
Vinegar has been used as an agent to do everything from making your towels more fluffy, to whitening your socks, and removing green algae from your fence. But there are two types of vinegar. Regular white vinegar and cleaning vinegar.
Robert E. Blackmon, a lifestyle specialist, has detailed the key differences between the two.
In a social media upload, Blackmon got the ball rolling by asking viewers: “Is there a difference between cleaning vinegar and regular white vinegar? Yes there is.”
The difference between regular white vinegar and cleaning vinegar
Blackmon said that the main difference between white vinegar and cleaning vinegar is the acidity level. He explained that distilled vinegar (white vinegar) is the vinegar that we consume in our foods. Distilled vinegar is 95 percent water and five percent acid, whereas cleaning vinegar is six percent acid and 20 percent stronger than distilled vinegar.
Blackmon cautioned that you should never drink or consume cleaning vinegar. White distilled vinegar and cleaning vinegar can both be used to clean, but they are not interchangeable by any means. Cleaning vinegar is said to produce better cleaning results around the house as well.
READ MORE: Vinegar can ‘remove odours’ and ‘built-up grime’ from drain with unexpected cleaning hack
Things you shouldn’t use white vinegar to clean
Some things you should never clean with white vinegar include your washing machine, mirrors, and dishwashers.
People have the belief that running the washing machine with white vinegar in it will aid in sprucing up the appliance, but it actually can do damage to your washing machine.
Avoid using vinegar on your mirrors, as vinegar can penetrate the mirror’s backing.
In the past some have thougt that using white vinegar in the dishwasher could assist in removing lingering odours and get rid of hard water film.
But the acid in the vinegar can actually eat away and damage some of the water rubber parts of your dishwasher.
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