Another great site!

Home Ec 101

This is a great site for tips and info
on everything pertaining to homemaking!

Vinegar and a sunburn

When you get a sunburn the products out there to help soothe and prevent blistering or peeling can be quite costly. Believe it or not, a natural and cheaper remedy lies just in your pantry.....it's vinegar! I'm not kidding. I've actually used this and it works.

"To soothe a sunburn spray white distilled vinegar on skin, repeating as often as you like. Let it dry naturally, do not rub off. Ice-cold white distilled vinegar will feel even better, and may prevent blistering and peeling." Courtesy of Vinegar Tips

Thanks to a friend of mine who teaches science I learned that vinegar is made of water and acetic acid, so it will moisturize and soothe your sunburn. Acetic acid is called an NSAID (Non-Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drug), which helps reduce the swelling of the damaged tissue and relieves the pain.

You can also pour a complete small size bottle of white vinegar in a bath of luke warm water and soak in it for about 15 minutes or longer if desired, it will relieve the pain of sunburn immediately and the redness that comes the sunburn and helps prevent peeling. You can also apply vinegar before going out in the sun and you will lessen the chances of getting sunburn! Courtesy of The Vinegar book.

Here are a few other helpful tips for sunburns
Clean and Simple Sunburn Remedies
eHow: How to Treat a Sunburn with Vinegar

Make-It-From-Scratch-Mondays - Air Freshner

Cinnamon Vanilla Air Freshener Spray

1 cup water
1 cup household vinegar
1 TBS vanilla extract
1 cinnamon stick

Directions

• Bring all ingredients to a boil then simmer over medium heat for two minutes.
  
• Remove from heat and allow to cool, about 5 min.
  
• Take out cinnamon stick and pour liquid into spray bottle, shake and use as needed.
  
  

Alternatives:

• Vanilla & Cloves: Keep above recipe, but replace cinnamon stick with 1 tsp cloves
  
  
• Raspberry Lavender: Use 2 TBS dried lavender buds and 2 cups red vinegar; follow directions above

Recipes courtesy of tipnut.com

Make-It-From-Scratch-Mondays: Produce Wash

Buying Organic fruits and vegetables can become expensive;
so here's a spray you can make that will do an excellent job of washing away the pesticides on your food, making them better for you and your family!

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup vinegar
• 2 TBS baking soda
• 2 TBS lemon juice

Directions: In a deep container, mix ingredients and pour into a spray bottle. Spray fresh vegetables & fruit generously.
Let stand for 5 minutes then rinse well.



Washing Produce Tips:

• When washing leeks or spinach, I fill my sink with about two inches of cold water and toss in them in. Leeks I'll generally cut up first and then separate in the water, then I swish the veggies around for a few seconds. Take out and pat or spin dry. The dirt falls to the bottom of your sink and your veggies are clean!!
  
  
• Before you cut into a melon, be sure to wash the outside of it first. If you don’t, the knife can drag the pesticides, dirt or bacteria from the outside rind into the fruit as you cut. The outside of melons can be very dirty.
  
  
• Before cutting celery or mushrooms, dampen the corner of a clean kitchen towel and just wipe the produce clean.

Easter Message with Vinegar

In keeping with my love and use for vinegar, I came across this neat teaching tool to help tell kids some of the story of Easter!

Clean pennies

Your children may have difficulties understanding that Jesus died for their sins. First of all, you may need to explain to them that sin is anything we do that keeps us from being friends with God. Bring out some grimy pennies and tell them the dirt on the pennies represents their sin. Then mix ¼ cup of white vinegar and 1 teaspoon of salt. Put the pennies in the vinegar mixture for about five minutes. They will come out shiny and clean! Explain that Jesus makes us shiny and clean too.

Cleaning supply Reciepes

In my previous post I mentioned my everyday-vinegar solution and my window cleaner and since some of you may be new to my blog I wanted to post the recipes again!

Everyday Vinegar Solution:
Half vinegar
Half water

Window/Glass Cleaner:
1 cup strong black tea
3 TBS Vinegar
(use this as your ratio, so if you use 3 cups of tea, you'd add 9 TBS of Vinegar.)


If the smell of vinegar bothers you, you may squeeze some lemon juice in your bottle and it will dilute the smell. Or if you happen to have any Essential oils, you may add a few drops of that as well.

Since I've been cleaning with vinegar I've grow to actually like the smell; it's completely gone within a few min.

Email me or leave a comment with any questions!

Vinegar and Dishes

I was washing my dishes tonight and I love how great my soap works now.

What brand am I using you ask?

Any brand will do.

The way to make your dish soap work harder than you when it comes to washing dishes is to add a little power - VINEGAR power that is!!

Add 2 - 3 TBS of Vinegar to your bottle, shake it up and let it work it's powerful strength on your caked on mess.

Food, grease and smells are gone almost instantly....give it a try!

Homemade Fabric Softener

Check out our friend over at Cents to Get Debt Free, she did her own fabric softener and she posted pics, which helps so much!

Here's the link to her fabric softener recipe, this is definitely up my alley, Thanks Phoebe.

More Vinegar Please!

More great uses for our friend, Vinegar!

Outside:
After picking flowers, add two tablespoons of white vinegar plus three tablespoons of sugar per quart of warm water to the vase. It's ideal to have stems in three to four inches of water.

Got an ant problem? Use a spray bottle filled with a solution of equal parts vinegar and water around door jambs, window sills, water pipes, and foundation cracks.

Occasionally water plants with a mixture of two tablespoons white vinegar to one quart water. Azaleas love acidic soil.

Inside:
If you're in a room with cigarette smoke or paint fumes, leave a small bowl of white vinegar on the counter or table. The odor will dissipate.

To clean toilets: Pour in one cup of white vinegar, let it stand for five minutes, brush clean and flush.


Your body:
Got Dandruff? Believe it or not, vinegar can help! Pour a few tablespoons of vinegar on your hair and massage into your scalp. Wait 3 minutes, then rinse and wash hair like normal. Try this for a few days until you see results. Vinegar restores chemical balance to the skin.

Want softer skin? Add one-half cup of vinegar or so to warm bath water when bathing. Bonus, you get a cleaner bathtub with less work. I know I know you're probably thinking, "Eww, I don't want to smell like vinegar." Trust me you wont because it's such small amount. But when in doubt drop in some essential oils and your skin will be soft and smell great!

Smooth a little vinegar on cracked, dried skin to help it heal.

When summer time comes, and the inevitable sunburn happens to you or your friends, remember to apply undiluted vinegar to the burn. It will sooth and heal your skin quickly!


More great sites to cleaning with vinegar
cleaningwithvinegar.com
vinegartips.com
thenewhomemaker.com
62-little-known-uses-of-vinegar

Homemade Cleaners

So I had coffee with a new friend last night and we were talking about au natural cleaners and I realized when I went home that I've never posted much on the topic. so I thought I'd post a few of the recipes I use around the house!

This is the list of natural ingredients I use to clean, all of them can be found in your regular grocery store. Although for some reason, Washing Soda (Arm & Hammer) I usually find at Albertsons, but the rest I buy in bulk at Smart & Final.

1. White Vinegar
2. Baking Soda
3. Lemon Juice
4. Borax
5. Washing Soda
6. Rubbing Alcohol
7. Cornstarch
8. Mineral Oil
   
9. Coarse Salt - Sea Salt is great
   
10. Toothpaste

If I have a good response to this post, I'll add more recipes and tips!
I'll also post some pics if there's an interest!

Quick General Clean Ups: half vinegar and half water solution
Keep a spray bottle in the kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room.

Disinfectant: 1/2 cup of borax dissolved in one gallon of hot water.
The important part here (that I have had to learn the hard way), is to let it cool completely, and then strain it, before pouring it into a plastic spray bottle (otherwise it clumps).

Floor, Counter, Toilet Cleaner: 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water.
You can also polish linoleum floors with club soda :) The big question here is, "will my house smell like vinegar, and the answer is no." It may temporarily smell like vinegar while you're cleaning, but your house will not smell. Adding lemon juice to vinegar when cleaning can help neutralize the vinegar smell.

Window Cleaner: One cup cold strong black tea with 3 TBS of vinegar
Pour in spray bottle

Stove and oven cleaner: 2 TBS of baking soda and hot water or you can sprinkle the soda on a damp sponge and wipe.
The issue here that I've had to learn the hard way, is that if you just sprinkle Baking Soda on your stove and start wiping, it takes numerous times to wipe completely smooth and clean and not be filmy; so if you sprinkle directly on the stove top - use very little. Otherwise first put on a damp sponge and scrub! It really works!

Carpet Deodorizer: Mix two parts cornmeal with one part borax.
Sprinkle generously over carpet, wait one hour then vacuum

Deodorize & Clean Garbage Disposal: Freeze Distilled Vinegar into ice cubes
Run several cubes down the disposal while flushing with cold water.

Microwave Cleaning Method: 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar and 1/2 cup water
Pour into a microwave-safe bowl. Bring it to a rolling boil inside the microwave. Baked-on food will be loosened, and odors will disappear. Then you just wipe clean - love it!!

Bleaching Clothes: Lemon Juice
Lemon juice can act as a natural bleaching agent. Squeeze fresh lemon juice onto white linens and/or clothing, then allow them to dry in the sun. Stains will be bleached away, wash as usual!

Some of my recipes come from Tipnut.com, vinegartips.com and Arm & Hammer

Add some UMPH to your Dish Soap!

In an attempt to keep your dish soap lasting longer and working harder for you - VINEGAR is your best friend!

When you buy Dish Soap, add 3 - 5 Tablespoons of Vinegar and shake. This adds extra cleaning power, and you will find you don't need to use as much!

Give it a try, let me know if it works!!!