Eight White Vinegar Home Remedies

The average homeowner would do anything to avoid buying overpriced commercial cleaners they’ll only use occasionally. Luckily, you can save a fortune with something as simple as a gallon or two of distilled white vinegar. That’s why we put together a list of eight of the best white vinegar home remedies that can help anyone around the house. 

White vinegar serves as a great home remedy for clogged drains, dirty toilet bowls, and stubborn clothing stains. You can also use white vinegar at home to clean your cabinets, countertops, handles, and doorknobs. Many people use white vinegar to trap and kill flying insects, such as gnats, mosquitoes, and fruit flies. 

White vinegar is a great home remedy for many problems because of its acidic nature. However, you must be careful and follow our recommendations, as overusing white vinegar can discolor some of the surfaces in your home if you don’t distill it first. Follow along as we highlight eight essential white vinegar home remedies. 

What Can You Use White Vinegar For?

1. Unclogging Drains

Clogged drains can cause problems in the kitchen and bathroom. The last thing anyone wants is their kitchen sink to back up or their clogged tub drain overflowing. Luckily, in many cases, white vinegar is the perfect home remedy for unclogging drains, depending on the cause.

White vinegar is so acidic that it can help dislodge organic matter, like food remnants and hair. It cannot necessarily dissolve hair, but you can use white vinegar to break it down. That’s especially true if you mix white vinegar with baking soda to unclog your drain. 

First, pour roughly ½ cup of baking soda down your kitchen sink or tub drain. Next, pour ½ cup of white vinegar down the drain and cover it with a towel or stopper. Finally, wait 30 minutes and pour hot water down the drain to clear the obstruction. 

2. Killing Weeds

It’s hard to keep up with the weeds in your yard when you have so many other responsibilities. That’s especially true given the negative effects that many commercial weed killers have. After all, you can inadvertently harm the environment and nearby plants when you use a commercial weed killer. 

However, white vinegar can kill your weeds without such negative side effects and is quite cheap. You can find a gallon jug of white vinegar for under $3 or in some cases, buy 4 gallons in bulk for under $5. Mix 1 cup of salt, 1 tablespoon of mild dish soap, and 1 gallon of white vinegar in a jug or spray pump. 

Granted, you won’t need to use this all at once, but it helps to mix a large batch and store it somewhere safe for later use. Ideally, you should stir or shake the mixture next time you use it, so the salt doesn’t settle. Some people even spray their weeds with straight white vinegar, which is also effective.  

3. Deter Gnats And Fruit Flies

Flying insects can make it hard to get comfortable at home, that is, if you don’t use white vinegar to deter them. White vinegar is among the best home remedies for deterring gnats and fruit flies. That’s especially true if you frequently find drain gnats near your kitchen sink.

Fill a few small dishes with white vinegar and place them near your sink and on your countertops. The unique aroma will attract flying insects to the dishes full of vinegar. Upon landing, they’ll fall into the white vinegar and drown. 

Some people even mix mild dish soap with white vinegar to create a more effective mixture. Doing so makes it easier to trap flying insects, so they can’t escape. Some people think the acidity kills them, but the gnats and fruit flies die from drowning. 

4. Surface Cleaner

Many homeowners spend a fortune on commercial surface cleaners throughout their lives. However, that’s unnecessary as you can dilute some distilled white vinegar with water and clean your countertops. It’s acidic enough to help weaken and break up grease and stubborn stains on your countertops, cabinets, and tables. 

However, you must dilute it enough, or the vinegar smell will linger on the surfaces. Mix 4 cups of warm water with ½ cup of vinegar to ensure the mixture is strong enough to clean surfaces without leaving a foul odor. However, you may want to make an even mixture to disinfect doorknobs and other things you regularly touch.  

5. Deter Ants

Nobody wants to see ants in their home and near their entry doors. The problem won’t get better on its own, but you can easily solve it with some white vinegar. That’s because the acidity and strong odor can disrupt ants following a trail and looking for food. 

Walk around your house and yard and pay attention to where you find ants, ant trails, and ant hills. Pour some white vinegar along the edge of your entry doors if you find ant trails. Some people even pour white vinegar onto ant hills in their yards to disrupt the colonies. 

Doing so can disperse the ants, and it may even kill some of them upon contact. However, there’s always a chance that the ants will simply build another hill nearby on your property. You must keep up with it and regularly check for new trails and hills to deter ants with white vinegar. 

6. Remove Stains

Don’t give up on your stained clothes if you have a jug of white vinegar at home. White vinegar contains acetic acid, which can help you easily remove even the most stubborn stains from your clothes. Some people even use white vinegar to remove stains on their furniture. 

However, you must carefully dilute the white vinegar with water, or else you may discolor the clothes or furniture. Create a 1:3 white vinegar to water ratio to ensure you don’t damage the fabric. Next, apply the vinegar and water solution and let it sit for up to 30 minutes. 

Now, you can run your stained clothes through the washing machine to finish the job. Some people even put a cup of white vinegar in the washing machine before running a cycle. However, it’s best to do that if all the clothes in the cycle are the same color. 

7. Restore Silverware

Over time, silverware loses its sheen from years of heavy use and washing. You can save money if you restore your silverware with white vinegar instead of replacing it. First, you must gather white vinegar, baking soda, traditional table salt, and aluminum foil. 

Next, evenly line a baking dish with the aluminum foil and make sure to cover every part of the surface. Spread 1 tablespoon of baking soda and 1 tablespoon of table salt on the aluminum foil. Next, pour ½ cup of white vinegar and up to 2 cups of boiling water into the dish.

Finally, you can submerge your silverware in the baking dish solution and make sure each piece is completely covered. Wait up to 3 minutes, remove the silverware with tongs, and carefully buff it with a dry cloth. 

8. Scrub Your Toilets

Nobody loves to clean their toilets, but it’s a necessary home maintenance chore. White vinegar can make this task easier and cheaper than using store-bought chemicals. Simply pour enough distilled white vinegar into your toilet bowl to cover the stains and stubborn areas. 

Let the vinegar sit for roughly 15 to 30 minutes, then thoroughly scrub your toilet. Flush the toilet and repeat the process as many times as you need to. Some people mix essential oils with white vinegar to mimic the nice smell of commercial toilet bowl cleaners. 

Summing It Up

The best way to use white vinegar around the house is to unclog your bathroom and kitchen drains. You can also use white vinegar to kill and prevent weeds in your yard. Otherwise, you can use white vinegar as an all-purpose cleaner, silverware buffer, ant deterrent, and toilet cleaner. White vinegar can also help deter gnats and fruit flies.

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