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Is it necessary to buy Organic vinegar? I pay $5.50 for a 48 oz. bottle, but can pay $1.25 for a non-organic gallon jug. Any thoughts?

Just don't use vinegar (or any acidic cleaner, like lemon juice) on any marble surface, unless you aim to etch away the shine. Being "natural" doesn't mean it's harmlessly all-purpose.

Adding a few drops of essential oil to your vinegar/water mix helps cut down on the vinegar smell. I like lavender myself.

I use vinegar to clean windows, but add a drop of liquid soap (Vermont Soap Company makes a great natural version) to really help cut down the streaks. Combine 2 cups of water, 1/4 cup of white distilled vinegar, and up to 1/2 teaspoon of liquid soap or detergent in a spray bottle - that's it!

Interestingly, this month's Cook's Illustrated magazine suggests basically the same recipe as a very effective fruit & vegetable wash - supposedly it kills 80% of bacteria on produce, as compared to 25% removed by rinsing with water, or 90% for antibacterial soap.

Use it for trapping fruit flies. Pour some into the bottom of a glass. Cover the top of the glass with plastic wrap. Put a hole in the middle of the plastic wrap and put a piece of paper rolled into a cone through the hole. The flies will be attracted to the vinegar, fly into the cone and then get trapped because they cannot fly back out of the cone.

You can also use white vinegar to to fry weeds (evil dandelions) on hot, sunny days. Just spray on enough to saturate the plant, being careful not to get it all over your grass, as it will fry that, too. Works best on sunny days with dry soil.

I've used regular 5% distilled white vinegar, but higher concentrations would probably work better.

Not sure how many ATers have yards, but ours is being overtaken with weeds, and we didn't want to use RoundUp or other weed killers due to the negative impact on the environment.

Vinegar is a great cleaner - it leaves surfaces shinier than any commercial cleaner that I have ever tried. Also great at killing germs . . . However, I have seen on many websites that it is not a good alternative for grout.

Apparently, it helps to break down and dissolve grout. I do not have any personal experience regarding this matter, but I definitely would only use a very dilute solution if you really feel that vinegar is the only way to go. In general, we need less cleanser than we think to get the job done.

Depending on your bathroom situation mold can be tough to fight. We try to leave our window open to let out the humidty whenever possible. On days that are more humid outside than in we use the bathroom fan to draw moisture out.

There may be other better green solutions to this problem. I am still looking but wonder if anyone else has suggestions?