Vinegar - 1001 uses!

lynneinjapan

Mrs(no)money wrote: »

Its supposed to be very easy to find - everyone says 'you can buy it in any supermarket' . Well, maybe, but not in any near me :mad: They have white wine vinegar, which isnt the same thing, and they have malt vinegar and that isnt the same either, so if anyone knows where you can find it, pass it on please! Btw - i did manage to get a white vinegar spray, but i found this in a hardware shop with the borax , but a bottle of good old white vinegar remains elusive around here!

Our local little independent supermarket/convenience store has the Sarsons stuff. It's also possible to buy big (4-litre I think) bottles in the Asian supermarkets near us.

Our baby is nappy-free most of the time now (the only thing that seems to help when he gets nappy rash) and he's very active so we get a lot of puddles on the floor. After mopping up as much as possible I spray with a solution of half vinegar, half water; of course it smells of vinegar for a bit, but once the vinegar has dried there's no lingering smell at all.

I've never found vinegar to have much effect as a fabric softener, but I think that's because I'm in a soft water area and what it actually does is soften the water, so if your water is already soft then it doesn't make much difference. In a hard water area it's actually better than fabric softener for towels, nappies etc., because it doesn't reduce absorbency like commercial fabric softeners do.

bretton

I normally use spirit vinegar because it has less of an odour - its stronger so you need to dilute it a little more.

I use it for cleaning my bathroom - 1/3 vinegar, tablespoon lemon juice, essential oils (tea tree, rosemary, lemon) in a squirty bot filled with water. Comes up a treat.

you can get it at summernaturals.co.uk in 5L containers.

jude_the_obscure

Major: baking powder, baking soda, bicarbonate of soda and sodium bicarbonate are all the same thing. If you want it for baking, buy it as bicarbonate of soda because it's cheaper. call it baking powder and the price goes up!

I've been using malt vinegar for some time - 568ml (about a pint) for 13p from Sainsbury's. It doesn't stain and seems to work just as well as white, it's cheaper and easier to get.

I read somewhere that it can be used as a detergent as well as a softener, because it's the agitating that cleans clothes rather than the detergent. So I tried soaking my socks in a tub in the bathroom and squidging them a bit when I go in there. Then I spin and rinse in more vinegary water, spin again and dry. There's no smell of vinegar and, more important, no hint of my smelly feet. I've since tried it with T-shirts and underwear and the clothes seem to be clean and look fine, including whites. They smell a bit vinegary while they're wet but not once they've dried.

So far, I've tried only handwashing because I haven't got a machine but I'm about to get one so I'll try it in that too.

I do object to my cloths smelling of detergent, however 'natural' it claims to be. This way, they don't smell of anything. Result!

Lou76

Thanks to this site I've discovered that you can use vinegar to soften your clothes in the wash, rather than using fabric softener.

It also make a a good cleaner, despite the adverts [for expensive stuff] I fell for.

Salt, well what is that good for, despite gritting your path...?

I'm assuming salt must be good for household 'chores' as well, but what?

Does anyone have any good MSE tips for salt (I bought a load to clear the communal path when we had -15 temps lol) and vinegar, other than fabric softener?

Help please, I'm drowning in the stuff now. :rotfl:

Stardust

I use salt with a touch of olive oil as a hand / body scrub.

shellsuit

The vinegar that you put on chips (the brown stuff) isn't the same as the vinegar you can use around the home (which is white).

Pink_Giraffe

Stardust beat me to it! I would hang on to some of it though, I heard there were going to be low temps again in February...

Lou76

Stardust wrote: »

I use salt with a touch of olive oil as a hand / body scrub.

I suffer from dry skin but I've never considered using olive oil, never mind adding salt to make a scrub, I just use expensive alternatives.

I did recently use Olive Oil to 'unplug' a blocked ear, and thought I was doing well. seeing as I saved a fortune on Otex etc.

To me Olive oil is what is/was poured over pasta etc, now I'm open to suggestion. :T

Lou76

shellsuit wrote: »

The vinegar that you put on chips (the brown stuff) isn't the same as the vinegar you can use around the home (which is white).

Oops, I appreciate my thread title doesn't lend itself to it, but I only have white vinegar.:o

shellsuit

Lou76 wrote: »

Oops, I appreciate my thread title doesn't lend itself to it, but I only have white vinegar.:o

Ahh! I only put brown on chips and use white for housey stuff!

I remember the first time I'd read on here that you could use vinegar in the washing machine, I thought 'oh my God it will stink!' so had to ask if they were sure they were right lol!