Remember the article I wrote a while back about the many uses of baking soda? Of course you do, and hopefully you have already implemented at least a few of those uses for baking soda.
Seeing as I gain great enjoyment from thumbing the eye of corporate America (As you know from reading the baking soda article, or various other articles), this article will deal with another cheap and common household chemical that you can use for various duties in your life: vinegar!
Vinegar is a compound consisting mostly of water and about 5-20% acetic acid (a mild, edible acid). As such, it is most commonly used in food preparation to add a bit of tang to your food. But it can do so much more than that!
(As a side note, vinegar is one of the few foodstuffs that essentially has an unlimited shelf life. So once you buy it, you won’t need to buy it again for a very long time).
For starters, 20-50 grams of vinegar drunk straight have been shown to increase satiety (and thus decrease caloric consumption), and reduce the glycemic index of foods—which helps those who suffer from diabetes.
Most notably, vinegar is a powerful anti-microbial—you’re probably used to it being used to sanitize raw foods like sushi, but it also can be used as a household cleaner. It dissolves the common mineral deposits one can find on coffee pots and glasses, as well as an effective polish for most metals.
It can remove drain clogs and adhesive residue.
A lot of people likely already knew those common uses for vinegar, but there’s a lot more uses for this chemical that might surprise you.
Adding half a cup to your laundry reduces static and keeps dryer lint from clinging to your clothes (and of course I’ll always argue that a man should know how to dress himself halfway decently).
It is a powerful herbicide for those who have gardens.
It can whiten your teeth (brush with vinegar only once a week, as doing it too often can damage your teeth and give you bad breath).
It repels skin parasites on your pets.
Adding two tablespoons of it to the boiling water keeps the shells of hard boiled eggs from cracking, making removal a breeze.
It loosens tight, rusted screws
It can also be used to nullify jellyfish stings and insect bites/stings.
And lastly, it’s good for some skin conditions: washing your hair in apple cider vinegar once a week cures dandruff, and should you for some strange reason want to soften up your feet, you can use vinegar on them as well (my girlfriend does this, which is why I mention it)
I think that gives you enough reasons for using vinegar, and I didn’t even get into the hoopty stuff like “apple cider vinegar makes you lose weight” or “you can use it as a douche”.
So what are you waiting for? Go out and buy some vinegar now.