What To Know About Vinegar Before You Clean Your Whole Kitchen With It

Using vinegar in place of harsher chemicals is one of the timeless methods that works when it comes to cleaning. A handy ingredient that you could pour into an empty bottle after running out of other cleaning products or a less pungent agent in comparison to Clorox all-purpose cleaners, vinegar can do a great job when needed. These days, you can even purchase cleaning products that are already made of vinegar – like Aunt Fannie's all-purpose cleaning vinegar — but how well does this ingredient actually clean your kitchen?

The short answer? Very well. Vinegar is a fantastic cleaning agent for those who aren't wigged out by the particular smell that comes along with it. Gunk in your oven and tomato sauce stains in plastic containers don't stand a chance when in combat against vinegar. Only one problem remains after cleaning your kitchen with vinegar instead of something stronger: Your kitchen might not be completely sanitized or disinfected despite looking shiny and new.

Clean, sanitize, and disinfect are terms that might be used interchangeably, but they don't mean the same thing. Because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency only regulates products that sanitize by killing bacteria or disinfect by killing bacteria and viruses, vinegar is not on the agency's list as an effective way to actually kill germs. Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that vinegar can kill some germs but not all of them and only if you leave the vinegar sitting long enough to do so.

What it boils down to is this: Don't expect vinegar to put in the same work that a bottle of Lysol sanitizing and disinfecting spray will do when you want to get rid of potential viruses and germs. While vinegar is great for cleaning your coffee pot or for making your counters shine, you can't depend on it to disinfect or even sanitize. Cleanliness in the kitchen might feel like the most important thing for keeping up appearances, but being sanitary is what keeps everyone from getting sick, so use something stronger when applicable.