a natural disinfectant
Posted by: mestes <mestes@...>
dana
Q: I heard that vinegar is a disinfectant. Is this true?
Maria, MI
A: Vinegar is a mainstay of the old folk recipes for cleaning, and
with good reason. Vinegar kills bacteria, mold, and germs. Heinz
company spokesperson Michael Mullen references numerous studies
that show that a straight 5 percent solution of vinegar such as you
can buy in the supermarket kills 99 percent of bacteria, 82 percent
of mold and 80 percent of viruses. He noted that Heinz can't claim
on their packaging that vinegar is a disinfectant because the
company has not registered it as a pesticide with the Environmental
Protection Agency. However, it seems to be common knowledge in the
industry that vinegar is powerfully antibacterial. Even the CBS
news show "48 Hours" had a special last December with Heloise
reporting on tests from The Good Housekeeping Institute.
Keep a clean spray bottle filled with straight 5 percent vinegar in
your kitchen near your cutting board and in your bathroom, and use
them for cleaning. I often spray the vinegar on our cutting board
before going to bed at night, and don't even rinse, but let it set
overnight. The smell of vinegar dissipates within a few hours.
Straight vinegar is also great for cleaning the toilet rim. Just
spray it on and wipe off.
________
Annie Berthold-Bond is the Green Lifestyle Channels Producer for
Care2.com, the largest global community of environmentally
conscious consumers on the Web, and has authored several books
including Better Basics for the Home and Clean & Green. "Care2 Ask
Annie" is brought to you by Care2.com.