The Many and Varied Powers of Vinegar

Posted by: Anne HolmesAdministrator

The Many and Varied Powers of Vinegar - 09/23/13 06:36 PM

The other day I was talking to my Dad and he happened to mention that his dishwasher wasn't cleaning his glassware properly. He was starting to get a haze on the glasses.

I told him that I'd had the same problem, and switching dishwasher detergent has fixed it. But I also mentioned that he'd be able to get his glassware to shine again with a bit of vinegar...

That started us talking about the many things that some of our basic food products vinegar (and incidentally, honey) can do -- all unrelated to their traditional food uses. Which was a fun discussion.

I was reminded of that discussion just now, when I came across a great article listing ways vinegar can be used -- beyond the basics of making salad dressing...

The article started out like this:

Quote:
It's cheap and may not be glamorous, but the vinegar you put on your salad can protect against heart disease and cancer, and even help us age more slowly.

Vinegar not only tastes great on chips, dresses up a salad and makes glassware sparkle, but it is also a storehouse of important vitamins, minerals, essential amino acids and enzymes and has a host of amazing healing powers.

New research means doctors and scientists are calling it one of the 'functional' foods - foods that are not only nutritious but help prevent and protect against disease.



And here's a link to the whole story which conveniently breaks down the tips by vinegar types...

But, I suspect there are more things you use vinegar for. I for one, use it in a 4/1 ratio with water (4 parts water, 1 part vinegar) to clean and disinfect our C-PAP supplies. Something I do on a weekly basis.

So how about you? What's your favorite (atypical) use for vinegar?

Posted by: yonuh

Re: The Many and Varied Powers of Vinegar - 09/24/13 12:33 AM

We use it to de-scale the coffee pot monthly, and we run the dishwasher with vinegar periodically. With the extremely high level of hardness in our water, every little bit helps.
Posted by: Di

Re: The Many and Varied Powers of Vinegar - 09/30/13 12:48 AM

Vinegar is used very often around here. About every night I put it in the dishwasher (or as often as I run it!) We keep a spray bottle in the shower (1/2 water, 1/2 vinegar) and spray in "V" areas. wink I spray in my mouth, underarmsm, feet etc.

I clean kitchen scrubbies with it (after using our awesome Coffee Nut Kitchen Soap, that is!).

Also in the washing machine with whites. LOVE vinegar! And it's cheap, too!
Posted by: Anne HolmesAdministrator

Re: The Many and Varied Powers of Vinegar - 10/01/13 06:03 PM

Great suggestions, Di and Yonuh -- all of them. Like the idea of using vinegar in the shower.

I didn't ever think about using vinegar in my dishwasher, but it makes good sense, especially since we have such hard water around here.

I have a very nice Cuisinart coffeemaker which stopped working with no warning. It was still under warranty, in fact. Per the instructions that came with it, I tried several times to de-lime the innards of the machine with vinegar, to no avail. I still have the machine, as I never got around to shipping it back to the manufacturer, and now it is out of warranty.

I'm still pretty sure the reason it stopped working is calcification of the area where the water is drawn up into the brewer, and I have often wondered if I could fix this by sticking a pipe cleaner into that area to help "scrub" off the lime.

But I'm never at a store that sells pipe cleaners.

Does anyone else have any suggestions for fixing this?

Meanwhile, here are some more ways to use vinegar around the house, courtesy of the website HellaWella.
Posted by: Cookie

Re: The Many and Varied Powers of Vinegar - 12/11/13 02:30 PM

I'm a fan of using vinegar for many things too. I use it in the dishwasher as a rinse aid instead of the expensive little bottle of cascade rinse.

I also use it in place of fabric softener in the washing machine. It leaves the clothes clean and soft and removes any soap residue if there is too much soap on your clothes. It doesn't leave a vinegar smell on the clothes either.

Another favorite use is washing windows and screens with vinegar and water solution.

I have a brick fireplace. From time to time, I brighten the brick up by using 1 cup vinegar per gallon of hot water. I use a sponge and apply the solution to by brick.
Posted by: jabber

Re: The Many and Varied Powers of Vinegar - 12/11/13 11:05 PM

I'm gonna try that on the brick on our family room fireplace.
Will let you know how it looks when I'm finished. It sounds like a good idea. Thanks Cookie.


I use honey to soothe soaring sore throats, Anne.
Posted by: Cookie

Re: The Many and Varied Powers of Vinegar - 12/12/13 12:55 AM

Great!! Let us know how it works for you too. I think I got the idea from a list of vinegar uses I found somewhere several years ago. I thought it made sense. My bricks are red with some black in them. It brightened them up nicely.cool I never thought much about the bricks getting dried and faded over time. Who knew! shocked Not me! grin
Posted by: jabber

Re: The Many and Varied Powers of Vinegar - 12/12/13 01:55 PM

Well, I need to do a good housecleaning because I entertain on
Christmas Eve. Our fireplace bricks match those on the front porch; they're a reddish-yellow color with a few charcoal, at least more gray than black, ones sprinkled in. [They actually call this style an Urban Antique blend.] But I never thought of washing them, before you mentioned it. I've wiped them off with a dry cloth but will try what you suggest. Thanks, Cookie.
Posted by: jabber

Re: The Many and Varied Powers of Vinegar - 12/14/13 05:12 PM

Cookie...
Just finished washing the face of the fireplace with vinegar water. It looks great. Thanks for the tip!
Posted by: Cookie

Re: The Many and Varied Powers of Vinegar - 12/16/13 02:03 PM

smile smile Glad it worked well for you too!