Uses-of-Vinegar

Created: 2019.10.19 | Last updated: 2020.06.18

Vinegar, what a versatile chemical.

Vinegar and water are two of the worlds most versatile chemicals. For most of this article, I'm talking about regular white vinegar, not the pickling vinegar (which is white vinegar but at a higher strength) and I'm not talking about specialty vinegars like cider unless specifically mentioned.

Vinegar is an acid (typically 3% Acetic acid). This is both good and bad depending on how you use it.

Vinegar at sea level has a boiling point of 118C, water at sea level has a boiling point of 100C, so vinegar and water will evaporate pretty close to the same rate. But note, if the vinegar combines with things like calcium - to remove scale, you'll have to wash that out: acetic acid plus calcium scale creates a soluble (it mixes with water) solution and CO2.

Global ice age (1970's claim) Global Warming (1990's and 2000's warning) Climate change (2010's warning)

If you are one who believes the science that has changed it's mind 3 times in 5 decades, you NEED to be aware that using vinegar for the most common cleaning use, you will be doing more damage to the weather/climate using vinegar to clean than by driving your car. As most of the politically funded scientists are saying: Plants these days aren't eating the CO2 like they did in the past millennium because humans are creating so much more than plants can use to grow. So the CO2 caused by your using vinegar to clean calcium scum will either destroy the planet or be used by plants to grow - depending on which scientist (politician) you listen to. The soluble solution can be washed away easily, so I don't see that being a problem for the weather.

If you still want to use this horrible CO2 causing chemical to clean things ... here are my tips.

For cleaning, full strength

  • erase ballpoint men marks on paint, floor, desk
  • remove paint from places it shouldn't be (I dropped some latex paint on a camera, then removed it with vinegar and a cotton swap (que-tip). It took many layers, but each time I did it, the cotton swap came out blue, until the paint was gone. Here's the kicker: The paint had been there for over 5 years, so it was definitely dry and hard. Even better: heat it up in the microwave, let it sit for 10-15 minutes to soften the paint, the remove the paint with a scrapper - obviously you want a gentle scraper with camera equipment, but if using it as a paint remover off of your house, wood, outside, you'll want an aggressive scraper.
  • Getting water stains (from glasses) off of leather furniture (for wood and other surfaces, see below vinegar plus olive oil). Clean with the vinegar, then wipe with a second rag.
  • Sticky gummy stuff on scissors, better than water, but remember, normal vinegar is still 93% water, so remove it immediately to avoid rusting.
  • Stains, like tea, coffee, wine. if they are light coloured stains, mix 4TBS salt in 1 cup of white vinegar. Rub the stain, let it dry, vacuum it up. Repeat if necessary.If darker stains, add 4 TBSP borax to the salt and vinegar solution, soak, let dry, vacuum. Even worse? Mix 50/50 white vinegar and cornstarch, let dry, vacuum.
  • Odor removal: smoke especially: put a cup of white or cider vinegar in a shallow bowl and leave it out where the odor is strongest
  • Oder removal in such boxes: soak a slice of white bread in vinegar, put it in the lunch box overnight. Remove and rinse in the morning.
  • Stainless steel, wipe and buff with a soft cloth. (sadly Stainless Steel, most consumer grades are stain-LESS steel, not 'no stain' steel.)
  • Cleaning the inside of your refrigerator. Also the outside, except 'grease'.
  • Ice trays, kettles, coffee pots, tea pots and pots and pans that have white calcium build up (from hard water): Soak for several hours then rinse and dry.

For cleaning, half strength by adding 50% lukewarm water

  • Computer equipment in general, using a clean cloth, get it damp with the solution, squeeze it out very well - no drips into electrically sensitive components.
  • Use cotton swaps in places like between keys on your keyboard
  • Trackball mice - does anyone still use these? If you do, take the ball out, clean the ball and everything the ball touches
  • Piano keys, same as computers. Some sources recommend lemon juice and salt if you have real ivory (we used to on our family piano until the child of a guest used a hammer on them)
  • Cloudy glasses: If it is from scratching, this won't help, but if it is from mineral buildup, Heat up a pot of 1 part vinegar, 1 part water (do it in a pot that needs cleaning to, get two jobs done at a time), let it all soak for half an hour. You may have to help at the end by giving them a scrub to loosen what is left, or add some more vinegar.

For cleaning, half strength by adding 50% boiling water

  • Clean blinds by using white cotton gloves. Grab the slat between your fingers and slide along to clean. Have a warm bucket of water to rinse the gloves frequently.
  • Candle wax. 1st gently scrape off what you can. Then yous a hair-dryer (or your workshop equivalent) and when it glistens - mop it up with paper towel (don't heat it to a liquid - it might spread), then the remainder wipe with your water/vinegar solution.
  • Cleaning up furniture polish or wax build-up. Clean with solution then wipe dry. For leather, use 1 part vinegar and 2 parts water.

For cleaning, low strength

  • I haven't tried this, but I've heard using 1 cup in a litre or a gallon of water (that's a big difference, so test) with a clean scrub brush or push bristle broom with clean up carpets with lots of foot traffic. Just leave it on.
  • As a general purpose stain remover and general cleaner, get 2 spray bottles. In bottle 1: Mix 1 part vinegar with up to 5 parts water. Fill the second with 1 part non-sudsing ammonia and 4 or 5 parts water. Saturate the stain with the 1st bottle, wait 5 minutes, blot clean, then repeat with the second bottle, continue alternating until the stain is gone.
  • Cleaning brick and modern stucco (probably works for the old stone and glass stucco too). Mix 1 part white vinegar with up to 15 parts water. Clean your hearth and home with this. If there is a lot of calcium on it (I had this when building my house, using high calcium water to keep it humid while it cured) you might try a stronger solution. But be careful with this. Too high a concentration and/or too often and you will eat away at the base material.
  • Clean your microwave, 1 part vinegar, 4 parts water. Boil for about 5 minutes on the highest setting. Let the liquid remaining cool down, then use a cloth soaked in it to wipe away everything left inside the microwave.
  • Clean coffee maker: put a mixture of 1 part water and 2 parts vinegar into the water tan, put in a fresh filter, run it through one or more cycles to clean the lines and on a keureg type machine, the nozzles, if bad you may need to run through multiple times. Then leave the solution in the coffee pot to clean it. Once you are happy it is clean, run through two cycles with clean water to get rid of the vinegar. This should be done ideally BEFORE the machine clogs up - make it part of your regular maintenance.

For cleaning, half strength by adding olive oil

  • Clean white rings where glasses were sat down on furniture (or coasters that you want to fix the coasters). If wood, wipe with the grain. Note: If leather, use full strength white vinegar. Clean with one rag with this solution, then wipe off with a clean rag.
  • To brighten up old wood paneling: 1 litre or quart of water, 8 TBS vinegar, 4 TBS olive oil. Mix it up (remember - oil and water?) like salad dressing, let it soak on wood paneling for several minutes, then wipe clean.

Other

  • For sparkling up old leather: 1 part vinegar, 1 part boiled linseed oil. Wipe, wait a few minutes, wipe with a clean cloth
  • Scratches in wood furniture? Mix with iodine, stronger solution for darker stained wood, weaker solution for lighter
  • Pour 1 part (perhaps a half cup) of baking soda down your drain, then 2 parts vinegar. When it stops foaming, use hot water to flush it out, wait a few minutes then flush with cold water. This will clean SOME blockages and it will deodorize smelling drains that have a build up of odor causing bacteria, the foaming gets up into areas, especially on a sink with an overflow like a bathroom sink, that you can't easily get to any other way.
  • 1/2 cup vinegar, 2 TBS baking soda, in an aluminum foil 'cup'. (The aluminum foil is a 'sacrificial' object, it will absorb the stain. Put pure silver jewelry in it for 2 to 3 hours then rinse in cold water.
  • I haven't tested this because most of cooking tools have non-steel surfaces (so diamond or copper) that are non-stick, OR they are things like cookie sheets and cast iron where I WANT the 'stains' to give the best easy clean surface: Boil a couple cups of vinegar in a pan for 10 minutes to give it a non-stick surface
  • Boil 1 cup of vinegar in a stainless steel pot to boil of stubborn stains
  • Cleaning Brass, Copper, Bronze: mix 1 part vinegar with either 1 part salt or 1 part baking soda (wait for it to stop 'boiling') to make a paste, use clean cloth to rub paste until the tarnish is gone, then rinse with water then polish with a clean soft cloth.

BAD ideas

  • I've heard that you should spray it on the back of carpets etc.., to get rid of mildew. Don't do this. Vinegar, like Bleach, is mostly water. These products are fine for HARD non-porous surfaces for getting rid of mold and mildew, but terrible for porous surfaces like grout, drywall and carpet, because they only get rid of the surface problem, and then leave plenty of water to help the mold and mildew grow even deeper roots. The only thing I've found that works for discouraging is concrobium, and removal and burning is the only fix I've found for mildew.
  • In your dishwasher - it may make it cleaner - getting rid of the calcium, but it can damage the rubber parts. So do this by hand and only clean the metal and plastic parts, not the rubber.
  • Marble, tavertine, concrete and terrazzo: Be very careful, the vinegar ACID will dissolve the CaC03 that these products have in abundance and thereby will etch (dull) these by eating away pinholes in the surface - vinegar is an ACID.
  • Grout - no! the Acid will destroy the 'seal' by changing its pH value and, unless white is what you want, it will slowly remove the color from your grout.
  • Mixing with bleach, for example when cleaning clothing: No! It makes hydrochloric and hypochlorous acids - gases that can kill you, and seriously damage your clothing. One at a time, with a rinse in between if you want to use both.
  • Cleaning grease. No, it is an acid, use an alkaline soap such as dish soap. Note: Some sources say to add vinegar to dish soap, I haven't tested this.

For health and eating

  • Salad dressing
  • Used when making pie crusts to break down the gluten partly, allowing for flaky crusts (if you wondered why lemon juice or vinegar is used in so many pastry recipes.)
  • And lots more