Both men and women have been using vinegar around the home and workplace for centuries. Because of its smell many people today don't consider it to be a good way to clean or enhance everyday materials any more, yet the smell rarely lingers when used correctly. Due to its acidic nature, vinegar is the perfect natural way to carry out everyday tasks without resorting to cleaners that contain harmful chemicals. In many cases it actually does a better job that household cleaners available at supermarkets and it doesn't leave a residue either. There are thousands of uses for it, but here is our list of ten of the best ways to use white distilled vinegar...

1. Remove fruit and vegetable stains from your hands by washing them with vinegar. This method is ideal for when you've been cooking with beetroot or picking blackberries.

2. Make cleaning your over ten times easier by wiping it down with vinegar before scrubbing. The acid in the vinegar cuts through the grease much better than foul smelling oven cleaner and can be rinsed off more easily too.

3. Make leather clothing shiny again by heating up a cup of vinegar and wiping it over the garment with a cloth. Afterwards, rinse off with warm soapy water and hang up to dry.

4. You can keep cloth nappies smelling fresh in the wash by soaking them in your normal water solution, plus a few (around 5) cups of vinegar thrown in.

5. Mix one teaspoon of mint sauce with one teaspoon of vinegar to make your jar last twice as long. The taste really isn't all that different. Once your jar of mint sauce gets down to being half full, simply fill it up with vinegar.

6. Absorb nasty smells in one room by shutting the doors and windows and placing a bowl of vinegar in the center for 24 hours. Follow this method up with a scented candle or by burning essential oils to prevent the nasty smell from returning to your now neutralised room.

7. If you've just been painting the walls around tiles, white goods or glass and have accidentally gone over the edges, then wipe off the splatters and misses with a dab of vinegar on a cloth. This will also remove paint from the walls if you wipe there too, so be careful.

8. Remove ice from the car windows and your front step by spraying a mixture of 3 tablespoons vinegar to 1 tablespoon water on them. The acid melts the ice so it's no longer dangerous or obstructing your view.

9. Clean mould from rodent water bottles by rinsing with vinegar before rinsing with water. This removes the need to buy a baby bottle brush or spending ages swishing and shaking water around in them.

10. Drinking one tablespoon of vinegar (apple cider is best) can help some kinds of heartburn (where there is a lack of stomach acid) although be careful, as it can make some cases worse.

Stan Tian

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