The Miracle of Vinegar: 150 easy recipes and uses for home, health and beauty. Aggie MacKenzie
of your washing machine, but it won’t stop limescale forming on the jets if you live in a hard-water area. To clean the jets, mix equal parts clear vinegar and water. Remove the drawer, then scrub the solution onto the roof of the empty compartment. Now run an idle wash – have the drum empty, set the machine to the hottest programme and add the maximum dose of detergent.
SOFT TOWELS GUARANTEED
Overusing fabric conditioner will actually make towels less absorbent and hard. If there’s a build-up it never actually gets rinsed out, and every time you use the washing machine, more and more is added and gets left behind. This will eventually make coloured fabrics look dull and whites grey. To keep the fluff factor in your towels, check you’re using enough detergent and include softener only every second or third time you wash them. Other times, use the same amount of clear vinegar as you would conditioner – add half a cup to the first rinse (tip it into the detergent drawer while the machine is filling with water). This is how they launder them commercially, which is probably why hotel towels stay so fluffy (and no – they won’t smell vinegary). Finally, rinse and spin well (this way you’ll eject more hard-water impurities). Line-drying helps to keep fibres fluffy; radiators do the opposite.
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IT’S THE PITS
How annoying is it when the armpits of your favourite shirts turn yellow and hard from sweat, and after a while normal washing just won’t hack it? Soak the stained area overnight in a solution of half clear vinegar, half water, then machine-wash as normal.
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BACK TO BLACK
When a black item turns an unappealing shade of grey over a number of washes, chances are this is because of a build-up of detergent left in the fabric, rather than actual loss of black dye. To sort this, soak the item for a few hours in a sink filled with warm water with a little clear vinegar. Afterwards, rinse thoroughly and machine-wash as normal.
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SMOKE GETS UP YOUR NOSE
Admittedly this is not an everyday occurrence, but house fires do happen. If you’re in the unfortunate position of trying to rescue smoke-damaged clothes, bedlinen and towels that are stinking, first sprinkle everything with bicarbonate of soda, then machine-wash twice, adding a cupful of vinegar to the drum for each cycle. If possible, hang everything outside on a washing line (which will help to get rid of the smell).
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SEAL WITH A SPRITZ
Nasty germs and smelly mould can lurk in your washing-machine seal. Mix equal quantities of water and clear vinegar in a spray bottle and squirt onto the inside of the seal. Leave for a few minutes then wipe clean.
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LOOK AFTER YOUR IRON AND IT WILL LOOK AFTER YOU
Most steam irons nowadays have some type of self-cleaning or anti-calc system – use these once a month according to the instructions on the packet and from the manufacturer. If your iron doesn’t have this feature, pour equal parts clear vinegar and tap water into the reservoir until it’s about one-third full. Turn the heat to medium and allow the iron to steam for 5–10 minutes until all the vinegar evaporates. Switch off the iron, then fill the reservoir with fresh water. Turn on the iron again to flush through any leftover mineral deposits and vinegar. Switch off, allow to cool, then wipe the base with a soft clean cloth. If you think the steam vents are still clogged, clear with a cotton bud dipped in water with a little vinegar added. To help stop any future build-up of limescale, pour away excess water when you’ve finished ironing.
WOOD YOU BELIEVE IT?
Spray furniture polish is all well and good for a quick fix (and makes the place smell as if it’s been newly spring-cleaned), but in the long term layers of silicon in the polish can build up on wooden furniture and leave the surfaces annoyingly tacky. Instead, here’s a lovely natural treatment that won’t leave you with sticky surfaces. Mix together two-parts olive oil to one-part white wine vinegar and apply the tiniest amount to a soft cotton cloth. Apply a thin layer to the wood, leave for a few minutes, then buff to a sheen with another soft clean cloth. Solid-wood furniture needs a polish only about twice a year; use a teeny amount of wax and buff well to get a good shine. Dust regularly and treat any occasional sticky marks with a chamois leather wrung out in a solution of one-part clear vinegar to six-parts water.
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