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Cleaning Supply Ingedients May Make You Ask: What Would Vinegar Do?

August 20, 2008 - For years, Marlee Luehman found cleaning her house to be one big headache. Literally.

"I was cleaning my house with bleach (or) ammonia, and it always gave me a headache," said the Rockland resident. "I thought, 'This isn't right. I don't think I'm supposed to get a headache from a clean house.' "

(She didn't mix the bleach and ammonia – a deadly combination. Both contain toxic substances.)

Luehman, who is a special education teacher, began reading about alternatives to toxic household cleaners. She came upon a few that she's used ever since, including one ordinary kitchen-cupboard denizen that is becoming a darling among the green set: vinegar.

Specifically, distilled white vinegar, made from sugar and alcohol. Fans say it cleans everything from pet poop on a carpet and sink garbage disposals to car windshields and dirty laundry.

Proponents of environmentally friendly cleaning like it because it's natural. Vinegar is produced by the fermentation of alcohol and occurs in various plants and other places in nature.

And folks who aren't necessarily green devotees like it too, because it does the job.

"It makes sense, because it's a natural product, it doesn't bring toxins into your home or into your body, and it works," said Fred Horch, who runs F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods and Supplies in Brunswick. "That's the bottom line. You can talk about green products all you want, but they have to do the job."

Vinegar is popping up all over the place. Luehman, who runs a green cleaning service called Healthy Havens out of Rockland, will be giving a talk Tuesday at Merryspring Nature Center in Camden, where the power of vinegar will be one of the prime topics. The Natural Resources Council of Maine is offering a pamphlet, "Clean Housekeeping: Toxic-Free Solutions," which includes lots of household uses for vinegar.

Nationally, housekeeping diva and part-time Maine resident Martha Stewart was recently quoted as recommending distilled white vinegar as a way to eliminate the musty smell from old cabinets. A recent article in Prevention magazine listed vinegar as a good way to fight mold, bacteria and grease.

Vinegar has been used by humans for about 10,000 years, according to the Vinegar Institute, a trade group of vinegar makers. The group says Babylonians used it as a preservative as early as 5,000 B.C.

During the Civil War, vinegar was used to treat scurvy, and in World War I, it was used to treat battlefield wounds. In the 20th century, it became a common household item used in the canning of vegetables, in cooking and in cleaning.

Luehman says vinegar cleans well because it's acidic, so it does well against fairly neutral stains and messes. But if your stain has acid in it, say a ketchup stain, you might want to use a washing soda (sort of like baking soda and sold in the laundry aisle).

"It's good for the bathroom; it's a good disinfectant," Luehman said. "It's a good general cleaner in the kitchen, too."

And did we mention it's cheap? A 128-ounce jug of Hannaford white vinegar was selling in Portland for $2.49 last week.

Most white vinegar is sold diluted to 5 percent acidity, but Luehman says it should be diluted even a little more. She usually pours about a cup of water into a quart-sized spray bottle, then fills the rest with vinegar.

For Horch, the best thing about vinegar is it can take the place of other cleaners that may be polluting our bodies and our air with toxins.

"The big issue for me with a lot of cleaners is the toxicity, and the fact that our bodies have no mechanism for flushing those toxins out," Horch said. "With vinegar, we know our body can deal with it, that it's not toxic. It's really the safest possible chemical when it comes to cleaning."

And if you have any left over after your weekly cleaning, it's mighty tasty on spinach as well.

VIVA VINEGAR!

VINEGAR FANS AND people in the green-cleaning movement say vinegar can be used for a myriad of household cleaning projects or home remedies. Here are some ideas from the Vinegar Institute, a trade association for vinegar makers worldwide. Each of the suggestions below calls for distilled white vinegar.

NO-WAX FLOORS: Add 1/2 cup of vinegar to a half-gallon of warm water.

STREAKLESS WINDOWS: Wash with a mixture of equal parts vinegar and warm water. Dry with a soft cloth.

GARBAGE DISPOSAL CLEANER: Garbage disposals may be kept clean and odor-free with vinegar cubes. Vinegar cubes are made by filling an ice tray with a mixture of 1 cup of vinegar and enough water to fill the ice tray and then freezing it. Run the mixture through the disposal, wait one minute and flush it with cold water.

MICROWAVE OVENS: Boil a solution of 1/4 cup vinegar and 1 cup of water in the microwave, and it will loosen splattered-on food and deodorize.

DEODORIZE THE KITCHEN DRAIN: Pour 1 cup vinegar down the drain once a week. Let stand 30 minutes and flush with cold water.

CLEAN AND DISINFECT WOOD CUTTING BOARDS: Wipe with full-strength vinegar.

ANT DETERRENT: Ant invasions can sometimes be deterred by washing countertops, cabinets and floors with vinegar.

KILL WEEDS: Spray vinegar full-strength on tops of weeds. Reapply on any new growth until plants have starved.

PET ACCIDENT: Test the color fastness of the carpet with vinegar in an inconspicuous place. Then sprinkle vinegar over the fresh pet accident. Wait a few minutes and sponge from the center outward. Blot with a dry cloth. This procedure may need to be repeated for stubborn stains.

BUMPER STICKERS: Remove bumper stickers by repeatedly wiping the sticker with vinegar until it is soaked. In a few minutes, it should peel off easily. Test on a small invisible area of the car to ensure there will be no damage to the paint.

PAINTBRUSH SOFTENER: Soak the paintbrush in hot vinegar and wash out with warm, sudsy water.

FROSTED WINDOWS: For those winter mornings when there is frost on the car, wipe the windows the night before with a solution of one part water to three parts vinegar. They won't frost over.

SOOTHE A BEE STING: Douse with vinegar. It will soothe irritation and relieve itching.

WHAT ABOUT THE SMELL?

SOME PEOPLE MAY be hesitant to wipe all their kitchen counters with vinegar because they don't like the smell.

ONE WAY TO fight the odor of vinegar is to mix some essential oils, such as lavender oils, in with your vinegar-and-water cleaning solution. You can get essential oils at most health-food stores.

TO LEARN MORE FOR MORE USES for vinegar, go online at www.versatilevinegar.org

YOU CAN ALSO go to the Web site of the Natural Resources Council of Maine – www.nrcm.org – and download the printable brochure "Clean Housekeeping: Toxic-Free Solutions." The pamphlet contains lots of information on vinegar.

Sunday August 17th, 2008

by Ray Routhier, staff writer
Maine Sunday Telegram news story


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