You can use vinegar for far more than salad dressings. Well, perhaps not an infinite number, but certainly dozens of helpful tasks.
Vinegar is one of the most adaptable staples you can keep at home. A gallon of distilled white vinegar often costs less than $4 at major retailers, and sometimes even cheaper at discount stores. That’s 128 ounces, and many applications need less than a cup. A little goes a long way.
Caution: use white vinegar or apple cider vinegar for the suggestions below. Reserve your pricier balsamic, red wine, or flavored vinegars for culinary uses like dressings.
There are countless uses for vinegar — for cleaning and freshening both inside and outside your home. Most of the time you’ll be mixing equal parts vinegar and water. Reusing spray bottles after rinsing them out can save you a surprising amount over the year.
There are numerous health claims about ingesting vinegar. Only a handful of small studies partially support some of these claims, so be cautious and look into the research before drinking vinegar.
First, Understand the Difference Between Diluted and Distilled Vinegars
Diluted vinegar simply means vinegar that has been thinned with water. It can be any variety. Almost every tip here will use diluted vinegar unless otherwise noted.
Distilled white vinegar is a more purified vinegar. It’s preferred for cooking, but it’s also suitable for every use on this list.
Apple cider vinegar is made from apples and is slightly less acidic, often touted as healthier. White vinegar is fermented from sugar cane, corn, grains or alcohol. The word vinegar comes from an old French phrase meaning sour wine.
24 Ways Vinegar Can Help Around the House
From tidying the house to beauty tricks and pet care, here are two dozen ways to put that inexpensive gallon of vinegar to work.
Vinegar for Cleaning
If the cupboard under your sink is anything like most, it’s overflowing with pricey cleaners. Wouldn’t it be nice to clear out many of those bottles to save space and money? Vinegar can replace many of them. Thanks to its antifungal and antibacterial properties, it’s safe for wiping down counters and appliances.
1. Use as Fabric Softener
Vinegar softens fabrics, removing the need for commercial fabric softeners. Add a cup of distilled white vinegar (full strength) to the washing machine during the rinse cycle. It also helps remove odors. Bonus: it’s more eco-friendly than many store-bought products.
2. Remove Stubborn Stains
Keep a spray bottle of white vinegar by your laundry hamper. Spray it on spills like tomato sauce, wine, or chili to lessen the strength of tough stains. You can soak stained garments in vinegar for an hour or overnight before washing. Don’t toss the item in the dryer until the stain is fully gone.
3. Brighten White Clothes
If white cotton linens or clothes are looking dingy, pour at least one cup of vinegar into a large pot of boiling water, submerge the items and let them soak overnight. Then launder as usual. The hot vinegar solution helps loosen embedded dirt.
4. Add to Dishwasher
Hard water often leaves glassware cloudy. Skip the rinse aid and use vinegar instead. Place a dishwasher-safe bowl of white vinegar on the top rack when the rinse cycle begins — this works better than pouring it into the rinse aid compartment — to remove soap scum. White vinegar also helps keep odors at bay in the dishwasher. Win-win.
5. Clear Clogs
Is your kitchen sink slow or clogged? A cheap, safe method is to pack the drain with at least half a cup of baking soda and then slowly pour in a cup of white vinegar. It will fizz and help penetrate the clog. After a minute or two once bubbling subsides, flush with hot water, then rinse with cold. No need for expensive chemical drain cleaners.
6. Clean Coffee Machines
Your coffee maker works hard. Instead of buying expensive descaler, clean it with vinegar. Fill the water reservoir with equal parts white vinegar and water.
Run the machine to heat the solution, then turn it off and let it sit for about 30 minutes. Turn it back on to finish brewing, then run plain water through the machine a couple of times to rinse. Doing this periodically helps remove mineral buildup and prolongs the machine’s life.
Don’t use this method on espresso machines, which operate differently from standard drip brewers.
7. Make Glass Sparkle
Vinegar is excellent for cleaning glass — windows, mirrors, picture frames, shower doors, and screens. Avoid soapy water on these surfaces. A diluted white vinegar spray and a clean cloth or paper towels remove grime effectively. This is one of vinegar’s most popular uses. It may require a bit of elbow grease, so think of it as a mini upper-body workout!
8. Remove Rust
Remove rust from tools and other metal items with vinegar. Submerge the items in full-strength vinegar in a container large enough to cover them. Let them soak for a few days, checking periodically to ensure the metal isn’t damaged. When the rust is gone, rinse and wipe dry.
9. Spruce Up Hardwood Floors
Restore shine to hardwood floors using diluted vinegar. Mix half a cup of vinegar with a gallon of water and mop. Avoid using this on waxed floors. Always dry the floor thoroughly with a cloth to remove any remaining moisture.
10. Clean Carpet Stains
Professional carpet cleaners recommend treating carpet stains with a mixture of undiluted vinegar, a bit of Dawn dish soap and water. Spray the solution on the stain, let it sit for about 10 minutes, then blot with a paper towel or cloth.
11. Polish Furniture
Vinegar can clean wood surfaces and remove polish buildup, so you can skip commercial furniture polish. Wipe the piece with a cloth dipped in a mixture of equal parts vinegar and water, gently rubbing it over the wood.
12. Keep Flowers Fresh
Add equal parts white vinegar and sugar to a vase to extend the life of cut flowers. Use only a couple of tablespoons of each in the water. The vinegar helps neutralize bacteria while the sugar acts as plant food.
13. Substitute for Eggs
Here’s a baking trick: during World War II, when eggs were scarce, bakers added one teaspoon baking soda to dry ingredients and one tablespoon vinegar to cake batter. The result is a light, fluffy cake — a useful tip for making a vegan-style cake.
Vinegar as Beauty and Health Aid
Vinegar can also be useful for skin and scalp care. If you already use it for cleaning mirrors or shower curtains, you might try it on your skin in diluted form.
Always use distilled vinegar for skincare and never apply full-strength vinegar directly to your skin. Test a small area first to check for irritation; some skin types are very sensitive.
14. Tone Skin
The astringent nature of apple cider vinegar makes it an effective toner, cleansing and refreshing skin while preparing pores to absorb moisturizer. Mix one part apple cider vinegar to four parts water. To improve the scent and benefits, add a few drops of essential oil and a teaspoon of rosewater. Apply with a cotton ball or soft cloth.
15. Address Skin Issues
Vinegar has multiple uses for some skin concerns. Its acidity can help rebalance skin pH and it has antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral properties. Always dilute vinegar when applying to skin. If used regularly, mix it with water for gentler effects.
Some blogs suggest using vinegar for sunburns or ringworm, but many medical sources advise against this; the acetic acid can cause long-term harm despite short-term relief.
16. Soothe Itching
Mix one part vinegar with two parts olive oil, blend, and rub into dry or itchy skin. Let it absorb, then rinse off with warm water after 10–15 minutes.
17. Reduce Blemishes
Combine one part vinegar with two parts water, saturate a cotton ball, and dab on blemishes several times weekly. If it over-dries your skin, dilute further with water.
18. Treat Warts
Apply the same acne mixture for warts over several nights. Soak a cotton ball in the solution, affix it to the wart overnight with a bandage, and repeat for several evenings.
19. Fight Dandruff
Some studies suggest apple cider vinegar may help dandruff. Mix a few tablespoons of vinegar with warm water, pour over hair after shampooing, massage into the scalp, wait a few minutes and rinse.
20. Calm Razor Bumps
Use the same diluted vinegar formula for acne and wipe affected razor-bump areas with a soaked cotton pad or tissue. Do not rinse. You may need to reapply a few times during the day.
Vinegar for Pet Care
If you spend a lot on specialty pet supplies, vinegar can help you cut costs.
21. Remove Litter Box Odors
If the litter box still smells even with fresh litter, vinegar can neutralize the odor. Empty the box, pour in about a half-inch of vinegar to cover the bottom, and wipe the sides with a rag soaked in vinegar. Let sit 15 minutes, then dump, rinse and dry before refilling with fresh litter.
22. Clean a Dog’s Ears
Vinegar is a natural cleaner and soother for a dog’s ears. Experts recommend mixing apple cider vinegar and water and using a sponge soaked in the solution to wipe the inner ear. It can also be used to clean paws affected by yeast infections.
Vinegar for Outdoor Use
Your garden is another place where vinegar shines, helping avoid pricey chemicals and products.
23. Test Your Soil
You can test soil alkalinity or acidity using vinegar and baking soda. While not laboratory-precise, this old-school test indicates if soil adjustments are needed.
Use two small jars. Mix a bit of soil with distilled water in each until muddy. Add a splash of vinegar to one; if it bubbles, your soil is alkaline.
Put a little baking soda in the other jar; fizzing there indicates acidic soil. Minimal fizzing in both jars means your soil is near neutral.
24. Repel Bugs
Vinegar works as a pest control measure indoors and outdoors. Spray it on surfaces where you spot ants — it removes the scent trails they follow. For fruit flies, set out an uncovered bowl with vinegar and a drop of dish soap to trap and drown them. Some gardeners even recommend vinegar-based solutions to repel mosquitoes.
Products You Can Stop Buying
There are many additional vinegar uses, from removing detergent buildup, deodorizing toilets, clearing deposits in shower heads and steam irons, to treating black mold with warm vinegar and wiping it away.
Here’s a list of items you can likely stop replenishing if you keep a gallon of vinegar at home:
- Chlorine bleach
- Antibacterial cleaner
- Fabric softener
- Laundry stain remover
- Dishwasher rinse aid
- Clog remover
- Coffee machine cleaner
- Emergency egg substitute for baking
- Glass cleaner
- Rust remover
- Hardwood floor cleaner
- Carpet stain remover
- Furniture polish
- Facial toner
- Skin repair gel
- Acne treatment
- Wart remover
- Dandruff treatment
- Litter box deodorizers
- Soil pH test kit
- Ant spray
Savinly contributor Maria Bennett writes about home, lifestyle and budget-friendly living. She previously owned a small café in St. Petersburg, Florida, and hosted a local arts program on community radio for many years.
