Five Household Uses for Vinegar

Vinegar has natural antibacterial properties. It also dissolves oils to some extent which makes it's a great natural chemical free alternative to harsh commercial cleaners.

1 Rinse Aid for your dishwasher

Use quality pure white vinegar in the rinse aid compartment of your dishwasher. This works really well to clear away any water marks just like normal rinse-aid. We've used vinegar for years and our dishes, plates and glasses look perfectly shinny and clean after washing. There is no smell. Check your settings if there is, your machine may be applying too much. Best of all vinegar is edible so avoids the risk of any inedible commercial rinse-aid residue being left on your dishes. We always use standard (unscented) Finish/Calgon brand soap tablets and powder as is recommended by the manufacturer. Vinegar as a rinse-aid works perfectly with either.

Note: Check your dishwasher warranty details, which may insist on specific brands of both soap and rinse-aid.

2 Fabric Softener

Replace the amount of fabric softener you would normally use with the same amount of vinegar. You shouldn't be able to smell the vinegar after washing (if you do then you may be using too much).

Vinegar cannot replace the residual chemical perfume left over by the commercial products. It will however avoid the oily residue that commercial softeners leave behind to make material feel soft and which can irritate sensitive skin.

3 Household Cleaner

As a general household cleaner add 20ml to 1 litre of water and use this to clean greasy residue from cooking or oil from your bench tops. For difficult spots we like to pour on a little undiluted vinegar and let it soak in for a couple of minutes. Afterwards wipe down to remove the grease.

4 Window Cleaner

For nice streak free windows and mirrors use 20ml of vinegar to 1 litre of water, instead of a commercial glass cleaning product. For mirrors use this mixture in a spray container. If the glass or mirrors are very greasy use 40ml of vinegar to 1 litre of water.

5 Carpet Cleaner

As carpet stain cleaner, pour some undiluted vinegar on the stain and let it soak for a minute, or longer if very greasy then use a cleaning brush to scrub out the stain. This works quite well on most food or drink stains as well.