How about this to disinfect equipment?

[Spot86t]

Ran across this:

Vinegar Increases Killing Power of Bleach

Nice to see it's common products that can even be found at a simple dollar store.  Sounds like it would make a great disinfectant although I see you'd have rinse/dechlorinate anything it's used for to remove any residual chlorine.

Thoughts on this anyone?

[CichlidFan]

Re: How about this to disinfect equipment?

I've heard of using vinegar to clean glass tops and the hard deposits inside tanks as well.

CF

[Mzungu]

Re: How about this to disinfect equipment?

Wow, that's really interesting!

"Bleach is a much more effective antimicrobial chemical at an acidic pH value than at the alkaline Ph value at which bleach is manufactured and stored. A small amount of household vinegar is sufficient to lower the pH of bleach to an acidic range," says Miner.

I would guess the same about a good rinse and dechlor before anything's used for fish, but sounds neat. I might try it instead of buying a new bottle of cleaner!    Vinegar is becoming really popular these days, for everything from detoxing your system to cleaning your kitchen floors. And, now, acidifying bleach to make it more effective. Thanks for posting that, Spot!

[mrairportjunke]

Re: How about this to disinfect equipment?

sweet find man.  makes since though.  all the hardwater stains and white crap that builds in the coffee pot and stuff,  we use vinegar to clean that.  so i guess it makes since. but how much should u mix. i though mixin stuff with bleach could be BAD.

[Spot86t]

Re: How about this to disinfect equipment?

don't ever mix ammonia with bleach.  THAT is bad....  

I soaked a bunch of crusty tank lids in vinegar for a few weeks.  They cleaned up really nice.  The 'crusty' stuff nearly rubbed right off.  

I made up some of that solution (water/bleach/vinegar) like it advised (first water/bleach, then add vinegar).  Really weird when I added the vinegar it turned the mix yellow!

[mrairportjunke]

Re: How about this to disinfect equipment?

sure that was vinegar?  lol.  not pssin vinegar.  

corny i know.  lol

[J-WS6]

Re: How about this to disinfect equipment?

that's good to know! especially for tanks that have been in storage or have old calcium deposits

[Drew]

Re: How about this to disinfect equipment?

Had the opportunity to try the mix.  I am sure those tubes were clean, because the fumes from the bleach/vinegar solution burned my eyes/nose when I mixed it up.  Be ready for the smell if you do this, it is powerful.

[Spot86t]

Re: How about this to disinfect equipment?

It will also bleach java moss and non-colorfast thread (like that which sews nets onto the wire frame).  It slightly faded some of my softer more threadlike nets, but not the ones that were more plasticky (is plasticky a word?).

Surprisingly, it did not bleach my dark green spawning mops, just the little bit of random java moss that was tangled in them.
I mixed a bucket of water with quadruple the amount of dechlorinator and after disinfecting things, I hose them thoroughly and leave them to soak in the super-dechlorinated water bucket for at least 20 minutes, then rinse again before leaving to completely dry.    

I was really surprised that it didn't burn the various nicks and scrapes on my hands when I was washing stuff out.