A Fine Pickle

By the Mother Earth News editor

There seem to be hundreds of good uses for vinegar. Allow me to humbly submit one more: It's a great sunburn soother.

Yes, even knowing full well the pain of a good sunburn and the constant warnings to use sunscreen, I still manage to get a burn now and again, particularly on those occasions when I plan to just peek at the garden and then end up staying the entire afternoon.

All you have to do is add some vinegar to a bath (cool water, of course) or dab some of the vinegar right on the burn with a drenched cloth. You may smell like a pickle, but it'll take the sting out of the burn and you'll avoid the gooey, heavy sunburn creams.

Kristi C., Antigo, WI 
(September 1993)