A Surprisingly Easy Way to Make Apple Cider Vinegar

Did you know that apple cider vinegar has many purposes?  They say when life gives you lemons make lemonade, so when life gives you apples, make apple cider vinegar (ACV). If you like to get the most out of your grocery budget, making ACV is a great way to do just that. Also, food waste releases methane into the air, which is bad for the environment. So count this as both a frugal and environmentally friendly practice. 

What’s great about this recipe is that you can use it with all kinds of fruit scraps, not just apples. The most popular variations are pineapple vinegar and pear vinegar, although any fruit scraps will do. The benefits and uses of ACV are limitless. It contains gut-healthy bacteria that people been consumed for thousands of years as a natural detox. Also, you can make a hair rinse or a facial toner with ACV. Read to learn more on that later.

How to Make Apple Cider Vinegar at Home

It is easy to make apple cider vinegar in your own kitchen. Just use the following steps: 

• Save all your apple cores and apple scraps in a container in the freezer.
• Once you’ve finished all your apples, put all the cores and scraps in a large container, like a big yogurt tub and add water cup by cup until it’s covered.
• Add one tablespoon of sugar for each cup of water.
• Put something heavy on top of the apple cores so they’re fully submerged. If they’re not fully submerged you can expect mold. Depending on the amount, use a coffee mug or a small bowl.
• Let sit for about three weeks.
• After three or so weeks, strain and compost the scraps.

Now that you have a bottle full of ACV and perhaps another on the way in two weeks, here’s what to do with it. You can make an ACV hair rinse. Creamy conditioners can leave your hair looking greasy, so give this hair rinse a try.

Apple Cider Vinegar Hair Rinse

 

This hair rinse is not suitable for infants and small children. Avoid getting it in your eyes and rinse well with clear water after each use. You only need to mix together the following three ingredients to make this hair rinse:

• One part water to one part ACV. 
• 10 drops essential oils such as lemongrass, rosemary or lavender
• Just add them to your favorite spray bottle. 

Apple Cider Vinegar Facial Toner

Before using this facial toner, be sure to do a spot test on a small area, like your chin. Apply the ACV toner with clean cotton balls and use a moisturizer afterward. Just mix the following ingredients together and keep in a clean glass bottle:

• One part ACV to one part witch hazel
• Five drops of lemon essential oil
• Five drops of tea tree oil – optional

When you make things yourself, you get the liberating feeling of being self-sufficient. Using what you have already on hand is the best of basic living, like homesteading. Also, you save money since you don’t need to buy these products because you can make them at home. You already probably eat apples, so now you can use the apple cores to make something useful that you would otherwise buy.

It’s good for the environment too, because homemade items have lower carbon footprints. You don’t need to use any fossil fuels that were used in the production. Additionally, when you make instead of buy, you use less plastic. That helps reduce the plastic pollution that’s causing the environment so much stress.