The Biggest Thing People Get Wrong About Cleaning with Vinegar
published Nov 10, 2020
I try to keep my cleaning arsenal whittled down to the key must-haves. Why not have less to buy and less to organize, I figure? I have a stainless steel cleaner, and I’m a sucker for Mrs. Meyers scents . (I love using their all-purpose cleaner and dish soap .) Vinegar, though, well, that’s a multi-purpose go-to for me. I use it to clean my cutting boards and bathroom sinks and toilets and to erase soap scum from my glass shower doors, among many, many other things . I love that I don’t have to worry about the kids getting into it (in fact, they use it when they help me clean!), that it can be used in so many different ways, and that it has some “disinfecting properties,” as I used to vaguely think of it.
Then COVID hit and I paused to ask myself: Did I trust white vinegar to kill coronavirus germs? No, I most certainly did not. And rightly so. While vinegar, as a mild acid, is a great cleaner and does kill some pathogens, it is not a registered disinfectant. Specifically, vinegar can kill salmonella, E. coli, and listeria , which is good news for the kitchen. But the kitchen contains other pathogens as well, as does the rest of the house. The bottom line is, vinegar may kill some pathogens but don’t make the mistake of counting on it to do much more than clean.
The National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) puts it this way: “… while vinegar does work as a disinfectant to some degree, it is not as effective as bleach or commercial cleansers when it comes to killing germs. If you are going to use vinegar as a cleanser, it’s important to decide whether your goal is to clean, or to disinfect.”
When your goal is disinfecting, ditch the vinegar. Instead, choose a product registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a disinfectant . The easiest way to do this is to check labels of cleaning products. Disinfectant products that advertise killing “99.9%” of germs should have an EPA registration number listed somewhere on the label. Check to make sure that this number is in fact on the EPA’s list . Next, make sure you use the disinfectant properly . Finally, read and follow usage instructions for the specific cleaning product you’ve chosen.
Shifrah Combiths
Contributor
With five children, Shifrah is learning a thing or two about how to keep a fairly organized and pretty clean house with a grateful heart in a way that leaves plenty of time for the people who matter most. Shifrah grew up in San Francisco, but has come to appreciate smaller town life in Tallahassee, Florida, which she now calls home. She's been writing professionally for twenty years and she loves lifestyle photography, memory keeping, gardening, reading, and going to the beach with her husband and children.
Source : food
Posting Komentar
Posting Komentar