Know your vinegars.

I just remodeled my whole kitchen and for the first time I have beautiful granite countertops. I looking at the packet of information provided by the granite company, it states not to use any vinegar as it will damage the granite, usually just plain hot water or soapy water is all that's needed. I did not not know this!

I love vinegar for general purpose cleaning, mopping, laundry, and I use it for a whole lot more, but I got to wondering what else was I doing wrong??? Internet gods to the rescue! Here's what I learned about vinegars that might be useful to other folks:

Most white vinegar is about 5% acetic acid and it can be used for any variety of cooking and regular cleaning jobs. Pickling and canning vinegar is about 6 to 7%, and balsamic vinegars (you haven't lived until you've tried a good balsamic over vanilla ice cream or strawberries!) fall in this range. There are some specialty, flavored vinegars are only 4%, the minimum legal acidity level for vinegar.

Then there are the Strong Cleaning Vinegars that aren’t refined or purified to be food quality, and start at 6%. This may not seem like much of a difference, but that 1% bump in acidity really changes the cleaning power of vinegar, making it 20% stronger than regular vinegar. You can find this sold in gallon jugs at most supermarkets and stores like Walmart or Target, it's either shelved with the cooking vinegars, or with the household cleaners.

There is also an Industrial Strength Vinegar at 10% used as a weed killer and is not recommended for household use. The label advises consumers to use caution with high strength vinegar as it can irritate your skin and eyes.

Some Dont's:

Vinegar can dull and damage the finish on hardwood and vinyl floors, stripping away the wax. Vinegar penetrates grout lines can and can deteriorate it over time.

Don't use vinegar on stone or ceramic tile surfaces, including marble and granite because they are porous and vinegar can dull the shiny finish and cause surface etching and pitting.

Don't use vinegar to clean your TV or computer monitor or the screen or your cell phone. These products have a factory applied "oleophobic coating" to resist things like oily fingerprints that would blur your screen.

Vinegar will dissolve pearls. Yep… the acetic acid in vinegar dissolves pearls which consist of calcium carbonate. Goodbye, pearls!

Be cautious when cleaning cast iron or aluminum pans with vinegar. If left too long, the acid could corrode the metal and damage your cookware and cause iron and carbon steel pans to rust.


I'm sure there is more to say about the pros and cons of vinegar as a cleaning agent, but I hopw this info is useful.