Vinegar kills bacteria, mould and germs
Over the years I have found three natural ingredients that kill mould: Tea tree oil (an essential oil found in most health food stores), grapefruit seed extract and vinegar.
There are pros and cons of each, but all three work. Vinegar is by far the cheapest. Tea tree oil is expensive, but it is a broad spectrum fungicide and seems to kill all the mould families it contacts. The problem is that it has a very strong smell, but that dissipates in a few days. Grapefruit seed extract is also expensive, but has no smell.
Spirit vinegar is a mainstay of the old folk recipes for cleaning, and with good reason. The strength of vinegar is that it kills bacteria, mould and germs.
Numerous studies to show that a straight 5 percent solution of vinegar - thekind you can buy in the supermarket - kills 99 percent of bacteria, 82 percent of moulds, and 80 percent of germs (viruses) and it seems to be common knowledge in the industry that vinegar is powerfully antibacterial.
Just like antibiotics, common disinfectants found in household sprays may contribute to drug resistant bacteria, according to researchers. Furthermore, research shows that many commercial disinfectants are ineffective to begin with, just like antibiotics.
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. Spirit vinegar is also great for cleaning the toilet rim. Just spray it on and wipe off.
Use one teaspoon of essential oil to 2 cups of water in a spray bottle (make sure to avoid eyes). A grapefruit seed extract spray can be made by adding 20 drops of extract to a quart of water.
annie bond