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Vinegar - So Many Uses for This Common
Household Ingredient
It’s a far cry since the days
vinegar was used by soldiers and mariners to stop food rotting on long journeys
and to kill maggots and add flavour to meat that had already decomposed.
Since then vinegar has
developed hundreds of alternative uses, many every bit as good as proprietary
health, beauty and household products, meaning you also get to save money by
keeping a few spare bottles of vinegar handy in the home or office.
There are so many uses for
vinegar that complete books have been written about vinegar and its many
applications in modern day life. Here are just a few ways that vinegar is
used today to benefit health and wellbeing as well as in cooking and cleaning.
* Vinegar for Beauty Care:
Add a cupful of apple cider vinegar to the bathwater to soothe tired muscles and
relieve dry itchy skin and sunburn.
* Vinegar in Condiments:
Make your own mint by gathering and stripping leaves from the stalks when dry.
Tear into tiny pieces and spread evenly in a shallow dish. Cover with vinegar
and leave for two or three hours before straining and pressing leaves lightly in
a screw-top jar. Store in a cool, dry place.
* Vinegar for Children's
Playdough: Make your own playdough by mixing 2 cupfuls of flour with one
cupful of salt, one-half cupful of water and 1 teaspoonful of vinegar. Mix the
flour and salt first then slowly add water and vinegar, stirring all the time
until the mixture is stiff. Use your hands to kneed the dough. The dough is
ready to use or can be brightened with the addition of a little food colouring.
* Vinegar for Cleaning and
Polishing: Remove heavy dirt stains from children’s toys and baby
hardware, tiles and other heavy duty surfaces, by using a cloth wrung out of
lukewarm water to which a little vinegar has been added. Leave to dry before
buffing with a clean fluff-free cloth.
* Vinegar to Condition and
Soften Clothing: Make your own fabric softener by mixing bicarbonate of
soda, vinegar and water (parts: 2/2/4). Add a quarter cupful of the mixture to
the final rinse for hand or machine washing.
* Vinegar for Cooking and
Flavouring Food: Make your own red food colouring by mixing one cupful of
beetroot juice (tinned or fresh), two tablespoonfuls vinegar and water to your
desired colour. Bottle and leave in a cool place.
* Vinegar in Health Care:
In folk medicine vinegar is considered an elixir for a long healthy life and
is recommended for internal and external use. Make a daily drink from one
tablespoonful of apple cider vinegar to a cupful of warm or cold water,
according to preference. The practice is believed to benefit the memory and to
help the body fight many diseases of advancing years.
* Vinegar for Ironing
Disasters: If linen is badly scorched take a cupful of vinegar to which is
added half an ounce of soap, two ounces of fuller’s earth and the juice of one
lemon. Boil well and spread over the damaged parts. Leave to dry and wash the
linen. You’ll find the stain has completely disappeared.
* Vinegar to Abolish Bad
Smells: Make your own air spray by mixing two cupfuls of white vinegar with
one cupful of crushed herbs, choosing from rosemary, lavender, cloves, thyme or
pine needles. Place the ingredients in a saucepan and boil gently for ten
minutes then leave to cool. Pour into a large jar with close-fitting lid.
Leave to stand for three or four weeks. Strain and add the mixture to a spray
container or atomiser. Use in the same way as commercial air sprays.
* Vinegar for Stain
Removal: Ink stains can be removed by soaking the fabric in vinegar for an
hour or two before washing in the usual way.
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