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A Few Uses for Distilled Vinegar

Every kind of vinegar has some use to which it is especially suited.  White Vinegar is better than all of the others for cleaning, especially laundry. You can eliminate soap residue by adding about 1 cup of white vinegar to the washer's final rinse. Vinegar is so mild that it wonít harm fabrics but it is strong enough to dissolve the alkalis in soaps and detergents.

Vinegar is also good for breaking down uric acid in infants clothing,  so adding 1 cup vinegar to the rinse water will help get your baby clothes smelling fresh again.

In order to get wool and cotton blankets soft and fluffy as new, add a couple of cups of distilled vinegar to a full tub of rinse water. However you should be especially careful to rinse all of the bleach out of  your wash before adding vinegar.  Vinegar when added to chlorine will release harmful gasses.

If you want to whiten yellowed wool or silk: Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to 1 pint of water and sponge the item with this solution and rinse. Then wash the item as you normally would.

Cola stains can also be removed with white vinegar if you apply undiluted distilled vinegar directly to the stain within 24 hours and wash as usual.

Health and beauty
Many people with allergies who must use humidifiers use a 3-1 solution of white vinegar and water to clean their masks, hoses and humidifiers.  (That is 3 parts water to one part distilled vinegar). They are told to first clean the equipment with an antibacteerial soap then let it sit for 15 minutes in the vinegar solution as a second rinse. The instructions that comes with their mask and humidifiers often cite the vinegar solution as a necessary part of cleaning and it seems pretty standard.

Distilled vinegar is the vinegar of choice for treating, athletes foot, mosquito bite itch, head lice, jelly fish stings.