Tip of the Week: The wonders of white vinegar

White vinegar is a godsend to have around the house. If you use the homemade laundry detergent I gave the recipe for last week then you'll already know that in hard water areas it makes a great fabric softener. But what else can you do with it?

Firstly make a 50/50 water/vinegar solution in a spray bottle and use it for:-

• cleaning out the inside of the microwave.
• as a final rinse when cleaning out the fridge to stop mildew developing.
• as a final wipe down after cleaning the oven to get rid of the oven cleaner residue.
• the best way ever of getting rid of that black mould that grows between bathroom tiles. Give a good liberal spray, leave for 10 minutes then go back and scrub the grouting with a nailbrush and it'll just come off easily -- just rinse everything down with the shower head.
• To polish mirrors and windows (wipe with newspaper to stop smearing)
• cleaning sinks and taps.

Neat vinegar is a great descaler -- of taps and sinks (just soak a cloth in the vinegar and scrub), of kettles and coffee machines (half fill and boil - make sure you do at least two boil rinses though if you do not want your tea tasting of vinegar), to use instead of rinse aid in the dishwasher and you can also use vinegar (along with a spoonful of borax) to scrub out the loo.

Probably the most versatile kitchen cleaner ever!!

Tip of the Week

This week - making your own laundry detergent - environmentally friendly and much less costly than shop bought!

Boil 4 litres of water in a big pan on the stove. Meanwhile grate a bar soap (any soap you like - if you want a specific fragrance, buy a nice soap but you can just use plain unscented white soap).

When water is boiling add soap and stir till melted (careful not to let it boil over)

When soap melted, take off heat and stir in half a mugful of washing soda crystals (you can find them in the laundry ailse of the supermarket - sometimes just called soda crystals). Stir.

Leave pan overnight - it will set to jelly like gloop. When it has, stir it up and pour into a big enough container with a lid to store.

To use put a tablespoonful in the drum of the washing machine and then put the laundry on top. Don't put it in the dispenser drawer or it will block. Don't use fabric conditioner. Put a teaspoonful of white vinegar in the conditioner compartment instead. It won't smell I promise!

If whites start to look a bit grubby put a spoonful of Ecover Laundry "Bleach" in the dispenser drawer as well.

Two Months!

Two months without posting. Unforgivable really!

So to get me back into the swing of things we're going to have a Vegan Recipe of the Week each week and a Tip of the Week.

And over on the scoliyogi blog, we're going to have a Asana of the Week -- specifically focussing on back problems and scoliosis!

So let's go!