One Nutty Mama: White Distilled Vinegar

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

White Distilled Vinegar

Did you know word vinegar comes from the french word “vinaigre” meaning sour wine? Which makes you wonder was vinegar discovered by some happy accident thousands of years ago when a cask of wine spoiled? During winemaking the natural sugars ferment into alcohol. Bacteria from exposure to the air changes the alcohol into an acetic acid. The acetic acid is what gives the “sour wine” its taste.

I've never realized just how many uses around the house for white distilled vinegar . I could go on forever about vinegar and it's multitude of uses. Ask my poor husband, he's tolerated my constant vinegar praises. Instead of a dissertation here are a few household uses that I tried and have worked for me. I've tried more but these are my favorites.

Toilet Cleaner / Deodorizer

Put 1/4 cup of vinegar into your toilet bowl and let sit for about 20 minutes. Clean with standard toilet brush. Not only does it clean the toilet but it prevents the toilet ring from building up as soon.

Burned Water / Scorched Pan

Even I have burned a pan after boiling away water. (shhh, don't tell my chef friends) After the incident I was left with a horrible scorching on my pan. I found that to remove the scorching just add 1/2 cup baking soda and some white vinegar. You will get a bubbling mass just like the old volcano science project as a child. Let the mixture sit in the pan for a few hours. Pour out and it will need very little if any scrubbing.

Laundry

Add 1/2 cup to the wash water before adding clothing. Vinegar will break down fresh stains. It will even prevent clothes from getting mildewed if forgotten in the wash too long.

Shower doors

To clean the soap and water buildup on shower doors you can use white vinegar as well. First using the scrub side of a sponge lightly scrub baby oil on the glass shower doors. Wipe doors with the sponge soaked in vinegar. Rinse off the doors with clean water. This will even prevents future buildup.

The biggest complaint most people have with using vinegar is the odor. The smell when cleaning with vinegar only lasts a few hours before it dissipates. If you still want to try cleaning with vinegar but the smell is still holding you back here is a recipe for an All-Purpose cleaner using vinegar. Be sure to add the essential oils and it covers the vinegar odor. (citrus does the best)