22 uses for white vinegar: cleaning, gardening, chips
White vinegar is such an unsung hero in our books. So cheap and amazingly versatile. It’s naturally acidic so cuts through mineral deposits, bacteria, dirt, grease, grime. It descales and naturally disinfects. Plus it tastes awesome on chips or in your salad dressing – and it won’t leave any residue smell after it has dried.
Lil’s white vinegar is bought as organic, and at 12% is super concentrated so do make sure you dilute it first. Cooled boiled water would be best if you’re storing it for a while, but I confess to using tap most of the time.
We would avoid using vinegar on unvarnished wood and stone, the acid can react or lift the grain. If you’re at all concerned, do a wee spot test somewhere hidden first.
Here’s a list for 20 plus vinegar uses – from laundry to windows and more! Which have you tried, loved, hated, or can’t wait to test??
Add to the laundry. My mum would always add vinegar to the washing machine whenever we’d had a tummy bug. Not a lab tested result, but the natural disinfectant in the vinegar’s acetic acid always gave us peace of mind. Several web cleaning gurus recommend one half cup of vinegar (one quarter if using the Lil super strong vinegar) in the rinse for brighter clothes, or as a fabric softener. I don’t think it smells of vinegar when dried, but you can always add a few drops of your favourite essential oil if you’re concerned.
Use instead of bleach for 100% cotton items. Add one half cup of Lil vinegar in a large pot of water, heat to boiling and add once-white items. Soak overnight, wash as usual.
Halt the hair: Just one-quarter cup of Lil white vinegar in the wash will reportedly help prevent lint and pet hair from clinging to clothes. This is also a good trick if you’ve got too much lint. Let us know if it works
Spray the stains: Spray undiluted vinegar on sweat stains to remove yellowing/ stains and smells. Spray directly on stain and let it sit for 10 minutes, wash as normal. If the fabric feels stiff before washing, use an old toothbrush or the like to soften. We at Lil HQ are currently testing to see if this system works on sunscreen yellowing.
Rinse Aid. Steep with used lemons for a rinse aid in the dishwasher.
Weed detractor: Use a mix of white vinegar, salt and a little washing up liquid in a sprayer to tackle weeds if you really need to (we love weeds!) ½ litre water, ½ litre Lil vinegar, 3 large tablespoons of salt and 3 teaspoons washing up liquid. Spray early before insects are out foraging. If you really need an insecticide (really need) the Lil Marseilles soap dissolved in water works well.
Remove limescale when cleaning… : Mix 1:2 Lil vinegar to water, dunk your cloth all the way in, and scrub the limescale around taps and other surfaces. If that doesn’t cut the ‘scale, pop the vinegar mix on the affected area for 30 mins before scrubbing.
… And for the kettle: Use the same limescale mix above, 1:2 Lil vinegar, leave the kettle to soak for an hour, then boil. Unplug and allow to soak for another 20 mins. Rinse thoroughly with clean water.
Oven over. Put oven racks in an empty tub, sprinkle with bicarbonate of soda and vinegar, the foamy reaction will help cut right through that grease and grime. For extra cleaning, pop the oven racks in hot water overnight and scrub in the morning.
Microwave magic. I love this one. Pop two cups of water to 1 tablespoon of Lil vinegar in a microwave safe bowl. Heat 100% for two to three minutes. Carefully remove the very hot bowl, wipe out grease and dirt with your Loofco cleaning pad.
Perfect pots! Oh I wish my cooking meant I didn’t know how well this worked! Pour 1 Lil vinegar to 2 parts water into the pan, bring to boil. Keep the lid on to stop burnt smells escaping. Once boiled, add two tablespoons of bicarb (sodium bicarbonate), scrub carefully, empty, and scrub again.
Clean your dishwasher. Physically clean the filter, then pop on a hot wash with sodium bicarbonate, about 1 cup. Then another hot wash with 1 cup of vinegar. It’s not for every week (oh so much energy!!) but does leave the dishwasher sparkly. A little vinegar every week in a wash helps keep smells at bay.
Similarly for your clothes washing machine. If you want to deep clean the washing machine, add two cups to a hot water setting. (This is remarkably how my mum washed the clothes when we were sick… much more energy efficient for her and electricity bills!)
Give your chopping boards a Lil love: soak in 1 part Lil vinegar to 8 parts water for a few minutes. Be careful for wooden boards, don’t leave it in there for too long. Rinse and allow to air dry.
Clean INSIDE your cupboards. I’m rubbish at this. The queen of the-clean-before-someone’s-imminent-arrival, the inside of cupboards is pretty low down that scale. But oh my gosh, so smug when it gets done! Use the spray 1 Lil vinegar to 2 water. Perfect for grime near the cooker.
Pro Windows: The 1 vinegar to 2 water, or even 4 hot water, is fab for washing your windows. But here is the pro tip: add a little BioD washing up liquid. This helps for wine glass streak-free windows. I even got the kids to dry them with a tea towel and they were still streak free!
Did we say wine? If your wine glasses are cloudy, this could be caused by hard water. To combat this, soak in some vinegar (Lil vinegar 1:1 water) and wash as normal.
Fuzzy Shower head? Pour some white vinegar into a (bio)plastic bag, tie it around the shower head with a rubber band or hair tie. Leave overnight and wake up to a sparkling shower. Add the used vinegar to the weed killer mix.
Vinegar in the loo: pour half a cup of undiluted vinegar into the bowl and leave overnight. The next day, sprinkle with bicarb and scrub. Finally, flush the toilet and you’re all done. Add some essential oil drops if you like the smell.
Floor cleaner: ONLY for some floors – not for solid wood or untreated stone, (granite, marble, slate) but we found this lovely sounding mix online: fill a spray bottle with about 25% vinegar, 65% water and 10% lemon juice, with tea tree and eucalyptus oils.
Chips! If using the Lil vinegar, REALLY dilute before applying to chips. Like 1:4 distilled water.
What did we miss? We’d love to hear your favourite in the comments below.
Thanks to Sarah, Lou’s Mum/Granny Bass, the Spruce, Good Housekeeping, Home Beautiful.
