Tuesday, October 21, 2008

My list of uses for vinegar

So in an attempt to cure my doggies rash I ran into uses for vinegar. My grandmother used to do things with vinegar that seemed odd to me but now that I read these next time Im at Sams club I will pick up a couple more gallons!

Here goes some of the things I thought were interesting on the list: These are quoted

1.
Used as a hair rinse, vinegar neutralizes the alkali left by shampoos.
A reader says 'it will give your hair an all out shine!'
2. Fabric softener and static cling reducer - use as you would liquid fabric softener.
3. Chewing gum dissolver - saturate the area with vinegar. If the vinegar is heated, it will work faster.
4. Stain remover - for stains caused by grass, coffee, tea, fruits and berries. Soak clothing in full strength vinegar.
5. Wash your windshield with vinegar in the winter to help keep ice and frost away.
6. Spray your hands with a mist of vinegar, or dip them in vinegar and dry after washing dishes or having them in soapy water to keep your hands soft.
7. Use diluted 1:1 in water to take pet odors out of carpets. Find the spot, and saturate it with about 1 1/2 times the original volume. Let set for awhile then blot up. Repeat if your cloth is very dirty after blotting. I make sure to turn on a fan and open a window, especially for large spots!
8.This reader writes: My grandmother swears by vinegar as an antiseptic for abrasions,to reduce itch from poison ivy or mosquito bites,and even to help rehydrate sunburned skin.
9. On heavily tarnished copper or copper-alloy to be cleaned up, use a paste made of salt and vinegar.
10. One teaspoon to one tablespoon of vinegar gets rid of hiccups.
11. Use 2 cups of cider vinegar in the tub to soak sore muscles and add potassium to muscles
12. Use for a throat soother. Take equal amounts of honey and cider vinegar, stir or shake until dissolved. Take a tablespoon at a time to cut mucuous in the throat.
13. Keep a spray bottle of 50% vinegar, 50% water near the laundry station. Spray it on clothing stains before tossing the clothing into the washer (just as you would a commercial spray stain remover).
14. From another reader: After years of suffering from athlete's foot, consulting doctors, and spending hundreds of dollars on so called cures (some presciption, some over the counter), I read in one of the magazines in which I subscibe to try soaking in vinegar. Something was said about it changing skin ph so that the fungus could not grow. I soaked three evenings in a row. Now, no more fungus and that has been several months ago.
15. I use cloth diapers and my baby kept breaking out in a rash. From another web site, it suggested adding a cup of vinegar during the rinse cycle. It equalizes the ph balance. I've been doing it ever since and, viola, no rash!
16. Pour 1/4 cup vinegar to your dishwasher rinse cycle for streak free, sparkling dishes everytime!!
17. Try white vinegar underarms and other areas of the body as a natural deoderant. Will not stop perspiration (which is not healthy anyway) but will neutralize odor.
18. I keep my drains clean and working great with vinegar. When they seem to be getting a bit sluggish, or even stopped up, pour white vinegar down the kitchen and bathroom sinks and shower drain. It works like a wonder and no toxics.
19. Dipping a wet toothbrush in white vinegar and brushing my teeth. It does away with any bad breath, especially after eating onions. And it also whitens teeth.
20. Cheap solution to replace those expensive PERGO flooring cleaners (got this from a PERGO Distributor)
1/3 part white vinegar
1/3 part rubbing alcohol
1/3 part water
3 drops diswashing liquid
Mix this into a (recycled) spray bottle and you have the equivalent of the Pergo floor cleaner. Just spray and mop; also great for deodorizing a room and for a fast cleanup. I also use this on my tile floors with great results.
21. Use boiling vinegar (no water) to clean hardened acrylic paints from paint brushes. Don't soak them too long, since it could loosen the hairs from the brush.
22.Keep cut flowers fresh longer (or even perk up droopy ones) by adding two tablespoons of vinegar and one tablespoon of sugar to each quart of water.
23. Vinegar is extremely effective on yeast infections. When I get an infection, I pour about 1 cup of white vinegar in my douche bottle and finish filling with warm water. I douche twice daily and in about 2 days my infection is gone. The vinegar smell leaves in about an hour.
Another reader writes: I have found that the vinegar bath also cures yeast infections, not only mine but also my infant daughter. My midwife suggested the vinegar bath while I was pregnant and it cured it and hasn't come back since. Twice daily and in about two days it's gone.
24. If you have a recipe that calls for sour milk (or buttermilk), add a bit of vinegar to the milk, it works!
25. We use vinegar on wasp/yellowjacket stings. Just soak a cotton ball in cider vinegar and hold to the sore spot (can tape it on with bandage tape). Within a few minutes the pain stops. It would work on bee stings too, only you'd probably need to get the stinger out.
26. I use a white vinegar solution 2 parts vinegar 1 part water to clean the rust off cast iron pans. I collect antique cast iron pans and after cleaning the old grease off them many times they are rusty under the old seasoning. I soak the pan overnight in the vinegar solution and the vinegar just dissolves the rust. Very rusty pans many take an extra evening. Don't leave it in there too long or you will not have a pan. The vinegar actually dissolves the metal. This would work on new cast iron pans also.
30. I put a capful of vinegar in a glass of water when I am having indigestion problems. It gets rid of the gassy, bloating, diarrhea problems. It seems to help balance the acid needed for digestion.