Hints for a Healthier Household

I have been reflecting recently on the uses of Vinegar. Just type in "vinegar" on the web and you will be amazed at all the things people have found to use it for! Today I would just like to remind my gentle readers about its uses as a cleaner for your food and house. My mother in law has sent me this link about vinegar as a produce wash, which I think will be of interest to my readers.

Girl Working in a Rural Kitchen Garden Collecting Cabbages
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Another recent letter from a cousin gives some more hints:
"We have a small plastic tub beside our sink that we fill with water and pour in a cup or so of vinegar and soak all of our lettuce and carrots and broccoli etc. in. We also wash all of our fruits, even ones we don't eat with skins, such as lemons, as the knife will be going through the skin and into the lemon.

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"Here's something else I will share with you. We wash our counters by having 2 separate spray bottles - one with pure white vinegar, and one with pure hydrogen peroxide (don't mix them in the same bottle). It was proven by a university study to be as effective as bleach in killing germs, but is totally non-toxic and inexpensive! You just spray equal amounts of both vinegar and hyd. per. on the counter, perhaps let it sit a minute and wipe off. Also use it to clean your sink, and anything else - appliances, etc. " [Editor's note: I find spray bottles at the dollar store, with different colored spray-tops, to use for these two sprays. One article I read a while back said to use one spray after the other, I'm not sure why, but it did not matter which one you used first.]

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"Also, we don't use sponges - they allow the bacteria to build up. We use a clean little towel every day and put it in the wash. We have also read in many places not to ever use bar soap. Even though it is soap, it still can grow bacteria by sitting in leftover dampness. Better to use a liquid soap in a dispenser."

Vinegar can be had by the gallon for a few dollars, and hydrogen peroxide is not very expensive. It is wonderful to know of cleaners that you can use without having to evacuate the house!
http://www.sciencenews.org/pages/sn_arch/9_28_96/food.htm


Lady in the Kitchen
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