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Did you realize that there are many ways the vinegar can be used outside of your home to cut your cleaning costs and aid in your everyday chores? Read on for more helpful hints in how vinegar can make your life a little simpler. These tips and ideas include uses that involve the hard to handle stains, smells, and animal uses as well.

Clay pots
Do you love to garden but hate the mess and the scrubbing of cleaning pots? Clay pots will easily come clean when you use a mixture of ½ water and ½ vinegar in your sink or bucket, soak the pot for about two hours, and then just wipe the pots dry! No scrubbing needed. Wash the pots and their saucers with warm soapy water.

Flies
Do you find flies annoying when you are out at the pool? Pour vinegar the entire way around the edge of your pool (not in the water) to keep flies away from this area!

Horses
Do you have horses but hate the way the flies are always hanging around? Use about ¼ cup of vinegar in the grain once a day at feeding time and the flies will keep away from the horses! 

Campers
Are you a camper? Are you always on the go? Did you know that gasoline and propane lantern mantles last longer and burn brighter on the same amount of fuel if they are soaked for several hours in distilled vinegar and allowed to dry before using.

Chickens
If you have chickens, use vinegar to clean out the water containers to keep mold from growing! Simple soak with vinegar for about five minutes then rinse with water.

Rabbits
If you have rabbits, use vinegar to clean out the water containers to keep mold from growing! Simple soak with vinegar for about five minutes then rinse with water. This also works with the water bottle that you hang in the pen. 

Mosquitoes
Do you have a problem with mosquitoes? Drink a couple of spoonfuls of vinegar daily to fight off these unwanted pests. But do note, your perspiration will be unpleasant during the day you drink vinegar.

Grass killer
Do you have grass growing in areas where it shouldn’t be, like between rocks or in a driveway? Try this; pour hot vinegar on the grass once daily for three days and the weeds will die without the use of hard chemicals.

Frost preventer
When you have to leave your car outside overnight in the winter, mix 3 parts vinegar to 1 part water and coat the windows with this solution. This vinegar and water combination will keep windshields ice and frost-free.

Ice remover
If you have problems with frost and ice on your windshield in the winter months, keep a spray bottle of vinegar in the car, and spray your windshield, watch the ice and frost just melt away. This works quick, when you don’t have time to wait for your car to ‘thaw out’ to see and drive carefully!

Septic tanks
Are you a homeowner and you use a septic tank? Instead of using costly and harsh chemicals in your septic tank, use vinegar. Flushing vinegar down the toilet will work its way into your septic tank, and will keep germs down to a minimum. This also helps keep your toilet clean from hard water stains!

Azaleas
Are you a garden lover, and azaleas are on your list? Water your azalea plants once a month with a quart of water with about ½ cup of vinegar added. Vinegar is very acidic and they will grow with this extra touch. Plants that love the same mixture with vinegar are rhododendrons and gardenias!

Cut flowers
Vases love to hold flowers, but fresh cut flowers often won’t last long in a vase. Use two tablespoons of vinegar with three tablespoons of sugar in your vase for your next batch of fresh flowers to make your flowers last extra long!

Milking equipment
Farmers can use vinegar to neutralize and clean their milking equipment. The vinegar will leave the system odorless and bacteria free without using harmful chemicals.

Car chrome
There are not many cars that are made today that have a lot of chrome on them, but do you know how to keep your chrome clean? You can polish chrome with full strength vinegar for a clean shine.

Outdoor carpets
Indoor and outdoor carpet alike can be treated with vinegar if your pet has made urine stains. Blot the top of the carpet, and treat with cool vinegar and water mixture. Be careful, using hot water, as hot water sets a stain in carpet.

Bug killer
Love fresh vegetables picked from the garden but you don’t like the bugs that come with it? Wash vegetables with vinegar and salt and watch the bugs’ just float away leaving you clean ready to eat vegetables!

Scale fish
Does the avid fisherman live in your home? If you have to scale a fish, rub vinegar on the fish five minutes before you are ready to begin and you will find the process much easier!

Keep cats away
Keep cats away from your flower garden by sprinkling vinegar all around your flowerbed. While keeping cats away, you will keep ants away and promote the acid level for your flowers! 

Dogs scratching
If your dog is always scratching at his ears, you can help you pet easy! Clean the inside of the dogs ears with a soft cloth dipped in ½ water and ½ vinegar to help stop ear wax, and to chase little bugs away!

Fleas
Do you have a problem with fleas on your pets?  Add a little vinegar to their drinking water to deter fleas from infesting your favorite pet. 

Chickens
Farmers use apple vinegar in their drinking water for chickens to keep them from pecking at each other. 

Showing animals
If you like to show your horse or dog, spraying vinegar on their coat gives them an extra shine. This is a great alternative to the expensive show products available.

Pet skin infections
If your cat or dog has a skin infection rinse them in vinegar after their weekly bath to promote healing and cut bacteria growth. 

Sandboxes
To keep cats away from a small child’s sandbox pour vinegar around the perimeter of the sandbox weekly. Reapply if you notice the cat trying to get back in the sand box, but this trick works wonders at keeping bugs and pests away as well!

Puppy training
If you have a puppy that you are trying to train, get a squirt gun, fill it with vinegar, and when the puppy is bad squirt him. The smell of straight vinegar helps to let the puppy  ‘know’ that he was bad.