Lite Green by Sebrina Smith
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Vinegar has thousands of uses. Here are some unusual and interesting ways you may not know about.

The story you are about to hear is true. Although none of the names have been changed—mostly because I’m pretty much the only person involved, and as Britney says “I’m not that innocent.”

It was a crisp and sunny autumn afternoon. That afternoon...the afternoon—when I walked, carefree, into my local low–priced, high–value, super megastore. With list in hand and pen in mouth, I was eager to pick up what I needed and be on my way home after a long day of...well...surfing the internet and writing about whatever I wanted to write about—but that’s not the point.

Suddenly, from the edge of my periphery, a monstrous green object hurtled toward me. As if from some Zapruder flashback, I was struck. As if in slow motion, my foot recoiled in panic and disgust as a nightmare of sharp shards of glass, vinegar and pickling spices rained down on me. It was a Del-Dixi. A Del-Dixi pickle jar had mysteriously jumped off its shelf and attacked me in broad daylight. I would never be the same. And neither would my beautiful black leather sandals...

Or so I thought.

In true SATC fashion, I was more worried about my sandals than my toe. I was sure my shoes—now soaking wet and smelling like a salad—were completely ruined. But, it turns out; pickle juice is made mostly of vinegar. And vinegar is great for shining your shoes and conditioning leather. After the incident, my shoes looked better than ever, brand new in fact. So I though, hummm, what else can vinegar do?

Did you know vinegar can:

Prolong and brighten propane lanterns
Soak new wicks for several hours in white vinegar and let them dry before inserting. Propane lanterns will burn longer and brighter on the same amount of fuel.

Remove decals, bumper stickers and price tags
Soak a cloth in vinegar and cover the decal or bumper sticker for several minutes until the vinegar soaks in. The decals and bumper stickers should peel off easily.

Clear mineral deposits from your steam iron
Fill the water tank with white vinegar. Turn the iron to the steam setting and steam–iron a soft cloth to clean the steam ports. Repeat the process with water, then thoroughly rinse out the inside of your iron.

Remove chewing gum
Put ice on the gum to freeze it, and then scrape off as much as you can first. Then saturate the area that has the gum on it with vinegar. The rest of the gum will actually dissolve. If the vinegar is heated first the process will work faster.

Freshen a room
An open dish of white distilled vinegar will help remove unpleasant smells like paint or fish odors from a room.

Boost your health
Soothe a sore throat with a mixture of apple cider vinegar, water and honey.

Soak your feet in white distilled vinegar to stop athlete’s foot.

Drink a teaspoon of white distilled vinegar to stop the hiccups.

Mix a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water, with a bit of honey added for flavor, to take the edge off your appetite and give you an overall healthy feeling.

Extend the life of your pantyhose
Rinse your hose with water containing 1 tablespoon of white distilled vinegar, and they’ll last longer.

Grow beautiful azaleas
Occasionally water plants with a mixture of two tablespoons vinegar to one–quart water. The vinegar increases the soil acidity—Azaleas love acidic soil.

Save you money in the laundry room
To prevent static cling, add one–cup vinegar to each wash load. Now you can give up costly dryer sheets forever.

Clean the dishwasher
Run a cup of vinegar through the whole cycle once a month to reduce soap build up on the inner mechanisms and on glassware.

Make a rubber chicken bone
This is possibly my favorite way to use vinegar, mostly because it freaks people out. Soak a chicken bone in vinegar for several days and it will become rubbery and pliable.

To answer the lingering question, I don’t know why I was singled out by the Del-Dixi that day. Who can say why pickle jars attack. 

Afterward, I limped to my car, my bleeding toe now hurriedly bandaged by a nervous store clerk. I admit my mind should have been on the impeding trip to the emergency room. As it turns out, I had a slight fracture and needed two stitches. But I felt my toe would, in time, heal. I wasn’t so sure about my shoes, because, as the saying goes, good shoes are hard to find. But after my shoes dried, they looked so good that I decided right then and there to forgive the Del-Dixi. After all, a good pickle is hard to find, too.

Find more ways to use vinegar in Great Uses For Vinegar by TipKing