The $1.70 pantry item you should be using in your laundry to fix odours, mildew and more

A household staple for hundreds of years, there are many reasons why your grandma always has white vinegar in the cupboard.

If you don't have any at your house, you should grab some too. Not just for its culinary properties (sweet and sour pork, anyone?,) but for its use in cleaning your home and in this case, maintaining your laundry, in an eco-friendly, non-toxic fashion.

And it's an absolute bargain at just $1.70 at Woolworths and Coles for a 2L bottle.

READ MORE: Dry cleaner's time-saving laundry tip will also give you better stain removal results

Before you go reaching for the bottle, make sure to only use distilled white vinegar for laundry purposes.

It's also important to note that it needs to be diluted and shouldn't be poured directly onto fabrics. So if you're going to add it to a wash of dark clothes, make sure to dilute it by half with water first.

Bring your clothes' colours back to life

We've all been there – a random black sock has gone through the wash unseen and now your white linen shirt is grey. A little vinegar could be the answer.

To make your whites white again, add one cup of distilled white vinegar to four litres of water in a large pot and heat the solution until boiling. Then, turn off the heat, and add the discoloured items. Leave them to soak overnight, and then wash again as normal.

Dissolve soapy residue

Feel like your washing machine's rinsing powers are a little lacklustre?

Add a cup of white vinegar straight into the machine during the rinse cycle to dissolve any residue left behind by your laundry detergents.

READ MORE: A round-up of the best electric toothbrushes

Combat mildew

Musty and repugnant, the smell of mildew is not a good match for clean laundry. A form of fungus, it can develop in a washing machine as the dirt and oils from clothes builds up, or on clothes or towels if you leave them damp in the washing basket or machine for too long.

To get rid of mildly manky mildew, just add white vinegar to your machine during the wash cycle.

Or for seriously stinky cases, first run the washing machine on hot, with the addition of two cups of white vinegar (no washing powder), for a complete cycle, then a second cycle with laundry detergent.

Clean your washing machine

Once a season, it's a good idea to give your washing machine a once-over too. To do that, run a complete wash cycle on hot, with two cups of white vinegar added in.

Small compartments for detergent can also be wiped with white vinegar too.

Take the edge off your towels

Ever bought new towels and found they don't quite do their one job – drying? Take the factory film off new towels and sheets, while softening the fabric, with a little white vinegar.

A cold wash with half a cup of white vinegar should do the trick.

READ MORE: 'A laundry tip from Nana means I rarely have to do a hated chore'

Stop lint and pet hair from clinging

Always finding pet hair on your clothes after a wash?

Add half a cup of white vinegar during the rinse cycle. The hair should instead gather in little clumps which you can then easily dispose of.

Banish unwanted odours

Ideal for knocking the stench out of often-used sportswear, the armpit areas of clothes can be sprayed with diluted white vinegar and left to process as a pre-wash. Allow the garments to sit for at least 10 minutes before washing as normal.

This story originally appeared on Stuff. Read the original here.