It’s been around for 10,000 years, yet most people still see vinegar only as a condiment for their battered fish and chips or as salad dressing. It has many more uses, replacing many unnecessary and expensive cleaning products while being environmentally friendly and non-toxic.

• Unwanted grass or weeds: Pour on full strength vinegar, repeating until the plants have starved.
• Toilet bowls: Spray with vinegar, then scrub. For stubborn stains let soak for half an hour.
• Refrigerators: Clean and deodorize using equal parts vinegar and water.
• Microwaves: Clean and deodorize by boiling a quarter cup of vinegar with one cup water.
• Windows: Equal parts vinegar and water.
• Non-wax floors: Use half a cup of vinegar with four litres of warm water. 
• Laundry: Use a cup of vinegar in the last rinse cycle of your laundry. It helps dissolve and remove soap and even lint, if used on a regular basis. Two cups of vinegar makes blankets soft and fluffy.
• First Aid: Soothe a bee sting by dousing it in vinegar. Too much time in the sun? Relieve a sunburn by gently rubbing vinegar on your skin.
• Cooking: Cottage fish fries are great but the smell isn’t. Clean utensils with vinegar and boil a few tablespoons of vinegar in the pan afterwards to remove the smell.

The next trip to the cottage will be a little less crowded as you realize all the products an inexpensive bottle of vinegar can replace.

As seen in the March/April 2006 issue of Cottage Magazine