My Top 5 Uses for White Vinegar

I have been out of town on a nice, relaxing, fun girls weekend! It's so great to get away for a day or so and relax, but it is always so wonderful to come home.

Yesterday, when I got back in town, I started laundry, prepped snacks for the week, and made dinner.

All three of those tasks had something in common {other than the fact that you could call them "chores"}: I used white vinegar for all 3! Talk about versatile.

Now, I am aware that there are numerous ways to use vinegar. And I know that it's all over Pinterest. I am going to highlight the top 5 ways that I love to use this stuff. {Note: I did not come up with these ideas on my own, I have provided links to the sources I reference in my daily life but please note, they might not be the inventors of the method being shown}

Top 5 Uses for White Vinegar

1. Laundry Booster/Fabric Softener: We have skin sensitivity issues in my house. To keep the eczema to a minimum, I don't use scents or dyes anywhere near our laundry.  Adding white vinegar to the "fabric softener" cup in my front load washer keeps colors from bleeding {read: I don't have to sort laundry}, our laundry stays soft, and it helps to keep my towels extra clean without having to use bleach. As a bonus, it also helps keep the mildew in the washer drum to a minimum!

{Check out this website for the source for tips one and two.}

2. Produce Wash: A couple of tablespoons of vinegar and some cold water make the perfect fruit and veggie wash! Just add the vinegar to a big bowl, add water, add fruit and let it soak for 5 minutes before draining and rinsing. This helps to get produce cleaner than water alone and you won't taste the vinegar- promise. I do this every 2 weeks when I get back from the grocery store.

3. Cooking: duh, right? There are lots and lots and lots of recipes including vinegar. It adds a nice bite to dressings and sauces among other things. Here's the link to PW's website {she doesn't know me nor does she have any knowledge about this post} where she shows how to make a BBQ sauce to put over meatballs. I don't make my meatballs the same way, but I follow the BBQ sauce recipe exactly. It's so yummy and uses- you guessed it- vinegar!

4. Cleaning: basically, vinegar=clean. When combined with other common household ingredients (and even on its own, sometimes) it's a great degreaser, deodorizer, soap scum remover, and mildew preventer. Pinterest is crawling with tons of great recipes for homemade cleaning products that use vinegar! Just search "vinegar cleaning" and you'll be good to go. My favorite recipe is also my last favorite...

5. Drain Deodorizer: I have given you all a tip to clean your garbage disposal, but what about the other drains in your house? I use equal parts vinegar and baking soda in any drain that starts to smell, or when I am doing my seasonal cleaning (every 3 months). The vinegar plus baking soda will clean and deodorize and all you have to do is wait.

Vinegar is essential in our house. I always have a huge jug on hand.

How do you use vinegar? Tell us and we may feature your favorite use in a post!