Nobody believed it could be done — not my know-it-all neighbors, not the nursery workers, not the gardener. When I asked how to clear out the weeds growing through my driveway and brick patio without using harmful herbicides, I was told I needed the professional grade version of Roundup (which is as toxic as it gets, and no good for my son who eats everything he picks up).

But then I found a website saying that any plant doused in vinegar and a few hours of sunlight would shrivel up and die. So  my husband poured our 3 gallon jug of white vinegar ($3 at Costco), over part of our patio to test the theory (a sprayer is the preferred method – $5 at Home Depot). That night he laughed at my enviro-friendly attempt to hold back nature, saying that of course it hadn’t worked. We were outside a couple of days later however, and I noticed that  the weeds and moss between the cracks were brown and shriveled. “Honey, is this wear you poured the vinegar?” “Yeah,” he said, not even looking at his handy-work. “I told you it didn’t work.” He hadn’t realized that the brown crackly debris was indeed as dead as a doornail, just waiting to be swept away.

My discovery of vinegar began a few months ago. After wasting several bottles of drano trying to unblock the slow building clog in my bathroom, I finally gave a DIY solution I’d found on the web a try. With little faith, I mixed a cup of vinegar with a cup of baking soda, poured it down the drain, layed a washloth over it for a few minutes, then poured a kettle of boiling water down after it. I was shocked that it totally worked (repeat the process if it doesn’t)! But I didn’t realize that simply old vinegar would continue to impress me in so many different ways.

Why do we all assume it takes a harsh chemical cleaner to get a cleaning or disinfecting job done right?  Now I use vinegar everywhere – it’s my all purpose kitchen and bathroom cleaner and disinfectant, and although it smells for a few minutes, the smell is gone once it dries. It’s just as strong as any Fantastick, Roundup, clorox, but so much cheaper and safer. Now I can relax if my son breaks open my sink’s childproof latch and starts playing with the cleaning products, because I don’t need any of those poisons any more. 

What’s your best cheap or natural discovery of a cleaning or weed product?