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31 Days to Green Clean: A Common Green Cleaning Mistake

October 17, 2012 By Emily McClements
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31 Days to Green Clean

This is Day 17 of the 31 Days to Green Clean series.

It wasn’t until a reader alerted me in the comments on my popular Homemade Disinfecting Wipes post, and I did a little researching of my own, that I realized I’ve been making a pretty big green cleaning mistake.

I have seen many green cleaning recipes on blogs that are making this same mistake. I’m actually kind of surprised that I didn’t know about the before, especially with how often this combination is suggested for green and homemade cleaning.

vinegar and castile soap don't mix

But, here’s the problem, because vinegar and castile soap are both super multi-functional and great all around cleaners for your home, you would think that they would be even better together. Right?!

Wrong!

The issue is that castile soap is a base and vinegar is an acid, and when you mix them together they basically cancel each other out, and the vinegar causes the soap to “unsaponify”, and it gets all curdled and clumpy – definitely not something you want to be cleaning with. (This is not true for all acids and bases, such as baking soda and vinegar, or dish soap and vinegar, but has to do with the properties of the soap.)

vinegar and castile soap don't mix2

Oops!

Well, I feel a little bit silly, except for the fact that I’m not the only one who has been recommending this combination. And honestly, because I was usually mixing the vinegar and castile soap with something else too, I didn’t get this exact reaction right away, so I didn’t realize it was doing this.

So, still use your vinegar and castile soap for cleaning, just don’t use them together! Lesson learned.

So, I’ll be updating my disinfecting wipes post next week, and I’ll also make changes to any other recipes I’ve posted that included this combination. Sorry for the confusion, and misinformation!

Here’s the post where I found about this, and she also shared the great idea of cleaning with the castile soap and then rinsing with vinegar water, and also answers tons of great questions in the comments.

Go here to read all the posts in the 31 Days to Green Clean series.

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25 CommentsFiled Under: 31 Days to Green Clean

basic homemade cleaning ingredients31 Days to Green Clean: Basic Homemade Cleaning Ingredients homemade multipurpose cleaner31 Days to Green Clean: Homemade Multipurpose Cleaner cleaning with vinegar31 Days to Green Clean: Cleaning with Vinegar shower cleaner & laundry stain spray31 Days to Green Clean: Vinegar and Dishsoap for Shower Cleaner & Laundry Stain Remover

Comments

  1. Kate E. says

    October 17, 2012 at 5:44 pm

    I had no idea! Thanks for the tip! I’ve mixed them a few times, although I never noticed this, but I think I was mixing them with a couple other things too. Guess I should’ve paid better attention in chemistry class…..

    Reply
    • Emily @ Live Renewed says

      October 17, 2012 at 10:18 pm

      Right?! šŸ™‚ Me too! But it doesn’t apply to all bases and acids – it just has to do with the properties of the soap that makes it react with vinegar.

      Reply
      • Tom says

        April 28, 2013 at 11:13 am

        If you mix any acid and base together they will cancel out if they are equal on their side of the ph scale.

        Reply
      • Penny says

        February 16, 2017 at 4:58 am

        I did mix the two to spot clean wine spots on red pants – what a mess‼. Is there any way to get the white film off the pants?

        Reply
        • Emily McClements says

          February 17, 2017 at 3:24 pm

          Hi Penny, Can you just run the pants through the washing machine? I think that’s what I would try first. Good luck!
          ~Emily

          Reply
    • Kalpit says

      June 4, 2013 at 1:22 pm

      Haha exactly! I should have paid better attention during class. Nonetheless, now I know it. šŸ˜€

      Reply
  2. 'Becca says

    October 18, 2012 at 11:49 am

    Wow! Live and learn! I don’t know that I’ve ever tried combining castile soap with vinegar, but it combines with baking soda to make a versatile cleaner for exfoliating your skin, scrubbing the bathtub, getting tea stains out of mugs, cleaning stained mittens….

    Reply
  3. Peter says

    October 24, 2012 at 10:31 am

    Thanks for clearing that up. Basic chemistry will tell you that neutral cleaners are the best way to go for general cleaning and disinfecting.

    Reply
  4. Sarah M says

    October 30, 2012 at 4:13 pm

    I’m so glad I saw this! I just started making my own cleaners and the last batch I made called for vinegar, water and Castile soap. Then after I shook the bottle, I saw the clumping! I had no idea what happened, but I do know I am going to remix a batch and then re clean the house! Thanks!

    Reply
    • Emily @ Live Renewed says

      November 6, 2012 at 7:18 am

      Thanks for stopping by Sarah! Glad this tip helped you!

      Reply
  5. Mama Nature says

    November 27, 2012 at 8:41 pm

    Now- I heard this true EXCEPT that Dr Bronners “SALS SUDS Castile Soap” was actually formulated to be mixed with vinegar! I don’t know how true this is BUT when I mix the two- they mix well…

    Reply
    • Emily @ Live Renewed says

      December 4, 2012 at 3:18 pm

      Yes, you are right. Sal Suds is a detergent, rather than traditional castile soap, so it doesn’t have the same reaction with vinegar. I’ve just started doing some cleaning with Sal Suds and so far really like it.

      Reply
  6. Mama Nature says

    November 27, 2012 at 9:45 pm

    As a sidenote: This issue does not apply to combining Sal Suds with vinegar. Sal Suds, as a synthetic detergent, has a completely different chemical makeup and does not react with the vinegar in the same way. Vinegar would even add more degreasing power to the mixture.

    Reply
  7. Jessica says

    April 12, 2013 at 3:37 pm

    Thanks for vocalizing this! I have wondered about it and witnessed the clumping in my own “experimenting”. This combination is often referred to in recipes, and yet I felt the cleaning products I made using castile soap and vinegar did not seem to be very effective. Glad to know my suspicious were right and I was not the only one who ran into this challenge.

    Reply
  8. Anonymous says

    September 3, 2013 at 11:43 pm

    “(This is not true for all acids and bases, such as baking soda and vinegar, or dish soap and vinegar, but has to do with the properties of the soap.)”

    Actually, if you mix baking soda and vinegar together the reaction renders both ineffective for cleaning.

    See here:
    http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemicalreactions/f/What-Is-The-Equation-For-The-Reaction-Between-Baking-Soda-And-Vinegar.htm

    Reply
  9. Anonymous says

    September 3, 2013 at 11:49 pm

    Erm…ooops. This is what I should have posted instead of the chemistry.com link

    http://www.crunchybetty.com/diy-101-baking-soda-vinegar-not-so-much

    Reply
  10. Anita says

    February 2, 2014 at 11:31 am

    mixing baking soda and vinegar it is actually the strong reaction that improves the cleaning, once the reaction is over, however, it will no longer clean. that is why usually baking soda is applied first (sometimes as a paste with water, or in case of a drain just put in first) then the vinegar is added. so the reaction does not occur until the 2 mix. with the castile soap you might try making the paste with the baking soda and soap cleaning and then rinsing with vinegar.

    Reply
  11. Leialoha says

    July 18, 2014 at 10:27 am

    I’m so glad you shared this! I have been mixing the two and getting curdled milk EVERYTIME, and didn’t know why! I thought it was me because I was getting the recipe directly off the net! Surely some one knew why, and now I do! Thank you, thank you!

    Reply
  12. ty says

    November 25, 2014 at 11:37 pm

    For laundry I usually use a homemade powder; but sometimes I add an ounce or two of liquid Dr. Bronner Tea Tree soap and use a Downey softener ball with a little white vinegar.

    Laundry comes out clean with no soap residue …I use Cold water washes/rinses.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Green Clean: Homemade Reusable Disinfecting Wipes - Updated! says:
    October 23, 2012 at 7:06 pm

    […] 10/12: I recently posted about how I’ve learned that you are not supposed to mix castile soap and vinegar for cleaning. So I’ve come up with two different recipes that will still give you great disinfecting […]

    Reply
  2. Green and Natural Bathroom Cleaning and Homemade Soft Scrub Recipe says:
    November 1, 2012 at 10:55 am

    […] use Dr. Bronners Peppermint) 1 Tablespoon water 1 Tablespoon vinegar (*Now that I’ve learned you shouldn’t mix castile soap and vinegar, I would just omit the vinegar and make a paste with baking soda and castile […]

    Reply
  3. DIY Antibacterial Soft Scrub Cleanser « Julianna Yu's Blog says:
    January 11, 2013 at 7:31 am

    […] and followed Jillie’s instructions to a T (except for the vinegar). I recently readĀ about aĀ common green cleaning mistakeĀ – not to mix vinegar with castille soapĀ (yikes, I had been adding Dr. Bonner’s to my vinegar/hot water solution for mopping – […]

    Reply
  4. Castile Soap uses and recipes says:
    March 27, 2014 at 2:47 pm

    […] mix Castile Soap with Vinegar. Visit LiveRenewed to find out why. Ā She also has some great uses for this good stuff! Click HERE for her […]

    Reply
  5. The Vinegar Myth: Why Vinegar is Not a Great Natural Cleaner - Keeper of the Home says:
    April 22, 2014 at 3:29 pm

    […] I read this post, and did a little experiment of my own, and found that vinegar and castile soap really don’t mix together at all. In fact, it turns […]

    Reply
  6. 9 Simple Ingredients That Will Clean Your Entire House! - Keeper of the Home says:
    February 2, 2015 at 3:56 am

    […] your home and why it may not be the best option.Ā Also, make sure you’re not committing the common green cleaning mistake of mixing vinegar and castile soap together in […]

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