VINEGAR: MORE USES THAN YOU CAN SHAKE A STICK AT

Naturally, the French love their vinegar. Admittedly, my love for vinegar has grown. Sure, vinegar is used in cooking. Besides preparing mouthwatering and flavorful meals, there is an unlimited number of uses for vinegar.

Actually, apple vinegar is now used in my cooking because of dietary needs. As already mentioned, there are infinite uses for powerful and useful vinegar. These are some of my favorite uses of vinegar around the house that will help you get ready for the holidays. Granted! This is not a complete list.

Honestly, are your bathroom towels beginning to smell sour? Recently, mine were. Dilemma! What to do? Instantly, my memory went to work. This time, there was no need to do a google search, recalling an online laundry tip that was read. According to the article, you can use vinegar to soften and freshen up those smelly towels. With the holidays and company coming, you probably want to freshen up those towels for the guest bathroom.

When laundry day rolled around, the towels were washed in hot water with unscented laundry detergent (my preference). After the first washing, the towels were washed again with hot water and vinegar. Then, the towels were loaded into the dryer. Once the towels were dry, the white towels looked brighter, cleaner, softer, and smelled sweeter than before.

Besides freshening up towels, vinegar can be used to clean your washing machine. Periodically, the washing machine needs to be cleaned eliminating grime build-up. You can run the empty washing machine with hot water and vinegar to clean and refresh. Your washing machine will be ready for your next laundry day.

Outside our house, there were some weeds in the yard. Instead of an expensive weedkiller that is harmful to the environment, you guessed it. By applying the vinegar on the leaves of the plant or weed you are eliminating. It is highly recommended that you paint the leaves. Do not go spraying the vinegar on the weeds. You might kill the grass or other wanted vegetation. However, if the weeds are on the walkway cracks, fire at will!

While there aren't pets here in my home, my daughter has pets. When it comes to your pets, cats and dogs are often bothered by itchy scaley ears. If so, you can dilute 1 tablespoon of vinegar to 4 tablespoons of water and let it soak into a cleaning cloth. You can use the cleaning cloth to wipe out the inside of your cat's or dog's ears.

Hopefully, it will never happen, but if your pet gets sprayed by a skunk, you can always use vinegar which is an acid to get rid of the smell.

Besides indoor windows and mirrors in your home, you can clean your car's windows and mirrors with vinegar. If you are picking up holiday guests at the airport, bus station, or train station, you want to have your car looking its absolute best.

Also, you can use a few squirts of undiluted white vinegar to remove bumper stickers, reapplying as often as needed to remove the sticker.

Are you using bleach to clean the dirty discolored tile, grout, and caulk? Stop it! You should be using vinegar for cleaning the tiles and grout. Besides, vinegar is safer than bleach! All you have to do is spray full-strength vinegar onto your bathroom or kitchen tile and grout. Waiting an hour and giving the vinegar time to work its magic, then you can scrub tile and grout off with a micro cloth or brush. Your kitchen and bathroom will look fantastic for your holiday guest.

Don't forget the microwave needs to be cleaned. My experience has been that holiday guests do take notice of how clean the microwave is. Better clean it! Vinegar is one of the best ways to clean the microwave. With my Angry Mama Microwave Cleaner that was purchased at the Container Store, you simply fill to line with vinegar add some water to the next line. Placing the Angry Mama in the center, set the microwave for a minute or two. Then, with paper towels, you simply wipe clean. Easy Peasy!

Before purchasing a new Bosch dishwasher a few years ago, the old dishwasher had been a pain in the butt. After three repairs on the machine, the dishwasher just wasn't doing its job. In fact, the glasses, dishes, and silverware were looking dinghy and grubby, to say the least.

In order to make my glasses, dishes, and silverware look clean, a few drops of vinegar were dropped on a white dish towel or paper towel, wiping the glasses and dishes until they shined.

Also, when the dishwasher is doing an unsatisfactory job, you can give the dishes an extra rinse, you can fill a container with warm water and vinegar two parts vinegar to one part water. Place the dishes, glasses, and silverware, into the solution. Then, you dry with a cotton dishtowel, giving them an extra sparkle. With holiday guests, you might want to add some sparkle to your best holiday dishes.

Decorating your home for the holiday with flowers, you can keep them longer. Really! Using equal parts vinegar and sugar about two tablespoons in an average size vase of water, you can enjoy your fresh-cut flowers longer. The vinegar prevents bacteria and flowers love glucose.

With all the mineral build-up in the coffee maker, the task seems hard. It doesn't have to be a difficult job. Next time the coffee maker needs to be cleaned which should be about every three months. You can fill the water chamber with equal parts water and white vinegar and start the brew cycle, pausing halfway thru the cycle and letting the vinegar work its magic cleaning and disinfecting. Wait about thirty minutes, let the coffee maker complete the cycle, and let it cool. Ready to make a fresh pot of coffee for your holiday guest!

Remember, vinegar isn't just for cooking. If there is a bottle of vinegar in your pantry, put it to use. If not, vinegar should be on your shopping list. Vinegar has more uses than you can shake a stick at.

Author's notes: Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this piece, please leave a heart. Tips aren't mandatory, but if you can, it's appreciated. Happy Holidays!