Vinegar.

I AM a skeptic.  Really I am!  I was told by our neighbors that Roundup was bad and they ordered special weed killer vinegar over the internet and that it worked.

Pooh.

Then I read that you can use household vinegar to spray weeds. 

Um, okay...so I experimented.  I used household vinegar, table salt, soap, and a touch of mineral oil mixed it all together and went out to spray some of those pesky weeds like burdock and thistle.

In less than 30 minutes they looked very sickly.  In two hours they were brown.

Imagine my delight in finding that vinegar actually worked.

It didn't do as well in the shade, but still wilted the heck out of the burdock.  

I tried apple cider vinegar and regular vinegar.  

I used the mineral oil in the mix so that the solution would stick to the leaves better.

I also use either type of vinegar in my homemade 'horse' fly spray.  It doesn't do quite as well as the $22.00/quart of certain kinds of commercial fly spray, but it does knock those pesky flies down.

I used some left over white vinegar in one of my sinks that was looking kind of crummy.  I let it soak for about half an hour.

I drained it and wiped the sink spotless.  No comet cleanser used here. Just stupid vinegar and water.

Last night I soaked my poor feet in vinegar and water.

Why?  Mom the 80 yr old wonder lady told me too.  My feet were itchy from wearing my hot boots. They had a heat rash from sweating and I thought...well, why not? 

My feet felt like heaven.

The heat rash died and went away...

Two days ago I mixed vinegar and cool water and used it to ease the pain of Ariel's sunburn.

Yeah it worked.  

I'm not a chemical engineer, but I do know that vinegar has a 5% acidic value to it.  I'm sure that is what helps kill the weeds and cleaned the sink among other things.

I think when 'Googled' uses for vinegar, I was very surprised.  I didn't really think I could use it in so many ways.

One of the things I have been trying to do and I can thank my neighbors for that...is try to lessen the use of chemicals in cleaning and around the house.

I've found that there are so many things that I can use instead of harsh chemicals, and perhaps I won't make a dent in the world, but I surely am enjoying trying other things.

One exception to the vinegar weed killer is going to be poison ivy.  It grows generally in the shade and I purchased some special spray for it. Although, I think I will experiment and try some vinegar and salt on it just for kicks.

I'll take before and after photos to make a comparison.

PS~ for Equine enthusiasts, a wee bit of apple cider vinegar in your equine's grain per day and it will make a fur coat shine.  It has been said that it aids in repelling bugs also.  Not sure on that one, but I can say that it works on the coat!