Ever put a load of laundry in the washing machine and then forget about it? For days?

Last month we posted a story on white distilled vinegar and the many uses it has (cheaply and greenly.) I had tried some of them but not others….

The Laundry Room of Doom

Well, yesterday I went in to the laundry room and just about fell over from the odor coming from our washing machine. I had put a load in to wash, totally forgot I had done that and six days later, it was smelling REALLY BAD! (That shows how often I do laundry!) The clothes just happened to be mine and articles I only wash in cold water. I washed them again with detergent but the smell was still there. Then I remembered (from writing our earlier article) there was something about vinegar and laundry odors. So, I put two cups of white distilled vinegar in the washer (I added extra since I didn’t want to use hot water, if using hot water, you can add less) ran the load again and voila, the odor was totally gone! (You do want to run the load again with detergent after the vinegar wash.)

Ants, Weeds, Birds and Cats… Especially the Cats

A couple of other uses for white distilled vinegar I’ve tried over the last couple of weeks that worked amazingly well are-

ANT REPELLANT – We had the beginning of an ant hill so I poured full strength vinegar on it and now it’s gone.

WEED KILLER – I’ve also been spraying it on the emerging weeds and the vinegar is killing them just as good as any commercial weed killer AND it’s pesticide and chemical free. I put some in a spray bottle (undiluted) and shot the weeds growing in the cracks and crevices of our driveway and sidewalk.

FOR THE BIRDS – I have my hummingbird and bird feeders ready to be hung outside but first I cleaned them with undiluted vinegar and they look as good as new….soaps and detergents can leave behind harmful residue.

CAT REPELLANT – And last but not least….our cats are really, really bad about eating on our indoor plants and killing them. I have tried all types of bitter sprays I’ve bought over the years and the cats just kept on eating the plants, the sprays didn’t deter them in the least. So I moved any and all plants in to rooms we don’t let the cats in (of course, they are also rooms I don’t go in to very often so I forgot to water them on a regular schedule and am now trying to bring them back to life.) The other day I brought some plants in from outside I had potted when the weather got cold and sure enough, the cats started eating on them. I mixed half water and half vinegar in a spray bottle, sprayed the leaves and the cats did not touch them again. It really worked!

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