Vinegar has been around thousands upon thousands of years, being noted as early as 3000 BC. We use it in salad dressings, to clean our coffee pots, and as a standard household cleaner. But did you know just how many uses vinegar has? Being available for only a few dollars a bottle, vinegar is one of the cheapest, versatile, and earth-friendly home remedies and cleansers available.
As a Household Cleaner:
- Make a standard household cleaner by mixing 1 part vinegar and 9 parts water and adding to a spray bottle. This will kill most germs and is safe around kids and pets.
- Coffee pot cleaner. We use our coffee maker multiple times each day, so a few times a month we run vinegar through to remove any deposits and clean the pot for fresher tasting coffee. Run a pot of straight vinegar through, followed by two or three cycles of water to rinse out all remaining vinegar.
- Car deodorizer. Leave a bowl of white, distilled vinegar open overnight in your car. This will remove any odors.
- Food stain remover. The next time your hands are stained by berries or other dark foods, rinse them with white vinegar, which will remove any pigment on your hands.
- Clean lime buildup off of chrome fixtures. According to www.vinegartips.com, use a paste made of 2 tablespoons salt and 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar.
- Clean your garbage disposal. Pour a cup of vinegar down the disposal, let sit for a few minutes, and then run. My husband and I also like to add ice cubes while the disposal is running (for added abrasive cleansing power) and follow it up with orange peels to give the disposal (and kitchen) a pleasant smell.
- Clean tile grout. Let full-strength white distilled vinegar sit on it for a few minutes and scrub it with an old toothbrush.
- Get urine stains and odors out of mattresses. Whether left by pets or children, these are gross. First, blot the stain to remove all urine. Then clean the soiled area with white vinegar. Sprinkle with baking soda and let dry overnight, vacuuming up in the morning.
As a Homeopathic Remedy:
- Fight foot odor by soaking feet in vinegar.
- Ease a sore throat by gargling 1 teaspoon of vinegar diluted with 8 ounces of water.
- Take the heat out of sunburn by using a vinegar compress (a washcloth soaked in vinegar).
- Fight jellyfish stings. I've heard varying accounts, but if you live in an area where jellyfish stings are a threat, bring a bottle of vinegar with you to the beach. The acetic acid in vinegar is said to stop the release of venom after a jellyfish sting.
- Fight the itch of bug bites by applying a cotton ball soaked in vinegar.
- Fight under-arm odor by dabbing yourself with apple cider vinegar, which should inhibit the growth of odor-causing bacteria.
This list doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the number of uses for vinegar. For more tips, check out www.vinegartips.com and DiscoveryHealth.com.
