How to Make Thieves’ Vinegar from Scratch
Learn how to make Thieves Vinegar. You can make this magic, disinfectant vinegar with ingredients from the grocery store or your garden.
The recipe for thieves’ vinegar is older than the internet. It’s older than television or radio. It’s even older than the printing press. The recipe came out of a very dark time in history when trader ships replaced the Silk Road, men killed each other for cloth and spices, and honest men were forced to steal.
In the Middle Ages, during the black plague, times were tough. 50% of the population of many European cities died. The wealthy merchant cities and seaports were the hardest hit. Eventually, the plague travelled throughout the continent. The Farmer’s Markets closed. With the dwindling peasant population, farm labourers became scarce and so did food. The price of food in the cities increased because of the shortage. Merchants, who before the plague were growing in wealth, now had a shortage of customers and a shortage of staff. Some of these merchants changed their professions, temporarily. They became grave robbers – stealing the jewels, gold, and cash from the dead bodies of plague victims.
Those who were successful found magical protection from the deadly disease. They bathed themselves in spice-infused vinegar to ward off the plague. With this protection, they could remove the gold rings, and gold fillings from the wealthy cadavers, without getting ill themselves. At a time when most people didn’t bathe at all, this kept the infected fleas feasting on the unwashed people. Thieves’ vinegar grew in renown.
The thieves vinegar was disinfectant. It killed bacteria on contact. It also repelled insects. And the spices like cloves, cinnamon, and lavender strengthened the immune systems of the thieves and fought inflammation. These spices are antioxidants, too, and fight free radical damage in the human body. While I am using white vinegar for this recipe – the thieves used cider vinegar and wine vinegar. You’ll notice that the ingredients are quite similar to Madeira, a spiced wine that developed around the same time. If you want to take this internally, I’d recommend Madeira. It’s more palatable.
You can make this magic, disinfectant thieves vinegar at home with ingredients from the grocery store or from your garden. You don’t need to buy expensive multi-level marketing essential oils to make it. (Here’s my philosophy on essential oils.) And it increases the disinfecting power of the usual citrus vinegar, that you already have steeping on the windowsill of your homestead kitchen.
In case you don’t know about making lemon vinegar or other citrus vinegar you can get those directions here.
In fact, you don’t even need new, fresh spices to make this effectively. You can use leftover cinnamon from those spice apple drinks. You can use older spices that you’ve had sitting around for a while – those cloves you bought because you were going to make those orange pomanders to repel moths. You can even use the spices from last season’s garden after you bring in this season’s crop.
Now let’s get started.
Thieves’ Vinegar
- Yield: 1 to 1 1/2 quarts 1x
Description
Thieves vinegar disinfectant cleaner – It’s frugal, safe, and leaves your home smelling amazing.
Ingredients
- 6 to 8 cups of white vinegar
- ¼ cup of whole cloves
- 5 cinnamon sticks, broken up – (you can reuse cinnamon sticks from drinks)
- ¼ cup of lavender blossoms or 5 sprigs of lavender
- 2 tablespoons of dried rosemary
Equipment:
- 2-quart wide-mouth mason jar
- 1-quart mason jar
Instructions
- Fill the jar ½ full of lemon rinds, leftover from pressing for lemon juice. Do not remove the zest from these lemons. The lemon oil is in the zest and you want that to infuse the vinegar.
- Fill the jar with vinegar, being careful to remove the air bubbles. You’ll need about 6 to 8 cups of white vinegar for this recipe. Leave a 1-inch headspace in the jar. The herbs and spices will absorb the vinegar and swell.
- Put it on a sunny window sill where the jars will heat gently or in a warm cupboard.
- Shake the jar once a week. Allow it to steep for 4 weeks.
- After a month, or as long as you choose to let it steep you can strain it.
- Decant the infused vinegar into a clean 1-quart jar. Date and label the bottle. Compost the residue.
Notes
To Use thieves vinegar as a cleaner:
- Pour it undiluted into a spray bottle. Spray directly on the surfaces that you want to disinfect and wipe clean.
- It de-greases and removes both dirt and stains.
- It’s gentler on surfaces that react with acid than using straight vinegar-like wooden tables
- Leave the residue on your cleaned surface to continue to repel bacteria for several hours. There’s no need to rinse.
DIY Thieves Vinegar from Scratch recipe
(Make 1 to 1 1/2 quarts)
Ingredients:
- 6 to 8 cups of white vinegar
- ¼ cup of whole cloves
- 5 cinnamon sticks, broken up – (you can reuse cinnamon sticks from drinks)
- ¼ cup of lavender blossoms or 5 sprigs of lavender
- 2 tbsp. of dried rosemary
Directions:
- You’ll need a 2-quart wide-mouth mason jar. You can make it in a 1-quart jar but you’ll want more finished cleaning solution. Making it in a 2-quart jar, you’ll end up with 1 quart of strained all-purpose, disinfecting cleaner.
- Fill the jar ½ full of lemon rinds, leftover from pressing for lemon juice. Do not remove the zest from these lemons. The lemon oil is in the zest and you want that to infuse the vinegar.
- Fill the jar with vinegar, being careful to remove the air bubbles. You’ll need about 6 to 8 cups of white vinegar for this recipe. Leave a 1-inch headspace in the jar. The herbs and spices will absorb the vinegar and swell.
- Put it on a sunny window sill where the jars will heat gently or in a warm cupboard.
- Shake the jar once a week. Allow it to steep for 4 weeks.
The liquid will turn dark brown. The spices will swell. After a month, or as long as you choose to let it steep you can strain it. I often leave mine for up to 3 months to infuse all the goodness from the spices.
Strain the liquid through a sieve. Decant the infused vinegar into a clean 1-quart jar. Date and label the bottle. Compost the residue.
To Use thieves vinegar as a cleaner
Pour it undiluted into a spray bottle. Spray directly on the surfaces that you want to disinfect and wipe clean. This works more effectively than any commercial cleaner I’ve used. It de-greases and removes both dirt and stains. After steeping for a month the pH rises, too. It’s gentler on surfaces that react with acid than using straight vinegar-like wooden tables and highchairs. Leave the residue on your cleaned surface to continue to repel bacteria for several hours. There’s no need to rinse.
Making your own cleaning products removes toxic commercial products from your house. It is frugal, satisfying, safe, and leaves your home smelling amazing.
Where to buy the ingredients:
This recipe is a great way to use up older, whole spices, when you harvest fresh spices and herbs from your garden each new growing season or when you replenish your kitchen supplies.
If you need to buy whole spices for this recipe I recommend buying them in bulk at your local bulk food store. If you don’t have a local source, a reputable online source for organic spices is Mountain Rose Herbs, my go-to supplier.
Learn more about using herbs for health and wellness from my Book
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I made this wonderful cleaning vinegar in a quart jar to start with I used a plastic lid in place ot the metal lid to inhibit rust formation,—loved it so much I now have a gallon glass jar steeping! (picked up the glass gallon jar from a thrift store!!) I put saran wrap over jar then screwed on the metal lid so it would not rust.
Thank you very much Chris for this recipe
Yvonne
I use equal parts vinegar and lemon juice. It works great for getting rid of hard water stains and soap scum in the bathroom. I keep a spray bottle of the mix handy in the bathroom.
Does the Thieves Vinegar draw vinegar flies?
I started mine about 2 months ago. Opened it about 3 weeks ago. It smells like cola. Does yours?
Not really. Mine smells like cloves and cinnamon.
Just made this today…can’t wait to use it and thinking of putting together a natural home gift box with this for Christmas presents. Thanks for the background story and inspiration! ♥
Will lemon juice work instead of lemon peels for the vinegar?
Hi, Bettylynn, no you need the peels for this recipe. The peels contain the D-limonene which is the essential oil fraction used in commercial citrus cleaners. The juice is acidic, like vinegar, but the D-limonene adds more cleaning power and makes it antimicrobial.
You could use lemon or orange essential oil in place of the peels.
Would this be okay to use as part of a no shampoo option (for conditioner)? I’ve tried diluted apple cider vinegar in water after a baking soda wash, but have read lemon can be a good conditioner too. I’m not sure about the other herbs/spices on the scalp, but it seems like it might be nice.
Yes it would be good as a hair rinse. Add some sage or rosemary herb if you plan to make it for a hair rinse. Those are both good for the hair.
Has anyone taken this internally? Kind of as a daily immune booster?
Yes! I have q four thieves vinegar antibiotic recipe actually that my family and I use when we get sick. And it works absolutely amazing! It is similar to this recipe, but instead of white vinegar, I use apple cider vinegar (with mother), and it also has more herbs in it along with these such as peppermint leaves and a small amount of sage. Adult dose is 1 tbsp to 2 tbsp a day and for kids 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp diluted in 4 Oz of liquid like juice, broth or water. (Anything with vinegar u will want to dilute in liquid.) Also, the 4 thieves antibiotic does taste very patently gross BUT is absolutely worth it!! I knocked out the flu and strep with 1 to 2 doses. And was 98% better the next day, took 1 last dose that 2nd day and was completely better the by the next morning! Also homemade elderberry syrup pairs great with this while sick or as q immune booster. Hope this helps
I have only heard of the thieves vinegar that uses tons of garlic, for anti viral, and is taken internally…obviously, this would be a terrible idea for cleaning the house! Thanks for a new way to look at this grave robber’s recipe.
yes! you reminded me thought I was going bonkers haha!
Hi, Happy New year to all of you.
I would like to ask you as I make my vinegar home from crabby apples. Which I use in my cooking etc. I would like to make this recipe because of the beautiful colour. Can I use in my cooking this vinegar. Please let me know.
Thanks
almas nathoo
Yes, as long as your cooking vinegar is at least the same acid strength as commercial vinegar (5%).
I have a small crock infusing in my kitchen window right now. A friend had gifted me with fresh cloves and cinnamon sticks and I grow rosemary & lavender in my garden. Thanks for the recipe.
Are we adding the lemon juice to the mix also?
re: wax & residue: to -really- get residue off citrus, I use some vinegar & Dawn in the sink with warm water, then agitate some/ let it set a while & rotate them a few times; then drain the sink; and pour just-boiled water over it all slowly. Then i use a veg-peeler (Titan brand) to peel the outer zest, before juicing citrus.
>If someone has a better suggestion for getting wax off all vegs (esp cucumbers & peppers), let me know/ in a separate thread?)
To be honest David, I found a cheap farmers market that has vegatables without the wax, period. I use lots of peppers in my recipes, usually the big green peppers. I was floored, not only is the flavor of the pepper outstanding, I have no wax costed peppers. The wax destroys the flavor. The wax may perserve it longer, however, noth7ng beats the flavor of a fresh pepper. Where I live in NJ, they sell 4 peppers and different colors for a dollar. Bottom line, wax vegetables suck.
How does one print out the page without getting the recipe covered by gibberish? I really like this idea, and I’d like to put it in my files.
highlight, copy and paste to your word program
Shared your link over at THRIVE TODAY on Facebook. Thanks again!
I LOVE this idea! Thank you so much for sharing! What a great way to use up old spices, and to make your cleaning vinegar smell even better. I’ve been making citrus vinegar for a while now, but I’m excited to have the other spices in there. You’ve inspired me to start a batch today! =)
Anything using citrus peel is difficult for me. Here in Portugal so much spray is used, the skins are completely useless. I can trek out (horsepower) to the deserted farmlands and carry stuff home in my saddlebags, the only answer.