Wash Clothes in Vinegar

How to wash clothes on the cheap: use vinegar.

When you think of washing clothes you usually don't think about using vinegar. Well, here's a laundry tip: vinegar is a safe and natural way to clean your clothes. Adding vinegar to your wash can help remove soap and chemical build up, make colors last longer and prevent static cling. Vinegar can make your towels fluffier and your nylons last longer. Vinegar can also remove those pesky stains such as wine, ketchup, coffee, tea, or even deodorant marks.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• White vinegar
• Water
• Soft bristled brush
• Dirty clothes

How to Clean Your Clothes Better - and Cheaper

1. Pre-treat stains such as chocolate, jelly, jam, fruit, wine, coffee, tea, or deodorant with white vinegar. Allow the vinegar to penetrate the fabric for ten minutes, give the stains a gentle scrubbing with a soft bristled brush, and launder as usual.

2. Soak new clothes in 1/2 cup of vinegar and 1 gallon of water for one hour prior to wearing them. Launder the clothing as usual. This removes any chemicals the clothing was treated with prior to their purchase.

3. Soak your (new) colored clothing in one cup of vinegar and one gallon of water for ten minutes to prevent them from bleeding in the wash. Launder as usual.

4. Add 1 cup of vinegar to the start of your laundry cycle when washing towels.

   Laundry tip: this will help your towels come out fluffier then ever before.

5. Add 1/2 cup of vinegar in the final rinse cycle to prevent lint and pet hair buildup, brighten fabrics and prevent static cling.

6. Add 1 cup of vinegar to the final rinse cycle to dissolve the alkalies that soap and detergents can leave behind on your clothes. Your clothing will no longer have the stiff residue of soap buildup that some detergents leave behind.

7. Add 2 cups of vinegar to the final rinse cycle when washing sheets and blankets. This will remove all soapy buildup that has accumulated over time and leave your blankets softer and fluffier then they have been in a long time.

8. Add 1 cup of vinegar to an empty washing machine and run it through a normal wash cycle once a month. This removes all soapy residue that has accumulated in your washing machine.

Tips & Warnings

• Soaking your clothing in equal parts vinegar and water will help remove any offending odors that have been absorbed into the fabric.

• If you're wondering how to remove mildew from clothes, pre-treating them in vinegar before you wash is the answer.

• Vinegar is not guaranteed to remove all stains.

Resources

• The Vinegar Institue