More Vinegar Uses?

One of my most vivid memories of childhood involves being at my grandmother’s house during the summer. My cousins and I would play outside as long as we could until we either got called inside or someone got hurt. The day of play finally arrived when I would be the one that ended play time due to my unfortunate run in with a gang of yellow jackets. After being attacked, I ran inside screaming for my mom like I had lost a limb. My grandma used the wisdom that had come from being the mother of 10 children and told my mom to get the salt shaker. She shook salt into her hand, added water to it and applied the mixture to my sting. The effect was immediate. My pain was relieved and it wasn’t long before I was able to go outside again and play.

That ancient story instantaneously flashed into my head just recently when I went next door to visit my landlords, Ken and Kim. When I leaned up against a wall with my hand behind my back, a bee that had hitchhiked its way inside on the back of my blouse stung me. But before I could ask for some salt and water, Kim said, “Pour some vinegar on it!” I thought it was at least worth a try for the sake of research. It did alleviate the pain slightly but I can’t say definitively whether it was because of the vinegar itself or because of the cool temperature of the vinegar. So, for me personally, I think I will stick to grandma’s remedy. However, using vinegar would be my back-up plan.

I also tested a theory that dipping your nails in vinegar before applying fingernail polish makes the polish last much longer. I applied vinegar to my nails on Saturday, April 30 and polished them. Today is Monday, May 02 and I am sorry to have to report that in the case of my hands, after normal activities and regular hand washings for the past two days, the polish on my nails is over half gone. This find is really kind of disappointing but I am going to forge ahead and explore other vinegar claims. I’ll let you know what I find out in my next blog.

Chloe Hudson - Contents Crew