Apple Cider Vinegar Bath Health Benefits

| Modified on Jun 19, 2021
Apple Cider Vinegar Bath Healing Benefits

If you think apple cider vinegar added to your bath would ruin your bathing experience, you may be up to the risk after you read about the marvelous health benefits of this healing soak.

Apple cider vinegar baths are an easy natural remedy for a number of health problems. Apple Cider Vinegar adjusts your ph levels and is a natural anti-inflammatory.  Even those with sensitive skin can benefit from these baths.

Soaking in ACV baths can improve your skin and hair, promote healing of infections, reduce body odor, and help you to sleep better. These baths are pH balance and Don’t knock it until you try it!

How to Make Apple Cider Vinegar Bath

All you need to do to make healing ACV bathwater is add 1 cup of raw and organic apple cider vinegar to your warm tub of water. Then relax and soak in your vinegar bath for 15 to 30 minutes.

Be sure to rinse your hair and face in the water as well. You may choose to rinse off in the shower or not after you bathe.

How Often Should I Take An ACV Bath?

Depending upon what you are treating you may wish to take an ACV bath every other day, weekly, or as needed. For some conditions, especially if it brings you great relief, you may wish to take an ACV bath each day. You will need to experiment around a bit with the amount of apple cider vinegar you add to your bath. You may decide you only need ½ cup of vinegar per bath. Or you may need 2-3 cups of vinegar per bath. Your own preference, the amount of time you soak, and the size of your bathtub will all affect the amount that ends up working the best for you.

While it may seem that a bath in vinegar would do no more than pickle you, the nutrients and pH of apple cider vinegar can promote healing.

Health Benefits of an ACV Bath

  • chronic body odor
  • tinea versicolor
  • eczema
  • psoriasis
  • acne
  • dermatitis
  • cellulite
  • boils
  • ringworm
  • molluscum contagiosum
  • fever
  • UTI
  • yeast infection
  • hemorrhoids
  • bug bites
  • chickenpox 
  • oily hair

If you do not have access to a full bathtub, or you are just not a “soak in the bath” kind of a person, you may be able to benefit from the apple cider vinegar bath concept anyway.

Apple Cider Vinegar Sitz Bath

You can add apple cider vinegar to a sitz bath (1/4 cup per sitz bath) to effectively treat yeast infections, UTIs, or hemorrhoids.

Apple Cider Vinegar Foot Soak

You can also add a cup of apple cider vinegar to a foot bath to treat gout, ankle sprains, toenail fungus, heel spurs, or athlete’s foot. To treat fungal problems or heel spurs you may need to repeat your foot bath daily for a month or more. Ideally, you will soak your feet for 20-30 minutes each time you soak.

Continue reading below for feedback from Earth Clinic readers.

Have you tried an apple cider vinegar bath? Please send us some feedback!

Related Links:

Apple Cider Vinegar: Uses, Health Benefits and FAQ
Best Natural Detox Remedies for Holistic Wellness
Rejuvenate Your Body with Healing Detox Baths




Allergies

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Jessica (Dallas, TX) on 05/28/2008
★★★★★

I bathe my 2 year old son in ACV. About three days a week, I add a cup or so to a warm bath. He had allergies and was taking Cingular everyday. Some unknown cause was making his back and upper arms break out in little red bumps. The bumps have stopped completely. The week I ran out and didn't have time to get more ACV, the bumps came back. Works like a dream!


Apple Cider Vinegar

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Tt (Mcdonough, Ga) on 12/11/2017
★★★★★

16 oz of Apple Cider Vinegar in a bath tub with the water about halfway full. Sat and soaked for about 30 mins and the smell is GONE and hasn't come back at all! It's been about a week!!!!! This is the only that's cured me of BV and actually kept it away. Try it...


Cellulite

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Teresa (Portland, Oregon) on 06/08/2008
★★★★★

There is a solution to everything and the gift of ACV and dry brushing is it for cellulite! I had cellulite on my thighs all my life until I started bathing in ACV about four years ago. Every day I would add:

1 C. ACV and
1 C Baking Soda

Before the bath I would dry brush my skin. Here are the directions:

Your best bets for getting rid of cellulite are dry brushing, connective tissue massage, working though the emotional issues that are causing the toxins to stagnate, eating foods that feed the skin, an alkaline diet program and a consistent/persistent exercise routine. These techniques will break down the unwelcome toxic body deposits and send them scurrying out your body through the elimination channels we discussed above. And your health will be SO much better for it!

Here are the verbose directions.

(You will do most steps 7-14 times. Hang in there -- it's not as complicated as it sounds and doesn't take as long as it seems once you get the flow of it.)

1. Using your right hand, gently slide the brush along your right jaw line starting from your earlobe to the underside of your chin 7 times.

2. Place the brush at the hairline on your neck and gently pull around the right side of your neck to the Adam's apple 7 times.

3. Hold the brush with your right hand at the bottom of your neck (where it joins the top of your back) and bring it around your neck to the right and down along your right collar bone and end up between your collar bones 7 times.

4. Stroke your breastbone in a circular fashion to stimulate the thymus gland 7 times.

5. Carefully brush the breast in a circular motion 7 times.

6. Repeat the above steps for your left side holding the brush with your left hand.

7. To stimulate the pituitary gland, hold the brush on the back of your head near the base of your neck and rock the brush up and down, then side to side, both sides 14 times.

8. Hold the brush in your left armpit with your right hand and rotate it counter clockwise 7 times, then clockwise 7 times.

9. Repeat on your right armpit with your left hand.

10. Brush upward 7 times from your upper right thigh to your right armpit.

11. Repeat process on your left side. Women may need to hold their breast out of the way with their free hand.

12. Brush back and forth over your belly button and around your waistline 14 times (like passing a basketball behind your back).

13. Brush in a circular motion over your belly-button, counter-clockwise 7 times then clockwise 7 times.

14. Finish brushing the front of your body in any direction starting at the bottom and brushing all the way up 14 times. Very little pressure needs to be applied to the genitals and women's breasts because the skin is sensitive and will redden if irritated.

15. Brush up and down your spine from the base of your neck and down as far as you can 14 times.

16. Finish your upper back by stroking it around toward your sides.

17. Brush your spine from tailbone up as high as you can reach 14 times, holding the brush with two hands or with the detachable wooden handle.

18. Finish your lower back by stroking it around toward your sides.

19. Brush up from right ankle to right knee and work all the way around your leg, brushing up towards your heart.

20. Hold the brush in the right groin with both hands and rotate it 7 times counter-clockwise, then 7 times clockwise.

21. Repeat with the left groin.

22. Brush from right knee to right hip 7 times.

23. Work all the way around your leg continuing to brush upwards (towards the heart).

24. Brush up from right ankle to right knee and work all the way around your leg, brushing up towards your heart.

25. Brush around your right ankle 7 times.

26. Brush back and forth over the top of your right foot from toes to ankle.

27. Brush across your right toes on top and underneath 7 times.

28. Brush the bottom of your right foot heel to toe 7 times.

29. Now do the same with for the left foot, leg and thigh.

30. Brush upward from right elbow to your armpit and shoulder 7 times.

31. Brush from your right wrist to the elbow in the same manner 7 times.

32. Repeat steps on your left arm.

33. Lightly brush the webbing (or junction) between your left thumb and index or pointer finger on the palm side 14 times, then on the non-palm side 14 times.

34. Brush your left palm from wrist to fingertips and back 7 times.

35. Brush the back of your left hand the same way 7 times.

36. Brush each left hand finger individually back and forth 7 times on the areas that have not been brushed yet.

37. Repeat the steps for your right hand.

After brushing, take a hot shower with soap (about three minutes in duration), followed by a 10-20 second cold rinse. Repeat this procedure three times. If the hot/cold showers are too extreme, a warm shower can be used. Follow the shower with a rubdown with either a sponge or towel to remove dead skin.

Problems with dry, flaky or thickened skin on your feet? One of my favorite products obtained from your local Rite Aid Store is called Pretty Feet & Hands Rough Skin Remover. This stuff is awesome. Shake well before using. Pour about a quarter-size puddle of fluid into the palm of one hand, then rub the areas that have lots of dry skin on them. The dry skin balls up in your hand. Rinse the areas and apply lotion. Note: You can only do this process once a day. The product doesn't work after the area is wet or after a shower. It may take up to four days for those tough areas like the feet to make the skin like new. The product appears to be safe and does not cause allergic reactions. One 3-ounce bottle usually runs around $10.

Dry brushing along with the ACV baths is what did it. At the time, I was not trying to get rid of cellulite. I was trying to get well after a stint in the hospital. I had a serious illness too.

I stopped doing the baths about two years ago and all my cellulite returned. At first I did not know why or how. Then I recalled what I had done in the past and started doing more extensive reasearch, since I have the internet now.

I have been dry brushing and bathing in ACV for about two weeks and there is serious improvement.

Note, while I am in the bath tub, I am scraping my skin with my finger nails. I know this sounds strange, but it's like when you shave your legs, it helps to get all the junk out and you can actually see the different colors of junk. At first I really did not know what is was four years ago. Now I know. It's toxins that my body is ridding itself.

You will also notice it's greasy. Yes, it is fat.

Finish up with coconut oil to make your skin nice and silky smooth. Nothing out there compares to this oil.

There will so may other benefits to ACV and dry brushing you can read on the internet.

That is my tip :-). I know it will work for you because that is how God designed our bodies to operate. It truly is awesome. May God richly bless you!!!

Replied by Debbie
(Tennessee)
12/02/2017

You may want to skip the baking soda since it neutralizes the ACV. Instead use Epsom Salts!


Fungus

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Cassandra (Atlanta, Ga) on 07/18/2013
★★★★★

I soaked feet for 5-6 hrs for 2 days because I heard it was good for bone spurs. Well behold. I have been suffering from foot fungus and bacteria for years on my left foot. Could never get rid of it. It was embarrassing. hated to go to get a pedicure. I would always soak my feet at home and scrape off the dead, nasty skin caused by foot fungus b4 getting a pedicure. Well after soaking my feet for 2 days in the ACV. I swear the fungus is GONE! I am amazed. I am shocked. Its been a week and no sign of it. I am so happy... oh yes and the bone spurs don't hurt as much... thanks.


Molluscum Contagiosum

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Linda (Danli, Honduras) on 04/08/2015
★★★★★

I have two boys, the eldest (5) got Molluscum last year and we took him to a dermatologist inmediately..she took advantage of our worry (and ignorance) because she made it seem very awful and contagious for the baby (in the time he was 6 months). She convinced us of doing curetage, but he had to be asleep (anesthesia). It was horrible worrying and when he woke up it was terrible! We felt guilty for putting him thru that, but the dermatologist assured us it was the only way. On january this year, I noticed it was appearing on the baby (now 18m) and I wasn't going to be convinced to do it because I had read that there were natural remedies, plus it was super expensive and not covered by insureance. I searched and searched (in 3 days he had more than 60 marks, on torso and arms) and I found this site, which was truly helpful. At first I tried with the bandaids and cotton balls, but having a twitchy and wiggly toddler doesn't help (bandaids also left his skin very red). So I started bathing him with 1 cup of apple cider vinegar in his bathtub (the smell is very strong) for at least 20 min, didn't wash it out..he smelled funky but it was totally worth it! I started on feb 15 and by march 30 he had only 1 left! No squishing anything o using bandaids, just the apple cider vinergar on bath, changing towels everyday, clothes at least 3 times a day, bed sheets twice a week and vuala! We couldn't be more satisfied and grateful!


Scabies

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by DAK (Ky) on 03/15/2020
★★★★★

I did begin a regimen of using ACV. I had scabies (thanks grandkids) 5x in 4 months. It must have lowered my immune system because shortly after (2wks) I started with Demodex infestation. Truth be told I rather, any day, deal with scabies. I began researching natural remedies & found AVC is an excellent way to sooth & maybe kill them. Its wonderful as well as an easy way to completely emerge my hair & body in. I also use it in a spray bottle throughout the day. Works for me.