White vinegar, for the most part, is useful; it can be used on a lot of things and can be a great benefit to your laundry routine. It does live up to its effective cleaning reputation but for other things, it can cause more damage than good. To save yourself from trouble and cleaning headaches, here is our list of 5 things you shouldn’t clean with vinegar.
1. Washing Machine
From time to time, your washing machine does need cleaning and it’s a task we strongly recommend you undertake. However, the washing machine is on our list of things you shouldn’t clean with vinegar. The reason being is that the plastic and rubber parts of the washing machine can be corroded due to the vinegar. If this happens, the appliance will have leaking problems
2. Egg Stains
We all love eggs for our breakfast but hate the feeling of dropping them and making a mess. You should avoid using vinegar to clean up the mess as this will only make the egg stains thicker and harder to remove.
Fortunately, we have ‘cracked the code’ on properly removing egg stains in our blog here.
If you do encounter any egg stains, just get in touch with Laundryheap and we’ll remove them for you!
3. Mirrors
You should also avoid using vinegar to clean your mirror – be it in the bathroom or wardrobe mirror because it will only corrode the glass and ruin the reflection quality because dark spots will form.
Instead, use spray cleaning products to clean your mirrors.
4. Electronic Screens
Using vinegar on your electronic screens like TV, phones or MacBooks will cause scratches to form because vinegar damages the coating. Instead, use a cloth to wipe off any dust carefully.
5. Steam Irons
Vinegar may be useful when getting rid of the limescale inside your kettle but when it comes to steam irons, you should avoid using vinegar to clean them.
Irons have metal, plastic, and rubber inside them and unfortunately, these will be eroded if you add vinegar to your tank to clean them.
To properly take care of your irons, we recommend reading the cleaning instructions in the manual to be on the safe side.
Vinegar is popular among many households for its ability to cook and clean. It is versatile.
We hope our blog has given you more knowledge on the 5 things you shouldn’t clean with vinegar.
There is nothing worse than waking up the morning of a job interview, to find your smart shirt is wrinkled and there is no iron in the house. Similarly, you could be on a business trip and discover the hotel iron is out of use 15 minutes before your important meeting.
As harrowing as all these situations sound, there is no need to panic. There are many ways to de-wrinkle your clothing without an iron in sight. Not many things give off a worse first impression than wrinkly clothes, but this list will ensure you don’t need to freak out next time you find yourself without an iron.
Use Your Hair Straighteners
Hair Dryer
Use A Cooking Pot To Iron
Hang Your Clothes In The Shower
Use A Tumble Dryer And Some Ice Cubes
Invest In A Clothes Steamer
The Damp Towel Technique
Apply Some Vinegar
Let Us Sort It Out
Use you hair straighteners
Hair straighteners don’t just straighten hair, crazy right? In fact, in the 50s and 60s, women would straighten there hair with an actual iron. We are here to reverse that trend and bring it to the year 2020.
Using the hair straightener as an iron can be especially useful on the collar, cuffs and placket of your shirts. So, next time you are in a rush and need to straighten out the collar on your favourite business shirt, look no further than your trusty hair straighteners!
Use a hairdryer
Don’t have hair straighteners at hand either? That’s OK. How about trying the hairdryer? Another great way to de-wrinkle your clothes is by using a hairdryer to shoot concentrated bursts of hot air onto the wrinkled area of your clothes.
This technique is particularly efficient when used on dresses with annoying creases in them. Firstly, you lightly dampen the wrinkled area of the dress. Next, you set the hairdryer to the lowest available setting and blow on the dress from 1-2 inches away. Be sure to keep the hairdryer a fair distance away, as you don’t want to scorch the fabric. Do this until the wrinkles straighten out.
Hang your clothes in the shower
This technique is probably the most well known of all the options on this list. Often the first plan of action when there is no iron available, the shower trick is particularly useful when travelling and finding yourself at the mercy of hotel appliances.
So, if your hotel room lacks an iron, instead of asking for one at the front desk, why not just hang your creased clothes in the shower? Just turn the heat up and let the hot steam fill the room – this will help your clothes release any annoying creases. Afterwards, your clothes might be a little damp from the steam. Just hang them out to dry for ten minutes, once you come back, you won’t ever want to use an iron again!
Use A Cooking Pot To Iron
Using a cooking pot to get rid of tough creases is one of the oldest tricks in the book. That’s right, the same pot you would boil your potatoes in, makes for the perfect ironing tool.
All you have to do is make sure the bottom of the pot is nice and clean, boil some water and then pour it out. From there, you use the bottom of the pot in the same way you would use an iron, running it over the wrinkled areas. The steam from the pot will run out, so you have to make sure you are quick to ensure you have enough steam for all the creases.
A Tumble Dryer And Some Ice Cubes
Without a doubt the strangest suggestion on this list, but bear with us. Try throwing a wrinkled item of clothing in the tumble dryer with a few ice cubes and run on high for a couple of minutes.
As the ice starts to melt it will create steam, this will de-wrinkle your clothes, leaving you with a creaseless shirt. Don’t believe us? Try it yourself.
Invest in a clothes steamer
A clothes steamer is the most effective way to iron clothes – even more so than using a conventional iron. Most retail stores use clothes steamers to remove creases from their clothes as opposed to irons.
The only downside to a clothes steamer is that they don’t come cheap, buying a clothes steamer will cost you considerably more than buying an iron. Also, be careful not to burn yourself on the steam!
The damp towel technique
The moist towel process is a simple, easy-to-do tip. All you have to do is place your wrinkled garment on a clean surface. Next, put a moist towel flat on top of the garment. Using your hands, press your hands on the towel and smooth out the affected area. It’s as simple as that!
White vinegar works well when trying to eradicate wrinkles from your clothes. All you have to do is mist your clothes with one part vinegar and three parts water. Finish off by leaving the clothes to air-dry for crisp, smart looking clothes.
Hire a professional
If after reading this post you still don’t feel confident ironing your clothes without an iron, then maybe it’s time to seek professional help. Laundryheap can collect your clothes in 30 minutes and have them returned to you within 24 hours. All with no delivery fees.
Distilled white vinegar is one of the best natural stain removers that can be found in almost every household. The acetic acid in the vinegar is mild, so it does just enough to remove stains without ruining your clothing.
Pre-Soak Stains With Vinegar
To remove stains with vinegar via pre-treating, you can dilute the vinegar with water (vinegar 1:3 Water) or soak in undiluted vinegar and allow garments to soak between 15-30 mins or even overnight depending on the stubbornness of the stain.
Here are few pre-treating methods for tough stains you can remove with vinegar:
Coffee/tea Stain – soak in solution of 1/3 vinegar to 2/3 water.
Grass stain- soak in undiluted vinegar for 30 mins.
Gum stain- soak in undiluted vinegar for 15 mins.
Juice stain- soak in 1/3 vinegar and 2/3 water.
Vomit stain- soak in undiluted vinegar.
Spot Treat Stains With Vinegar
For stains that are a little tougher to remove, you can either pour vinegar directly onto the stain and let it soak up or rub the vinegar into the stain and let it soak up. Leave to soak for as long as necessary. You can also make a spot treat paste by adding baking soda to a mixture of water and vinegar.
Here are few spot treating methods for tough stains you can remove with vinegar:
Tomato stain – apply directly on stain and let it soak in.
Mustard stain – apply directly on stain and let it soak in.
Underarm, Collar or Cuff stain – spray vinegar, rub in and leave to soak.
Blood stain – pour vinegar onto stain and let soak for 15 mins.
Rust stain – blot stain with vinegar on cotton ball.
Add Vinegar In The Wash
To brighten and make clothes cleaner, just add a cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle. Although not an actual ‘stain’ this is great for getting rid of mildew smells from clothes. It is also great for getting rid of mild yellowing from clothes.
Remember:
Always remove as much of the stain as possible and rinse with cold water before pre-treating.
You can add other stain removers along with vinegar such as baking soda, detergent or washing up liquid.
Some methods require more than one try if the stain has been set in for a long time.
If you prefer to have a professional to remove stains, you can book a collection with Laundryheap.
It might sound a little odd, but adding white distilled vinegar to your laundry can do wonders for your clothes! It will help brighten, soften and leave your clothes odour-free!
All vinegar’s have an acetic acid that works well in getting rid of residue and odour. Unlike, dark coloured vinegar you usually see, white distilled vinegar is a little less acidic and most importantly, less stinky!
Here are the benefits of adding vinegar to your laundry routine:
Brightens Colours
Adding 1/2 a cup of distilled white vinegar in the final rinse of your laundry will make your clothes brighter and clearer. This is because the vinegar helps to remove residue from the detergent, that causes colours to look dull. Just add the vinegar either inside the drum or in the fabric softener dispenser and you’re good to go.
Eliminates Lint & Static Cling
Finding it hard to get rid of lint and static cling on your clothes? Put 1/2 a cup of white distilled vinegar into your rinse cycle. This will help remove excessive lint and also act as a natural static guard.
Soften Clothes
If you refuse to use fabric softener and want a natural alternative, you’re in luck! Just add 1/2 a cup of white distilled vinegar to your final rinse. This is a great replacement for fabric softener and doesn’t leave any residue on clothing. It is also entirely safe for sensitive skin and unlike fabric softener, doesn’t take away the flame resistant quality of children’s clothing.
Banish Odours
Whether it’s mildew or underarm odour, white distilled vinegar will do the trick.
Just add 1-2 cups of the vinegar into the washing machine, depending on how bad the smell is and run a complete cycle. Then, run another cycle with detergent.
To remove underarm odour, spray the vinegar directly onto the underarm area and leave for 10 mins before washing as normal.
Cleans Your Washing Machine
It’s important that your washing machine is clean to provide the best results for when you go to wash your clothes. Deposits such as soap or mineral deposits can build up which will greatly affect your machines performance.
Just run an empty hot cycle wash with 2 cups of white distilled vinegar in dispenser.
Don’t want to bother with these vinegar laundry hacks? Book a collection withLaundryheaptoday for fresh, clean clothes tomorrow.
