Using Vinegar in the Laundry

[PrisonerOfHope]

Using Vinegar in the Laundry

Vinegar is one of the most versatile natural substances you can use around your home. It is cheap, natural and environmentally friendly and has a huge variety of uses. I have decided to share with you some tips and ideas using vinegar as the main ingredient for use around your home. I have replaced 95% of my household cleaners with vinegar and have found in the majority of cases it is more effective in cleaning than the chemical cleaners I have previously used! Part1 will cover the laundry and bathroom.


Many people want to know if vinegar really is natural. The white vinegar you buy to cook with is natural. It is primarily made from the alcohol derived from the fermentation of corn starch (but the finished product you buy in the shops does not have alcohol content!) This alcohol become acetic acid and is then diluted with distilled water. Cleaning vinegar from the cleaning aisle of the supermarket is white vinegar with other additives and is usually much more expensive. All tips in this article involve white vinegar which can be purchased in the food section of your supermarket.

Vinegar can remove most stains in clothing – make a half/half solution of vinegar and either water or milk, soak the clothes in the solution for a few hours, then wash in your machine as normal and the stains should come out.

Most laundry lint comes from towels. Do your towels and tea-towels separate from the rest of the clothes, and clean out the lint trap from your washing machine regularly. Also, half a cup of white vinegar added to the washing water will keep the lint from sticking.

Sometimes you just forget about clothes in the washer, and if left too long they can start to smell mouldy and gross. To kill the odour, pour in a cup of white vinegar and wash the clothes again on hot. They’ll smell just like new when you take them out.

Clean your washing machine


To keep your washing machine clean and in top operating condition, it’s a good idea to clean it regularly to get rid of detergent residue and any other nasty bits and pieces that tend to come off your clothes. There is a cheap and simple way of doing this which won’t ruin your washing machine and is environmentally safe.

For a top loader, run a normal wash cycle and put 1/2 cup bicarb and 2 cups white vinegar in once the machine has filled with water. If you have a front loader, add 2 tablespoons bicarb into the detergent drawer and 1/2 cup white vinegar into the drum then run a normal wash. Just keep an eye on the machine while it’s washing as you may find it suds up alot inside due to buildup of soap residue. The more often you clean your machine, the less often this will occur over time. I clean my machine about once every two or three months, but you can do it really as often as you like. Some say that the vinegar ruins the pipes and seals of the machine, but I have not seen this with my machine at all.

I have used these methods with my own front loader machine many times and can attest to its effectiveness. I have owned my front loader machine now for seven years and it hasn’t missed a beat.


Add a cup of vinegar to a large pot of water, bring to the boil then add your dirty white socks and dishcloths. Turn off the heat, soak overnight then wash in your machine. They’ll come up bright and white again!

Clean your steam iron by adding half water/half vinegar to the water chamber. Sit it upright and let it steam for about 10 minutes, then empty the chamber. Rinse the chamber out with plain water and shake some of it through the vents on the iron plate. Wipe the iron plate over with straight vinegar to get rid of the burn marks and calcium deposits.

Vinegar is a great fabric softener. Add about ½ a cup to your final rinse in the washing machine to soften and freshen clothes, towels and linen. The vinegar odours is usually very faint if at all on your washing, but if you are concerned about that, just add a couple of drops of your favourite essential oil when you add the vinegar.



Read more www.stayathomemum.net.au/home/laundry/using-vinegar-in-the-laundry/

[baydoll]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE vinegar!!! I buy gallons of it and use it everywhere! I use it to clean my tile floors.... dawn dishwashing detergent (the original blue stuff) and add about a cup of white vinegar to a bucket of hot water and floors are nice and clean!

I also use organic apple cider vinegar as a health drink. I add about a splash to water and add plenty of ice...took some getting used to but now I love it! Very refreshing on a hot day! Lost some weight too, which is a wonderful added bonus! ;D

[PrisonerOfHope]

What's your proportion of Dawn to vinegar?

I tried ACV....once! I couldn't get rid of the taste for the rest of the day. NASTY!

[baydoll]

I've read that it's supposed to be a one to one ratio of white vinegar to blue Dawn. One cup of each. If you want to put it into a spray bottle and use it that way, here is the recipe:

"Heat up some (white) vinegar (I used a cup of vinegar and nuked it for 2 minutes). Then pour it in your spray bottle, add an equal amount of blue Dawn (the website comments were pretty specific about getting the blue kind), shake gently, and voila! So the website said that you can spray it on and leave it overnight for tough stains. But have you ever tried to spray on a cleaner on a vertical surface? What's the first thing that happens? It all slides down. BUT, with the vinegar Dawn spray, it's a bit thicker, almost like a watery gel, and it stayed on the glass where I sprayed it. Yeah, a few places dripped, but it was staying. "

As for the ACV, what I did was I started with a little bit (just a splash of ACV) and worked my way up (to a tablespoon). It was pretty disgusting at first but now I like it. It's refreshing especially since it's been so hot. And the nice thing about it is it decreases my appetite so I don't find myself snacking so much.

[PrisonerOfHope]

Oh, the ACV decreased my appetite too....I was too nauseous from it to eat! ;D

[baydoll]

lol!