It's pungent, acidic, and tangy. Maybe it makes you crumple up your nose,
or maybe it brings back memories of eating fish and chips out of newsprint.
But whatever vinegar brings you, whether it's a smile or a scrunch
to your face, you can't argue the tons of household uses that it has.
So because January is National Vinegar Month, probably somewhere in the world,
I want to honor it by sharing 10 interesting cleaning uses for vinegar.
Why interesting? Well, we know a lot of them already,
so I decided to focus on some of the lesser known ones for you.
That is called value-added content, people.
That is value added right there.
Now take notes, because I can assure you in about three minutes' time
you'll want to try at least one of these tips out at home.
Okay, ready? Here we go.
Scissor cleaner. Whether they're in the kitchen,
the craft room, or the garage, scissors get grimy.
When your scissor blades get sticky, just wipe them down with a cloth
dipped in white vinegar. Unlike soap and water,
vinegar won't ruin the blades or rust the metal.
Ooey, gooey stickers. When you get that great new thing
from that store that you love and it has a sticker on the bottom,
rather than breaking every nail on scratching that sticky residue off,
simply rub some white vinegar onto the sticky area.
Let it sit for about five minutes, and then just wipe it away.
Vinegar will break down that residue.
Clean the dishwasher, kettle, and coffee pot.
Give your large and small appliances a good cleaning by using vinegar
to deodorize, break down dirt, and descale.
Simply add a cup of vinegar to the appliance,
of course, as long as the appliance uses water.
Let it sit and then run a full cycle through for that appliance.
Dump the vinegar and you're in great shape.
Steam clean your microwave. Easy, quick, and painfully effective.
Microwave cleaning will never be the same for you again.
Simply add equal parts of water and white vinegar, and microwave it
for about four minutes. Carefully remove the bowl,
obviously wearing oven gloves to protect yourself, and wipe
the insides clean with a microfiber cloth. The steam created will literally melt off
any microwave mess and make cleanup a piece of cake,
a vinegar-flavored piece of cake.
Naturally refresh fabrics and upholstery. Now, we just did a holiday video on this,
but it's worth mentioning again, especially since you're willing to spend
like six bucks on a bottle of Febreze. Well, all you need to do instead is add
clean white vinegar to a spray bottle. Fill that spray bottle with equal parts
of white vinegar and water and use that to mist your fabrics instead.
It quickly neutralizes odors, and the vinegar smell disappears in minutes.
Rejuvenate your bathroom tools. Now, no one ever thinks of this,
but your bathroom tools, like your loofahs, pumice stones, and razor blades,
they need a cleaning too. They don't just get clean
because they're in the shower. So to do this, simply fill your sink
with equal parts of vinegar and water. Soak the items for an hour or so,
and then rinse and dry. Soap residue, body oils,
and smells will be gone. These items will be clean
with literally no effort on your part.
Defrost car windows. Well, this trick, it need not apply
to our friends in sunny parts of the world.
But for the rest of us suckers in cold weather, you know the drill
of scraping ice off your car windows. I cry.
Try this next time the forecast calls for frost.
Before the storm hits, wash a solution of three parts vinegar
to one part water over the windows.
Since the acidity of the vinegar prevents ice from forming, you won't have
frosty glass after that storm hits. Lovely, huh?
Replace dryer sheets and fabric softener.
Here's a money saver. If you're ready to do away
with fabric softener and dryer sheets, try this instead.
During the wash cycle, add in a half cup of white vinegar.
Believe it or not, the acid reduces static and keeps dryer lint
from sticking to your clothes. Further to that, it can also
help brighten, soften, and deodorize the clothing.
Vinegar in your laundry is a total no-brainer.
Hand stank. If you like to cook, but hate the smell
of onions, garlic, meat, fish, and spices on your hands, and of course
the dreaded red beet hand syndrome, try this instead.
Clean your hands with soap and water, and then rinse your hands
with white vinegar. The vinegar will help remove
those strong odors and colors, in the instance of beets,
and leave your hands looking and smelling clean afterward.
Clean your wood cutting board. So to keep it clean, simply wash it
with a vinegar-soaked cloth after each use, and you'll remove the bacteria.
You'll also need to use an oil to condition your board from time to time,
and that is actually coming up in one of our future videos, so stay tuned.
So how amazing is that? Now, there are a couple of things
I need to remind you about with vinegar. Number one, don't mix vinegar
with ammonia, unless you love being in the emergency room in a hospital.
And number two, never use distilled vinegar, white vinegar, super vinegar
on stone surfaces like limestone, travertine, granite, or marble.
The acid can damage the surface, and you will be super, super sad.
White vinegar, distilled vinegar, and full-strength vinegar, which is
something we're going to be talking about in a future video, are the
only kinds of vinegar that you should be using when you're cleaning.
Any other kind, like white rice vinegar or balsamic vinegar,
that is for cooking. So don't mix them up.
What are your favorite vinegar cleaning tips?
Let me know in the comment box below. There are tons of them.
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It is now down there, so I have to reinstate my groove.
Thanks so much for watching, and we'll see you next time.
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