Vinegar is a kind of liquid elixir and its uses are literally endless. Many varieties of vinegar not only taste amazing in salads, chicken and meat dishes, but vinegar is often used in everything, from laundry to house cleaning.
Furthermore, it must be kept in mind that the vinegar is very cheap and natural, if you tend to buy products without chemicals. That is why many people prefer it.
But before making snap judgments and fill the whole house with vinegarit is good that we take some time to see if it is so effective and if, really, it is true that it fights viruses.
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But is vinegar really a disinfectant?
The short answer is yes, but it’s a bit more complicated than that.
What happens is that vinegar has disinfectant activity, because it is acetic acid, which has the ability to destroy bacteria and viruses. However, compared to other commercial disinfectants, they would probably be much less effective.
Science is still tight-lipped about the effectiveness of vinegar as a disinfectant, but there have been a handful of studies that have shown that vinegar has antibacterial propertiesespecially when it comes to killing bacteria in food during meal preparation.
A small study showed that vinegar reductions or dressings can have this effect (and reduce the presence of bacteria such as Salmonella) when used during 15 minutes or more.
Vinegar at 6 percent was also found to be antimicrobial and decrease the presence of Staphylococcus aureus Y E. colibut not as effectively as chemicals such as Clorox Y Lysol. And you should allow at least half an hour of exposure.
Another study found that after 30 minutes, a 6 percent acetic acid efficiently killed M. tuberculosis bacteria. What’s more, 10 percent malt vinegar may be helpful in killing influenza viruses, according to a 2010 article.
While these results are promising, we need more research on which specific types of vinegar, and at what percent acidity, are effective at killing a substantial number of germs. It’s also important to note that vinegar is *not* on the EPA’s list of certified disinfectants. All in all, it’s best to use vinegar only for sanitizing purposes in the context of food preparation, and not for cleaning germs off surfaces or, say, cleaning wounds or treating bodily infections *if* you can use a chemical cleaner instead. .
And if I don’t have anything else on hand, what kind of vinegar would be the best disinfectant in this case?
The most used form would be white vinegar. This is because white vinegar tends to be the most acidic, between 4 and 7 percent acetic acid, while cider vinegars and wine are usually closer to 5 to 6 percent acetic acid. But that does not render other vinegars totally useless. They can also work because they have acetic acid as a base, but they can be less effective.
If you’re looking to make your own sanitizing solution at home (again, professionals recommend that it’s not optimal), combine vinegar with water in a solution eleven.
Vinegar can be used on surfaces such as glass, windows, walls, cabinets, floors, sinks, stoves, and coffee pots. But should not be used on surfaces such as natural stone, waxed wood, cast iron, or aluminum.
Also, a vinegar cleaning solution is not suitable for surfaces with a high risk of food contamination, like the cutting boards and shelves/drawers in your refrigerator. For those, a bleach solution is suggested. Also remember that You should NEVER combine vinegar with bleach or hydrogen peroxideas they can create toxic fumes.