May is National Vinegar Month—yep, you read that correctly, vinegar gets a whole month dedicated to this special material! And, it truly deserves one! It’s a large part of cooking and evidence suggests that humans have used it for an extremely long time! Historically, it’s been used as a cleaner for ages before the invention of chemicals commonly used today. It has also been found in tombs and vessels that are thousands of years old. Its resurgence as a natural cleaner is due to a decreased interest in chemical cleaners such as bleach and ammonia and growth in popularity for all-natural materials without harsh additives that may impact one’s health or the surrounding environment. It is also a powerful, non-selective herbicide.
There are a variety of kinds of vinegar made from the sugar of different products. Our product is white vinegar, naturally fermented from grain alcohol. Acetic acid is naturally produced from a special type of bacteria that is responsible for the fermentation process, aptly named acetic acid bacteria.
Jedwards offers two varieties, both are White Vinegar at 20% acetic acid concentration. One is certified Organic (K1010) and the other is conventional, Non-GMO (K1000).
On your typical grocery store shelf, the vinegar you see rarely goes past an acetic acid point of 5%-8%. Any higher than this is not fit for human consumption. Diluting vinegar with water can bring the concentration down, however, so it can still be used in dressings, marinades, or for pickling.
Here are several common applications highly concentrated vinegar is useful in:
- Killing weeds
- Cleaning rust off stainless steel
- Cleaning mineral deposits from coffee pots
- Lowering the pH level of soil to increase its acidity
- Restoring the look of old and weathered masonry
- Effective at removing mineral and calcium deposits & buildup
- Stain removal on fabric
When using high concentrations of vinegar, it is important to keep the following points in mind:
- High concentrations/undiluted solutions can corrode non-stainless steel metals.
- Vinegar does not discriminate on what weeds/plants it kills, so spray with caution!
- Full strength or undiluted cleaning vinegar can cause eye and skin damage without proper protection. For your safety, wear proper protection and dilute 20% solution for general home cleaning!
- Vinegar should be avoided on finished surfaces to prevent damage to the wax and can wear down stone and marble at high concentrations.
Visit bulknaturaloils.com to contact one of our sales representatives and pick up your vinegar today!
