These Are the 6 Things You Can Safely Clean With Vinegar

This natural cleaner is super-effective at descaling a handful of household items

I’m the first to admit that vinegar is an overrated household cleaner. For one, it's not the antibacterial superstar the internet makes it out to be. Second, it can actually damage many surfaces. And finally, using it makes your home smell like vinegar for hours!

But there are a few instances where I’ll plug my nose and bear the smell to get something sparkly clean. Basically—or should I say, acidic-ally—distilled white vinegar is a mild acid that's great at dissolving hard-water deposits, a chemical reaction called descaling.

Eric Beckman, a professor of engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, explains that pouring vinegar onto a surface with hard-water deposits will lower the minerals’ pH value, making them dissolve more easily in water.

But vinegar doesn't work its marvels on everything, and because of its acidic nature, you’ll want to avoid using it on these nine items.

Below are six instances when you should reach for vinegar.

Minerals in your home's water can clog your coffee maker's tank and tubes. Ignore it for long enough and the appliance can struggle to brew or break down altogether. Some coffee makers have a flashing light that tells you it's time to descale, but you can also tell if the water tank is excessively cloudy.

For most coffee makers, all you need to do is run a mixture of water and white vinegar through the machine. Check your owner's manual for the proper ratio and specific steps. And if it says to avoid vinegar, heed the advice because your machine might have metal and rubber parts that could be damaged by it.

And even if an acidic brew is your cup of … coffee, you’re going to want to thoroughly rinse out the machine after descaling it. That means running the brew cycle a couple of times with just plain water, says Ginny Lui, CR's test engineer for coffee makers.

For kettles—both stovetop and electric varieties—fill them three-quarters of the way with water, bring it to a boil, remove from heat, then add vinegar to the max fill line and let it sit overnight. Drain and rinse well before using it again. Like coffee makers, you’ll want to check the manufacturer's manual or website to ensure that vinegar is safe for your model.

Over time, mineral deposits can build up in and around the nozzles of your showerhead, causing water to squirt in all directions or the nozzles to clog up completely.

Get all that gunk off by filling a plastic bag with vinegar and wrapping it around the showerhead. Secure the bag with a rubber band or tape and let it soak for 1 to 3 hours. Remove the bag, rinse off the showerhead, and turn on the water for a few minutes to clear out the nozzles.

Clean and clear windows aren't just nice to look at, they’re also good for feng shui. Ammonia-based cleaners, like your all-purpose kitchen spray, can cause streaks or film on windows—but not vinegar.

Pella, the window manufacturer, advises mixing one part distilled white vinegar with 10 parts warm water in a spray bottle. Wipe down the window with a clean microfiber cloth to remove dust before you spray on the solution, then spritz to cover the entire surface and wipe to clean. Use a second clean microfiber cloth to quickly dry your window as thoroughly as possible.

You can be freewheeling with the amount of solution you use on the glass, but avoid getting any on the wood, fiberglass, or vinyl frame because it may discolor the finish.

Beckman says vinegar is great for removing cloudy water deposits from any glass surface, not just windows. That means shower doors and mirrors can get the same treatment as your windows. To maintain your clear glass doors even longer between cleanings, buy a squeegee and remove the culprit (water droplets) immediately after each shower.

Prevent the buildup of minerals on your humidifier by descaling it once a week. Remove the tank and add a half-cup each of vinegar and water to the well of the base. Reach into crevices with the cleaning tool that came with your humidifier (or a cotton swab and toothpick) to remove the scale in the well. Pour 1 cup each of vinegar and water into the tank and let it soak for 20 minutes, swishing it around periodically. Drain and rinse the well and tank until no vinegar smell remains. Towel-dry all parts of the humidifier.

Perry Santanachote

Perry Santanachote is a multimedia content creator at Consumer Reports. She has been with CR since 2019, covering nothing in particular. Not having a beat allows her to work on whatever's trending—from parasite cleanses to pickleball paddles. Perry is a main producer of Outside the Labs content at CR, where she evaluates products in her tiny Manhattan apartment.