30% acid vinegar

Canning vinegar from the grocery store is 5% acid. At both Lowe's and Home Depot this week I have seen 30% acid vinegar for sale, gallon bottles, I don't recall the exact price (I was pricing other things) but it was more than $20.00 and under $30.00 They are calling it "cleaning vinegar" and it's with the cleaning supplies.

Perhaps it is always around and I haven't noticed it, but it's also possible that they are realizing more people want less toxic chemicals and are at least changing their marketing.

And while looking for an image for this thread as a thumbnail, I see that there is lots of the stuff around, various brands, online and in stores. Maybe I just never noticed, but it's certainly interesting to know that it's being marketed all over.

Be aware that it is mostly cleaning only and should not be diluted and used for canning because in some cases it includes trace metals from its production process making it not safe as a canning aid is what the canning information has been saying.

I have also seen vinegar in the cleaning section labeled specifically for cleaning that was only 6% concentration and I'm pretty sure it had some kind of soapy stuff added to it.

Our current product labelled "cleaning vinegar" is only 10%. I think the last stuff we got at the hardware store was 14%. So 30% is awesome even if only from the "less packaging/useful stuff" point of view.

That said, I really notice the 10% stuff is a bit hard on my lungs when I'm using it soaked into cloths on the walls of the shower for several hours trying to soften the hard water deposits. It works - does a great job - but I'm aware to try not to breath the high concentration stuff!

I suspect at 30%, decent rubber gloves would be essential. Does the bottle have instructions and are they to water it down?

The old, just because it's "natural" doesn't make it safe? Cougars are totally "natural" in my ecosystem. No, I don't want one sneaking up on me!

Yes, 30% is serious acid, I'd treat it like I do Muriatic acid when I use it. It's not for basic stuff, but for heavy acid when you need it. Shower heads etc do not need this, they are fine with plain acid. I'm thinking more people like who do rust removal etc, and keep some noxious chemicals around.
Gloves, mask, lots of air flow and treat it like a serious chemical.

I purchased 45% vinegar on eBay for weed and pest control.  I am not sure that 30% is needed for regular cleaning.

Maybe for when someone wants something that will kill really bad germ bug situations.

Anne Miller wrote:I purchased 45% vinegar on eBay for weed and pest control.  I am not sure that 30% is needed for regular cleaning.

No, you don't. But most of what is being transported is water, and water is heavy. So if you buy a high percentage and water it down at home, you're saving transportation expenses. We buy a really high strength hydrogen peroxide, and hubby actually uses a glass syringe to water it down into some bottles which we've been re-using for this purpose for several years.

You're also saving the garbage that the plastic bottles represent, by buying one concentrated large bottle and using your small bottles through multiple cycles at home.

But yes, you don't need 30% for regular cleaning, but the fact that its showing up in the "cleaners" area of regular stores (we have to get the peroxide from a special farm store), is a hopeful sign that people are realizing that simple cleaners are the best.

That said, you shouldn't even drink 5% vinegar without watering it down further, as it can hurt our esophagus. And as mentioned above, I wouldn't use non-food-grade vinegar for food uses just in case something nasty came along for the ride.

It saves on packaging, storage space, transportation, time & labor (it takes time & labor to go to the store, move it around from shelf to cart to clerk to cart to vehicle to house to shelf), and money. Gallon sized jugs of the standard 5% kitchen stuff (which I use for cleaning & herbicide) here are about $3 - $4, a single gallon of 30%, at $30 with only one trip is substantial, and a simple 1oz pump would eliminate the need to lift & pour to measure.

Jay Angler wrote:

That said, you shouldn't even drink 5% vinegar without watering it down further, as it can hurt our esophagus. And as mentioned above, I wouldn't use non-food-grade vinegar for food uses just in case something nasty came along for the ride.

Yes, strong vinegar is a hazardous chemical and should be treated as such!  Up through late 1990s, very strong, essentially undiluted vinegar was common household item in eastern Europe for cleaning, etc. It was also known as common means for suicide, b/c it is that deadly.  Definitely store out of reach of children and not with your culinary vinegar.

Anne Miller wrote:I purchased 45% vinegar on eBay for weed and pest control.  I am not sure that 30% is needed for regular cleaning.

Jay Angler wrote:No, you don't. But most of what is being transported is water, and water is heavy. So if you buy a high percentage and water it down at home, you're saving transportation expenses. We buy a really high strength hydrogen peroxide, and hubby actually uses a glass syringe to water it down into some bottles which we've been re-using for this purpose for several years.

You're also saving the garbage that the plastic bottles represent, by buying one concentrated large bottle and using your small bottles through multiple cycles at home.

The sellers on eBay suggested adding maybe 50/50 or something like that.

And Jay is correct that folks are not paying for water and useless plastic packaging.

There were sellers selling 30% and suggesting adding water.

I wanted something that I was sure would kill weed and that I could water it down for pest control.

Use caution cleaning a large surface area in a small space.  I cleaned my meat cooler with 5% and nearly gagged from the fumes.  30% could put a real hurting on you.  HCL (Muriatic acid) and ammonia are both relatively natural products that can cause serious damage in strong concentrations.

My gardener & I have found 30% vinegar to be a highly effective weed killer. That’s where I found it - at a local nursery & market near Forest Grove Oregon. It’s got other stuff in it beside the vinegar…read the label please! Since we don’t want to kill our pollinators, we only use it on places like driveway crack weeds. Our veggies are planted in with our flowers, so we are VERY CAREFUL WITH THIS NEW-TO-US PRODUCT.

Pearl Sutton wrote:Canning vinegar from the grocery store is 5% acid. At both Lowe's and Home Depot this week I have seen 30% acid vinegar for sale, gallon bottles, I don't recall the exact price (I was pricing other things) but it was more than $20.00 and under $30.00 They are calling it "cleaning vinegar" and it's with the cleaning supplies.

Perhaps it is always around and I haven't noticed it, but it's also possible that they are realizing more people want less toxic chemicals and are at least changing their marketing.

And while looking for an image for this thread as a thumbnail, I see that there is lots of the stuff around, various brands, online and in stores. Maybe I just never noticed, but it's certainly interesting to know that it's being marketed all over.

A friend recently told me about this stuff, she sprays it on noxious weed in her horse pasture and nothing ever grows there again.

We ended up with an unopened bottle of a German, high acid vinegar. It's food grade and can apparently be used to make things like wine vinegar by adding it to regular wine. Also supposed to be good for fast pickling too.
And you can still use it to clean.
I haven't opened it yet but I'm hoping we'll have enough produce next year that I can try using some.
https://www.amazon.com/Surig-Essig-Essence-Vinegar-Ounce/dp/B01LXR64D5

Robin Lindsley wrote:My gardener & I have found 30% vinegar to be a highly effective weed killer. That’s where I found it - at a local nursery & market near Forest Grove Oregon. It’s got other stuff in it beside the vinegar…read the label please! Since we don’t want to kill our pollinators, we only use it on places like driveway crack weeds. Our veggies are planted in with our flowers, so we are VERY CAREFUL WITH THIS NEW-TO-US PRODUCT.

What I was looking at was just vinegar, I checked.
I wouldn't classify what you found as organic, or vinegar.
I didn't realize some of it has toxins in it.

Check labels for contaminants!

Opal-Lia Palmer wrote:

Pearl Sutton wrote:Canning vinegar from the grocery store is 5% acid. At both Lowe's and Home Depot this week I have seen 30% acid vinegar for sale, gallon bottles, I don't recall the exact price (I was pricing other things) but it was more than $20.00 and under $30.00 They are calling it "cleaning vinegar" and it's with the cleaning supplies.

Perhaps it is always around and I haven't noticed it, but it's also possible that they are realizing more people want less toxic chemicals and are at least changing their marketing.

And while looking for an image for this thread as a thumbnail, I see that there is lots of the stuff around, various brands, online and in stores. Maybe I just never noticed, but it's certainly interesting to know that it's being marketed all over.

A friend recently told me about this stuff, she sprays it on noxious weed in her horse pasture and nothing ever grows there again.

Correction! I mis-spoke, it wasn't this exact stuff, she just told me it was a high concentrated vinegar like 30-40%. I don't know what brand or where she bought it.