Vinegar Is My Best Friend

Vinegar is truly my best friend.  I love it.  It's so versatile!  I use it for cleaning glass, counter tops, table tops, the toilet bowl, grout in the shower, and the stove top.  Mix up half vinegar, half water in a bottle and you're ready to power clean.

I hear all of you out there, muttering and grumbling: "vinegar is stinky and there is no way it is as antibacterial as bleach".  I can't prove you wrong on the stinky part but I promise you the smell dissipates in 30 seconds or less and does not linger.  Ask my roommates!

As far as the antibacterial cleaning properties of vinegar I have some research for you.  I am no longer a student so I don't have access to awesome scientific journals anymore but I did find this research article that concludes "A variety of commercial household disinfectants were highly effective against potential bacterial pathogens. The natural products were less effective than commercial household disinfectants. Only Clorox and Lysol disinfectant were effective against poliovirus."  Okay, so that doesn't support my cause.

Keep looking and you'll find a number of articles that talk about the properties of vinegar versus other popular cleaning products.  You are right, using bleach effectively eliminates almost all bacteria.  But using vinegar does eliminate most of it and if you're a healthy 20-something there is no reason for you to be using bleach (in my humble opinion).  Especially if you're diligent about cleaning!

Ready to try it out?

I have repurposed an old spray bottle and pour in half white vinegar and half water.  Then spritz away!  If the smell really gets to you try adding a few tablespoons of lemon or lime juice (I've never personally tried this but I hear it works).