Sunday, October 12, 2008

Vinegar - The Ultimate Multitasker

As most of you know by now, we have moved into an older home. It has some issues here and there, but nothing major. One of those issues was the shower door. Shower doors have a propensity to build up soap scum and make every little thing visible. Unlike curtains, you can't just throw them in the washer. My first thought was to steam it. That did not even make a mini dent. So then I had an aha moment. I know vinegar works great on windows and mirrors, why not the shower door. I took my little spray bottle and wiped, wiped, wiped. It worked quite well. I did have to break out vinegar's good friend baking soda for some of the thicker spots. Now, much to my delight, my shower door "shines like the top of the Chrysler Building". So that got me to thinking. How many uses can we come up with for vinegar. I will get the list started, but please add your uses in the comments. Let's see if we can get to 100.
1. Clean soap scum from shower doors.
2. Clean windows.
3. Clean mirrors.
4. Cheap and effective fabric softener. $2.99 for a huge bottle as opposed to over $5 for the small bottle of fabric softener. And I think my clothes and towels are softer. Plus it helps get the sweaty smell out of Chris' work clothes.
5. Cooking (better not forget the obvious one)
6. Salad dressing (another obvious one)
7. Soothes stings from jelly fish. Always carry a spray bottle to the beach. If you forget, the lifeguards do have it on hand.
8. Volcano experiments (just add a little baking soda and some red food coloring you get great lava, Mentos and Diet Coke make great fun too)
9. Cleaning coffee pots.
10. Ant repellant
11. Coloring Easter Eggs
12. Decalcify chicken bones (it was an experiment to show how important calcium is to our bones, the bone turns rubbery)
13. Kill weeds on the driveway and sidewalks
Thanks to my friends for the next suggestions.
14. Gum removal from fabric
15. Tenderize meat
16. Clean tile
17. Pickle eggs
18. Clean silver (with the help of baking soda and aluminum foil)
19. Remove stinky odor from wet sneakers.
20. Apple cider vinegar for dandruff and athlete's foot.
21. I learned from a friend that apple cider vinegar has all sorts of health benefits, but I think I'll save that for another blog. I will do more research and possibly some self testing first.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I also use vinegar to clean my tile floor, clean the coffee pot, and the water dispenser on my refrigerator, plus all of the things you mentioned.

I usually purchase my white vinegar at Sam's Club for $3.30 for 2 gallons. My husband works next to Sam's club so it is cost effective (meaning gas prices) for us to purchase some things there.

Cristy said...

It also helps keep the color in your new clothes. It's great for blacks and reds.

Cristy

crispy said...

I dump it down my garbage disposal with some ice cubes to clean the blades.

Also, run it through the dishwasher to clean it too.

I soak the water tray from the water dispenser from the fridge in it to get the hard water stain off of it.

Tiffany said...

I have just recently started using vinegar in my laundry and I love it! It gets the musty smell out of towels and the clothes smell fresher.
Supposedly a tsp. a day is supposed to be good medicine as well.

BeckyJoie said...

Wowie! You are full of helpful information. I'ts better than "Hints form Heloise" or am I showing my age too much here?

BeckyJoie