We've always got a bottle in our freezer but we never thought that there was much use for it beyond our weekend Bloody Marys. But then, we received this list from a friend. At first we were startled. Wasn't our house going to smell like a bad frat party the boozy morning afterwards? Then we realized: plain vodka's nothing more than a mixture of pure alcohol and water. Now, instead of getting headaches off the cheap stuff, here are some ways we can use it around the house.
- Keep Aphids off houseplants. Wash off houseplants with tap water then dab the leaves with a cotton ball dipped in vodka. Do not use alcohol on delicate plants like African Violets.
- Shine chrome, glass and porcelain bathroom fixtures. Soak a soft, clean cloth with vodka and shine.
- Remove hairspray from mirrors. Soak a soft, clean cloth with vodka and wipe mirrors clean.
- Clean crystal and porcelain ornaments.
- Clean the caulking around bathtubs and showers by filling a spray bottle with vodka, then spraying the caulking. Wait 5 minutes, then wash clean. Bonus: the alcohol in the vodka actually kills mold and mildew.
- Clean a chandelier right where it hangs! Spray the chandelier with a solution of four teaspoons of vodka to one pint of water. Put down a cloth or plastic sheet to catch the drips.
- Remove stains by rubbing with a clean cloth soaked in vodka. Rinse thoroughly.
- Clean jewelry and cutlery. Soak it in vodka for five minutes, rinse and dry.
- Remove the glue left behind by stickers and labels. Rub the glue with a soft, clean cloth soaked in vodka.
- Use it to kill bees and wasps.
- To get rid of the smell of cigarette smoke, mix one part vodka to three parts water, spray and let dry.
- Clean tiles in the bathroom by spraying with vodka. Leave it on for 5 minutes and rinse. Great for getting rid of soap scum.
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Are you serious? There are much cheaper alternatives than vodka for most of these "tips"
I just can't bring myself to use my Grey Goose for above household tips. It'd be a sacrilege.
I think these are meant for the $10 a gallon type of vodka :)
Vodka martinis are a terrible waste. If you prefer vodka over gin you just haven't had a well made martini yet.
10 was disproved by the Mythbusters I believe.
yeah, yeah, yeah... Martha Stewart uses leftover wine to freeze it in the ice cubes trays and make a sous later. Curiously, we never had left over wine in our house! As for the cleaning with vodka, it's a joke, right?
It seems like white vinegar accomplishes most of these tasks.
Yes, vodka is for cocktail hour; not spring cleaning.
Actually, this is a list of 10 plausible reasons to give the neighbors for why you have dozens of empty vodka bottles iny our recycling bin.
And, err, uhhh, rubbing alcohol/white vinegar/solution of baking soda in water is a lot cheaper. If you're trying to find "green" ways to get your cleaning done, there are household cleaning books out there (I'm pretty sure the Martha Stewart housekeeping book has a decent cleaning guide in it) that tell you which non-toxic household agents will do the trick...without resorting to raiding the liquor cabinet.
I think you can substitute vinegar for most of these. Big deal, so your house smells like pickles for half an hour.
Save the vodka for a drink after you've cleaned up!
Something else that vodka's good for is de-stinkifying difficult clothing. I occasionally work in wardrobe at various theaters, and the harder-to-wash items -- opera dresses, suits -- get turned inside-out and sprayed with vodka at night, and then left to air out. You use the cheapest kind you can buy, not the kind you'd actually want to drink. When I visited Kentucky and found my gorgeous winter coat reeking of smoke after visiting a bar, I just spritzed it with some vodka and it was set to go by the next morning.
this will come in handy for the bottles of cheap vodka that people brought to my housewarming party. cheap bastards ;)
We stopped drinking cheap vodka in college.
Cleaning with Vodka is a sin. Clearly you have to be a non-drinker to use vodka for cleaning purposes.
Peanut, I did the same thing when I was a costumer! If you use equal parts really bad vodka and water, it's actually cheaper than Febreeze, totally effective, and doesn't leave any fragrance behind.
And believe me, I'm a lush...obviously you aren't going to use Grey Goose for these purposes, but like Goodnightdean, I always seem to end up with half a bottle of crappy booze in the cupboard after parties.
Cobblers use flat champagne and linen to give the high-shine to leather shoes...
Midmogirl, I was just thinking the same thing. I used to work in a costume shop and the highly scented-ness of Febreeze would bother some people's allergies but we had a huge cheap-o plastic bottle of vodka on hand for cleaning purposes when there wasn't enough time to send things out to be dry cleaned.
13. Cherry Vodka Sour.
A cocktail made with vodka and dry vermouth is not a martini!
Peanut- Mythbusters did a segment on this a few years ago, that Vodka actually doesn't release smoke from anything, although I'm glad it worked for you!!
Gin works too -
I had a co-worker give me a bottle of it (I hate the stuff, but kept it for guests) and it worked well to remove mildew from some pre-owned leather benches that I purchased as well as a leather jacket that I had put in the closet without allowing to dry after a rainstorm: Good as new!
Late to the party but I clean with vodka (with essential oils). If I wanted my house to smell like a rotting salad, I'd use vinegar.
That foot odor you cannot seem to get rid of? Soak feet in vodka for one hour. Odor will be gone for about one to two months at least! No shame when you take those shoes off in front
of the visitors, or before you enter the door as a visitor!