Vinegar has been around since people have been drinking alcoholic beverages. Early civilizations as far back as the Sumerians used vinegar as a condiment, a preservative, a medicine, an antibiotic and a detergent. It's non-toxic, inexpensive, and wickedly effective. It doesn't pollute, combust or eat bodily tissue. It's readily available, won't rot, and never loses its strength.

In a salute to the wisdom of the ancients, I suggest pouring yourself an alcoholic beverage and studying this list of unusual uses for vinegar, the ancient miracle fluid.

Outdoors

• If you park outside in winter, mix 3 parts vinegar to 1 part water and spray it on your car windows in the evening to prevent frost and ice from forming.
• If your cat leaves buried treasure in the kids' sandbox, pour vinegar around the edges of the sandbox every couple of months. The cat will take his business to the neighbor's sandbox.
• Bug spray: Put undiluted vinegar in a spray bottle and add several drops of dish detergent. Blast the bugs with the spray. No fog, no fumes, no toxicity, no bugs.

Workshop

• White vinegar is a solvent for many glues (including stubborn old wallpaper paste); Apply vinegar to the unwanted bond and let it soak in until the bond weakens.
• Mix white vinegar with water-based inks to create gorgeous stains for wood. The resulting finish has a silvery sheen and a deep, transparent tint. Pour vinegar into a mixing jar, add ink until the desired concentration is achieved. Apply with brush or rag, wiping away excess.
• Age new lumber by brushing on a solution made in the following way: Soak a bunch of rusty old stuff in a jar of white vinegar. After two or three days, the solution will be ready to apply. Depending upon the amount of tannin in the wood, the 'stain' will turn the wood either silvery or almost black. Try a test patch first.
• Pickling wood - Soak a handful of galvanized nails in white vinegar for 2-3 days. The vinegar dissolves the galvanizing and when applied to oak will produce a beautiful grey "dusty" look to the oak.

Indoors

• Remove stubborn mildew smell (or pet odors) from fabric by adding 2 cups of white vinegar to the rinse cycle.
• Vinegar is a great solvent for grease. Clean deep fryers by boiling vinegar and water in them. Use straight vinegar to clean range hoods and greasy appliance surfaces.
• Insider's Tip: Make a cheap cleaner for flooring, including Pergo and laminates: 1/3 part white vinegar, 1/3 part rubbing alcohol (to speed drying), 1/3 part water, several drops of dishwashing liquid. Spray and mop.
• To set a permanent knife-edge crease in pants, dip a cloth in a 50/50 mixture of vinegar and water. Wring out the cloth and then press the creases.
• De-skunk the air when people visit wearing too much perfume; spray the air with a 50/50 solution of water and vinegar.
• If you habitually leap out of bed in the middle of the night trying to ease foot or leg cramps, try boosting your potassium level: Mix 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon of honey and a cup of hot water, and drink before hitting the sack.
• Cure hiccups instantly by swallowing a teaspoon of vinegar. Your body will shudder like a ship hitting a reef and you may swear in disgust, but your hiccups will stop.

Homemade Citrus Household Cleaner

• Fill a large, wide mouth jar with citrus peels (such as lemons, oranges, limes, grapefruits). Cover the peels with white household vinegar. Let brew for four weeks, shaking the jar occasionally (just to mix it up a bit). Strain (I did this twice).
• Use as a laundry booster (I just tossed it in with the whites), window cleaner, floor cleaner, counter tops, appliances (Dilute in water–1/2 cup per gallon of water works well). For a stovetop grease buster I just sprayed it on undiluted. Test surfaces first before using.

Tips:

• Before filling the jar, I made sure the citrus peels were scrubbed well in baking soda and water to remove any chemicals or pesticides. It’s a lot easier if you do this before peeling the fruit!
• To collect the peels, throughout the week store all the citrus peels in a baggy or airtight container and refrigerate. If your household doesn’t go through a lot of citrus fruit in a week, just chop up what peels you have and fill a small glass jar (or even spray bottle) with peels and cover with vinegar. To make a big jar like above, you need a lot of peels. You could try freezing the peels and then thawing the bunch when you have enough, I haven’t tested that though.

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Homemade Bath Jelly Recipe

Bath jellies can be made as luxurious home spa goodies or they can be packaged for the kids (set with toys inside). Great to give as gifts.

They may not bubble up as nicely as some liquid bubble baths, but definitely a nice bath treat.

Homemade Bath Jelly Recipe

Ingredients:

3/4 cup water

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup liquid soap (unscented–use shower gel, hand soap or bubble bath)

*Essential oil (choose your favorite–a few drops)

Directions:

• Bring water to a boil, remove from heat then slowly stir in and dissolve the gelatin. Slowly add liquid soap and stir to mix. Add essential oil, stir well.
• Pour liquid into a clean clear jar or container, seal and refrigerate overnight.

Once the mix gels, it’s ready to use. Just add a spoonful under running water in the bath for a bubbling treat (a tablespoon or two will do).

*If you wish, you can skip the essential oil and use liquid soaps that have a fragrance.

Notes: Use within a few weeks. Keep refrigerated and airtight to avoid mold.

Optional: Add a couple drops of food coloring when first mixing bath jelly to give it some color, don’t use too much though since it can stain tubs.

Gift Ideas: Package in small jars, add a decorative label and embellish with ribbons or trims. You can put a small toy or object in the jelly when first poured, it will set inside. Make in small batches at a time so it can be used within weeks.

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Laundry Stain Treatments: Tip Sheet

*Each point is a separate treatment, choose one method. Test a small hidden area first to make sure garment color or fibers won’t be damaged.

Blood Stain Removal

• Apply hydrogen peroxide to the stain, cover with salt, then sit for several minutes. You should see the blood draw up from the garment. Remove salt once stain has lifted and launder as usual. Test a small, hidden area first to make sure the color won’t be bleached.
• Try rinsing the stain area in cool water then sprinkle on meat tenderizer. Sit for a few minutes then launder as usual.
• You could also use hydrogen peroxide plain, apply to area, sit for a few minutes then launder in cool water (first test a small hidden area to make sure the garment color won’t be bleached).
• Make a batch of cold, salty water and soak garment overnight. General guideline is 1 TBS salt per 2 1/2 cups of water. Launder as usual.

Chocolate Stain Removal

• Mix 4 TBS borax with 2 1/2 cups of warm water, soak garment in solution. After soaking, place stained area under cool running water, if stain doesn’t disappear, rub with a bar of laundry soap. Launder as usual.

Coffee Stain Removal

• Same as chocolate stains, see above.

Grass Stain Removal

• Before washing items with grass stains, try dabbing a generous amount of vinegar into the stain first. Launder as usual. This should help lift the stain right out.
• Wet stain with water and cover with sugar. Leave for at least 1 hour then launder as usual.

Ink Stains

• See 10 Ink Stain Removers - Laundry Tips

Lipstick Stains

• Saturate a clean white cloth with household winger, rub lipstick stain lightly until it is removed.

Mildew Stains

• Squeeze fresh lemon juice on the spots then sprinkle with salt. Let dry in the sun. Launder as usual. Try this treatment for old stains, great for those vintage linens!

Mustard Stains

• Mix 1 TBS laundry detergent with 1/4 cup warm water. Soak stain overnight and launder as usual.
• Apply a few drops of liquid dish detergent to stain, gently rub into stain and soak overnight, launder as usual.

Perspiration Stains

• Mix a solution of water and vinegar (60/40) then sponge onto stain areas. Launder as usual.
• Mix a solution of 1 quart warm water with 4 TBS table salt, soak garment. Wash as usual.

Ring Around The Collar

• Try rubbing toothpaste along the stain before tossing in the washing machine. Careful on items that aren’t white, the toothpaste could cause discoloration.
• Use 3 parts baking soda to 2 parts vinegar to make a paste, rub into stain and allow to set for 60 minutes, launder as usual (found on 10 Laundry Boosters Using Vinegar).

You could also dab toothpaste on white items that have hard to remove stains–it just might do the trick!

Rust Spots On Cloth Items

• Try treating the stains with a 50/50 mixture of lemon juice and water. Let sit for about 30 minutes before washing.
• Rub powdered Cream of Tartar into stain, then wash in hot soapy water. You can also boil garment in water mixed with Cream of Tartar (4 tsp Cream of Tartar per pint of water).

Rust stains on laundry can happen if your washing machine or dryer has a part that’s rusted. It can also be caused by hard water or if the clothing was accidentally washed with something metal that rusted in the wash.

Did you know: Chlorine bleach will make the rust stains harder to remove or even permanent?

Wine Stains

• Mix 1 1/4 cups of water and 2 tsp borax, apply over stain. Soak for 15 minutes, launder as usual.

More tips for stain removal:

• Homemade Laundry Stain Pretreater Recipes
• Laundry Stain Treatments: Methods & Guidelines

*Some of the information above was previously published as individual Quick Tips. They’ve been moved here into one list for convenience. All bookmarks will automatically forward to this page.

*Some comments below will be timestamped from an earlier date–these have been moved here from the individual quick tips that have been deleted so that the comments wouldn’t be lost.

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10 Ink Stain Removers - Laundry Tips

Tips Before Starting:

• First place a clean cloth underneath the ink stain before applying any stain removal method. This helps prevent any ink from running through to the piece of garment underneath.
• Chances are the ink has gone through to the other side of the fabric, so after cleaning the top of the garment, make sure to work on the back as well before laundering as usual. Some prefer working on the underside first, then the top.
• You can use a soft toothbrush to “scrub” the stain a bit with the chosen treatment, but make sure you don’t scrub so hard that you permanently damage the garment’s fibers.
• Be careful with any stain removal method you choose, test a small area first to make sure the formula won’t damage the garment.
• If you’re finding that one method is not giving you the desired results and wish to switch to another method, make sure to thoroughly rinse and wash out (by hand) the residue from the first treatment before moving onto the next treatment. Always use cool water, not hot since the heat can set the stain.
• If you have ink stains in the carpet that you are trying to remove, these should work too. Just make sure to test first.

10 Ink Stain Removers

Recipe #1

1 TBS Vinegar

1 TBS Milk

1 tsp Borax

1 tsp Lemon Juice

• Mix together all the ingredients then apply to ink stain, leave for about 10 minutes. Dampen a sponge with cool water then dab at the stain until it is gone.

Method #2

Hairspray

• Spray hairspray on the stain so that the spot is well saturated. Wait 30 minutes. Dab at the ink spot with a sponge first soaked in cool water. You may have to soak the spot in hairspray a couple times.

Method #3

Fingernail Polish Remover (plain, unscented)

• Test a small unnoticeable area of the garment first before using. This could discolor some fabrics. The method for stain removal is the same as above, saturate the area with the fingernail polish remover, then dab at the spot with a cool, wet sponge.

Method #4

Toothpaste (Plain paste, not gel, no bleach)

• Just like with the white collars trick and the removing permanent marker tip, toothpaste can help lift ink stains from fabric too. Apply to the stain, let set for a few minutes, then run under cool water while gently rubbing the toothpaste into the stain. Repeat as necessary.

Method #5

Isopropyl Alcohol (Rubbing Alcohol)

• Saturate the ink spot with isopropyl alcohol, leave for 30 minutes, then try lifting the stain with a sponge first wet with cool water.

Method #6

Vinegar (Regular White Household)

• Pour a teaspoon of vinegar directly on the stain and allow to rest for about 10 minutes. Then dab a drop or two of liquid dish detergent to the stain. Rub it in gently with your fingers. Leave to rest for about 5 minutes. Rinse under cool water, gently rubbing the soap into the spot while the water rinses the area.

Method #7

WD-40

• Spray it on the ink stain and after a minute or two, rinse off.

Method #8

Shaving Cream

• This needs to be the foaming shaving cream, not the gel. Spray a bit of the foam on the stain, wait 30 minutes, then run under cool water while gently rubbing the stain away with your fingers

Method #9

Ivory Soap (bar)

• Run the stained fabric under cool water so it’s good and wet. Rub the Ivory Soap bar into the stain (not too roughly or it will damage the fibers), make sure to rub a good amount of soap into the stain. Leave for 30 minutes. Add a couple drops of liquid dish detergent to the stain, rub in with your fingers (gently), then run under cool water and wash away the stain.

Method #10

Buttermilk

• Let the stain soak in Buttermilk for 24 hours, then rinse under cool water with a bit of Ivory soap or liquid hand soap. If that hasn’t removed all the stain, soak in Buttermilk again and repeat the process.

Success!

After you have successfully removed the ink stain, rinse the item very well in cool water to completely remove all traces of the stain removal treatment you used. Then launder the garment as you normally would.

For general laundry stain removal helpers, try these tips: Homemade Laundry Stain Remover Recipes and Bleach Stains From Old Linens.

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Old-Time Stain Removal Tips: Timeless Wisdom

Laundry Stain Removal

These tips were collected from vintage booklets dating from the 1930’s and 1940’s. The Timeless Wisdom collection is a regular feature on Tipnut where we take a look back at the methods used and advice given to tackle regular household tasks. These were the days when fancy gadgets and cleaning powders weren’t yet invented so they were quite creative with what they had.

Old-Time Stain Removal Tips

1. Wet ink stains may be removed by washing in milk or, better still, in buttermilk. Wash, changing the milk frequently.
2. To remove iron mould or dry ink from white materials, steep the stained material in a hot solution of salts of lemon–one tablespoon of salts to one quart of boiling water; or simply place the stained part over a basin, cover the stain with salts, and pour the boiling water through. Repeat if necessary.
3. Ink stains may be removed by covering the spot with lard. Let this stand for about twelve hours and wash the article in the regular way.
4. To remove tea, coffee, or cocoa stains, use glycerine. A fresh stain can be removed by gentle rubbing; if the stain is old, soak in the glycerine for some time.
5. Wine stains may be removed by holding the stained portion of the cloth in boiling milk.
6. While a fruit stain is still moist, cover it with powdered starch. When dry, rinse the article in cold water and wash in the ordinary way.
7. Fruit stains may be removed with a strong solution of borax, or the stain moistened with water, rubbed with borax, and boiling water poured through.
8. Fruit and Rust stains: Apply lemon juice, salt and expose to sun.
9. Grass stains: When fresh, can be removed by soaking in alcohol. If stain is old, rub with molasses and allow to stand several hours before washing.
10. For grass stains use cold water and no soap. Alcohol may be used if the material is unwashable.
11. Blood stains, if fresh, may be removed by washing in cold water. If hard and dry steep for a few hours in cold water, to which add a pinch of baking soda. Washing and bleaching will finish the process. Never put blood stains in hot water.
12. Never put hot water on milk and cream stains. Wash them out in cold water, followed by soap and water. Rinse in clear water.
13. Egg stains on washable fabrics may be removed by soaking the garment in cold water for a short time before washing with soap and water in the usual way.
14. To remove paint from colored material, dip the stains in turpentine, rub, then dip in a little ammonia, rub and wash in warm water.
15. Mildew on linen may be removed by dampening the marks, rubbing soap on them, and covering them with chalk scraped into a powder. Work this well in and then wash the linen in the ordinary way.
16. Mildew stains may be removed by rubbing with a paste made by mixing two teaspoonfuls of water, one of powdered chalk, and two of soap powder. The spots should afterwards be well rinsed and dried out of doors in the sunlight. This has a bleaching effect on them.
17. Mildew: Use a mixture of soft soap, powdered starch, half as much salt and the juice of a lemon. Apply to both sides of the fabric and expose to the sun.
18. To remove grease from silk lay the silk on a table on top of a clean white cloth. Cover the spot thickly with powdered French chalk. On this lay a sheet of blotting paper and over that a moderately hot iron. If grease does not disappear at once, repeat process.
19. Grease spots on suede shoes will disappear if they are rubbed with a clean rag dipped in glycerine.
20. Rub sewing machine oil stains with lard, let stand for several hours, and then wash with cold water and soap.
21. Table salt and cream of tartar, equal parts, will remove rust stains. Wet the spot and spread the mixture on thickly, then place the material in the sun.
22. To remove rain spots from satin, felt and similar materials, use a soft ball of tissue paper. Rub the effected parts with a circular movement.
23. To remove iodine stains from linens rub the stained area with a slice of lemon.
24. Chocolate and Cocoa Stains: Use borax and cold water and bleach, if necessary.
25. Scorch Marks: Dip a cloth in diluted peroxide and rub the scorched spot. Then iron over it and stain will disappear.

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Homemade Air Freshener Sprays

Lemon Air Freshener Spray

Ingredients

2 cups hot water

1/8 cup baking soda

1/2 cup lemon juice

Directions

• First dissolve the baking soda in hot water then add the lemon juice. You can use ReaLemon for this (expired is fine).

Quick Tip: Easy Homemade Deodorizer Sprays:

You can also whip up some good, fresh smelling spray with just two ingredients: water or vinegar and essential oils.

• Simply fill a spray bottle with water or vinegar, add a dozen or so drops of your favorite essential oils and spray away!

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