The wonderful ways vinegar can benefit your home

Vinegar is a wonder liquid that should be a staple in your home if it isn’t already. It will keep your dog from scratching her ears, nix bad breath and make baked goods super moist and tasty. It will rid your house of fruit flies, shine your no-wax floor, and keep grass from growing through the cracks in your sidewalk. Consisting mainly of water and acetic acid (produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria), vinegar dates back to as far as 400 BC when Hippocrates, considered the Father of Medicine, used this naturally occurring germ-killer—considered to be one of the very first “medicines”—to treat his patients. Over the centuries, this easily available mild acid became known for many uses at home, in medicine and in manufacturing processes. But when commercialized products began hitting the shelves in the late 1800s, vinegar’s numerous uses seemed to be forgotten, except for use in cooking recipes. However, with the increasing awareness of our environment and concern over chemicals in cleaning supplies, vinegar has re-emerged as a inexpensive, beneficial product. The following is a partial list of its amazing uses: Kitchen • Make your best cake ever. Add a spoonful of white distilled vinegar to your homemade or boxed cakes to add moistness and taste. • Perk up wilted veggies. Soak them in cold water with 1-2 spoonfuls of white distilled vinegar. • Keep pasta from sticking together. Reduce the starch in pasta by adding a dash of white distilled vinegar while it cooks. • Remove kitchen odors. Boil a small amount of water with 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar. The steam will dispel any odors. • Liven up a can of soup or sauce. Add a teaspoon of red or white wine vinegar. • Keep eggs from cracking when boiling. Add a tablespoon or two of white distilled vinegar while cooking. • Make rice yummier. Add a teaspoon of white distilled vinegar to boiling water. Gardening • Get rid of unwanted weeds and grass. Pour full-strength white distilled vinegar on them. • Got ants? Keep them away by pouring white distilled vinegar on the area. • Add life to droopy flowers. Add 2 tablespoons white distilled vinegar and 1 teaspoon sugar to a quart of water in a vase. • Make your pots look new! Get rid of white mineral crusts on clay and glazed pots. Soak them for an hour or longer in a solution of half water, half white distilled vinegar. • Make your birdbath sparkle. Scrub regularly with undiluted white distilled vinegar and rinse well. Cleaning • Remove rust. Soak garden tools overnight or several days in undiluted white distilled vinegar. • Make scouring cleanser. Combine 1/4 cup baking soda with 1 tablespoon liquid detergent, and just enough white distilled vinegar to give it a thick, creamy texture. • Perk up percolators. Vinegar can remove mineral deposits. Run 1 or more cups of white distilled vinegar through a whole cycle, followed by one or more plain water cycles to rinse clean. • Eliminate fruit flies. Set out a small dish of undiluted white distilled vinegar. • Clean microwave: Loosen cooked-on food by bringing half a cup white distilled vinegar and half a cup water to rolling boil inside microwave. Wipe clean. • Remove labels, decals, or price tags. Cover overnight with a cloth soaked in white distilled vinegar. • Get a shiny no-wax vinyl or linoleum floor. Clean with a solution of one cup white distilled vinegar for every gallon of water. • Remove white water rings from wood. Mix a solution of equal parts white distilled vinegar and vegetable oil. Rub with the grain. • Clean paint brushes. Soak for an hour before simmering them in pot of white distilled vinegar. Laundry • Get dingy socks and dishcloths white. Add 1 cup white distilled vinegar to a large pot of water, bring it to a rolling boil and drop in clothing. Let soak overnight. • Remove perspiration odor and stains on clothing. Spray full-strength white distilled vinegar on underarm and collar areas before tossing into the washing machine. • Remove scorch marks from irons. Rub with full-strength white distilled vinegar. • Get water and salt stains off shoes. Wipe with a solution of equal parts white distilled vinegar and water. • Get cleaner and brighter laundry: Add 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar to the last rinse. Will also make fabric softer and reduce static cling. It will also make your brights brighter! • Make tiny holes left from a hemline disappear! After taking out the hem of a garment, use a cloth moistened with white distilled vinegar placed under the fabric while ironing. HealthAutomotive • Keep car windows frost-free overnight in winter: Coat them with a solution of 3 parts white distilled vinegar to 1 part water. • Remove carsickness odor. To dispel odor after a passenger has been carsick, leave a bowl of white distilled vinegar on your car floor overnight. • Remove stains from carpeting. Spray on mixture of half white distilled vinegar and half water, then scrub clean. Also works on winter road salt residue. • Loosen chewing gum. Soak it with white distilled vinegar then blot. • Make your car extra shiny. Add a few drops white distilled vinegar to your bucket of water. Pets • Clean up pet accidents. Blot stain, then add a white distilled vinegar-and-water solution. Blot again, until almost dry. Sprinkle baking soda over the area and vacuum up the next day. • Keep your dog from scratching ears. Wipe canine ears regularly with a soft cloth dipped in undiluted white distilled vinegar. • Keep kitty in check. Keep kitty away from gardens or windowsills by spraying white distilled vinegar. Test first to be sure there is no discoloration. • Keep flies away from horses. Spray a mixture of water and white distilled vinegar around the area where your horses or other outdoor animals are. • Kill fleas. Add white distilled vinegar to your dog or cat’s drinking water.