What is in vinegar that makes it clean well, and what is in soap/bleach that makes it clean well despite both being in opposite ends of the scale? And is it advisable to use one before the other for maximum effectiveness?
In: Chemistry
The vast majority of life, even microscopic life like bacteria, viruses, fungus, exists near a neutral pH of 7. Going to either extreme makes life uninhabitable
The clue is it isn’t much to do with pH. They both have the property where the can dissolve both hydrophilic and hydrophobic stuff.
There’s a common misconception I think a lot of people hold with acidity where they associate low pH with mean, corrosive, nasty acids while they associate high pH with smooth, non-reactive and ineffective liquid.
In truth, pH is simply a measure of concentration, it stands for “percent hydrogen”. Lower pH means a high concentration of H+ and low concentration of OH-, and high pH means a low concentration of H+ and high concentration of OH-. Think of it like a scale, the less there is of one, the more there is of another.
H+ and OH- matter because at the chemical level it is how cleaners work. Basic solutions like bleach, are really good at accepting H+ from other molecules because they stick to all of their OH- ions. When this happens, the molecules that give them up lose their integrity and collapse. For acids, it is the opposite, they are really good at donating H+ ions to other molecules which destabilizes them. In both cases a substance is broken down, but in different ways.
For reasons rooted in chemistry however, basic and acidic substances work better on different things. Acidic solutions are ideal for mineral deposits, rusts, and water stains, while basic solutions excel at breaking down organic material like grease, fats, and oils.
So, it’s not that one solution is *better* than the other, they are both equally useful but in different situations (for complicated reasons). Also, NEVER MIX CLEANING SOLUTIONS TOGETHER, when acids and bases react they create dangerous gases and corrosive salts. The ONLY safe substance you can mix with either is water, as it is naturally alkaline.
Cleaning agents can work in various ways. You might want to destroy germs, pick up oil, remove stains, and so forth. Different cleaning agents leverage different chemical properties to achieve these goals to varying degrees. You also might want them to be mild so that you don’t accidentally poison yourself, or at least don’t need to be careful with them.
* The germs or grime stuck to your surfaces is likely at close to a neutral pH. High or low pH may disrupt those things. For instance, both acids and bases can break down cells.
* Soap has another feature, in that it binds to oils and water, and so it helps lift off oil or grease things when you wipe/rinse it away with water.
* Vinegar won’t do too much for cleaning up an oil spill, but it has the bonus of being very safe. We can safely drink vinegar (and some recipes will even call for it), so if you get some on your skin or accidentally spray some in your mouth, you’ll be fine.
* Chlorine and peroxide based bleaches have another feature, in that it can ‘oxidises’ things. This is to do with about taking electrons from molecules, which changes their chemistry. (Combustion and rusting are other types of oxidation reactions.)
* I think there are also sulphur based bleaches which can ‘reduce’ things. This is also about electrons, but giving them to molecules, so it is the opposite of ‘oxidation’. (Photosynthesis and smelting aluminium ore into metal are some examples of reduction.)
* Being ‘oxidised’ or ‘reduced’ are big chemical changes, and cells typically cannot survive large amounts of their molecules undergoing these changes. For instance, consider the difference between the chloride in tablesalt (safe to eat), and chlorine gas (deadly to breath): the difference is whether the chlorine atoms have been oxidised or reduced.
Yes, all of them are used for cleaning surfaces. But each of them are effective for very different types of stains and dirts.
Acidic cleaning agents – vinegar and citric acid target mineral deposits. They are often oxide, carbonate and sulfate salts that reacts with acids easily. So you will use them to clean limescale and tarnished metal surfaces.
Detergents – soaps have a distinct property where the same molecule is attracted by water and oil. So detergent molecules can pull greases into water, and be carried away once you rinse it.
Bleach and peroxides are really good at oxidizing (think as destroying) organic molecules. So they are used to kill microbes and decolour organic stains. But the same property also make them fairly corrosive on bare metal surfaces.
Blue gatorade and red gatorade are in the opposite ends of the visible light spectrum but are both used to hydrate people effectively. Can someone explain so?
It’s just the colour. It’s just the pH.
They don’t work in identical ways, but they have some similarities.
One of the big things that most household cleaning liquids have is that they are anti-microbial. Vinegar, Ammonia, Bleach, Soap, Hydrogen Peroxide. They are all highly toxic in different ways.
Besides killing germs, cleaners have the tough job of getting out encrusted messes and stains that can’t easily be removed by simple rehydration. In regards to vinegar and bleach, the farther you go from a PH of 7 in either direction, the more corrosive and reactive the liquid becomes. They both react and break down organic molecules responsible for stains and grimes, letting them then be easily washed away by a rinse. Each cleaner works better for certain jobs, which is why there are so many options. Vinegar for example works great for mineral stains and buildup, while bleach and soaps handles tough organic and acidic stains. And hydrogen peroxide is mess-free disinfectant and weak oxidizer since once its finished oxidizing germs and organic molecules, it breaks down fast into normal water.
However, **DO NOT EVER** mix any household cleaners together unless their packaging specifically mentions you can. Bleach in particular will react with ammonia and vinegar to instantly create deadly poison gas, similar to what they used on soldiers during the world wars. Its very rare that you would find a stain or mess that would require multiple types of cleaners to be effective, and in the event you do, the site or object should be thoroughly rinsed of one cleaner before trying another to avoid melting your lungs with poison gas.
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