Monday, April 21, 2014

Vinegar- even us lazy people can use it.

So I haven't posted in a few days, because all I have been doing is taking photos of my food as I cook it, but I really didn't want this to be a food blog, I wanted to be a little more broad and encompassing--so I am saving those posts for later.

Let's talk vinegar. It's CHEAP, and wonderful with all of it's eleventybillion uses. I bought it in a gallon (this is a gallon, right?) from Target. (I don't even remember how much it was, but it's inexpensive. I'm sure there are other places to get it, that may be a better price--but like I've  mentioned..sometimes convenience is key.) So vinegar has a lot of great multifunctional uses (see 60 ways here or 101 ways here), however, I don't like to go by these lists because I haven't actually tried it and verified that it does a good job.

Here are 7 easy uses for vinegar, that I have tested and prove to work!

1) Fabric freshener - I have a spray bottle that is about 25% vinegar, 75% water. I used it on an old mattress that my daughter slept on, and during potty training, we had a LOT of accidents (and..uh..let's face it, we are back to diapers now). After we decided to switch out beds (I never liked it anyways, it was my husband's bed before we got married), I misted the entire mattress and let it sit in the sun (from the windows, I wasn't going to move it outside). I did this once a day for three days..and now, you would never know the bed was used- at all. I also use the spray inside my shoes (I have smelly feet).

2) Deodorizer (is this the same as above?) - I use it in my laundry. I cloth diaper my kids, and I make my own detergent.. and occasionally, I'll get a stink build up. Vinegar neutralizes that. Approximately once a month, I'll do a deep clean/stripping of my diapers, and that includes using vinegar in the rinse cycle. Stink goes away, voila.

3) Color Preserver - I don't know how this works, and I'm not very scientific, and I'm also very lazy to look it up, but I was told to do this. I used it to wash my jeans when they were brand new. I bought a new pair of jeans, and I wanted to wear white with it and *not* end up with blue shoes. I was told to wash my jeans, and use 1/4 cup in the rinse cycle, and then do an extra rinse. I did this (used vinegar) twice, just in case. I don't know how, or why, but it worked. I wore white, It didn't ruin the rest of my outfit.

4) Rinse-Aid - So I tried making my own dishwashing (machine) detergent......don't. I heard every recipe out there doesn't work too well, but I found one that several people (online) swore by, so I tried it. I ended up with so much hard-water buildup I was grossed out picking my dishes from the dishwasher. I added a little vinegar to the rinse-aid (where you would normally stick jet-dry or similar), put a little cup right-side-up filled to the brim with vinegar, and ran the wash again. They came out sparkling.

5) Wash strawberries (and probably other berries) - You know how when you let strawberries sit for anytime longer than a few days, they start to mold? Try washing them in vinegar first to kill any existing bacteria, then give it a good rinse and refrigerate. My non-scientific experiment says it lasts at least a few days longer.

6) Hard wood floor cleaner - I use about 2 or 3 cups of vinegar in a large bucket of hot water. I swear it makes my floors shine like they were new.

7) General Cleaner - I have a 50/50 water/vinegar spray that I use for a lot of things - cleaning kids toys, wiping down counters, cleaning my microwave, refrigerator,




and I'm trying this one right now, not sure yet if it works


8) Weed killer, use as 100% concentration, 5% acidity (5% is what is normally sold in stores). Supposedly works well in sunny climates, which I do not live in! Testing to see if it works in cloudy environments as well.




What are some of your favorite uses for vinegar?

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