White vinegar is one of the most useful forms of distilled alcohol which finds a place in almost every household. The main ingredients of white vinegar are distilled alcohol and ethanol.
Be it salad dressing or gardening, be it floor stain removal or immediate home remedies, white vinegar always finds its way in our homes. This is one of the oldest and the purest forms of distilled corn alcohol. Every household’s favorite, it is one of the most versatile products that comes in handy for culinary, cleaning, and gardening purposes.
Ingredients
White vinegar is an aqueous solution of about 5% acetic acid which is a common constituent of most of the canning and pickling activities. As mentioned, the ingredients in white vinegar mainly comprise acetic acid. For making white vinegar, acetic acid, one of the most important sources is corn or rice. Usually, these grains are sprinkled with little water and are put inside a pot covered with a wet muslin cloth. They are kept in a similar state until they sprout. After that the contents are crushed into a mash which now undergoes starch conversion. This is mostly done through enzyme conversion where starch content is converted to sugars by use of amylase enzymes.
Enzyme conversion is an integral activity of the malting process. Cooking and milling processes also aid in breaking down the starch content to sugars. Even acid hydrolysis is used for the above. Now once the sugars are obtained, they are converted to ethyl alcohol by alcoholic fermentation process aided by yeast bacteria. An important point about this anaerobic fermentation is that this needs to be carried out in air tight containers under controlled conditions. After fermentation, the alcohol is converted to acetic acid through acid fermentation assisted by bacteria – acetobacter. This finally yields the white vinegar ingredient acetic acid. A point to be noted is that in the product acquired, there is no alcohol content.
Apart from corn and rice; wheat, barley, and rye are also used for making the white vinegar ingredient, I mean, acetic acid. On the commercial front, vegetables like potatoes and beet are also used as they have high starch contents.
Uses
- Is there is lingering paint smell in your room that is driving you mad? And you want it over and out! Just keep a white vinegar bottle open for a while and see the difference.
- If your pets are turning into pests scratching furniture and walls here and there, spray white vinegar on the furniture and that will keep them away. Also if they litter around making your home dirty, white vinegar comes to help. Just take a cloth and soak it with white vinegar and wipe the unclean part. The floor not only gets clean, but the stale odor also vanishes. Above all, white vinegar is an ingredient of homemade dog shampoos.
- Not to mention, many of the delectable sauces, marinades, pickles, ketchups, and salad dressings use white vinegar as one of the key constituents. Apart from lending a helping hand in culinary purposes, white vinegar also deserves a worthy mention in the health domain. Sore throats, hiccups, athletes foot, and dandruff can be cured by the use of this product. At times, it is also used to soften eggs as the egg shells can dissolve in acetic acid.
The uses of white vinegar are many. Be it any stain removal from tea cups, glassware, shelves, refrigerators, doors, or window panes, white vinegar comes quite handy. It serves as a fairly efficient substitute for branded cleaners. And the best thing is that you can make it at home yourself by just mixing acetic acid, one of the prime white vinegar ingredients with distilled water producing a 4%-7% acidic solution. So next time, before your wallet gets pinched while you scour any departmental store for costly cleaners or exclusive dog shampoos, do remember about this one economical but versatile substitute.