Vinegar as a cleaning agent is overrated
What the title says. Sure, it's gentle on the environment, but it doesn't remove soap scum, grease, grime etc anywhere nearly as effective as other products. I also doubt its efficiency as an antibacterial compared to say alcohol or most detergents.
There, I've said it.
It's amazing for getting mildew funk out of towels. Also great at killing the funk in whitewater neoprene booties and bike helmets.
I wouldn't use soap to flush my camper van's water system either. A few runs of vinegar killed the plastic taste.
Yes, that I'll give credit for. I've removed mold from wood and leather using vinegar, whereas using just soap would make the mold return. (Still, it will come back if the conditions for mold become suitable once again, but it won't bounce back immediately). My point is that it's not a miracle-cleans-it-all as many will make you believe.
Chemistry.
Vinegar is an acid. Acid dissolve things like limescale. Bicarbonate/baking powder is a base. Bases dissolve fats.
This is why bathroom cleaning products most often include really strong acids and kitchen cleaning products include strong bases.
Drains often suffer from buildups of a combination of soap and limescale. The most common method relies on a heavy base: lye (Sodium Hydroxide).
Thanks for the breakdown.
Detergents (primarily) work by binding to the foreign substance and making it easier to rinse away.
Vinegar is acetic acid.
They have two very different mechanisms. If you want stuff "pulled away" use detergent. If you want it dissolved, vinegar.
So dont put vinegar in the laundry. Don't expect vinegar to break up crusty pans. Dont expect it to dissolve grease...
Also, since it's dissolving things, it needs more time to react. It will do an amazing job removing the mineral deposits/soap scum on your shower walls, it just won't do it quickly. Get a spray bottle and soak paper towels on the surface and leave them for 10-15 minutes (or for the thick stuff on the shower head nozzles, hours..) and/or get 30% or 45% vinegar so it's not as dilute and will dissolve faster.
Had an old gas tank that was rusted inside and nasty. Vinegar took it to shiny clean metal with no scrubbing or anything whatsoever (couldn't get anything in there to scrub it with). It just took two months of sitting there to do it.
Well considering I may not always have the time and patience to plaster the shower with paper towels soaked in vinegar and let it sit, my opinion still stands. Practicality does weigh in.
I appreciate your comment and info though. What irks me is people swearing by vinegar like it's better than anything, because it's not.
Also- I know a few people who insist it's great to add vinegar to the laundry. Nope
What irks me is people swearing by vinegar like it's better than anything
Ah, so vinegar was never the issue.
Stop listening to people that talk too confidently and live your life. Hell, recommend they use vinegar as drainage unblocking agent with the same gusto, just to have fun. It might even work for them.
I started typing, and realized I have too many opinions about this. I'm sorry.
Vinegar is decent at dissolving sugar, and in that context it works really well for what it is. I usually buy a big jug of it for both cooking and cleaning, but a general purpose cleaner it is not. Side note, adding a small amount to ground meat helps the meat flow a bit better for meat pies or taco mix.
For grease and grime cream of tartar works really well. I cook with stainless steel and sometimes egg or something will burn and stick to a pan. I throw a whack of cream of tartar in the pan along with some water and the pan will pretty much self clean on the stove.
If you're doing dishes by hand because dishwashers aren't meeting your expectations, there's a Technology Connections video about using dishwashers that's worth a watch if you've got 45 minutes to spare and don't mind watching a midwesterner beat a topic to death in the best way possible. Eco-friendly powders exist. Really, the appeal of a dishwasher is to use the mechanical force of water to clean.
For purely antibacterial you just ain't gonna beat alcohol. I mean... it's used at hospitals. For glass cleaning a 50/50 mix of distilled water and pure alcohol won't leave streaks.
A mix of lemon juice and baking soda will get rust stains out of some surfaces. Baking soda paste, followed by some vinegar will clear out toothpaste in a drain.
Probably the harshest chemical I use is bleach, but I only use that for the toilet. Easiest way to clean porcelain by far, and you don't need that much... and really it's kind of a set and forget thing.
I feel like it's worth noting that the baking soda + lemon juice probably doesn't work as well as just lemon juice alone. By mixing an acid and a base, you're neutralizing one of them and leaving yourself with just a smaller concentration of the other.
I see this misconception all the time, but it's particularly bad when people say to mix baking soda and vinegar to clean with. We've all made baking soda volcanoes, right...? I wouldn't wanna clean with something that behaves like diet coke and mentos, not to mention the fact that it's literally just not as effective as either chemical alone.
The actual good way to do it that I've seen recommended and used myself to good effect is a baking soda paste that's left to set and seep in a bit, and then wiping with a rag soaked in vinegar so that the exothermic reaction helps, refresh vinegar as needed. But that's a lot more work than telling people "use baking soda and vinegar, the fizz means it's working" and that's the reason they put lauryl sulfates in shampoo despite it doing nothing
That's fine! You have a lot of opinions. My beef is with those who have only one opinion: that vinegar is the one and only and the greatest.
Also I didn't know tartar could help with grease. I'll keep in mind.
I've been cleaning with vinegar and dish soap for a year (mostly for my cats) and the last few weeks I've decided to ditch it.
I'm a clean freak and have never had so much trouble keeping spiders, fruitflies and insects out of the house. I'm back to buying specific cleaners for specific things and my god does it make a difference. Never again.
funny. I just set up a vinegar+sugar trap for fruit flies in my apartment. I think it attracts those insects since it's basically rotting food
Yes, those work very well. But after a month or two, they always came back. So this time I used the trap for weeks, in the meantime using specific agents to clean and I've noticed they die faster.
I don't know, maybe they're attracted to the vinegar afterwards when used for cleaning? That's my only guess. It's weird, but I'll see the results in a few months.
I hate it so much when people use vinegar to clean the kettle. It basically makes the kettle unusable for hours, no matter how much you rinse it out the vinegar taste will persist.
Citric acid works just as well and the kettle is usable right after cleaning.
My mother cleaned a coffee machine with vinegar, we had to throw it.
(But I still use vinegar/water + dishwashing liquid dish detergent for cleaning.)
dish detergent
Vinegar is great for rinsing soap off of surfaces like glass, steel, formica, ceramic, and rinsing laundry in the final rinse. It also helps to set dies in clothing. Hot vinegar works great for getting lime scale out of tea kettles and pots & pans, and sinks. It also really does help to remove odors.
The only thing I would ever mix it with is classic blue Dawn (Fairy-green) dishwashing liquid to clean the shower walls.
For grease, like burnt pans, use Baking Soda (Bicarb). Dump it on dry and use a sponge to scrape it away, add a little dish detergent and it will all go. This is the best way to clean stainless steel as well.
Mixing vinegar and baking soda results in producing water + sodium acetate. Sodium acetate is not a cleaner, it's the flavoring of Salt & Vinegar potato chips.
Other than laundry detergent, my only other cleaner is Sal Suds by Dr Bronner. It's VERY concentrated and lasts a long time.
It certainly has its place but I know too many people who swear by it as an all purpose cleaner. It just isn't. The smell is a bit much too.
Exactly this
For organic stuff that resist the action of vinegar (acids) you can use bicarbonate (which is a base) or even more effective : cycle them both many times.
You can boil bicarbonate in water or heat it to produce carbonate (or even sodium hydroxide) which is stronger.
You can use sodium hydroxide (+fat // oil) to produce soap.
if you go to stronger acids and bases (at the right temperature) you can remove any materials : any ceramics, plastics, metals ; anything.
if you use electricity you can go even further : putting the metal back in place.
I remember cleaning algae growth from a steep driveway using vinegar and bicarbonate. It did the job, but I had to spend a lot- and I mean kilos, just to clear away a fraction of the driveway. When I ran out I just poured boiling water on the concrete and it turned out to be just as effective though. That and mold from porous surfaces are probably the only two cases in which I find vinegar to be more effective than other methods.
It's just one of the most familiar weak acid solutions you can find in a house already. Citric acid does the same thing without the gross smell.
You shouldn't be using antibacterial soaps to begin with. They increase the risk of bacteria becoming antibiotic resistant and are no more effective than regular soap, anyway.
I thought soap as is was enough to kill bacteria?
I don't, but I sure use surface cleaners which claim to be antibacterial. And hand sanitizer, occasionally. Thanks for the info though!
I've refused to use vinegar because of its ungodly smell. I'm not sure what's with me but vinegar is disgusting and utterly repugnant. I hate salads with it, I hate dishes that use it, salt and vinegar chips will actually make me gag and vomit.
Love rice vinegar though. Sushi is delicious and goes well in certain ramen. Some stir fry's too
Fair enough, I guess the topic was about cleaning and not so much cooking but I get that. Rice vinegar is milder in scent. Do you also reject apple vinegar, balsamic and other varieties (as a food?)
I do similarly dislike apple cider vinegar but I do actually like balsamic, especially real balsamic (I know, expensive taste). That being said it does have to be used carefully, I generally dislike when it's used "raw" and the vinegar isn't cooked off, like in salad. It is ok when drizzled in small quantities over certain pasta dishes. I do actually enjoy balsamic vinegar as a glaze for meats as they go into the oven or as a marinade before being fried/sauteed.
Other than that and rice vinegar I pretty much reject vinegars as food and detergent. They do make good mild rust removers but I always quarantine and shun those to the deepest bowels of the garage, unlikely to terrorize me.
Yeah it sucks and never cleans anything dish soap doesn't clean.
I use cleaning vinegar. It's not safe for consumption but it does okay with removing lime scale from coffee pots, shower heads, and it's great for windows. But that's about it.
I've never heard about cleaning vinegar like that. I'll keep it in mind
I use it when cleaning the bathroom, not quite sure where else I would need it. I have soap for the floor and dishwasher detergent for the dishes. When would you use something else, where and why?