VINEGAR

So far, I've gotten a lot of positive feedback about natural home cleaning recipes. Before I post any, I think it's important to first understand why the main ingredient in these recipes work. And work as well, even BETTER than the chemicals you can buy in the store. Vinegar (white, cider, balsamic, etc.) carries a property that makes it an extremely efficient antiviral and antibacterial. A pH (potential hydrogen) of about 2.4. Pure water has a pH of 7 and is neutral. Thus making vinegar a strong "acid". Almost no living organism can maintain life below a pH of 3. Numerous sources show that a straight 5 percent solution of vinegar—the same as what you have in your kitchen—kills 99% of bacteria, 82% of mold, and 80% of germs (viruses).

Why don't you see this advertised on your bottle of vinegar? Because vinegar companies can't make this claim on their packaging until the company registers it as a pesticide with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Some references state lemon juice carrying a pH of 2.4 also - and another reference states 2.2. However, I prefer vinegar since it leaves absolutely no residue.

Below is a link to the National Institute of Health, on a study done to test the effectiveness of vinegar against E. Coli.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9713753&dopt=Abstract

I haven't listed vinegar's best property yet though. IT'S SAFE. It doesn't hurt my toddler if he happens to open the cupboard and drink it. It doesn't poison the ground water that is the source of life for every living creature around me. It doesn't alter my DNA. It doesn't shred my lungs and burn my eyes.

Speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee Job 12:8