Thrifty Thursday: Uses for Vinegar

I use vinegar for more uses every day!!  I am truly amazed when I think about all the things that I do with vinegar, especially since I never used to use or buy it.  Now I use about a jug a month!  Do you use vinegar at your house??  I would love to hear what you use it for so make sure you leave a note so that I can try out your family tricks too.

1.  Use in washing machine: 

I use white vinegar in washing machine to take the smells from clothes.  I don't know if any one out there has stinky kids (or husband) and need to make sure that clothes come out smelling clean with out using chemicals or fabric softener to cover the smells.  It works great!

2.  Salad dressing and marinades: 

I made salad dressing for the first time in a long time from scratch.  It was amazing!!!  Check out the recipe here!

3.  Cleaning, Cleaning and more cleaning: 

I cleaned my humidifier to put it away for the winter.  The vinegar helps take away the water scale build up.  We did it during the year but we took the toothbrush to it and cleaned it all up to pack away.  Then, I poured the vinegar in a bag and soaked my shower head in it to take away the water scale build up.  I took it out and used the vinegar to clean the shower.  It helped clean off a lot of things that I couldn't get off with the normal cleaner.  Then, I had to clean out the sponges that I used so I cleaned the sink at the same time.  Lastly, I poured a little in the toilet and scrubbed a little to remove the yuck.  Now, I have lots more clean things with just one little bottle of vinegar and I have a little left to keep going!!

4. Sour Milk Substitute:

If you put a little vinegar in milk, it sours the milk so that you can use it in recipes requiring sour milk or even buttermilk if it works with your recipe.  My grandmothers chocolate cake recipe calls for sour milk and if I don't have any, this is what I do!!

5. Dishwasher Rinse Agent:

I use Jet Dry or Cascade Rinse agent in my dishwasher when I have gotten it nearly free but if not it is horribly expensive.  When I run out, I put vinegar in my dishwasher and makes a big difference.  Things are more dry and less spotty so I will continue to add the vinegar to the dishwasher.

There are tons of blogs and websites out there with helpful hints on the vinegar uses like Readers Digest or Vinegartips.com which give you more uses than I could ever think of to use vinegar for.  I can't wait to find some more uses and add them to my list of what I personally do with vinegar!!