You will wish you knew the following 18 vinegar cleaning hacks sooner, but better late than never. Look, the truth is you can clean your kitchen, your bathroom, and even your windows with vinegar – with little to no effort.
I never dreamed I’d be singing the praises of vinegar and how it can seriously deep clean your home, yet here I am. Yes, I know it smells, and it is not the usual go-to cleaning product, but if you’re not taking advantage of this miracle-working cleaning solution, you are missing out and spending too much money on cleaning products.
I know what you’re thinking.
Does vinegar really get things clean? As in, sanitize?
The answer is yes.
***Note: This post was originally published on March 19, 2018 and updated on March 8, 2021.
Vinegar = Power Cleaner
According to research, when tested against commercial-grade cleaners, vinegar holds its own. It kills a range of household pathogens-including the flu virus and the notoriously hard-to-kill tuberculosis bacteria.
See, the acetic acid in white vinegar makes it one powerful deep cleaning disinfectant, deodorizer, and grease-cutter. And your new best friend.
Budget-Friendly
Besides being an all-natural chemical-free choice cleaner, vinegar is significantly cheaper than household cleaners.
Typically, you can purchase an extra-large bottle of white vinegar for around $20 and use it for practically everything.
Let’s look at these vinegar cleaning hacks in action.
Stove
All you need to de-grease your stovetop is undiluted white vinegar, a spray bottle, and a dishcloth or non-abrasive scrubber. Spray the vinegar onto the surface, let it sit for 5-10 minutes, and wipe clean!
Coffee Maker
Using white distilled vinegar, fill the reservoir and run the machine through a cycle to dissolve minerals and oily buildup. Then empty the carafe and rinse any remaining vinegar away by running a second cycle of water only.
Microwave
Does your microwave get filthy fast? Mine does. Sometimes I think my kids are purposefully nuking soup for too long to watch it explode. But here’s the thing – if that soup explosion cleaned fast, it becomes a real pain the a@@ to clean. If you can relate – this one may be among your favorite vinegar cleaning hacks.
Using a microwave-safe bowl, mix 1 cup of vinegar with 1 cup of water and nuke it for 2 minutes. The acetic acid in the vinegar works to deodorize and sanitize it, while the power of steam does most of the scrub work. The last step is wiping it all away with a sponge – with little to no effort.
Dishwasher
Feel the need to clean your dishwasher? All you need is a dishwasher-safe cup and vinegar. The vinegar will sanitize, de-grease, and take care of any odors coming from the machine. Place the bowl of vinegar in an empty dishwasher and run it on the highest cycle. Finally, deodorize by sprinkling a cup of baking soda on the tub’s bottom and rerun the dishwasher on a half cycle with hot water. Let it air dry for a few hours when the cycle is complete.
Drain
You can use vinegar to deodorize or unclog a drain quickly by adding a cup of baking soda to the drain, followed by a cup of vinegar. Rinse the bubbles away with hot water.
Stainless Steel
Vinegar is a fabulous way to clean the grease and fingerprints off of your stainless steel appliances! Plus, it’s easy, and you probably have everything you need in your kitchen cabinets.
Grab some white vinegar, a microfiber cloth, and are you ready for this?
Olive oil!
Now, take a good look at your appliance and determine the grain. You’ll see if it’s going horizontally or vertically. You need to rub in the direction of the grain.
Spray a generous amount of vinegar over the surface and wipe it off. This will remove most of the fingerprints and grease, but we’re going to take it a step further. Dip your cloth in a bit of olive oil and lightly polish. Your stainless steel appliances will shine like the Chrysler Building.
You may want to try Cleaning vinegar. It has 6% acidity compared to regular white vinegar’s 5%, but that bump makes it 15-20% more powerful.
DIY Disinfectant
Mix a solution of 50% vinegar + 50% water and use it as a powerful germ-killer on doorknobs, remote controls, phones – anywhere germs happen.
Sanitize Sponges
Soak sponges and scrub brushes in vinegar overnight. The acetic acid will kill the bacteria and eliminate any odors.
Window Cleaner
Using equal parts vinegar and water, apply to windows with a sponge and wipe clean with a wet squeegee.
Window Blinds
Mix 1 Cup Ammonia, 1/2 cup vinegar, 1/4 cup baking soda, and 1 gallon of warm water. You can use this solution on a towel – or – do what I do and put a sock on your hand to make the job easier:)
Clean Floors
Use vinegar to deodorize, disinfect, and clean porcelain, laminate, and tile floors. You can use any of these DIY vinegar recipes, and if you have a smaller area to clean, just cut the amount in half.
1. 1/4 – 1/2 cup white vinegar + 1 gallon of water
2. 1/2 cup white vinegar + 1 gallon of water + 2 tablespoons dish soap
3. 1/2 cup white vinegar + 1 gallon of water + 2-3 drops essential oils or lemon juice
Clean Faucets
Remove stubborn mineral deposits and disinfect faucets with this vinegar cleaning hack. Saturate several paper towels in vinegar and wrap them around your faucet like a burrito. Set for 24 hours. Scrub any remaining stains away with an old toothbrush.
Clean Your Toilet
This is the easiest way to clean a toilet other than hiring help.
Pour 1 cup vinegar into the bowl and allow it to sit overnight. When you wake up, drink some coffee, then swish it with a toilet brush and flush. For challenging toilet stains, empty the water from the toilet bowl before putting the vinegar in.
Get Rid Of Hard Water Stains
If your toilet has hard water stains, try this no-scrub cleaning vinegar hack.
First, you’ll need some cleaning gloves, so if you don’t have any, go ahead and get some like these. WARNING: this may get gross.
Now, take an empty cup and get all of the water out of your toilet. Get it as dry as possible.
Next, you’re going to take a gallon of white vinegar and soak several paper towels in it. Then you are going to place those paper towels directly onto the toilet stains.
Let those towels sit for at least three to four hours.
When the stains are gone, remove the paper towels and pat yourself on the back because you didn’t have to scrub a toilet today.
Clean Your Bathtub
Here’s another easy hack.
Clean your tub with vinegar by using a solution of equal parts vinegar and Dawn dishwashing soap. I always use blue. Mix it up and pour it into a spray bottle. Just spray your tub generously, and the job is practically done.
Seriously, this vinegar solution does all the work for you!
Clean Shower Doors & Sinks
Use 12 ounces of white vinegar and 12 ounces of blue dawn dish detergent to clean your shower doors and other surfaces in your bathroom. Using a microwave-safe bowl, heat the vinegar until boiling and pour it into a spray bottle.
Add the Dawn, secure the top, and shake until the solution is mixed together. Spray onto the desired surface and wipe clean! Minimal scrubbing required.
Clean The Shower Head
Take a one-gallon Ziplock bag and pour enough white vinegar into it so that your shower head will be completely submerged when you tie on the bag.
Secure the bag to your shower head with a zip tie or strong rubber band. Leave it on overnight.
Remove the bag and allow hot tap water to run through the showerhead for two to three minutes to remove mineral deposits and vinegar. Remove any stubborn buildup that’s left with an old toothbrush.
Washing Machine
Salmonella and other nasty germs linger in our washing machines. You can use vinegar to sanitize the basin and wipe out any germs by running an empty load with hot water and one cup of distilled white vinegar.
What You Cannot Clean With Vinegar
The acidity of vinegar gives it the strength to cut through grease, grime, and mineral deposits can cause harm and damage some surfaces. For that reason, you should avoid using vinegar to clean the following surfaces.
Marble and Granite Countertops The acetic acid in vinegar can etch the stone (damage its finish-see below)
Stone Floor Tiles or Countertops If you have natural stone floors or countertops such as travertine, limestone, or marble, your best bet is to opt-out of a vinegar cleaning solution. These stones are sensitive to acidic substances like vinegar due to the amount of calcium within them.
Hardwood Floors When cleaning hardwood floors, you aren’t cleaning the actual wood but the wood’s finish. The acid in the vinegar will break down the finish and make your floors look dull faster.
I hope these tips have helped cut your cleaning time and costs! Cleaning is not my passion, but I love cleaning with vinegar because it’s a budget-friendly, multi-purpose cleaner that we always have on hand. It takes most of the effort out of an otherwise thankless job, and it keeps me from making last-minute runs to the store. Well, at least not for cleaning products:)
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