actually dissolves the metal. This would work on new cast iron pans also.

Antique Appliances For cleaning antique appliances: Pour white vinegar straight out of the bottle onto a sponge, or pour it into a dishpan to soak stubborn buildup for a few minutes. After your appliance’s first-time cleaning, future quick cleanups are easiest using a small spray/squirt bottle with diluted vinegar-water.

 

And if that isn’t enough, here’s a list from the Heinz website - WOW, who knew?!

 

· Kill bacteria in meats. Marinating meat in Heinz 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.

· Dissolve warts. Mix one part Heinz Apple Cider Vinegar to one part glycerin into a lotion and apply daily to warts until they dissolve.

· Remove stubborn stains from furniture upholstery and clothes. Apply Heinz White Vinegar directly to the stain, then wash as directed by the manufacturer’s instructions.

· Grow beautiful azaleas. Occasionally water plants with a mixture of two tablespoons Heinz White Vinegar to one quart water. Azaleas love acidic soil.

· Relieve arthritis. Before each meal, drink a glass of water containing two teaspoons Heinz Apple Cider Vinegar. Give this folk remedy at least three weeks to start working.

· Kill unwanted grass. Pour Heinz White Vinegar in crevices and between bricks.

· Remove corns. Make a poultice of one crumbled piece of bread soaked in one-quarter cup Heinz Vinegar. Let poultice sit for one-half hour, then apply to the corn and tape in place overnight. If corn does not peel off by morning, reapply the poultice for several consecutive nights.

· Clean the hoses and unclog soap scum from a washing machine. Once a month pour one cup of Heinz White Vinegar into the washing machine and run the machine through a normal cycle, without clothes.

· Cure an upset stomach. Drink two teaspoons Heinz Apple Cider Vinegar in one cup water to soothe an upset stomach.

· Kill germs on bathroom fixtures. Use one part Heinz Vinegar to one part water in a spray bottle. Spray the bathroom fixtures and floor, then wipe clean.

· Clean soap scum, mildew, and grime from bathtub, tile, and shower curtains. Simply wipe the surface with Heinz Vinegar and rinse with water

· Deodorize the air. Heinz Vinegar is a natural air freshener when sprayed in a room.

· Relieve itching. Use a cotton ball to dab mosquito and other bug bites with Heinz Vinegar straight from the bottle.

· Clean lime deposits and calcium sludge from an automatic drip coffee maker. Once a month fill the reservoir with Heinz White Vinegar and run through the brew cycle. Rinse thoroughly with two cycles of cold water.

· Relieve a sore throat. Put two teaspoons of Heinz Vinegar in your humidifier.

· Soothe sunburn pain. Apply undiluted Heinz Vinegar to the burn.

· Clean food-stained pots and pans. Fill the pots and pans with Heinz White Vinegar and let stand for thirty minutes. Then rinse in hot, soapy water.

· Clean rust from tools, bolts, and spigots. Soak the rusted tool, bolt, or spigot in undiluted Heinz White Vinegar overnight.

· Turn a chicken bone into rubber. Soak a chicken bone in a glass of Heinz Vinegar for three days. It will bend like rubber.

· Prevent bright colored clothes from fading. Before putting the article in the washing machine, soak it in Heinz White Vinegar for ten minutes.

· Keep a garbage disposal clean and smelling fresh. Mix one cup of Heinz Vinegar in enough water to fill an ice cube tray, freeze the mixture, grind the cubes through the disposal, and flush with cold water.

· Clean a toilet bowl. Pour in one cup of Heinz White Vinegar, let it stand for five minutes, and flush.

· Prevent yeast infections. Douche with one tablespoon Heinz White Vinegar to one quart warm water to adjust the pH balance in the vagina.

· Clean dentures. Soak dentures overnight in Heinz White Vinegar, then brush away tartar with a toothbrush.

· Remove perspiration stains from clothes. Apply one part Heinz White Vinegar to four parts water, then rinse.

· Deodorize a room filled with cigarette smoke or paint fumes. Place a small bowl of Heinz White Vinegar in the room.

· Cure the hiccups. Mix one teaspoon Heinz Apple Cider Vinegar in one cup of warm water, and drink.

· Eliminate odors from used jars. Rinse peanut butter and mayonnaise jars with Heinz White Vinegar.

· Condition dry hair. Shampoo, then rinse hair with a mixture of one cup Heinz Apple Cider Vinegar and two cups water. Vinegar adds highlights to brunette hair, restores the acid mantel, and removes soap film and sebum oil.

· Clean mineral deposits from a steam iron. Fill the water tank with Heinz White Vinegar. Turn the iron to the steam setting and steam-iron a soft utility rag to clean the steam ports. Repeat the process with water, then thoroughly rinse out the inside of your iron.

· Remove light scorch marks from fabrics. Rub lightly with Heinz White Vinegar, then wipe with a clean cloth.

· Repel ants. Use a spray bottle or mister filled with a solution of equal parts Heinz Vinegar and water around door jambs, window sills, water pipes, and foundation cracks.

· Keep drains open. Pour one-half box of old baking soda down the drain followed by one cup Heinz White Vinegar. When the bubbling stops, run the hot water.

· Prolong and brighten propane lanterns. Soak new wicks for several hours in Heinz White Vinegar and let them dry before inserting. Propane lanterns will burn longer and brighter on the same amount of fuel.

· Remove decals or bumper stickers. Soak a cloth in Heinz Vinegar and cover the decal or bumper sticker for several minutes until the vinegar soaks in. The decals and bumper stickers should peel off easily.

· Deodorize a wool sweater. Wash sweater, then rinse in equal parts Heinz Vinegar and water to remove odor.

· Prevent lint from clinging to clothes. Add one cup Heinz Vinegar to each wash load.

· Prevent ice from forming on a car windshield overnight. Coat the window with a solution of three parts Heinz White or Apple Cider Vinegar to one part water.

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

· Prevent cracked hard-boiled eggs. Add two tablespoons of Heinz White Vinegar per quart of water before boiling to prevent the eggs from cracking. The egg shells will also peel off faster and easier.

· Clean windows. Use undiluted Heinz Vinegar in a spray bottle. Dry with a soft cloth.

· Eliminate unpleasant cooking odors in the kitchen. Boil one tablespoon of Heinz White Vinegar with one cup of water.

· Remove wallpaper. Mix equal parts Heinz Vinegar and hot water. Use a paint roller to wet the paper thoroughly with the mixture. Repeat. Paper should peal off in sheets.

· Eliminate animal urine stains from carpet. Blot up urine, flush several times with lukewarm water, then apply a mixture of equal parts Heinz White Vinegar and cool water. Blot up, rinse, and let dry.

· Relieve a cold. Mix one-quarter cup Heinz Apple Cider Vinegar with one-quarter cup honey. Take one tablespoon six to eight times daily.

· Deodorize a stale lunch box. Soak a paper napkin in Heinz Vinegar and leave it inside the closed lunch box overnight.

· Prevent soapy film on glassware. Place a cup of Heinz White Vinegar on the bottom rack of your dishwasher, run for five minutes, then run though the full cycle. A cup of white vinegar run through the entire cycle once a month will also reduce soap scum on the inner workings.

· Unclog a shower head. Unscrew the shower head, remove the rubber washer, place the head in a pot filled with equal parts Heinz Vinegar and water, bring to a boil, then simmer for five minutes.

· Relieve a cough. Mix one-half cup Heinz Apple Cider Vinegar, one-half cup water, one teaspoon cayenne pepper, and four teaspoons honey. Take one tablespoon when cough acts up. Take another tablespoon at bedtime.

Retard patching plaster from drying. Add one tablespoon white vinegar to the water when mixing plaster to slow the drying time.