20 Uses for Apple Cider Vinegar

Vinegar's ancient roots go back to around 5,000 BC, when it was made by letting wine ferment in peace until it could stink up a room faster than a pack of flatulent dogs. This concoction was initially used as a preservative for food, but eventually, its medicinal qualities came to light. It's been put to good use for good health and chemical-free housekeeping ever since.

Any kind of fermentable carbohydrate can be used to make vinegar. Apples left to ferment become apple cider vinegar. If an apple a day can keep the doctor away, a shot of apple cider vinegar a day can send the whole lot of them to Siberia, so potent are its antioxidant and antimicrobial powers and its massive punch of probiotics.

Apple cider vinegar is the Swiss Army Knife of vinegars, and keeping a big jug of it on hand at all times comes in handy for myriad applications in, on, and outside of your body. Choose apple cider vinegar that's unfiltered, and remember that the smell dissipates very quickly, whether you use it in the home or on your body.

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Here are just 20 of the many uses to which you can put apple cider vinegar — or, as we like to call it, ACV.

1. Disinfect. Your store-bought cleaners may kill germs, but they leave behind harmful chemicals. Mix one-part ACV with one-part water, add a couple of drop of essential oil if you'd like, and clean your house — including the kitchen and bathroom — with it. It'll kill bacteria and absorb funky odors.
2. Deodorize. Pour a little ACV into a bowl and set it where odors in your home are the strongest: In the kitchen after cooking up a mess of catfish, in the bathroom, in the fridge, in the pet's sleeping area. Soon, you won't smell a thing.
3. Fertilize. Your blueberries, azaleas, and other acid-lovin' plants will thrive when you pour 5 ounces of 5% acidity ACV into 5 gallons of water and fertilize away.
4. Banish dandruff. ACV can help regulate the pH of your scalp and stop yeast growth in its tracks to do away with dandruff and soothe itchiness and irritation. Douse your hair with one-part ACV and one-part water, let it sit for a few minutes, then rinse. It'll also detangle and shine those locks up.
5. Help fight acne and blemishes. Dilute a little ACV with a little water, soak a cotton ball in it, and use it as a stringent to kill bacteria on the surface of your skin.
6. Dissolve warts. Apply petroleum jelly to the skin around your wart to protect it from the acidity of the ACV. Soak a cotton ball in straight ACV, and use a band-aid or gauze to secure it to your wart. Keep it on the wart all night, every night until the wart is gone in about a week.
7. Fade bruises. Rub a little ACV into your nasty bruise, and let its anti-inflammatory properties help fade the black and blue faster.
8. Soothe a sunburn. Pour a cup of ACV into your bath water to ease the pain of a sunburn.
9. Whiten teeth. Mix one part of ACV with two parts of water and use it as a mouthwash to kill bacteria, dissolve stains, and fight bad breath.
10. Un-stinkify your feet. When the pH balance of the skin on your feet is out of whack, taking off your shoes can really stink up the place. Soak a paper towel in ACV and wipe down your feet and toes to banish the bad odor.
11. Clean your produce. Skip the expensive produce wash and remove pesticides and bacteria from your fruits and veggies with a solution of one-part vinegar and nine parts water. Pour it in a bowl, toss in the produce, and swish it around for a couple of minutes. Rinse thoroughly.
12. Improve digestion. If your stomach is upset or you're constipated or bloated due to a flu or food poisoning, choke down a few tablespoons of ACV in a glass of water for quick relief.
13. Stop that itch. Bug bite? Allergy-induced rash? Dry skin? Whatever's making you itch, ease the discomfort by soaking a cotton ball in straight ACV and rub it on the affected area.
14. Soothe a sore throat. ACV will kill the germs that cause a cold and make your throat ache. At the first sign of throat pain, gargle with one-part ACV and one-part water. Then mix up a cold-killing concoction of three tablespoons of ACV in a glass of water along with a tablespoon of honey and a few dashes of cayenne pepper. Hold your nose while you gulp it down, chase it with something tasty, and go back to your regularly scheduled activities, cold-free.
15. Improve immunity. Add ACV to the food you prepare each day or toss a tablespoon in a glass of water and suck it down before breakfast to improve lymph circulation and give your immunity a little daily boost.
16. Clear your sinuses. ACV's antibacterial properties can stave off a stuffy nose or sinus infection and help thin any mucus that's already taken up residence.
17. Soothe shaved skin. After you shave, fight skin irritation and inflammation by patting the area with a cotton ball doused in ACV.
18. Ease post-workout muscle fatigue. A tablespoon of ACV in a glass of water will set its amino acids into action to counter the lactic acid buildup that's causing muscle pain. For double duty, soak a cloth in a solution of a teaspoon of cayenne pepper mixed with a cup of ACV, and hold it on the sore muscle for 20 minutes every three to four hours.
19. Fight Fido's fleas. Add a healthy splash of ACV to your dog's water to discourage fleas from taking up residence. You can also mix one part of ACV with one part of water in a spray bottle and spray down her fur every couple of days.
20. Halt those hiccups. Swallow a half teaspoon of undiluted ACV to stop those annoying hiccups.

I like/hate to use it for sore throat healing. I like the healing but HATE the flavor. Ick! What’s your favorite ACV use?