I've go convinced over the course of the last few years that vinegar makes a slap-up all-purpose household cleaner.  In fact part of me feels kind of silly that it took me so many years to figure this out.  I remember using vinegar as a cleaner was one of those strategies that a few generations ago was common knowledge, but and so we all kind of got collective amnesia and slowly forgot how smashing it worked.

But I've gone dorsum to the old fashioned ways and present at my business firm, we rely commencement on a basic 50/fifty mix of vinegar and water for all kinds of cleaning jobs.  It'south worked great and has saved united states of america a agglomeration of money compared to what I used to spend on cleaners.

A few weeks ago, however, some other product came on my radar that made me finish and think again.  Did you lot know there's a production out there called cleaning vinegar?

It was news to me.

What'south the deal with cleaning vinegar anyway?  Is it a better choice when you lot make your ain cleaners?

Let's take a closer look.

regular vinegar vs cleaning vinegar

Regular Vinegar vs. Cleaning Vinegar

When I use vinegar to make my favorite all-purpose homemade cleaner, I've always used the white distilled vinegar sold in the gallon size at my local Meijer grocery shop.  This vinegar has five% acidity.  It sells for $2.49 a gallon which makes it .019 per ounce (and so only a little less than 2 cents per ounce).

NOW – on a recent trip to Walmart I as well saw these gallons of Heinz Cleaning Vinegar being sold on a food alley by the other vinegars.  The cost was $three.28 a gallon which makes it .025 per ounce (just a little more than than ii cents per ounce).   The Heinz website says this product has a vi% acidity and that it's "condom for cooking and perfect for cleaning".

cleaning vinegar on store shelf

But wait – there's more!  Over on the cleaning aisle in Walmart at that place was however another vinegar labeled equally Cleaning Vinegar.  This was $1.64 for a ii quart canteen bringing it to the same per ounce cost of .025.  This one, even so, did not requite any indication of the acidity just did state it was "Non For Food Consumption."    Some vinegars (like this Industrial Strength Cleaning Vinegar) are withal v% but aren't refined or purified to be food quality.

cleaning vinegar on store shelf

Then the differences betwixt the products are:

– A 5% acidity product that can be used for both cooking and cleaning with a low price

– A half-dozen% acidity production that tin be used for both cooking and cleaning with a slightly higher price

– A product of unknown acidity (but probably 5%) with a college cost that tin merely be used for cleaning

Which i should I buy ??

My Vinegar Cleaning Choice

After making these comparisons,  I bet some of you can already guess what my final decision was. Yup, I decided to just stick with my regular white distilled vinegar.  The cleaning vinegar actually didn't seem necessary.  Hither's what made sense to me:

~~ I like multi-purpose products.  If I'g going to keep vinegar in the business firm, I desire to just accept i jug that's expert for both cooking and cleaning.

~~ The 5% acerbity vinegar I've been using has always worked for me.  I didn't see the need to pay more for an additional ane% of acidity.  Peradventure if we fabricated more heavy duty messes effectually here I would feel differently.

~~ Part of me thinks Heinz is just looking to get in on the popularity of homemakers who want natural cleaning.  I'm not convinced that the i% of actress acidity warrants the higher price tag and that possibly they're just trying to cash in on a tendency at our expense.

I guess the bottom line for me was – If it's not broke, don't fix it.  I'thou super happy with my current vinegar/water mixture for cleaning and it works slap-up.  I didn't see the need to spend more money, nor did I come across the need to keep a 2nd bottle of cleaning vinegar around the house that wasn't nutrient course quality.

homemade cleaner made with vinegar and water

What's Your Choice?

How virtually you?  Is cleaning vinegar a product you think you would buy?  If you've bought and used cleaning vinegar, was information technology worth it?

I'd love to hear what you recall!  Feel free to get out me a comment below.

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