Vinegar has so many uses other than in food (which it is great for!). Your grandparents probably used it all the time for cleaning. Here are a whole bunch of ideas of how to make vinegar a staple in every aspect of your life.
Cleaners: Vinegar can be used to clean just about anything in your home. For an all-purpose cleaner mix 2/3 distilled white vinegar with 1/3 water and put in a spray bottle. To clean and disinfect cutting boards, wash with full strength distilled white vinegar. To clean stains in your carpet mix 1 teaspoon of liquid detergent and 1 teaspoon of white distilled vinegar in a pint of lukewarm water. Apply it to the stain with a soft brush or towel and rub gently. Rinse with a towel moistened with clean water and blot dry. Repeat this procedure until the stain is gone. Then dry quickly, using a fan or hair dryer.
Yard Work: Vinegar can be used to kill unwanted grass and weeds. Spray white distilled vinegar full strength on tops of weeds or on grass. Reapply on any new growth until plants have starved. You can also use vinegar to increase soil acidity. In hard water areas, add a cup of vinegar to a gallon of tap water for watering acid loving plants like rhododendrons, gardenias or azaleas. The vinegar will release iron in the soil for the plants to use. Vinegar can be used as plant food as well. Mix vinegar and water in a ratio of 1:8. Mix a separate solution of sugar and water in a mixture of 1:8. Combine the vinegar and sugar mixtures. Add to plant as long as needed.
Laundry: Zest up your wash with some vinegar. Clothes will rinse better if 1 cup of white distilled vinegar is added to the last rinse water. The acid in vinegar is too mild to harm fabrics, but strong enough to dissolve the alkalies in soaps and detergents. To hold colors in fabrics, which tend to run, soak them for a few minutes in white distilled vinegar before washing. For all the Mamas out there try using vinegar to clean your baby laundry. The addition of 1 cup of white distilled vinegar to each load of baby clothes during the rinse cycle will naturally break down uric acid and soapy residue leaving the clothes soft and fresh.
Health: Wow this one is endless but here is a start. To clear up respiratory congestion, inhale a vapor mist from steaming pot containing water and several spoonfuls of vinegar. If you are fair like me and get sunburns all summer try lightly rubbing white distilled or cider vinegar on the burn. Reapply as needed. Stop itchy bug bites and rashes by applying a paste made from vinegar and cornstarch. Keep on until itch disappears. Get rid of annoying warts by mixing lukewarm/warm water with a cup of white distilled vinegar. Immerse area with wart and soak 20 minutes everyday until wart disappears.
Random: Ditch the shampoo and try simply rinsing your hair with vinegar and baking soda. It does wonders. For a simple gold jewelry cleaner use one cup apple cider vinegar, then submerge solid gold jewelry item in vinegar for 15 minutes. Remove and dry with cloth. For those rare winter mornings when there is frost on the car, wipe the windows the night before with a solution of one part water to three parts white distilled vinegar. They won’t frost over. Remove bumper stickers by repeatedly wiping the sticker with white distilled vinegar until it is soaked. In a few minutes, it should peel off easily. Test on a small invisible area of the car to ensure there will be no damage to the paint.
These are just a sampling for all the things you can do with vinegar. If you want to explore more things to do visit The Vinegar Institute.
Noticed your article. Great to see another West Coast Girl using the great ACV. Did you know red wine, balsamic, herbal and fruit vinegars have dozens of health perks, too? It's in my book The Healing Powers of Vinegar and don't forget The Healing Powers of Olive Oil. (West Coast Girl--we live near olive land in Sonoma/Napa!)
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