18 Clever Uses For Vodka Around The House

Vodka is a popular alcoholic beverage found on most people's bar carts or liquor cabinets. However, if you've got a few bottles lying around and have no intention of consuming them, don't take them out with yesterday's trash. This alcoholic beverage moonlights as a multi-purpose cleaner and can be used to clean, shine, degrease, sanitize, and sparkle various items around your house. Moreover, this magical cleaning agent dries quickly and doesn't leave any strong odor behind. 

But its uses don't end there. It's also a clear, non-toxic liquid that doesn't leave streaks behind, making it a better choice than chemical-based harsh cleaners. The best part, though? You don't have to break out the top-shelf grain alcohol. The cheap bottles you just can't make yourself drink work equally well. So, don your cleaning gear, keep a few spray bottles handy, arm yourself with gentle sponges and clean microfiber cloths, and line up a shot while you learn about the clever uses of vodka around the house.

Upholstered furniture witnesses a lot of action day in and day out. They make the ideal place to laze about while you catch your favorite show, bounce on when you host epic game battles, settle and work on a passion project, and have quiet nights in. However, they accumulate dust and grime over time, making them smell unpleasant. The accidental food and drink spills don't do them any favors, either. So, if your upholstered furniture has begun smelling a little funky, it's time to get a spray bottle and vodka.

Fill the bottle with vodka and spritz it directly onto the smelly furniture. The idea is to mist the foul-smelling fabrics but not douse them. Though it has a strong scent straight out of the bottle, you won't be able to pick up on it once it evaporates. Vodka is an excellent solution because it absorbs the odor-causing particles, lifting them off the upholstery as it evaporates. This alcoholic beverage also does a great job of eliminating smoke scents from your furniture.

Your garden might be a source of pride and joy. However, invasive weeds like dandelions, poison ivy, creeping charlie, and clover can dampen your joy, as they'll compete with your plants for water, nutrition, sunlight, and space to slowly take over the yard. So, before they kill your beloved plants, it's necessary to take them out. While store-bought herbicides can do the job for you, purchasing the wrong kind can harm you and the environment. If you'd rather not risk it, enlist vodka's help to kill weeds efficiently.

Combine 1 ounce of vodka with 2 cups of water and a few drops of your preferred dish soap. Transfer the solution into a spray bottle, wait for the sun to shine down on the offending growth, and spray it liberally onto the pesky weeds to dehydrate them and strip their defensive outer coating off. In their weakened state, they won't be able to bear the sun's heat and dry out quickly, making it easy for you to pull them out. Although the boozy solution will beat back poison ivy in your garden, it's equally harmful to your plants and grass. So, be careful not to spray them accidentally.

Wearing sparkly jewelry can enhance your OOTD (outfit of the day) since it adds a touch of elegance and glamor. But wearing them regularly causes them to come in contact with body oils, sweat, artificial fragrances, and pollutants in the air, which dull their shine. Before you toss out the metal pieces, decide to continue wearing them even though they're dirty, or pay a jeweler to clean them for you, pour some vodka in a clean glass.

Next, place the dirty item inside the glass and let it sit for about 15 to 20 minutes. The grain alcohol will break down the dirt and grime, restoring your jewelry's shine and sparkle. After the time is up, wash it with water and dry it using a clean microfiber cloth. You can also use this method to breathe new life into dirty silverware and remove rust from household items.

While preparing and consuming healthy meals can be incredibly satisfying, it's often not a very pleasant experience to clean the countertops, range hoods, and backsplashes. This is because they constantly battle food splatters and other spills and can get incredibly sticky and greasy. Further, this mess can get aggravated if you don't have the time to put in some serious elbow grease or lack the right cleaning products. But don't worry. Vodka will save the day and your kitchen, too.

If you're dealing with stubborn grease stains, use vodka in its pure form to degrease the sticky surfaces. But if the situation isn't dire, combine vodka with water in a 1:1 ratio and spray the areas in need of good scrubbing. Alternatively, you can soak a sponge in the alcohol and use it to wipe the dirty areas. Once done, give it a few seconds to cut through the grease before wiping away the stains. Bonus tip: You can use this alcoholic beverage to degrease your caramelized pans and dishes, too.

Peeling product labels and price tags off items often presents a unique challenge since you're left with a sticky residue that just won't go away no matter how much you scratch it with your nails. The situation worsens if you can only peel half the sticker off, as the residual adhesive often attracts dust and dirt. So, to avoid being stuck with dirty and defaced labels, grab a bottle of vodka and a paper towel (or cotton ball) to keep your purchases looking new.

Soak the paper towel with vodka and place it on top of the sticky label. Let it sit for a few seconds or minutes, depending on how stubborn the adhesive is. Once you feel the label loosening its hold on the item, scrub the soaked paper towel across the surface, which will create enough friction to remove it. However, this beverage might not be the best option for materials like wood, so conduct a spot test to loosen the glue before you leave the vodka-soaked towel on the item.

Ornamental light features like chandeliers can light up an entire room with their twinkle and shine. But being suspended from the ceiling makes them an easy target for spiders to spin elaborate cobwebs. Further, they have a lot of nooks and crannies to capture dust and grime. Fortunately, you don't have to look past your bar to clean the chandelier in your home.

Before you begin, cover all items and furniture placed beneath it and spread a padded cloth on the floor to catch errant crystals. Now, switch off the chandelier bulbs and allow them to cool. While you wait, mix 4 teaspoons of vodka with 1 pint of water and pour this cleaning solution into a spray bottle. Once the bulbs are cool to the touch, spray the fixture with the mixture and carefully wipe each crystal piece with a microfiber cloth to restore your chandelier's shine.

All-purpose cleaners are essentially magic in a nifty spray bottle. After all, they help you clean and disinfect a myriad of items and surfaces around your home. However, their industrial strength comes at a steep price — your health. Such cleaners might contain traces of sodium hypochlorite or trisodium phosphate, ammonia, ethylene glycol monobutyl acetate and can aggravate your eyes, skin, nose, and throat (via Cleveland Clinic). So, why pay for potentially harmful substances when you can DIY a general surface cleaner with a few household ingredients?

Get a spray bottle and mix vodka, white vinegar, and lemon juice in a 1:2:1 ratio. Shake it well to combine the elements. If you're sensitive to the smell, add 8 to 10 drops of your preferred essential oil and you're good to go. You can use this general surface cleaner to clean most kitchen and bathroom surfaces. Alternatively, combine vodka and vinegar in a 1:1 ratio with 10 drops of lemon juice and essential oils and 1 ½ cups of water.

If you planned to do your laundry over the weekend but forgot about the overflowing hamper as soon as it was out of sight, you might face a slightly smelly situation come Monday morning when you unfurl the carelessly dumped clothes. If you need to grab a shirt out of the hamper before washing it, the answer is probably in your alcohol closet. Just use vodka to freshen and clean your clothing.

Get a spray bottle, transfer some clear vodka into it, hang the offending clothing item, and spritz it to bid sweat and body odor goodbye. You can also add a few drops of essential oils to the bottle to make your clothes smell pleasant. This inexpensive hack won't just help you don your armor for the day with confidence; it'll also help you avoid over-washing your clothes. If you would prefer to wash certain items less — such as jeans or expensive sweaters — this vodka hack is a great substitute. 

Accidents happen. So, if you happen to spill a little cabernet on your carpet, don't freak out yet. Before you create a mental map on how best to camouflage the stain, act immediately and blot (not press, as this will push the stain deeper into the carpet fibers) as much of the spilled liquid as possible using a clean cloth. Once done, head over to your liquor cabinet and get out the bottle of vodka. Use this clear liquid to soak another clean cloth.

Now, lightly dab the soaked cloth onto the stain and let the vodka loosen the wine's hold. Give it a few minutes before using a dry cloth to pat the stain and remove it from the rug gently. Keep in mind that you might have to repeat the process a couple of times if the stain doesn't lift right out. You can also use vodka to get ink, grass, and vomit stains out from your carpet.