Uses For Distilled Vinegar

If you have ever had a delicacy called 'chow chow', then you already know the spicy tartness distilled vinegar adds to food. Most people love distilled vinegar; and aside from adding a wonderfully unique taste to foods, there are many other ways to use it. In fact, it is hard to believe distilled vinegar is made from a process of fermenting distilled alcohol. Perhaps the alcohol accounts for the medicinal uses for distilled vinegar that many grandparents brag about. Nevertheless, it's good to know the different uses for distilled vinegar.

Of course, all the household uses for vinegar aren't listed in this post. I simply realized the money I could save on medical visits for minor things by knowing the medicinal value of basic staples in my kitchen cabinet.

How many of your cleaning agents are environmentally friendly, non-toxic, and oh, edible? On that subject, how many other food products do you use to descale a coffee pot? In case you hadn't noticed, distilled vinegar is amazing.

Here's a list of some of the ways distilled vinegar makes your life easier:

1. Remove sticky stuff from the jar.  If you need to remove a sticker from a jar or the adhesive left from a bumper sticker, distilled vinegar is the easy, inexpensive way to do it. Just wet a rag with vinegar and wipe it across the sticker until soaked. In no time, the paper and adhesive comes right off.
2. Clean and deodorize the microwave. Add a tablespoon of white vinegar to a bowl of water and microwave it for 5 minutes. The steam from the water mixed with the mild acidity of the vinegar removes ad sanitizes the microwave. Remove the bowl and clean the gunk from the sides of the oven.
3. Soothe sunburns and scalds. This method is hard to believe until you actually do it and experience the benefits. Rubbing white vinegar on sunburns and scalds no only instantly removes the pain, but depending on the severity of the burn, it may relieve the pain entirely and help prevent blistering. It's safe to re-apply as needed.
4. Buff your windows. Vinegar is probably the most inexpensive glass cleaner you'll find anywhere. Mix equal parts white vinegar to water in an empty spray bottle, and clean as usual. Your windows will be amazingly streak and residue free.
5. Safely wash your fruits and vegetables. Produce looks delicious on your grocer's display. You normally don't think about all the hands and experiences it passes through before it arrives at market, and then your kitchen table. Germs and residue from pesticides are plentiful on produce. Remove harmful residue; wash your fruits and vegetable in a solution of 3 parts water to 1 part vinegar to kill up to 98 percent of bacteria and pesticides.








6. Make better-boiled eggs. Add a little vinegar to the water when boiling eggs. In case the egg should crack, the vinegar will keep the white from seeping through. And when poaching an egg, add about a tablespoon of vinegar to the water to keep the whites from separating from the yolk and spreading.
7. Disinfect wood cutting boards. Wood cutting boards require a good scrubbing and disinfecting, after carving meats on them. After washing your board, wipe it down with undiluted white vinegar to make sure all the germs and other hidden bacteria are removed.
8. Mop your no-wax floors. For no-wax floors, using a vinegar and water solution is a great environmentally friendly floor cleaner and disinfectant. Mix 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar to a half gallon of water. Your floors will reflect it.
9. Clean baby toys. Babies chew on everything. And parents like to keep their toys, pacifiers, and bottles as clean and germ-free as possible. A great, non-toxic way to disinfect plastic or rubber toys is to use an equal-part solution of distilled white vinegar and water. Spray or wipe down the toy with the solution, let it sit, then wipe off any remaining wetness after 15 minutes.
10. Stop itching and scratching from insect bites. Used topically, distilled vinegar is a simple anti-itch remedy for bites and stings. Wet a cotton ball with vinegar and apply it directly to the bite; it literally stops or greatly reduces the itching. It's safe to re-apply as needed.