Ways to Save In the Kitchen With Vinegar

I keep a gallon of vinegar under the sink.  That may seem like a lot of vinegar to you but I use it every day.   I save money by buying it in gallons instead of little bottles. 

Using vinegar for household cleaning will save you money, but the greater benefit has to be less chemicals in your home. 

Dishwasher - Rinse Agent:  I had a dishwasher in our last home so I used vinegar in the place of Jet Dry or another rinse agent.  It works great and is so much more economical. 

Rinse Water Sanitizer:  In this house I don't have a dishwasher, but by placing a tablespoon or so of vinegar in my rinse water I am keeping my dishes, glasses and silverware spot free and germ free because it is a natural sanitizer.  

Dishrags or sponges:  After I finish doing the dishes I rinse out my dishrag in the vinegar rinse water and it keeps bacteria from growing.  I find that my dishrags don't get funky and stinky, and last much longer. 

Cutting Board Cleaner:  You can purchase a chemically loaded cutting board cleaner or you can naturally disinfect your cutting boards with vinegar.  This is a good feeling knowing that you can cut veggies an fruit on a cutting board and know that your family is safe from cross contamination.

Coffee Pot Cleaner:  Pour a couple cups of vinegar with some water into the water reservoir of your automatic coffee pot and then run a brew cycle and then another fresh water only brew cycle.  This will clean your coffee maker and keep the brew cycle running smooth. 

Keurig Cleaner:   The same method of descaling your coffee pot can be applied to your Keurig.  Fill the water reservoir tank with undiluted vinegar and run a brew cycle without a K-cup.  Make sure you have a cup to catch the vinegar water that brews through and discard afterwards.  This will also keep build up from ruining your machine and it's brew cycle.  So you should clean it periodically depending on how much you use it. 

Microwave Cleaner:  Put about a 1/4 of a cup of vinegar and a cup of water in a microwaveable safe dish or cup in the microwave and run it for about 3-4 minutes and then wipe down the inside of your microwave. 

Counter-top Cleaner:  Using the left over rinse water from doing dishes I can dip my dishrag in it and clean the counter tops after doing dishes.  This will clean and disinfect all at the same time.  I save water by using the rinse water for another purpose and save money by not buying a spray cleaner.  If you don't do dishes by hand or want to clean counter-tops at other times you can use 1 part vinegar and 1 part water.

Water Bottle Cleaner:  You can feel confident your water bottles are clean and sanitized when using vinegar to eliminate any bacteria from lingering. 

Stainless Steel Cleaner:  Plain  vinegar will remove remove hard water stains.  Mixing a bit of vinegar with some baking soda will really give a shine to your stainless steel or sink.   


There are many other ways to use vinegar in the kitchen like for cooking, drain unclogging, and making homemade orange cleaner.  We will dive into those tips later.  For now use these handy tips to keep your kitchen sparkling clean and green at the same time.