If you read this blog regularly, then you know that I’m a big fan of what I call “hyper-multipurpose items.” The best thing about these items isn’t that they serve multiple purposes at a high level — although they do. The best thing is that they allow you to become a masterful improviser.
Items like paracord, aluminum foil, and hydrogen peroxide are a few examples. In this post, I’m going to nominate vinegar as one of the most useful items to have on hand in an emergency.
Vinegar has way, way more than 13 uses. In fact, I’m positive that it has over 100 alternative uses that you could employ to save money at the grocery store and make your life easier on a daily basis. For the purpose of this list, however, I’m looking at vinegar through the lens of a crisis situation where many everyday items are scarce.
Using bacon soda on battery terminals and then pouring enough vinegar to bubble up the bacon soda over the terminals is a great way to clean them!
I have found that vinegar can help with leg cramps. However, caution must be used to sip small sips. If you take all in one bolus you can choke on it. causing the abiltiy to beathe difficult. Therefore small sips only. I have use this for several years.
It also is good for cleaning vynal floors, clogged faucits,& when deluted with water to clean windows.
if you take white vinegar 1/3 to 2/3rds. water and put in a large spray bottle or bottle that will hook into hose you can spray the outside of your house where you have problems with Bees and wood peckers. you may have to do again if it rains, long enough for the birds to go somewhere else. Ants and spiders also hate it so you can spray around the outside of your house.
I would like to inquire about the use of vinegar for leg cramps as posted above, My mother is plagued with them and if it works I could pass this on to her. How is it taken and how often, is it taken on a regular basis or when the cramps occur???
Mix 1 teaspoon of Apple Cider Vinegar, 1 teaspoon of Honey and 8 ounces of water to drink. My Dad has been taking this “concoction” as he calls it once a day for 30 years. He swears it helps his thinking, digestion, aches and pains and other functions. He’s 91 years old and still has plenty of vitality. He should know!
I’m sure that John meant to say “baking soda” I use baking soda and water to clean my battery terminals. I just keep them mixed up as I clean the cable. Other people use coke or pepsi to clean them off in an emergency. I can’t remember which works better, maybe the pepsi
As an add on to the first tip (above) I have used this method for battery terminals for years and it works very well, but I use it a bit different; (Minus vinegar), I put warm water in an old soup can (a large one if possible) then add baking soda “only” to the water and mix it up well, then just put your battery cable ends down into the water and baking soda mixture and either hold them there or prop them in some manner that they will stay submerged in the mixture, you will see the water start to bubble right away, wait until the bubbling stops completely, then remove your cables and you will see they are nice and clear of the build-up, wipe them clean with an old rag and put a “thin” layer of vaseline on them.
P.S. – Use a liberal amount of baking soda, 3 – 4 heaped tablespoons.
The use of vinegar to treat athlete’s feet fits in with the old time nautical use of urine to kill fungus. Some say no. Modern meds esp. Tinactin are best. Need to dry out shoes, clean socks, and some air on the toes helps but vinegar helps too.
I was raised in a small town outside Wash.DC. My father was born in 1898, had lived in the backwoods of W.Va and had a whole bunch of home meds that he constantly tried to get me to accept or understand when we would go hunting. I asked him about the use of these “cures”. Where did they come from? These natural cures had preceded him by hundreds, maybe thousands of years and as he put it, a doctor was 40 miles away-ON HORSEBACK. Better be prepared to take care of yourself.
I think it is good advice.
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, a little honey & add a little water. Drink every AM for 3 days, wards off cold symptoms. Actually stops the on set.
White vinegar will bring rusty and dull files back to better than brand new condition. If you have, or ever find any old TOTALLY
Rusted pliers,or other tools, soak them completely submerged in a plastic or glass container. Check on the progress daily, to see when they are completely rust free
.I have brought back tools and pliers, so badly rusted, that you could not tell what they were, by soaking in vinegar for 2 or 3 days.
Sport fishermen have known for years that you always sharpen a brand new hook before you ever use it. We use a small, fine file and triangulate the points,but the files always rust out within a year; Unless you soak them in? you guessed it..Vinegar
But be careful, because after a few ‘treatments, the edges will be sharper than a serrated razor blade.
It even worked on a 40 cal. Glock that was burried in mud by a S. Fl. canal for 4 years.That took 2 weeks in vinegar and a few days in W-D 40, but was like new, except for a few pitted areas from electrolisis.
. canal for over 4 years
Another use is to use a half cup to a full cup of white vinegar in the rinse water in a large tub of laundry. It will help rinse the soap scum and the bleach and detergent residue out of the laundry for infants and people with sensitive skin. Future Mommies should try to remember this one, as you’ll probably have to go back to reusable cloth diapers. It will help prevent having babies with sore bottoms!
To expand on leg cramps. I keep a small packet of yellow mustard (like you get from a fast food restaurant) on my night stand, as I have had numerous episodes of cramping in the middle of the night. I guess the vinegar in the mustard has the same effect, but the packets are very convenient. During a cramping moment, searching for a bottle of vinegar is better than nothing. I just grab a packet, tear it open and squeeze contents into my mouth and within seconds re-leaf begins.
I had a big pot with flowers growing when they started looking wilted and sick. On further investigation I realized ants had set up a huge colony all through the pot. I removed the plant and sprinkled baking soda in all the ant holes. Then I poured on the vinegar. It was a quick extermination and not one ant left alive! I removed about 8 inches of soil and replanted the flower. The acid would have hurt the plant but the plant did fine the rest of the summer.
In your list or 13 remedies you mentioned white vinegar for stopping heart burn. Use Cider vinegar ONLY. Cider Vinegar will cure the heartburn in most cases. According to the World Health Organization less than 2% of the planet population has excess acid in their stomachs. The rest don’t have enough. Heartburn is described by many herbalists as being the LACK of enough stomach acid. Small sips of cider vinegar (may be cut 50/50 with water depending upon your taste buds) will cure most heartburn. (If it doesn’t then you are in the 2%.) The Vinegar stimulates the stomach and provides additional acid for proper digestion. Heartburn is mostly a reaction to an inadequate amount of acid. People taking antacids often make their problem worse or create a chronic condition. 4.5 ph apple cider vinegar is a standard of Vermont Folk medicine. Many take a mixture of cider vinegar and raw honey (called ‘switchel”) ….say 2 tablespoons of honey and 2-3 tablespoons of cider vinegar in a 12 oz glass topped off with water. It is a great refreshing drink; tastes like tart apple juice. NEVER use white distilled vinegar for this unless you want severe gastric distress!
Use vinegar as a gout remedy. Google it to get the proper instructions. It works great for a lot of people but not everyone
I clean and disinfect my cpap masks and hoses with a solution of 1 part vinegar, one part hydrogen peroxide and four parts water–been using it for years. same mix will dis-infect or sterilize most hard surfaces.. also-spray almost any hard surface with hydrogen peroxide followed by a spray of vinegar will sterilize it. viegar also makes a good glass cleaner.
Dord iy work to remove stench from cigarettes? A friend said to bejust put an uncapped gallon jug near area anf iy will remove the odor. O don’t think so…..i must neef to place it in a wide mouth plastic container….open of course
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Forgive the misspelling
I use vinegar in the rinse cycle when doing laundry in place of dryer sheets in the dryer. Less chemicals is the way to go.
We mix about 1/4th cup unfiltered apple cider vinegar with a small glass of water, drink it and immediately my husband’s leg cramps disappear. For blood ph, mix 2 tbl ACV with equal amount honey and take daily.
One Magnesium pill a day has helped my leg crams.
Tonic water does the job also. About 2-3 ounces at night allows me to sleep without leg cramps! I tis not the best tasting, but mixed with a glass of juice, or even about 50/50 with honey/vinegar eases the taste some and helps your stomach a bit too! Some people also find that the honey/vinegar mix helps arthritis, but on some It makes no difference- so you need to experiment to find out!
On the battery terminals,- if you can’t get car to start – use anything available- even urine or water -&- wait for about 5 minutes and It usually will get you going so you can get home or somewhere to take care of it better! Tapping lightly on one end of clamp, and then on other end several times will sometimes accelerate the activity to get connection.- do not hammer so hard you break off post or clamp– jus tap with a small amount of “authority”! Impact helps liquid go down in between post and clamp!
This also helps you keep machine from getting plugged up with lime!, and does a fair job of making sheets smell good too! I did appliance repair for years,- and you could tell,- when taking apart!! Machines 15 to 20 years old can get pretty “gooky” inside!
For leg cramps- if your are not prepared and don’t have vinegar on hand and if you can make it to the fridge, grab a jar of pickles and drink some of the juice. Ahh.
I’ve used that mixture also, but I use more vinegar and more honey. As long as they are equal amounts, it’s good. Tastes like cider! Warning DO NOT NUKE the honey!
My husband used pickle juice for leg cramps,which worked very effectively.He also used soda water with quinine,from the grocery store where drink products are shelved. There are also homeopathic pills by Hyland,with Quine for leg cramps.All those things were effective.
White vinegar along with soda is great for cleaning the toilet . Just sprinkle in 1/2 cup baking soda then 1/2 cup white vinegar let set brush and flush. Hard water build up around sink handles just use white vinegar let set then wipe clean. The longer it soaks the better.
When I was a child we always rinsed our hair with apple cider vinegar got the soap out and left nice red high lights.
Leg cramps? I use about a tsp. of baking soda dissolved in water. It works instantly to relieve the cramps.
I have used apple cider vinegar mixed with water for upset stomach. Just sip all through the day. I have been told it is good to carry with you when traveling in case of eating bad food. It helps kill the bacteria.
I also use it to rinse my hair to replace conditioner. I mix 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar to a quart of warm water. I rinse all of the soap off first and then pour the mix over my head and body. I have suffered in the past from an itchy scalp. As long as I use this mix the itch is gone. I buy apple cider vinegar by the gallon and keep plenty in my storage.
happy new year y’all,
I have a different spin on vinegar, did you know that culligan water is ph-4 in acid range vinegar is ph-6 so if you don’t
like the smell of big V try it instead. Also try orange oil, kills fire ants, cleans tons of things glue, tar, grease, etc.
great for laundry washing. It works like bleach.
I have been taking 2 or 3 Vitamin B1 tablets whenever I am having leg cramps.. The vitamin starts working almost instantly and the pain is gone, and NO more leg cramps for until the next day… Give this a try.. It will keep you from living with leg cramps…
Be cautious on. The magnesium as it causes diarrhea. Ie mag citrate used for bowel prep
c.w. If your mother is taking medication for cholesterol she should tell her doctor about the leg cramps as they may be
a system that her meds are wrong. CCM