This article was co-authored by Susan Stocker. Susan Stocker runs and owns Susan’s Green Cleaning, the #1 Green Cleaning Company in Seattle. She is well known in the region for outstanding customer service protocols — winning the 2017 Better Business Torch Award for Ethics & Integrity —and her energetic support of green cleaning practices.
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White distilled vinegar is practically a miracle when it comes to laundry, you can use this inexpensive product to do everything from softening fabric to deodorizing clothing to removing stains. In most cases, all you need to do is pour vinegar or a mixture of vinegar and water directly into your washer as it fills with water. Then add your laundry. Note: Do not pour vinegar directly on fabrics.
Steps
Cleaning Your Clothes
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1Keep your clothes clean with vinegar. Pour 1/2 cup of distilled white vinegar into your washing machine instead of the detergent you would normally use. This will clean your clothes without the use of the harsh chemicals found in many commercial laundry detergents.
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2Use vinegar as a fabric softener. Get 1 cup of white distilled vinegar ready. When a load of laundry reaches its last rinse cycle, pour the vinegar into the washer. This will act as a simple yet effective natural fabric softener.[1]Advertisement
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3Pre-treat stains with vinegar. Dilute 1/2 cup vinegar in a gallon of water. Apply this directly to stains on your fabrics, with a clean cloth, or by pouring the solution right on the stain. Wash your clothes as you normally would.
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4Bleach clothes with a vinegar solution. Mix 1/4 cup of lemon juice, 1/4 cup of borax, and 1/2 cup of vinegar. Use this as a gentle alternative whenever you would use bleach with your laundry. [2]
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5Use vinegar to deodorize clothes. If you have smelly clothes, add 1/2 to 1 cup of vinegar straight to the washer during the last rinse cycle. This will remove the smells from your clothes, without making them smell like vinegar.[3]
Protecting Fabrics
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1Stop colors from fading. Pour 1/2 cup of white, distilled vinegar into a load of laundry to protect color from fading. This same technique will prevent dark colors like black and navy blue from becoming dull due to repeated washing.
- You can also re-treat fabrics with vinegar to keep their colors fast. Add 1/2 cup vinegar to one gallon of water. To keep colors from running, dip bright colors in the solution, then wash them.
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2Prevent static and lint. Add 1/2 cup of white distilled vinegar to the last rinse cycle of a load of laundry. This will prevent the static that can make your clothes annoyingly stick to other clothing or your body. For many fabrics, it can also help prevent the buildup of lint.
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3Remove buildup on clothes. Regular detergents can cause soapy residue to accumulate on clothes and cause streaks or roughness. Add 1 cup of vinegar to a gallon of water. Soak your clothes in this solution, and then wash them. The buildup will be removed.[4]
- This residue is particularly noticeable in whites, which can become yellowed over time. Black clothing will also appear to fade over time. Soaking them in a vinegar and water solution can reverse these effects.
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4Clean your washing machine. Soapy residue can also build up inside your washing machine, eventually getting on your clothes. Once a month, put 1 cup of vinegar into your washer and run it without loading any clothes. This will remove the residue from the machine's tub.
Expert Q&A
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QuestionHow much vinegar do you put in the laundry?
Susan StockerSusan Stocker runs and owns Susan’s Green Cleaning, the #1 Green Cleaning Company in Seattle. She is well known in the region for outstanding customer service protocols — winning the 2017 Better Business Torch Award for Ethics & Integrity —and her energetic support of green cleaning practices.
Green Cleaning ExpertUse 1/4 cup of vinegar for very mild odors, 1/2 cup for medium odors, and 1 cup for strong odors or if you want to brighten your laundry. -
QuestionWhere do you put the vinegar in the washing machine?Susan StockerSusan Stocker runs and owns Susan’s Green Cleaning, the #1 Green Cleaning Company in Seattle. She is well known in the region for outstanding customer service protocols — winning the 2017 Better Business Torch Award for Ethics & Integrity —and her energetic support of green cleaning practices.
Green Cleaning ExpertThat depends on what you want the vinegar to do. If you want to brighten your clothes, add the vinegar to the bleach dispenser. For softening your clothes, add the vinegar to your fabric softener dispenser. To fight mild odors, add it directly to the washing machine basin during the rinse cycle, or use it in place of regular detergent and add it again during the rinse cycle if you need to remove really strong odors. -
QuestionCan you use vinegar and laundry detergent together?Susan StockerSusan Stocker runs and owns Susan’s Green Cleaning, the #1 Green Cleaning Company in Seattle. She is well known in the region for outstanding customer service protocols — winning the 2017 Better Business Torch Award for Ethics & Integrity —and her energetic support of green cleaning practices.
Green Cleaning ExpertYou can use vinegar and laundry detergent in the same load, but you cannot mix them. If you're using detergent, add the vinegar to the rinse cycle after the detergent is out. Otherwise, you'll get oily clothes.
Warnings
- Make sure to use only white distilled vinegar for laundry purposes.⧼thumbs_response⧽
- Vinegar solutions are safe to use on most 100% cotton, permanent press cotton, and polyester fabrics.⧼thumbs_response⧽
- If you are not sure how vinegar will affect a certain fabric, apply a small amount of the solution you are using to an inconspicuous spot. If it doesn’t appear to damage the fabric, then it should be safe to wash the entire item in the solution.⧼thumbs_response⧽
References
About This Article
If you want to add vinegar to your laundry to help clean and deodorize your clothes, pour 1/2 cup of distilled white vinegar into your washing machine instead of the detergent you would normally use. You can also pour 1 cup of vinegar into the last rinse cycle to act as a natural fabric softener. For a gentler alternative to using bleach on your clothes, mix lemon juice, Borax, and vinegar and add it to your laundry the way you would chlorine bleach. To learn how to use vinegar to protect your clothes, keep reading!
