The Many Uses of Vinegar

Vinegar is a common product found in most households today, even though it was discovered about 10,000 years ago. The Babylonians used vinegar as a condiment and began to flavor it with herbs and spices. The Greeks reportedly used vinegar to pickle vegetables and meats. Vinegar even has some Biblical references for its use as a soothing and healing property. During the Civil War, vinegar was used to treat scurvy and during World War I it was used to aid in the treatment wounds.

In today's world, there are still many uses for vinegar as I recently learned when researching organic ways to kill weeds in my vegetable garden. Not knowing the widespread use of vinegar, I joked that I could probably spray the weeds with vinegar and it would kill them. Well, I soon found out and was shocked to learn that I could use vinegar in my garden and then I learned what else I could use vinegar for.

Using Vinegar in Cooking:
This came as no surprise that vinegar has many cooking purposes. It can be used to make a vinaigrette salad dressing by mixing 1 part white distilled vinegar to 4 parts oil. It can also be used to freshen wilted vegetable when you soak them in cold water containing 1 - 2 spoonfuls of white distilled vinegar. When cooking pasta, add just a bit of vinegar to the water to make the noodles less sticky. You can also prevent eggs from cracking when boiling by adding 1 - 2 tablespoons of vinegar to the water.

Vinegar can also be used to remove kitchen odors by boiling a small amount of water with 1/4 cup of white distilled vinegar. Then just allow the steam to move about the room to remove any existing odors. After working with onions or berries, rub a little bit of vinegar on your hands to get rid of the odor and stains.

Using Vinegar Outdoors:
Spray vinegar on any unwanted weeds or grass to kill it. Stop ants and anthills by pouring white distilled vinegar on the area. Vinegar can be used to preserve fresh flowers by adding 2 tablespoons of vinegar and 1 teaspoon of sugar to a quart of water in a vase. Clean outdoor furniture with a cloth soaked in vinegar. Keep rabbits out of your garden by soaking cotton balls in vinegar and then put them in film canisters, poke holes in the containers and place them around your garden.

Using Vinegar in Cleaning:
Clean your microwave by mixing 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar and 1/2 cup water, place mixture in a microwave safe bowl, heat in microwave until boiling. The baked-on food will loosen and odors will vanish. Then, just wipe clean. Wipe down refrigerator walls and shelves with a mixture of half and half vinegar and water. Remove soap build-up and odors from your dishwasher by running 1 cup of vinegar into an empty machine. Clean cloudy glassware by soaking cloths in full-strength white distilled vinegar. Then, wrap the inside and outside of glass with cloth, let stand, and rinse clean. Spray your grill with half and half of water and vinegar to loosen grime. Remove unwanted stickers, labels, and price tags by covering with a cloth soaked in vinegar and leave overnight. The label should slide off in the morning. Clean dirty grout by spraying with full-strength vinegar and allowing to sit for several minutes and then scrub with an old toothbrush. Remove scorch marks from your iron by rubbing with a warm mixture of equal parts vinegar and salt or you can use cloth dampened with full-strength vinegar for stubborn marks.

Vinegar can even be used to clean laundry. Dab a mustard stain with white distilled vinegar before washing and treat spaghetti, BBQ, and ketchup stains with a mixture of vinegar and water.

Using Vinegar in Personal Use:
Stop bites from itching by dabbing with cotton ball soaked in undiluted white vinegar. Soothe a sunburn by spraying with vinegar. This may also prevent peeling and you can repeat use as often as needed. Eliminate bad breath and whiten your teeth by brushing with vinegar 1 -2 times a week. Avoid skin problems after working in the garden by rinsing hands with white distilled vinegar.

As you can see, vinegar really does have many uses, ranging from cooking to health care. If you are looking for environmentally friendly and "green" ways to spruce up your home and garden look towards vinegar. It's a lot cheaper and more versatile than any other cleaning agent and it's safer than using chemicals.

The Vinegar Institute, www.versatilevinegar.org/vinegarlore.html, Vinegar Lore

The Vinegar Institute, www.versatilevinegar.org/usesandtips.html, Vinegar Uses & Tips

VinegarTips.com, www.vinegartips.com/, 1001 Uses for White Distilled Vinegar