You do not need to have a tight budget to make use of the panacea that is apple cider vinegar (ACV). I truly believe everyone can benefit from using it in place of harsh chemicals or overpriced cosmetics. Recently, as I made the switch to more natural cleaning methods, including natural shampoos and conditioners, I had to get good and friendly with ACV. Along the way, I discovered some truly astonishing applications.
ACV Removes Warts
Anyone who has friends or family who struggle with warts, or who has struggled with them personally, know the pain and expense of the beastly little things. However, ACV removes warts effectively, cheaply, and often with substantially less pain than the standard methods.
ACV Clarifies and Nourishes Hair
An ACV rinse once every week or two cleans gunk from hair, balances hair pH, and closes hair shafts, which makes hair easier to untangle and softer. Never use undiluted ACV. DIRECTIONS: Once you’ve finished shampooing and conditioning hair, pour the rinse over your hair. Do not rinse out. Towel-dry and style as usual. The ACV smell will vanish as hair dries.
- Once Every Week or Two: 1 part ACV to 8 parts water
- Daily: 1 part ACV to 16 parts water, or put 1 TBS into your bottle of shampoo and mix.
For additional benefit, use unfiltered ACV, which contains additional nutrients for hair and skin.
ACV Makes Food Great
Most people forget that ACV works well with many types of foods. With slow-cooked ribs, a TBS of ACV can make them tender and soft in no time flat. To add a little zing to a salad, use an ACV vinaigrette. A quick ACV rinse keeps berries from molding prematurely: yes, even those pesky raspberries! ACV tossed with asparagus, sesame seeds, and a little of this and that makes a tangy asparagus namul. A little ACV, garlic, and olive oil make for perfectly spiced roasted vegetables (and helps curb your appetite while not sacrificing flavor). When making hard-boiled eggs, add a splash of ACV vinegar to the water to help prevent cracking.
ACV Improves Laundry
Don’t believe me? Once every month, toss one cup of ACV into your washing machine and let it run through its cycle (sans clothing, of course). The ACV decreases or removes soap scum, kills off bacteria and mold, and leaves your washing machine performing more efficiently and smelling great. Adding ACV in varying amounts to your washing machine rinse cycle can brighten fabric colors, reduce lint while drying, and even remove tough stains. Think of ACV as the ultimate, inexpensive detergent booster.
ACV Keeps the Kitchen Clean
1 part ACV to 3 parts salt will scrub the toughest stains out of metal sinks, tile, china, or ceramics. I use this mixture often to get rid of the mineral and gunk deposits that build up on my (well-used) kitchen sink. I replaced my hardcore bleach-based cleanser with this safe, cheap, easy mixture. Throw 1 cup of ACV into the dishwasher every so often and get rid of the soap scum. An added benefit? The ACV leaves the dishwasher smelling fresh and free of mold. My personal favorite: disinfect your wooden cutting boards by rubbing them with full-strength ACV. The vinegar smell will vanish as the wood dries. If you have a bamboo board, just be sure to reapply the oil weekly as recommended and only when the cutting board has dried.
Do you have any other uses for apple cider vinegar in your home? Share your secrets!
8 replies on “5 Helpful Applications of Apple Cider Vinegar”
These sound great, but I have a hard time finding ACV (abroad). would these ideas work ok with regular distilled vinegar?
ACV does wonders for your health. I drink a teaspoon diluted in water every single night. It helps aid in digestion, ups your metabolism, can help prevent certain diseases, regulates blood pressure, alleviates mood, and more. You can also use it on bug bites, as a natural astringent and cure for hemmorhoids, and so much more. I would recommend Bragg’s ACV with “The Mother”, but really, any of it works.
What about dyed hair? Or will it strip the color from my hair? I’d like to try it (for some reason I have this huge bottle of ACV that I need to do something with), but I don’t want to ruin my hair in the process.
Xfafafabulous: I have dyed red hair currently, which is the most sensitive to stripping. I use a very gentle two tablespoons of ACV with 16 ounces of water for my rinse, and I do it once every week or two. It is safe for color-treated hair and in some cases, as with my red, it seals the hair shaft and brightens the color. The sealing effect protects the color, too. If you’re using liquid shampoo, you can add a few teaspoons of ACV to reap its benefits with each shower, but less is more. Start with just a tsp or two and increase it based upon how well your hair responds.
Actually, I was told that 2 tbsp. unpasteurized ACV in 16 oz. of water (x3 throughout the day), sipped slowly instead of gulped, is a great way to clear up acne, relieve joint pain, and break down fat cells (if you’re into that). It smells a little … well, vinegary. But the taste is pretty similar to lemon water and you get used to it really quickly.
Yar! I used to drink a little ACV (about 1 TBS) every day for quite some time. I noticed some improvement in my carpal tunnel and overall energy, but since I was also in the process of a diet overhaul it the time, I’m unsure if the ACV was solely or even partly responsible.
I love ACV!! Sometimes I dilute it and use it as a toner on my face. And sometimes I put some in water – which is an acquired taste, but is supposedly good for you. Actually that made me think I should start doing it again.
I’ve heard good things about ACV as a toner but haven’t tried it yet. I should!