October’s product of the month is something you probably already have in your pantry: vinegar! Sure, vinegar isn’t new and it isn’t high-tech, but it’s an eco-staple you should get to know. Vinegar is made from the fermentation of ethanol and has been used for Centuries in food, as medicine, and as a great cleansing agent. Hippocrates used vinegar to treat skin conditions and other ailments, while today vinegar is used in China as a home prevention for SAARS. Vinegar makes several appearances as “turned wine” throughout the Bible, and even Martha Stewart uses vinegar to clean her tea kettles!
Our favorite use for vinegar? Mixing up inexpensive and powerful home cleansers that are as gentle on you, your family and your pets as they are on the environment. Pouring 1 cup of baking soda and 1 cup of white vinegar in the bathtub drain each week (let sit for 5 minutes, then flush with hot water), keeps the clogs away. A sponge soaked in distilled white vinegar will take the funk from your fridge, shine the greasy door to your oven and can even rid your pots of that tarnished tinge. Vinegar is a great product to become acquainted with for two more reasons: It’s ultra-cheap (usually under $3) and can be found just about everywhere. We’ve even seen vinegar at the gas station!
Think salt and vinegar is just for potato chips? Try mixing the two in your favorite stained-beyond-recognition coffee mug and watch the brown gunge wash down the drain. If you think vinegar is just for dying Easter eggs, check out vinegartips.com or our Book of the Month for great ideas on how to use vinegar for everything from cleaning your microwave to shining dull pennies.
Photo © Tammy McAllister. Image from BigStockPhoto.com.
8 Comments to “October’s Product of the Month : Vinegar”
December 16, 2007
WOW! thats pretty kewl. Now i can tell my mum how to get the stain out of my bathroom. thax_xx
January 5, 2008
My wife is the vinegar queen! When she first started cleaning our bathroom and our fridge (and many other things) with vinegar, I was first a bit puzzled and a bit repulsed by the smell. I must say, I have really come to appreciate her wisdom on this matter and am most pleased with the fact that we are pouring less toxic chemicals down the drain. Also, it’s much cheaper than products like Simple Green and other environmentally-friendly cleaning products.
So, like any smart husband, I must admit that my wife’s right again!
March 17, 2008
I keep vinegar and water with a bit of dish washing liquid in a spray bottle and use it to clean windows, hardwood floors, bathroom sinks, etc Also a similar bleach solution using only a cap full of bleach will sanitize the kitchen from a host of bacteria. Recently, I read that vinegar can kill athletes foot! My husband tried it and it worked! One more thing, I recently soaked some rusted tools in vinegar and water and after a week, they looked new!
March 22, 2008
I use vinegar and warm water to replace glass cleaner, it was a trick I learned from my grandfather. He also taught me to scour with baking soda. Grandpa was ahead of his time.
This is a great site, keep it up!
April 24, 2008
My mother & grandmother believe that vinegar is a cureall. I keep a bottle with 1/2 vinegar 1/2 water & it is the best degreaser that I have found. We use it to clean our drains, like the article mentions, and it is wonderful to know that I don’t have to worry about having horrible chemicals in the house.
May 29, 2008
While I was breastfeeding my son, I started putting vinegar in the laundry in the cup usually used for liquid fabric softener. It killed any fungal/yeast that might have lead to thrush (in my clothes, in my son’s clothes). It certainly did the trick - The mild case of thrush we both had disappeared shortly after I started using the vinegar (in addition to a topical ointment I got from my doctor!). And, I noticed it helped with static cling, so I continue to use it in the wash.
June 20, 2008
I thought I had become a bore with my ‘green talk’ - thank goodness I was given a Greenliving magazine and found your website - nothing like grassroots - KUDOS to you 3 ladies.
August 12, 2008
If the smell of vinegar makes you want to reconsider using it, you can add a few drops of lemon juice ( which can also be used ro repel insects and clean pennies) to give it a fresher, more pleasing scent that’ll have everyone asking you what product you use.
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