Vinegar mania (updated 2013)

My family considers me a vinegar maniac! There always has to be fermented or distilled vinegar in the house and I do use it very often. The latest addition to the list of vinegar uses was the car windscreen use.

When I sit in someone's car (I have never owned a car myself, which makes me somewhat proud), and get the pleasure of inhaling the over-perfumed soapy and truly toxic windscreen washer, I enter a state of panic. Thus, I have been looking for alternatives.

If you are looking for a less toxic ride, pour 1:2 white vinegar /water solution into the windscreen washer bottle. The result is equally efficient. You get most of the dirt away from your windscreen. As a bonus you pollute less and save yourself from inhaling yet another toxic solution. Plus its dirt cheap! 

My other vinegar uses:

BEAUTY (apple vinegar)

• Apply half a spoon of naturally fermented vinegar instead of a hair conditioner. Mix with water and rinse your hair.

• Pour a glass of 1:3 vinegar/ water solution over your washed hair to manage natural curls instead of using a non-natural fixing hair gel.

• Soften your hands by dipping them into the vinegar and drying them afterwards.

HEATH (apple vinegar)

•Drink two tablespoonfuls of diluted apple vinegar a day, or add to salads to rid your body of Candida and treat urinary tract infections.

•Add two cups of apple vinegar into your bath to balance your skin PH, sun damaged skin or attack yeast infection.

•Sooth insect’s stinks and small cuts by applying undiluted vinegar.

BATHROOM (distilled white vinegar)

•Clean, disinfect and shine your porcelain basin and bathtub with undiluted vinegar and avoid buying toxic bathroom cleaners.

•Remove scum and polish your shower door with 100% vinegar solution.

•Get rid of bathroom mold by spraying 100% vinegar solution. Ventilate your bathroom.

•Disinfect and clean your porcelain toilet by sprinkling baking soda and spraying vinegar over it. Leave for a while before scrubbing with a toilet brush and rinsing.

•Leave half a cup of vinegar in the toilet bowl to remove odor. 

•Unblock a clogged drain or remove drain odor by pouring 1 liter of hot vinegar into it. Leave overnight.

CAR

•Remove stains from car carpet with a 1:1 solution of water/ distilled vinegar.

•Remove odor by placing bowl of distilled vinegar on the car floor and leave overnight.

•Polish car chrome with undiluted white distilled vinegar on a soft cloth.

GARDEN

•Discourage ants and other pests by spraying undiluted vinegar.  

•Get rid of fruit flies by placing a bowl of distilled vinegar in the affected area.

•Kill weed and unwanted grass by pouring undiluted vinegar onto walkways (avoid pesticides).

KITCHEN

•Clean your kitchen sink and counters with 100% vinegar solution on a soft cloth.

•Deodorize and clean your garbage can with undiluted vinegar. 

•Remove mineral deposits from your kettle by placing vinegar overnight or boiling it before rinsing with water.

•Soak the tips of your wooden spoons overnight in vinegar solutions to brighten and disinfect them (avoid plastic or silicon utensils which may release toxins). Never place your wooden spoons into a dishwasher if you use conventional toxic dishwasher detergents.

•Disinfect your wooden cutting boards after washing and leave to dry in the sun.

•Clean your dishwasher with vinegar ice cubes added to the bottom prior to the cycle and avoid heavy chemical cleaners.

•Alternatively, pour 1 liter of vinegar and run in an empty dishwasher using hot but short cycle (can use just the first wash and then rinse not to abuse water).

•Remove film in (baby) glass bottles with 1:1 hot water/ vinegar solution, leave for an hour+, before scrubbing with a brush.

•Clean and freshen the refrigerator with undiluted vinegar.

OTHER CLEANING

•Create an all-purpose window cleaner 1:3 vinegar/water. For best results use microfiber cloth. The same applies to mirrors too.

•Wash wooden/ linoleum/ ceramic floors with warm bucket of water and a cup of vinegar.

•Clean and disinfect children’s toys with vinegar.

•Sanitize pet homes and beds with vinegar/ water solution.

•Add to the washing machine last cycle instead of a softener and get softer towels.

•Clean your iron with 1:1 water/vinegar solution and let it steam out.

•Make your eye-glasses shine by cleaning them with 1:2 vinegar/ water solution.

BEWARE

•Never use vinegar on marble surfaces; it can damage them.

•There are more than two dozens types of vinegar. Use only white distilled vinegar for cleaning. Balsamic vinegar and other vinegar deriving from wine and apples are not suitable for cleaning.

•Check the label before purchasing vinegar, some have been made from petroleum and fossil fuel products, since synthetic ethyl alcohol can be created from the liquefaction of coal or the hydration of ethylene, which is a product of the petrochemical industry. This is why you should ensure your vinegar comes from fermentation (e.g. corn or barley), by oxidizing alcohol in wine, beer or any other fermented liquid. The active component of vinegar is acetic acid and most vinegars will contain around 5% of this acid.

•Use apple cider vinegar for internal use only in a diluted form as it is highly acidic. 

Although vinegar is not bleach, it is a powerful disinfectant that kills the majority of bacteria, best working in an undiluted form. Some people regard vinegar as inefficient in households with children and pets. However, precisely there one should beware of the abuse of toxic disinfectants. Disinfectants overkill.

By the way, I heard that some people use vinegar as a natural deodorant. So who is the vinegar maniac here?!

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