White vinegar has soared in popularity among cleaning enthusiasts in recent years – but an expert has revealed there are four key areas in your home that you should avoid
White vinegar is the number one product when it comes to cleaning hacks – but there are four places in your home you should never use it.
White vinegar has surged in popularity in recent years. It is a natural cleaning solution that can be used in so many different ways – and it’s considerably cheaper than rival big name products.
But cleaning expert Sarah Dempsey at Myjobquote.co.uk has shared the four items that white vinegar should “never” be used on.
First up – mirrors. Despite some enthusiasts hailing white vinegar for its glass cleaning properties, Sarah has revealed why you should steer clear when it comes to your mirrors.
She says that the vinegar can penetrate through to the mirror’s backing, the area which makes it shine. Instead,you should simply stick to a microfibre cloth along with a bit of glass spray, the Express reports.
Next up is Washing machines. A huge number of people use white vinegar on their appliances, to clean the machine itself, get rid of any product build-up or neutralise any lingering smells.
However, according to Sarah, it can be causing damage. In fact, because of the rubber seals and hoses, white vinegar should “never be used” on a washing machine.
Similarly, avoid using white vinegar in your dishwasher. As with the washing machine, it can weaken rubber components and it actually “doesn’t actually make much of a difference at all,” according to Sarah.
“Instead, it’s better to use dishwasher cleaners as these are specially formulated to do the job of cleaning your dishwasher well.”
Finally, Sarah advises people with stone or marble worktops should avoid cleaning with white vinegar as it “dulls and etches” natural stone, which can make it lose its shine and ultimately cause damage to the stone. Instead, the expert recommends cleaning worktops with some mild washing-up liquid.
It comes after a cleaning guru told people it’s time to ditch the vinegar and try something they deem more effective – and less smelly. TokToker @byjaded encouraged people to “stop using vinegar to remove limescale from your kettle”, as there’s a better way. She said: “Try citric acid instead.”
She recommended using one tablespoon of citric acid, filling the kettle halfway, boiling it, and then leaving it overnight. At the end of the video, she showed the results, which should be seen “in an hour”, and the kettle was looking shinier than ever.
She said because she hadn’t used vinegar, she didn’t have to rinse her kettle out again and again because it didn’t smell funny, so she said she “was able to save water and energy consumption” as a result of using the citric acid. @byjaded then insisted people “try it out”.
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