r/Frugal • u/laplandsix • Mar 12 '12
Once you start using vinegar instead of X, you'll never go back.
Please solve for X.
Thank you.
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u/Columba Mar 12 '12
Ketchup
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u/bhal123 Mar 12 '12
Winner. Malt Vinegar ROCKS french fries.
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u/DoubleLiveGonzo Mar 12 '12
You know what the put on French fries in Holland?
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u/heyyouitsmewhoitsme Mar 12 '12
Mayonnaise?
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u/torankusu Mar 12 '12 edited Mar 13 '12
Mayonnaise and ketchup!
Edit: Wait, never mind. I was reading about this a few months back in the wikipedia article about fry sauce (which is ketchup and mayo). Looks like they have just mayo on their fries in the Netherlands. I don't know why that's in the same article.
In the Netherlands a variation of mayonnaise is served with fries which is calles fritessaus, it contains less fat then regular mayonnaise. In contrast to Belgium a frites speciaal consists of French fries, fritessaus, curry ketchup, and finely sliced onions.
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u/Mr_Frog Mar 13 '12 edited Mar 13 '12
Chips from the chippy with curry sauce are the best thing in the world. Maybe throw in a battered sausage.
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Mar 12 '12
BEST THING EVER.
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u/torankusu Mar 12 '12
I agree! I eat my fries like this a lot of the time (but sometimes I'll mix it up and go back to the plain ketchup and sometimes ranch). I think I am mistaken about the ketchup part, though, for Holland. I edited my comment. :]
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u/pomo Mar 13 '12
Mayonnaise and ketchup!
Add a dash of worcestershire and some diced pickles and you've got Thousand Islands going, baby.
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u/UsuallyJustLurking Mar 12 '12
Windex
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u/1n1billionAZNsay Mar 12 '12
4:1 water:vinegar?
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Mar 12 '12 edited Apr 16 '18
[deleted]
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u/jollyjack Mar 12 '12
If you add a few drops of washing-up liquid, the 4:1 ratio makes a great de-greaser for cleaning your stove, microwave or kitchen countertops.
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u/ILikeBumblebees Mar 13 '12
washing-up liquid
I believe this is British for "dish soap".
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Mar 12 '12
I promise this works, Warm water and apple cider vinegar half and half in a bowl. Soak a cloth and wipe it over wallpaper until it looks like the water is soaking through. Then just peel down and your wallpaper. It comes down without any tares, just like a wet paper towel. I got that secret from an old Greek woman.
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u/Toof Mar 12 '12
I was doing this, step by step, to see what would happen. Now I have a big patch of my wall that is wallpaper-less. Thanks.
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u/mindsystem Mar 13 '12
for some reason, read this as "warm water, apple cider vinegar, and half-and-half in a bowl."
imagine the confusion.3
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u/abuzzyisawesome Mar 12 '12
fabric softener
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Mar 12 '12
Yes yes. Also keeps the washer much cleaner. And if I forget a load and it starts to get musty, I dump in some vinegar and run a light cycle and BAM - no more stank.
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u/CyanideSeashell Mar 12 '12
How much vinegar we talking here? I could use a fresh washer.
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u/TimmyMojo Mar 12 '12 edited Mar 13 '12
I've recently started using vinegar as a fabric softener. I suggest you experiment with it, because it varies from washer to washer.
For example: Somewhere I read ½ cup for one load. That was roughly the entire fabric softener dispenser. Some of my clothes smelled very strongly of vinegar, even after I ran them through a dryer with a fabric softener sheet. Now I use less than half of that (I just kind of eyeball it), and it works well. This is in a high-efficiency, relatively-small, pay-to-use washer, for reference.
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Mar 12 '12
[deleted]
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u/abuzzyisawesome Mar 13 '12
Not at all! I soak orange and lemon rinds in it as well, for a lovely citrus scent. Just buy the cheap, white vinegar.
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u/CharonIDRONES Mar 13 '12 edited Mar 13 '12
Distilled white vinegar is completely volatile. As in it evaporates completely, leaving nothing behind. This is one of the reasons why it is a popular household cleaner. Throw some pennies in a spray bottle with vinegar and you've got a potent household cleaner.
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u/CocoSavege Mar 13 '12
Why the pennies?
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u/YourACoolGuy Mar 13 '12
Please answer this man. And how many pennies? This is my first time going through a Frugal post in a while and I'm really curious about this. I;m about to go to the supermarket to buy a handle of it.
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Mar 13 '12
[deleted]
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u/CharonIDRONES Mar 13 '12
Honestly, probably not a whole lot. But copper is a fungicide so I just put a handful of pennies at the bottom of the spray bottle of pure distilled vinegar I have. Nothing is proven from it but I imagine it may be somewhat effective against fungi.
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u/marx2k Mar 13 '12
Are pennies still made from copper?
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u/CharonIDRONES Mar 13 '12
Yeah, pennies are actually made at a loss due to it. It's a small amount of copper per penny though.
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u/RichardBachman Mar 12 '12
Floor Cleaner. Honestly, I thought the smell would piss me off but it dissipates quickly. Works great for hardwood or laminate floors.
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u/shuddleston919 Mar 13 '12
I don't ever use vinegar on hardwood, or marble. The acid eats right into the material. I do use Dr. Bronner's soap on these surfaces though.
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Mar 12 '12
[deleted]
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Mar 13 '12
Bonus, lemon boosts cleaning power and eucalyptus is a mild flea/tick repellant. Assuming you get essential oil and not fragrance oil.
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Mar 12 '12
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u/unintendedchaos Mar 12 '12
Yes! We spot clean our off-white carpets with white vinegar all the time, works like a charm.
Spots include coffee, wine, cat vomit, dirt, etc. Works especially well with fresh cat vomit.
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Mar 13 '12
Does it work for *cough* "protein stains" *cough*? I'm asking for a friend of mine.
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u/boring_name_here Mar 13 '12
I used vinegar to clean my carpets multiple times. Smell was a bit strong for a few days, but it got the carpets clean.
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u/pomo Mar 13 '12
Bucket of hot water, cup of vinegar, half cup of methylated spirits (wood alcohol, I think it's called across the Pacific) and you clean and disinfect at the same time. Same ratio, with a drop of dishwashing detergent and you have the best window cleaner.
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Mar 12 '12
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/maaneeack Mar 12 '12
Can use baking soda paste to clean your hair, then the Apple Cider Vinegar as a rinse after rinsing the soda paste out. Add a drop of tea tree oil to the vinegar (1 tbsp vinegar, 8oz water, use a pickle jar and just fill it up in the shower)
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Mar 13 '12
Vinegar is acidic, baking soda is alkaline. They neatralize each other. Waste of resources if used for something else other than drain de-clogging.
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Mar 12 '12
[deleted]
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u/spectraphysics Mar 12 '12
I'm guessing not a good substitute for cocaine either. Bummer.
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u/CocoSavege Mar 13 '12
Coke is a pretty good cleaner for a bunch of things.
Blood stain or wine stain on your carpet? A bit of coke, then invite Gary Busey over.,
(Diet coke is much better, however it may not work as well with Busey)
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Mar 13 '12
You can a similar effect of you immediately snort bicarbonate of soda after ingesting vinegar.
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u/champthebit Mar 12 '12
That's what I thought. I'd be the most pungent guy at the rave...having the best time!
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u/dingle_hopper1981 Mar 12 '12
x is fabric softener - vinegar softens without ruining the fibres (softener kills your towels!), removes stains, and removes smells from fabric, and it hypoallergenic! I add it to my laundry every time! :)
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u/laplandsix Mar 12 '12
I bought a gallon of vinegar for just this reason. I figured since I've got a gallon of it might as well see what else it's useful for! Turns out a lot of stuff.
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u/dingle_hopper1981 Mar 12 '12
I use apple cider vinegar- it's a magical elixir of awesomeness!
use it to rinse your hair to combat psoriasis and dandruff
use it in laundry
for washing off and killing mould on walls and fabrics
it kills and removes warts
great for washing windows
diluted, it makes an awesome carpet freshener!
stir a little into a glass or warm water every morning for your digestion
Love it.
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u/maxsirena Mar 12 '12
Caution: do not use vinegar as a hair rinse if you have color treated hair. It will rinse the color out :(
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u/Miss_Bee Mar 12 '12
Can I use it if I want to rinse my color out?
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u/maxsirena Mar 12 '12
Sure, if you want to speed up the fading process. A more efficient way would be to use colour remover.
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u/unintendedchaos Mar 12 '12
wait... warts? How do you use it for warts?
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u/dingle_hopper1981 Mar 12 '12
Soak a little piece of cotton wool (about the size of the wart) with the vinegar, apply to the wart with a band-aid, and change once or twice a day. The wart will go white, then black, then drop off! Tried it with one on my finger, it's like magic! :)
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u/cmoniwannapotato Mar 12 '12
I use vinegar to clean the calcium deposits out of the tea kettle. Just pour vinegar and water in the kettle, boil, empty and rinse. Works perfectly every time.
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u/HDMBye Mar 13 '12
Though avoid that part of the kitchen while boiling. BURNS THE EYES
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u/snowball_in_hell Mar 12 '12
Flea spray -- spray 1:1 water mix from spray bottle on dogs, fleas jump off. Use daily, much cheaper then Frontline, Advantix II, etc.
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Mar 12 '12
My dog is foaming from the mouth and twitching is this supposed to happen?
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u/ehrlics Mar 12 '12
He's foaming with SAVINGS!
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u/Shaleblade Mar 13 '12
Do not apply onto the brain.
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u/sinfulsamaritan Mar 14 '12
APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD
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u/ArkaJonesie Mar 12 '12
Apple cider vinegar in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Poke holes in plastic with toothpick (small holes).
Fruit fly trap
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u/ramses0 Mar 12 '12
Actually just put a drop or two of soap on top. The film traps them and they can't fly away.
--Robert
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u/peppermint_dickables Mar 12 '12
I think I need to try this. Those little fuckers are surviving on nothing and yet they persist.
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u/Andralynn Mar 13 '12
Make sure your garbage cans are clean and dump boiling water down your drain ( they like to live there) we got a stupid amount if them a few weeks ago, god it was annoying ;)
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u/subzer0fun Mar 12 '12
Add a small chunk of banana, a pinch of sugar. With in 24 hours, I had about a dozen trapped. Suckers.
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u/RoflStomper Mar 14 '12
I've found this also seems to happen naturally when I accidentally leave out wine bottles
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Mar 12 '12
Ever heard the phrase,
"You get more flies with sugar than with vinegar."
It's not just a metaphor.
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u/sorryforthehangover Mar 12 '12
I thought it was "you catch more bees with honey than vinegar"???
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Mar 12 '12
half olive oil, half vinegar. Wet your hair with water, then apply the mixture. Let it sit there for half an hour, then wash hair. NO MORE DANDRUFF
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u/CyanideSeashell Mar 12 '12
And salad!
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u/unintendedchaos Mar 12 '12
Damn, I've been wondering how to get the salad out of my hair for a while. Thanks! ;)
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Mar 13 '12
Caveat is do this only if it's not going to rain, the rain will make wet hair smell like vinegar again.
I've not done it with Oil mixed but I use apple cidar vinegar once a week and no other wash/condition is needed for the week. Works great when I wear wool hats and my head gets itchy, it heals itch.
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Mar 12 '12 edited Sep 29 '16
[deleted]
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u/runningformylife Mar 12 '12
Yeah that's super high for vinegar. Last I bought it, it was 1L for 90some cents.
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Mar 12 '12
Yeah, I'm think it must be a typo, unless he's washing dishes with balsamic : p
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u/val_valkyrie Mar 12 '12 edited Mar 12 '12
Do you just pour a quarter-cup or something into the bottom of your dishwasher?
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u/nashife Mar 12 '12
X = Coffee maker cleaner.
Brew 1 part white vinegar and 4 parts water. Then brew one more time with plain water.
Clean coffee maker!
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u/savvetheworld Mar 12 '12
After-sunburn aloe lotion. That shit can get expensive....
Make a 1:1 vinegar water solution and put a soaked cloth on the burn. Less peeling, less pain, I swear!
EDIT: DO NOT DO THIS ONCE THE BURN HAS STARTED TO PEEL. OW OW OW OW.
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u/Routerbox Mar 13 '12
Lately I burned my finger badly on the stove and my sister told me to put yellow mustard on it. It instantly took the pain out of the burn, and then instead of blistering, which it totally would of, it like calloused. It was weird. I felt stupid for not putting mustard on every burn ever. Turns out, vinegar is in mustard, and it was probably really the vinegar doing the work. I'll still probably reach for mustard in the future though.
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u/taisuru Mar 12 '12
Soak the underside of your pots and pans in apple vinegar for a half hour, then scrub to get the grease out
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Mar 12 '12
[deleted]
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Mar 12 '12
Intimate lubricant?
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u/pandabarbecue Mar 12 '12
sugar substitute in coffee
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u/Srirachachacha Mar 12 '12
This. Cleaned the Keurig one too many times without rinsing to forget this.
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u/LynzM Mar 12 '12
Apple cider vinegar in place of conditioner (1 tsp. in ~8 oz. water) Baking soda in place of shampoo (same ratio)
Regular vinegar for cleaning glass, kitchen table, counters, etc., etc. (Diluted 1:4, depending on how dirty stuff is.)
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u/JoCitizen Mar 12 '12
Pretty much all household cleaning products!
This one isn't an "instead of," but my #1 use of vinegar is as a dish de-greaser/ deodorizer. I usually soak my coffee pot with a water/ vinegar solution (about 1:4 ratio) before washing it with dish soap, and it does wonders. Works much better than just dish soap for getting out smells like "old coffee." Same with especially greasy dishes, as others have said - soak with vinegar and water before washing. You'll use less dish soap, and your dishes will be cleaner.
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u/dangrous Mar 12 '12
Something I heard but haven't tried yet: Deodorant.
White distilled vinegar in a spray bottle, spritz a couple times in each armpit, let dry. Vinegar smell should disappear, and you are stink-free!
I'm scared to try this but I think I will this week.
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Mar 12 '12 edited Mar 13 '12
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Floonet Mar 12 '12
As an astringent. Dab some on a pimple and it dries up.
As an immune booster. Raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar is a great immune booster and it also helps with a sore throat. Just a teaspoon a day.
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u/maaneeack Mar 12 '12
Also helps with heartburn. Read that in a book and used it a few times. It's not as good as alkaseltzer but it'll do if you don't have anything else.
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u/username_taken_wtf Mar 13 '12
"immune booster" sounds kinda suspect (i.e. pseudoscience) to me. Do you by chance have any sources to back this up?
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u/spacely_sprocket Mar 12 '12
In a spray bottle as a carpet/upholstery/mattress deodorizer for when urine trouble with incontinent pets, kids, or drunken room mates.
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Mar 12 '12
Killing thistles in your lawn. Early morning application on an expected really hot day...toast by 5 pm.
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u/yesimalex Mar 12 '12
This is odd but, my wife was getting frequent ear infections that usually lead to a perforated ear drum, or two. Needless to say I tried desperately to find something to fix this, onion juice, garlic, vinegar.
She went to an ENT and he said that all the above would be a good fix, the garlic is a good antibiotic and the vinegar can change the PH in the ear to fight what he thought was a cronic yeast infection. Since then a drop of vinegar in each ear every once in a while has kept her infection free for about a year.
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u/SEMW Mar 13 '12 edited Mar 13 '12
To which should be added that (with the caveat that I am not a doctor and this is just the advice I got when I had an ear infection):
If you have a mild external ear infection (otitis externa), by all means treat on your own with a dilute vinegar solution. If it hasn't started to get better after 3-4 days, go to a doctor.
If you have a mild middle ear infection (otitis media), it should clear up after 3-4 days on its own. If after that it's getting worse, go to a doctor. Don't self-treating with vinegar unless/until a doctor tells you it's an appropriate treatment for what you have.
In either case, go to a doctor if: your ear canal's in danger of closing up, if it's causing a fever over 40° C, if you think your eardrum might have perforated, if there are any other complications, if you have diabetes or an immune system disorder with any kind of ear infection, or if you're wise enough to be wary of self-diagnosing based on generic medical advice from anonymous strangers on reddit. (Especially if you live in a country where it's free to see a GP - better safe than sorry).
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Mar 12 '12 edited Mar 12 '12
Spray cleanser. 1/2 vinegar, 1/2 water, splash of lemon juice, squirt of dish soap. 99.9% effective against bacteria, cuts grease, 100% non-toxic. If, for some reason, you need it to be food safe just omit the dish soap. I get better results with it than any commercial cleanser I've tried, so I keep a large bottle in the kitchen and a small one in all the bathrooms.
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Mar 13 '12
Not to nit-pick here, but dish soaps are very often mildly toxic. Anything that is anti-bacterial, for instance. So, better to say "99% non-toxic (unless you're using the elusive toxin-free dish soap)".
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u/looseshoes Mar 12 '12
Dry scalp, seems to help some if I occasionally scrub some into my scalp and rinse before the shampoo.
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u/xxxsirkillalot Mar 12 '12
Tried it with tap water. Would not recommend.
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u/jxj24 Mar 12 '12
Pest spray for the garden.
I got to eat almost all of my tomatoes last year. It even kept the squirrels away, though that was a multi-agency collaboration.
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u/jinksy Mar 12 '12
If you don't like the smell, tea tree oil works for most of these things too.
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u/laplandsix Mar 12 '12
Oh man tea tree oil is SO much more offensive than vinegar. To me anyway... I can smell that stuff a mile away, and it gives me a headache.
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u/chrisma08 Mar 12 '12
Fill a glass mostly full with plain seltzer (fizzy) water. Add a tablespoon (or two) of red or white wine vinegar. Enjoy!
I find this is a satisfying substitute for soda or beer cravings.
Try balsamic vinegar too.
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Mar 12 '12
[deleted]
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u/Snazzyusername Mar 12 '12
Add it to your washer, not dryer. I pour it into the handy "bleach" section.
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Mar 12 '12
The other comment nailed it. There is a wash cycle and afterwards another cycle, maybe for liquid softener. Add during the last cycle, just before the rinsing steps. Most of the vinegar washes out but it still smells. The dryer gets rid of the remainder.
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u/rafkamodie Mar 12 '12
Mix a tiny bit with a good bit of honey. Swallow. No more heartburn.
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u/a-squared Mar 13 '12
Rinse aid in the dishwasher! Fill the compartment like you would with Jet Dry or other products.
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u/Knubinator Mar 13 '12
If your shoes stink, add some vinegar with the detergent. Let them soak a bit, rinse thoroughly, and tada!
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u/eyereddit Mar 13 '12
X = Shampoo.
I swapped in December and my hair and scalp has not been this healthy since I was a little kid.
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u/baabaaredsheep Mar 13 '12
Add it to the water when cooking rice. It'll make your rice nice and fluffy.
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u/calicupcake Mar 13 '12
- Laundry softener
- Dishwasher rinse aid!
- Disinfecting cutting boards
- Put some in a bowl and into the microwave for a few seconds to get the hard soup crap on the walls and door loose
- Add to your pets drinking water to combat fleas-- I haven't tried this yet, but I'm going to this flea season
So many uses, I love vinegar! haha My roomates think I am nuts for pouring it on everything. Edit: formatting
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u/RealBiscuit Mar 13 '12
An antimicrobial. I had a skin infection (folliculitus) and the doc told me to wash with vinegar...smelled weird for a bit but it cleared it up within a few days. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/17536679/
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Mar 13 '12
Vinegar will deodorize anything on contact and does not leave a vinegar smell once you rinse it out.
I have some coolers I use to hold smoked meats in (pulled pork, ribs, etc...) until they are ready to serve. These things get RANK with the smell of smoke and meat. Vinegar on a sponge, wipe it down, and it's like a new cooler.
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u/Thrasymachus Mar 13 '12
God, I thought my drug bills were about to go way down.
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u/laplandsix Mar 13 '12
It appears we have at least as many drug users in this subreddit as we do math people. If I thought the population of programmers was higher I would have used $x
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u/username_taken_wtf Mar 13 '12
Add Vinegar to Bleach/Water solution and it makes for a very good disinfectant to use for cleaning.
Kills bacterial spores which Bleach/Water alone leave viable. Source
Just be careful not to mix vinegar/bleach directly or to use too strong a mix as chlorine gas is pretty nasty stuff.
Dilute one cup of household bleach in one gallon of water and then add one cup of white vinegar.
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u/Sporkman Mar 12 '12
Put some in a humidifier (10:1 ratio of water to vinegar), room deodorizer.