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Why does vinegar clean


9 Eco-Friendly, Inexpensive, Multipurpose Uses

Multipurpose cleaners are convenient because they’re usable on many different surfaces. But while effective, some of these cleaners aren’t exactly healthy or environmentally friendly.

Vinegar, on the other hand, is nontoxic and eco-friendly, making it the ultimate multipurpose cleaning solution. And the best part, it’s super cheap.

Keep reading to learn what types of vinegar to use, along with nine ways vinegar can be used to clean and disinfect your home.

You probably have a bottle of vinegar sitting in your cupboard right now. But like so many, you might only use vinegar as a salad dressing or as a marinade for vegetables, meat, poultry, or fish.

Made from acetic acid

Vinegar isn’t only useful for cooking, though. It also makes a great cleaner and disinfectant because it’s made from acetic acid.

Acetic acid is a colorless organic compound that gives vinegar its sour taste and pungent smell. It’s also an ingredient in some store-bought household cleaners.

The acidic nature of vinegar is so powerful it can dissolve mineral deposit, dirt, grease, and grime. It’s also strong enough to kill bacteria.

Different types of vinegar include:

Best type of vinegar to use

White distilled vinegar is the best vinegar for cleaning because it doesn’t contain a coloring agent. Therefore, it won’t stain surfaces. Staining can happen when cleaning with a darker-colored vinegar.

Plus, distilled white vinegar has about 5 percent acidity, which is also similar to the acidity level in many everyday multipurpose cleaners.

About that vinegar smell

The strong odor of white vinegar can be unpleasant, in which case you can use apple cider vinegar instead.

It has the same cleaning properties as white distilled vinegar, but since it’s made by fermenting apple juice, it also has a slightly sweet scent.

Apple cider vinegar is darker in color, so dilute it in water before using it as a cleaning agent.

If you’re using vinegar as a cleaner, the scent may linger for about an hour or so. However, this might be a small price to pay for a cleaner that’s nontoxic, natural, and environmentally friendly.

You can mask the smell by adding a few drops of essential oil, such as lemon oil, lavender oil, or peppermint oil, to a spray bottle containing a vinegar water solution.

Or, open a window and let some fresh air in to help remove the scent quicker.

Here’s a look at a few common uses for vinegar around the home.

Use vinegar to make your own glass cleaner. Combine one part water with two parts vinegar in a spray bottle. Spray the solution on glass surfaces and wipe clean for a streak-free finish.

Because vinegar is a natural disinfectant, it can clean and disinfect countertops after food preparation. For tough stains, add a few drops of Dawn soap to one-part water and two parts vinegar.

Vinegar can also remove odors from countertops, but it shouldn’t be used on granite or marble. Use a natural stone cleaner instead. The acid in vinegar can diminish the luster of natural stone.

Vinegar can also deter ants that may scour countertops at night in search of food scraps.

Combine 2 teaspoons of vinegar and 1 teaspoon of salt to remove calcium deposits on faucets and fixtures. This solution can also remove hard water stains from showerheads.

To get rid of stubborn stains, spray fixtures and faucets with vinegar and then tie a bag around it overnight. Scrub and rinse the next morning.

Thick soap scum and mildew can be challenging to remove. Spray undiluted white vinegar over tub and shower walls. Let the vinegar sit for several minutes, then scrub and rinse away.

Or, combine baking soda and vinegar to create a paste and scrub away tough grime.

Pour 2 to 3 cups of undiluted vinegar into the toilet bowl and let it sit for up to 3 hours. Scrub with a toilet brush and flush. This helps eliminate rings around the bowl and deodorizes the toilet.

Vinegar also makes a great floor cleaner, but only on certain types of floors.

You shouldn’t use vinegar on hardwood floors because it can dissolve the finish and leave watermarks. The natural acid in vinegar can also damage natural stone floors.

You can, however, use vinegar on no-wax linoleum.

Add 1/2 cup of vinegar to 1/2 gallon of water. To clean ceramic tile, add 1/2 cup of vinegar to 1 gallon of water.

To break through soap scum in a dishwasher, add 1 cup of vinegar to the rinse compartment and let the dishwasher run for an entire cycle.

To eliminate odors in your microwave, place a bowl containing a 1/4 cup of vinegar and 1 cup of water inside the microwave and heat for a couple of minutes. This solution can also loosen any stubborn stains.

Vinegar is also great for cleaning the inside and outside of appliances, including stainless steel. Mix equal parts vinegar and water in a spray bottle, then spray down appliances.

Use a clean microfiber cloth to wipe away the solution. Don’t use abrasive pads, which can scratch the surface of appliances.

Distilled white vinegar is also a great choice for removing fabric odor and stains. Don’t use dark vinegar or you might stain your clothes. Add 1 cup of vinegar to the wash cycle.

But while vinegar is a great household cleaner, can it help your internal digestive system?

Vinegar — or more specifically apple cider vinegar — has been touted as a natural remedy for digestive issues, although there aren’t any rigorous studies or science to back up these claims.

May relieve bloating

It’s possible, though, that apple cider can improve digestive issues, considering how it may increase the acidity level in the stomach.

This can help relieve symptoms like bloating, which is sometimes due to low stomach acid.

May combat acid reflux

Apple cider vinegar may also help combat acid reflux.

One belief is that the vinegar can balance pH levels in the stomach, which not only helps neutralize stomach acid, but also prevents an overgrowth of bad bacteria in the gut.

This may help reduce gut inflammation.

May flush toxins from the body

Another purported benefit of apple cider vinegar is its ability to flush toxins out of the body. Some people use it as a natural detoxifier, as well as a remedy for constipation and a weight loss aid.

Dilute with water and drink only 1 glass per day

The only way to know whether apple cider vinegar can improve your digestive health is to try it and then see how you feel. Mix 1 to 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar in a large glass of water and drink.

Use organic, unfiltered apple cider vinegar and only drink one glass per day.

It’s normal to have some sediment floating. This is called the mother. Too much apple cider vinegar can damage your tooth enamel.

Vinegar isn’t only for cooking. It’s also an eco-friendly and inexpensive household cleaner. And in most cases, you only need to mix vinegar with water.

Although, you can add salt and baking soda to create a more abrasive cleaner or a few drops of essential oil for a lighter scent.

How Does Vinegar Work for Cleaning

Kitchen

by Alexandra Ossola

updated Sep 20, 2022

We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.

Chances are you probably have at least one type of vinegar, if not more, in your kitchen cabinets right now. From plain ol’ distilled white vinegar and apple cider vinegar (or ACV, if you will) to balsamic, red wine, sherry, and Champagne vinegars, vinegar is a staple in our dressings, marinades, and our dill pickle brines.

And some types of vinegar have a second talent: cleaning! Here’s the science behind what makes vinegar so useful as a cleaning agent.

What Is Vinegar Exactly?

Have you ever tasted wine that’s turned? I’ll spare you the test, if you haven’t. It tastes pretty sour, kind of like that bottle of vinegar in your pantry — or rather, exactly like that bottle of vinegar in your pantry.

Let’s back up a bit: To make wine, the sugar has to be converted to alcohol in a process known as fermentation. After the sealed bottle has been opened (or sometimes before, if the cork has been compromised), there’s a second kind of fermentation that happens. During this process, the alcohol is turned into acetic acid, the main compound in vinegar.

Acetic acid isn’t the only compound in vinegar, but it’s the one that makes vinegar acidic. In fact, with a pH of 2.4, distilled white vinegar is a pretty strong acid, more acidic than coffee or orange juice, but still less acidic than your stomach juices or, say, the liquid inside batteries (luckily).

What’s the Right Type of Vinegar for Cleaning?

Dozens of different types of vinegar come from this double fermentation: Balsamic comes from a unique blend of grapes from southern Italy, wine vinegar from red or white wine grapes, apple cider vinegar from apple cider, rice vinegar from rice, and so on.

The only exception is white vinegar, which is usually made of laboratory-produced acetic acid combined with water. White vinegar is the most acidic, which can make it a potent cleaner, but it can also make it too strong for some types of cleaning, in which case you can dilute it with water — or go with something milder, like apple cider vinegar.

More on Cleaning with Vinegar

How Does Vinegar Work?

Vinegar’s acidity is what makes it such a good cleaner. Because vinegar is so acidic, it can counteract some icky buildups. It can dissolve away soap scum, brines left by hard water, and glue left behind by stickers.

Vinegar is great for giving windows and mirrors (use a combination of vinegar and water and wipe with a newspaper instead of a paper towel to avoid streaks), no-wax floors, and wood paneling or cabinets an extra-clean shine.

Another use for vinegar? Getting rid of stubborn stains. Lots of stains, whether from sweaty armpits or grass, are slightly acidic, which means they will dissolve away in the presence of another acid, like vinegar.

A paste of vinegar and baking soda can dissolve set red wine stains. Vinegar can even get cat or dog urine out of carpets or other cloths and, bonus, that pungent smell can keep pets away from places you don’t want them to go.

When Not to Use Vinegar

Be careful, though, because vinegar that is too concentrated can stain delicate fabrics. And there are other surfaces where vinegar can do more harm than good.

Using it on natural stone like granite or marble can scratch it. And though some people use vinegar as a disinfectant, it’s not approved for this purpose by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) because there’s no evidence that vinegar can get rid of some of the most harmful pathogens that lurk on surfaces, like salmonella.

Do you use vinegar to clean your kitchen?

remove limescale with acetic acid

Minerals dissolved in hard water very often remain on the walls of various appliances.

A combination of calcium and magnesium is not dangerous, but not particularly beautiful. Every housewife has countless chemicals on her shelf that help her cope with various deposits on kitchen appliances. But their use carries risks, especially when you can get the same result with much more environmentally friendly and less toxic products.

All these abilities can be successfully replaced by... a bottle of vinegar. It works efficiently and cheaply, and most importantly, it is always at hand.

Why vinegar?

The benefits of this product in some recipes do not need to be told to anyone. It is used as a preservative and oxidizing agent and has also been used for centuries to treat certain ailments. In addition, vinegar is widely used as a descaling agent. Its advantage is the price - it is incomparably lower than various chemical agents.

Vinegar is an effective cleaner and disinfectant. Due to its high acidity, it kills most bacteria, mold and germs. It is an inexpensive, non-toxic, ecological and completely natural product.

Vinegar can be used to easily descale a variety of appliances, including kettles, coffee makers, and coffee machines. It effectively copes with deposits on glass, stainless steel, aluminum, plastic and other materials from which home kitchen utensils and accessories are made.

How vinegar affects scale

In our country, hard water flows from taps, which is full of various minerals, especially calcium and magnesium. Although they are not harmful to human health, they are not so friendly to various installations and kitchen equipment.

Most deposits contain very strong acids, which eventually harden. One of them is calcined acid, which has a strong corrosive effect.

It is enough to heat hard water to a temperature above 550C or just let it evaporate so that chemical compounds are fine-tuned on the walls and bottom of the devices. In very hard water, you can find more than 300 mg of minerals per liter, which means that during the year the average family is able to form deposits of up to 70 kg in the form of scale and raids.

How does vinegar interact with calcified deposits?

CaCO3 + 2Ch4COOH -> (Ch4COO) 2 Ca + h3O + CO2 water and carbon dioxide (CO2), which evaporates as a gas. As a result of such a chemical reaction, the precipitate disappears from the walls of the devices. If you don't know how to descale vinegar in a thermos, just use it along with warm water.

The apple variant, which is formed on fermented apples caused by acetic acid bacteria, is also excellent in the fight against scale.

How to remove plaque from a kettle

This method is still used by our grandmothers, because it is considered quite effective. The cleaning process is as follows. For 1 liter of water you need 100 ml of vinegar.

Stir the mixture and pour into the kettle, put on a small fire until boiling or turn on the electric kettle. As soon as the water begins to boil, it is necessary to observe the cleaning of the walls. Even strong scale softens after 15 minutes of boiling and can be easily removed with a soft sponge or toothbrush.

Among the disadvantages of this method is the unpleasant odor of vinegar, but it is easy to remove. To do this, boil clean water in a kettle several times.

A mixture of 1/3 cup of vinegar, 2 tablespoons of baking soda and 1 tablespoon of ammonia to 1 liter of water is also a good way to deal with scale. Stir the liquid and pour into the kettle, boil for 20 minutes and leave for several hours.

After descaling, rinse the appliance thoroughly and remove any remaining deposits. Approximately the same technology can be used to clean the humidifier.

How to deal with scale in a thermos

With a thermos, you can perfectly warm up with aromatic coffee or tea on the road or on the road. And he is also prone to scale formation. Caring for him is quite simple, easy and fast.

To keep the accessory in perfect condition, you can use vinegar, which perfectly removes calcified deposits from the liquid. To do this, just pour 1 glass of acid, add water and a few grains of rice and leave overnight. Rinse thoroughly with cold water before reuse.

Cleaning the dishwasher

The removal of calcified deposits from the inside of the dishwasher should be done with regular use. However, if deposits have appeared on the walls and cannot be removed, you can deal with them with vinegar. The same method can help clean the thermal pot or clean the column.

Manual

This will remove all limescale residues, disinfect the machine and remove unpleasant odors.

Descaling the coffee machine

Over time, compounds in hard water also form on coffee machines. Cleaning with vinegar once a month will help get rid of unpleasant plaque and extend its life.

For a regular coffee machine, you need:

Regular cleaning of the coffee machine will not only get rid of scale, but also prevent the accumulation of coffee oils inside the appliance, which affects the quality of the drink - it becomes bitter. It is worth noting that the boiler is cleaned according to the general technology.

Cleaning the iron

If you live in an area with hard water, over time minerals can clog the fine steam pores of your iron, reducing steam output. To clean it:

One way to get soft water without impurities is through filters through which it is purified. They can be installed directly on the faucet or filter the water solution in a special jug.

On the other hand, always remove the water from the appliances immediately after boiling. Also, citric acid will help you with scale.

What can and should never be cleaned with vinegar

March 9 Life

Check this list before you start cleaning.

You can listen to a short version of the article. If it's more convenient for you, turn on the podcast.

Can be cleaned with vinegar

1. Windows

To make your own window cleaner, dilute half a tablespoon of vinegar in a liter of water (regular table 6 or 9 percent will do). Pour some into a spray bottle. Wash the glass as usual, and finally wipe it with a dry cloth. There is no need to rinse this mixture.

2. Dishwasher

Vinegar will help remove accumulated dirt and grease from it. Pour two cups of vinegar into a large glass bowl and place on the top rack. Run a normal cycle, but without detergent and without drying. The vinegar will mix with the water and clean the car.

Find out more 💡

3. Towels

If the towels become hard, put them in the washing machine and pour half a cup of white vinegar into the powder compartment - do not add the powder itself. Vinegar will remove detergent residue and mineral deposits from the fabric that make it rough.

4. Carpets

To remove stains from carpets such as wine, mix a tablespoon of liquid soap, a tablespoon of white vinegar and two cups of warm water. Dampen a clean sponge in the mixture and apply a little at a time to the stain, blotting occasionally with a dry cloth. Continue the process until the stain is gone.

Vinegar can also remove stains and odors from pet urine. Mix a quarter cup of vinegar with a liter of warm water and wet the stain with the mixture. Leave for a few minutes to absorb the liquid and then pat dry. Repeat as needed.

5. Vegetables and fruits from the supermarket

Vinegar will help remove bacteria and pesticide residues used in stores to extend their shelf life. Mix three parts water with one part vinegar and pour into a spray bottle. Treat vegetables and fruits with this mixture, and then rinse in water.

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there.

Do not clean with vinegar

1. Granite and marble countertops

Vinegar can damage the surface of the stone. To clean these countertops, use a mild dish detergent and warm water.

2. Stone floors

They can also be damaged by acid cleaners like vinegar and lemon. Wash these floors with special stone soap or mild dishwashing detergent.

3.

Broken Egg Remains

If you drop a raw egg on the floor, don't reach for the vinegar to collect the egg white. The acid in the vinegar can cause the egg to curdle and make it harder to peel. It is because of the protein reaction that vinegar is added when poached eggs are boiled.

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4. Iron

Vinegar can damage internal parts, so don't pour it into the water container in an attempt to clean the iron. To prevent clogging of the steam holes, empty the iron after use and clean according to the manufacturer's instructions.

5. Hardwood parquet

Better play it safe and use a special cleaner. If you really want to try vinegar for cleaning, be sure to dilute it with water (half a glass of vinegar per four liters of water) and first check in an inconspicuous area.

6. Stubborn stains on fabric

No matter how hard you try, stains from grass, ink, ice cream or blood cannot be removed with vinegar alone.

Learn more