Amazing Cleaning Hacks Brought To You By The Vinegar In Your Pantry

It’s not wrong of you to consider vinegar primarily as a cooking ingredient. It’s often found in your kitchen pantry, anyway. This easily manufactured acid is located in a wide range of condiments, garnishes, and more.

Yet, vinegar is so much more, particularly as a multi-purpose household cleaner. Often diluted with water to avoid damaging whatever surface or material is being cleaned, vinegar seems to have an infinite number of cleansing uses around the home.

From removing mineral deposits on glass, polishing metals like copper and bronze to ridding yourself of those obnoxious glue stains that seem to stick around after ripping off cheap stickers, the acidic nature of vinegar is a natural wonder.

We want to introduce you to seven surprising cleaning uses of vinegar around the home.

Unclog A Drain - With Science!

Clogs in kitchen, bathroom, and shower/tub drains happen when enough oil, fat, and other substances and materials stick to the sides of metal and PVC piping, reducing water flow. Yes, products like Drano Max Gel Liquid Clog Remover are readily available, but sometimes these aren’t your best or safest options.

Start by pouring half a cup of baking soda down your troublesome drain. Then, dump a cup of vinegar atop to create that ever-pleasing foaming action. When most foaming dies down, rinse the drain with hot water. It’s like the grade school volcano experiment all over again!

Easily Wipe Down The Microwave

Exploding soups, baked-on sauces, sticky crumbs, and the smell of burnt popcorn all call the kitchen microwave “home.” When it’s time to clear out this exciting cast of forgotten foods and liquids, all it takes is a little vinegar and water.

Exploding soups, baked-on sauces, sticky crumbs, and the smell of burnt popcorn all call the kitchen microwave “home.” When it’s time to clear out this exciting cast of forgotten foods and liquids, all it takes is a little vinegar and water.

A Natural Cat Repellant

Vinegar is a surprising enemy for our feline friends.

If your cat continues to visit specific areas of your home for leisure or “personal business,” always to your dismay, combine one part vinegar with three parts water. Pour this mixture into a spray bottle and spritz your troublesome areas to prevent your cat from revisiting.

The Natural Fly Catcher

To rid your home of flies that can’t seem to find the giant open window, a bowl of vinegar and a few drops of dish soap should solve your pesky problems. Take a bowl and fill it with a quarter-cup vinegar and a few drops of dish soap. Then, wrap some saran wrap across the entire bowl tightly, then poke a few holes for the flies to enter. The vinegar affects the surface tension of the vinegar, ultimately causing the end to your household fly problem.

Note: White vinegar will work but there’s some unique attraction of flies to apple cider vinegar.

Flawless Spectacles

This one is straightforward. If your glass lenses are greasy and you don’t have a microfiber cloth with you, some water and vinegar will do the trick. Rinse your glasses under some running water to wash away any large particles. Finish with a few droplets of vinegar on both sides and rub gently. Your blurred eyesight will be no more.

Remove The Cooking Stains

Pot and pan stains come in all sorts of colors: black, brown, green, yellow, red, and orange. When a manual scrubbing or trip through the dishwasher doesn’t cut it, it’s time to pull out the vinegar.

Place your pot or pan on the stove, fill the bottom with vinegar or however much is needed to cover the stain. Then, boil for five minutes before letting the vinegar cool. Drain the vinegar and wipe with a kitchen towel to remove any excess stains. Your cookware should look as good as new.

Hard-Water Stains In Your Toilet

Last but not least, a spray of vinegar to your toilet bowl suffering from hard-water deposits - lime buildup - and a few minutes. With some brief scrubbing, those unpleasant lines will be gone.

Many homestead cleaning problems can be tackled using this cheap, always available, non-toxic, and environmentally-friendly acid. Don’t be afraid to try vinegar (diluted with water) to clean other surfaces and items in your home!