10% vinegar ?

Does anyone know where in Upstate N.Y. could I possibly locate 10% vinegar? Appreciate any tips, thanks in advance.

There are some pickeling vinegars that are 9%. Those should be easy to find.

1 part vinegar and 9 parts water equals 10%, too.

way2dumb... regular vinegar is 5% acidity. Diluting it with 9 parts water would reduce acidityy to about 1/2%.

Oh-oh, oops! You mean 95% of it is not acid? Didn't know acidity was expressed in percent. Thought that was ph. Also, thought the question was about 'vinegar,' not acidity. :-)

Well, you had the right idea, way2dumb. Just happens I know there are some organic pesticide uses for 10% vinegar, and since this thread was on the Organic Gardening Forum, I intuited the request.

Vinegar in the stores is regulated to be no more that 5% acidity. Have NO idea how they get there, though.

Darius,

I was just talking to DH yesterday about vinegar. He was working on the mower and the skeeters were eating him up. I was fussing over a bit of landscaping, removing the grass growing around some plants, and the skeeters were eating me up, too! It wasn't real hot but the humidity was very uncomfortable making us real sweaty - which was attracting the bugs big time! I told him there must be a way to keep the bugs away from us using a natural formula like vinegar or amonia. I told him I was going to go get a spray bottle and fill it up with vinegar water and spray myself - and he laughed and said that might bring them on even more.

Do you have a recipe for a vinegar bug repellant?

Cindy Lou

I don't know about skeeters but, I've been told to use it on fire ant bites/stings and you won't get those pus blisters. Has anyone else heard about this?

Cindy Lou... Sorry, no, I don't have a recipe.

BUT... go to Google, type in 10% vinegar, and on the first page ot two there is an organic gardening thread about vinegar and pests. I didn't read it, just remembered seeing it. May only have to do with pests on plants, though...

I have one of those blood types that skeeters just LOVE. My best friend can sit beside me and he never attracts them and cannot understand why I fuss and want to go inside.

oh my - it says I have to drink the cider vinegar to keep mosquitos away!

"Drink a couple of spoonfuls a day to keep mosquitoes away - your perspiration will be unpleasant. "

I wonder if that means unpleasant to mosquitos or unpleasant to other humans??????

LOL... probably to other humans.

Which is good if you like being alone (sometimes).

I guess if I could find 100% vinegar, I wouldn't be looking for 10%-30%. Darius you're right, looking to make an organic weed killer, not a popular idea here as most people look at me with that expression, "what the heckl is he talking about", kind of giving up finding anything higher than 5% w/o sending away to california.

someradiantpig, I STILL think 9% pickling vinegar would do (even if just barely), and that you could find it in any country shop that has canning supplies. Ask around for pickling vinegar.

The acid in vinegar is acetic acid. In fact, vinegar is basically just diluted acetic acid. If you can find acetic acid and dilute it to 10%, that would solve your problem. I guess it at least gives you another name to search for. Good luck!

A group of us had gone to visit some Islands and I was almost eaten alive with mosquitoes..my girlfriend wasn't she had been swallowing garlic capsules every day for weeks..the natives were giving me limes to rub on my skin but too late for me...garlic is very good for your pets too [ for fleas] we use tablets for our dogs and hide them in a treat or other...Garlic is also very healthy as most folks know..so it is worth a try.... [I purchase aged garlic]

Very interesting but I really do not think I would mess with pure acetic acid.

Anything that needs hazmat insurance to be shipped I can do with out.JMO
Shirley

http://shop2.chemassociates.com/shopsite/Chemassoc2/PAS-aceticacidglacial.html

I wasn't too hip on the acetic acid advice either, figured my digits could age and fall off naturally anyway no need to speed up the process. Still haven't found canning or pickling vinegar either.

I didn't know if you'd want to use acetic acid, but I figured it couldn't hurt to mention it. At least it's an interesting piece of trivia. Keep in mind, though, that the warnings on those kinds of things are pretty extreme. If acetic acid were that dangerous, they wouldn't let teenagers in chemistry lab mess with it. I still have all my fingers, and according to those warnings even aspirin or caffeine may cause death!

So here's another idea: how about you take the 5% vinegar and pour it into a measuring cup. Leave it out and let the water evaporate until you have half as much volume. Then the vinegar will be twice as concentrated-- 10% (and if you forgot about it and too much evaporated, just add more water). I don't have any idea how long that would take or how much vinegar you need, but it's another idea that can't hurt to mention... Good luck!

There is a vinegar concentrate (I'm thinking the brand name is regina and that it is German) that my mother use to dilute considerable to get it to kitchen strength. As I recall she use to buy it at a German deli. Have no idea if it still exists today but if you have any German delis in your area you might try calling them.

In Texas some organic gardening people are using 20% vingar as weed killer, I think. At least here it is found at organic supply center.

My 2 cents


http://www.garden-ville.com/Liquids/Molasses.htm

You're right, Larry. Here in San Antonio the various locations of Rainbow Gardens Nursery carries it. I use ordinary 9% pickling vinegar from the supermarket to attack Johnson grass stolons between the bricks in the paths, but the 20% would do the job quicker, I'm sure. The people at Rainbow will also mix an organic fire ant fighter for you, using the vinegar and a couple of other ingrediients. Yuska

What is viegar used for, in the garden? A freind advised me to use it on weedy areas, like in the drive (mine is crushed stone) to kill the weeds. Real pain to put in sprayer, take forever to spray and then only a few weeds died. Any suggestions?

I use it only on the roots of plants. I cut off the upper portions down to ground level and then expose as much of the root as I can. For example, the main problem I have is Johnson grass and sometimes Bermuda. Both are useful where you need them but they can travel great distances and to amazing depth with their expanding stolons. Johnson grass makes great hay but in a yard or vegetable bed will quickly crowd out everything else. The subdivision where I live was built on virgin countryside that had all manner of native plants (and critters) so we've been contending with competition ever since. I dig out the roots where I can, but if I happen to overlook even the tiniest joint of root another clump will soon spring up. These grasses also re-appear as their wind-borne seeds arrive. I use the vinegar full-strength on roots at the edges of fence lines, the foundation, the bricks in the walk - any place where I cannot get at them with my pick-axe. To kill the foliage as well would require too much vinegar and would adversely affect the soil for other vegetation.

.I've never used it. People talking organics in Texas say 20% is what you have to use. What I do know is to always use DW Soap to relax tension in water to allow even spreading across surface or foliage. On DW soap, a squirt to a gallon.

I am a little late in joining this discussion but thought I might add a couple of things I know (or at least think I know) about acetic acid. I am a spinner and weaver, so my knowledge comes from dying protein fibers. Protein fibers like wool and silk require an acidic dye bath for the dye molecules to bond properly with the molecular structure of the fiber. To achieve this, acetic acid is used in home dying to maintain the appropriate pH of the dye bath.

I have used large quantities of vinegar (5%) to achieve this and smaller amounts of acetic acid (28% or 56%) from the camera store. Acetic acid is used in developing photographs and is available in these high strengths from photo supply houses.

So the question remains about using a "natural" acetic acid like vinegar, as opposed to using a manufactured acetic acid like one used in photo developing. The bottom line is that a molecule of acetic acid looks exactly the same either way. This leaves us with the burden of finding out which method of producing acetic acid is kinder to Mother. That I do not know.

As a dyer, I have been surprised to learn that so-called "natural" dyes that have been used for thousands of years are not necessarily kinder to Mom than some chemical dyes. The primary reason for this is that they usually use metallic salts (copper, iron, tin, chrome, alum) along with plant material to achieve intense fast colors. Many of these are the same compounds found in chemical dyes and they are often required in larger quantity to achieve satisfactory results. Life is complicated.

Should I remain satisfied with only natural gray, white, brown and black wool? Should I allow a few natives to spring up where I didn't plant them? Should I tolerate a few holes chewed in my cabbage? I continue to work on the meaning of life.

From someone who has been poisoned from toxins and trying to recover, I can appreciate your dilemma..and thankyou for posting that great info...alas, sounds as if mother nature is fooling us again [well not blame mother nature really] it is those who use the chemicals who do the damage..but like you say, who wants greys and blacks, browns and whites in our wool..we live in a world full of colour..I think we all share responsibility...however, being igorant has not done any of us any good at all...

There's an old adage - Saying something is completely natural doesn't necessarily mean it's safe. Thanks for the information, CApoppy...you've raised some valid points. BTW, any chance we could see some photos of your artistry?

Thanks for asking, Yuska. I am a hobby weaver only and find joy in creating simple things like placemats, dish towels, and other utility cloths. Since I work full-time (+), I don't find many blocks of time to relax and let my right brain have its way. But in the last few years I have dabbled a bit in personal tapestry weaving. I have never shared this outside of the weaving community before, but you can see a sample at http://home.earthlink.net/~annedunham/tapestry.html if you would like.

As an aside to the above discussion, I am also currently spinning and weaving organic naturally colored cotton (greens, tans, browns, again). Sally Fox, with whom I have been acquainted with for several decades, is an important person among those who have revived interest in this ancient genetic gene pool. To learn more about her work and her dedication to pesticide free and genetically diverse cotton production, type "Sally Fox cotton"into Google or start at http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blfox.htm for an overview. Here is a picture of a naturally colored cotton dish towel I wove from Sally's cotton. (I do garden too. I grew the squash and pepper, but not the orange.)

Nice work, CApoppy! Very nice!

Thanks for the pic, and all the good info as well!

Haven't seen you post much here so allow me to say, "A Hearty Welcome to DG!"

Hope to see you around the site!

Wonderfully done, CApoppy! I wish we could transfer your links over to the Crafts forum so more people will see them.

On the subject of natural dyes: I know some plants are used, but what about clay? I have some Navajo weavings that I bought when I worked in Gallup many years ago. There is a lovely blue-grey and a soft yellow that I was told came from local clays. Did the clay possibly had various metals to create those tints?

I realize I've strayed a bit from the vinegar question, and perhaps I should start a new thread, but we are still dealing with the overall topic of natural vs. synthetic chemistry.