Vinegar is always on my grocery list… and I buy it by the gallon. Today, in fact, I will be using it to help clear our extremely slow-draining bathroom sink. I’ve also talked about ways to put vinegar to work in household cleaning and laundry, but there are even more ways to substitute vinegar for other remedies and, in some cases, it helps you stay green and avoid chemicals.
Think about this list:
- Acne remedy and skin conditioner – dilute 50/50 with water to use as a toner or dab, full strength, on the problem areas.
- Clean lime deposits and calcium – we’ve all had build-up in our coffee makers and washing machines. Fill the coffee maker with
vinegar and brew it, or add a cup to your washing machine and run a cycle without clothes to give it a good cleaning. - Condition dry hair – shampoo your hair then rinse it with a mix of one cup of apple cider vinegar and two cups of water. (Feel free to wash the vinegar out after that initial rinse!)
- Deodorize a smelly lunchbox – soak a cloth in vinegar and close it up in the lunchbox overnight to eliminate nasty odors.
- Get rid of unwanted weeds – pour in the cracks or crevices or spray directly on the culprits!
- Heal a bruise – apply white vinegar for an hour and it will reduce the discoloration and aid healing (time consuming, but it works!).
- Prevent cracked hard boiled eggs – add two tablespoons per quart of water before boiling the eggs.
- Remove skunk smells – (let’s hope this has happened to your pet and not YOU!) but apply, full strength to your pet’s fur,
rinse with cold water, and it will reduce the smell dramatically. - Repel pesky ants – mix equal parts vinegar and water and spray in the problem areas.
- Stop bug bite itching – dab on the area of the bite and it will relieve the itch.
Undoubtedly vinegar isn’t always the most aromatic and pleasant smell on the planet but given the choice of vinegar over harsh chemicals, I’ll pick the vinegar any time!
Do you have more uses? Share them!
It seems there are some serious, and harmful, chemical “monsters” lurking in far too many children’s bath products. This includes the most common products we all used on our babies (and often continue to use) – Johnson & Johnson, Gerber, Baby Magic and L’Oreal – all are major offenders.
We all know we use far too many paper towels. Wipe down this, clean up that! Even if you use a recycled brand, it can get a little excessive (and expensive) and they get thrown away after only one use. Sponges are another household supply that is essentially useless. Everyone knows that, after even a short period of time, they get disgusting and flat-out “schtanky” (yes, that IS a word… when the stink goes BEYOND stinky!) And that smell just let’s you know that bacteria is growing in abundance!
We went to our daughter’s school and ran around looking at all of the amazing wonders in her school’s Land Lab. This area in front of her school has a pond, decks, walking paths and large planter boxes that the families can adopt. We cultivated our box and planted some bulbs (and will eagerly await their Spring arrival) and added a little metal sign that said “GROW”! (…somewhat of a double entendre for growing some of nature’s gifts as well as growing little minds!)
This year I’m posting early! November 15 is 
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