White vinegar makes a pretty good fabric softener.

[Catshrink]

I tried making my own laundry soap -- it works out to less than 5¢ a load. To keep scum from forming and offering fabric softening, they say to use white vinegar in the Downy Ball. I did and it turned out just fine. Damn. A jug of vinegar at Costco is about $3. An equivalent amount of Downy is at least 4 times that. I have to be careful and use unscented soaps and detergents or I itch like crazy. So far, so good.

Here's the website:

http://tipnut.com/10-homemade-laundry-soap-detergent-recipes/

Be sure to check out the FAQ page for more hints.

[Kali]

1. I never use fabric softener, but when I was a kid we used vinegar (or lemon juice)

as a hair rinse. Mom said it took the soap out, I suspect the acid neutralizes the alkalinity in the detergent/water.

[Catshrink]

2. I'm sure you're right about the neutralization.

Can't beat the price.

[dysfunctional press]

3. i've been using it for years.

my laundry shelf consists of tide free, borax, vinegar, ammonia, and a bottle of shout.

[david13]

4. Vinegar??!! My gawd, do you realize what that stuff smells like??

I hate that stuff. I think it should be outlawed. Particularly in fish & chip shops.
dc

[Catshrink]

8. Yes,,, but it rinses out

See what the posters below wrote.

[onestepforward]

5. Vinegar makes a great rinse.

Vinegar helps to break-up soap thus giving you a cleaner rinse. It deodorizes too and there is no smell after it dries. I've been using it for years.

[Zomby Woof]

6. Cleans the coffee pot like no other

Safe, easy, and effective.

[Catshrink]

9. And a lot cheaper than the commercial cleaners

marketed to people who either don't know better or want to avoid the smell. My sister uses it instead of Windex to clean her windows. Hm.. I wonder what my windows would look like if they were clean? I hear it also takes the dog slobber off car windows. Yep, I have a lot of that too.

[GoCubsGo]

14. Those microfiber glass-cleaning cloths also work really well.

I use them to get my cats' nose-prints off the windows. I'm sure they'd work on dog slobber, too, as dried kitty boogers are probably just as bad. Those cloths rank right up there with Mr. Clean Magic Erasers in my book. Crumpled newspaper also does the trick, and much cheaper than the cloths--not that they're expensive. They're under five bucks for a two-pack.

[Blue State Blues]

16. for coffee pots, I prefer citric acid

buy it cheap in home-brewery shops. Cleans as well as vinegar, but less work getting the taste residue out.

[Arkansas Granny]

7. When my oldest was born, back in the days of cloth diapers and wringer washing machines,

I always used vinegar in the first rinse water to break down the suds so it would rinse out easier in the next rinse tub. I suppose it stands to reason that clothing would feel softer with better removal of the detergent.

[madmom]

10. When my son was little he got ear infections all the time. Dr said to use white vinegar to clean

them. Dip a cotton swab into white vinegar and let it run into ear canal helps dissolve hard wax build up. Worked like a charm! : )

[Catshrink]

11. You mean you didn't buy the super expensive

(comparatively) ear cleaner thing? :sarcasm: I'm amazed at the mark up on this stuff and how "we" spend so much extra money on fancy cleaning crap. More money, more chemicals. My grandma's house was spotless and she used mostly vinegar to clean with. My sisters say she also made her own soap. She was pretty amazing -- I wish I had known her better but she slipped into dementia when I was very young.

[madmom]

12. That's why I loved my kids pediatrician, he would always tell us stuff like this.

[Brigid]

13. My mother is a huge white vinegar fan.

She uses it on just about everything.

[GoCubsGo]

15. It and baking soda make a great toilet bowl cleaner

Use a 1:1 mix. Sprinkle on the baking soda, then add the vinegar and clean as usual. It will foam up and do some of the scrubbing for you. This combination is also good for keeping sink drains clean.

[Blue State Blues]

17. vinegar kills weeds, too

spray it on a weed on a dry day, wait a day or two until the weed turns brown, then it's easy to pull and you get more of the root.

[Catshrink]

18. Full strength or diluted?

I noticed a nice crop of weeds growing that I need to deal with and I hate using Round Up because of the chemicals and the $$$.

[Blue State Blues]

19. full strength

and $3 for a big bottle at costco sure beats whatever they charge for a little bottle of roundup.

if you have unusually tough weeds, and if you can't go back and pull them, there are stronger vinegar-based weed killers. IIRC, one is called burn out.

I find it works best on a dry day, a hot one even more so.

As a bonus, as vinegar breaks down, it not only non-toxic, it's good for the soil.

more here
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2002/020515.htm

I think Heinz is the only major brand made form grain rather than petrol-products ... can't recall where I read that, though.