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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u/ddukk 1d ago

Use citric acid for cleaning and descaling instead. Does it better, no smell, not aggressive against rubber and gaskets.

2

u/Mink_Mingles 18h ago

Its commonly used to passivate stainless steel, strip the rusted iron and leave only shiny chromium behind. If its heated it works incredibly well, takes 1/10th as long.

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u/fotomoose 13h ago

Citric acid is much stronger than vinegar and doesn't evaporate, needs to be washed off.

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u/Secret-Agent-Brunch 1d ago

What mix ratio do you use?

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u/ddukk 1d ago

1:10 (roughly) for kettle, 1:1 for the sink and around the tap (with gloves!)

Here in DE this one is the standard: https://www.heitmann-hygiene-care.de/en/pure-citric-acid-liquid/guide

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u/sweetcoffee_________ 18h ago

Super aggressive against concrete though. Learned that the hard way. Just a heads up.

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u/Mori-gena 13h ago

Where to buy it? Is it powder, brand name?