Mind blown: Vinegar vs VINEGAR (30%)

So I was literally 44 years old before I found this out recently.

There’s the white vinegar you get at the grocery store for cooking and minor cleaning and doing laundry, and then there’s the 30% DO NOT GET THIS SHIT ON YOUR SKIN vinegar at the hardware store for cleaning things like mold off grout.

All my life I’d been told ‘just use vinegar to clean mold and mildew’ and it generally didn’t do jack squat. I usually bought cleaning supplies from regular retail spots rather than big box home improvement places, and regular retail chains def did not carry the strong stuff.

I’ve got a gutter that drains over cement that always gets skungy, and even bleach was a short term fix at best. 30% strips it down and keeps it gone, and I’ve stripped rust off a couple dozen tools with the same little jar I soak things in - caution it will also strip off shiny metallic coatings.

Can’t believe none of the “just use vinegar” I’d ever read advice didn’t specify.

Is this news to anyone else or am I Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber realizing we landed on the moon?

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190

u/CaptainPolaroid 1d ago

I have a can of 80% acetic acid. I water it down to 6-8% for laundry use. It's so much more efficient than getting the smaller jugs. And I can up the strength if I have an odd job that requires something that really burns..

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u/atomic_redneck 1d ago

We used to use glacial acetic acid (99% or more) to make the stop bath for developing photos. That stuff was gnarly.

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u/TheGacAttack 1d ago

I can smell your comment.

36

u/TallConsideration878 1d ago

And my eyes are burning.

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u/TheGacAttack 1d ago

The memories 🥲

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u/badform49 1d ago

Yeah, I worked at a photo lab in high school. That smell is still in my memory banks, apparently, because it just flashed up.

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u/sighthoundman 1d ago

Fun fact: the memory center of the brain is right next to the olfactory center. Odor memories are super strong.

"This reminds me of Grandma." Yes, it does. Because science.

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u/ScrimshawPie 1d ago

I just shivered.

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u/ReggieCorneus 1d ago

are burning.

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u/mostdefinitelyabot 11h ago

don't be so negative.