Friday, February 8, 2013

Vinegar Friday tip -- fighting mold and mildew

Photo of mold by Petr Kratochvil
TGIVF!!

Well, it's Vinegar Friday once again. As I write this, I'm sitting at the kitchen table in my mother's home. For those of you who may not have heard, my mother died on January 15th. My sister and I are here for the weekend, sorting through her things. It's not an easy task.

One area of the house which won't require a whole lot of work is the basement. The basement was flooded in September 2011 and my husband and our youngest daughter, Jessica, came to town for the clean up. The result was a lot of stuff put out on the curb for the trash collectors. There was no choice. 

Once the cleaning out was done, they went about the arduous task of cleaning up. While most people in town were buying gallons of bleach, Bill and Jess bought gallons of distilled white vinegar. They disinfected the entire basement with vinegar. And it was effective. There are no signs of mildew or mold. 

So, my friends, that is my vinegar tip for the day. There is no reason to use toxic bleach when you're trying to control mold and mildew. Just reach for the vinegar and scrub away! And breathe easy... even if you're not fond of the smell, at least you know it's not going to harm you!

What's your most unusual use of vinegar? Share your tips in the comments below!

2 comments:

  1. I believe everyone had this battle with mold once in their life. However, you’re saying vinegar alone can do the trick? I’ve heard a lot about the borax-vinegar solution but I haven’t really used it. I prefer to be greener and use the baking soda as part of the solution. I do not like the issues I’ve been hearing about borax. Anyway, if you say it’s effective, maybe I’ll try to push vinegar’s acidity to its limit some time. :]

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just found out that Heinz has a new cleaning vinegar out that has a higher acidity -- 6% acetic acid instead of the usual 5%. I use borax and baking soda for a lot of things as well.

      Delete

Search This Blog