Q&A for How to Kill Mold With Vinegar

The answer depends on the type of surface you need to clean. Both are very effective cleaning agents. Vinegar is able to penetrate porous surfaces much easier than bleach, though, which makes it a far more effective mold-killer than bleach in this scenario.

It is safe — as long as you use it in a 3 parts water 1 part vinegar ratio —, but I still wouldn't recommend using it.

Use half a cup of vinegar to each two tablespoons of Borax.

You can just use regular distilled white vinegar from the grocery store.

No. Apple vinegar has a different composition. You will want to use plain white distilled vinegar, which you can find at your grocery store.

It is not necessary to dilute the vinegar with water. Just spray the vinegar on and allow it time to set in before your scrub away the mold.

Ceilings can be difficult to reach, so you may need a ladder and a bush with a longer handle to clean the mold off a ceiling. Also consider wearing protective eyewear, since you will be beneath the surface and looking up at it.

This is theoretically true, as long as the surface can withstand the increased concentration of vinegar. Do a color test on a small, out of sight area before trying on a larger, more conspicuous surface.

You can wash your clothes with a cup of vinegar and no detergent, but be aware that vinegar has not been proven to get rid of fungal infections in clothes.

White distilled vinegar is just the clear vinegar sold in most grocery stores. Are you sure they don't have it in your store? If they sell white wine vinegar, it would be odd if they don't have the distilled version. Maybe you could ask a clerk?

This is caused by condensation - if you can't insulate the walls, you can use damp-resisting insulating wallpaper.

Unless the mold appears to trace down the walls, there is no need to go higher than the walls you are trying to clean.

Rinse off as much mold as possible by running water from the backside through to the front. Then, soak item in white distilled vinegar (you may add borax also) for no less than 1 hour. Rinse. Wash the fabric and hang it out in the sun or a well-lit room to dry. You may have to repeat this process one or two more times.

Yes. I have been using vinegar on everything thing painted with no problem.

Unfortunately, no. When the mold seeps into a porous surface (such as the paper in a book), it is nearly impossible to get rid of. The white vinegar will work to remove mold from hard/ solid surfaces.

Yes, you should scrub or rinse off all visible mold before painting. Otherwise, mold spores can be reactivated.

Don't use baking soda. It will eliminate the cleaning power of vinegar.

None. You can use just straight white vinegar and scrub with a sponge. Doing this will get a lot of mold off a surface such as a bath mat or wall.

As long as the cans of soup were unopened, they should be fine and can just be wiped down with warm water and dish soap, or vinegar if you prefer. If it got in the soup though, you should throw out any such soup or other contaminated food.

Yes you can use vinegar on oil paintings. Let it set for 20 minutes and then was with clean water. Its best to use disposable wipes to clean off the vinegar. Clean with water and clean wipe 3 times.

Yes, but do not use vinegar + baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), since one is an alkaline and the other is an acid, therefore they cancel each other out. They initially fizz out of control, but the mixture left behind after the fizzing is over, is just simple water, which will disinfect and kill nothing. A better choice would be vinegar + salt o vinegar + borax (not to be confused with boric acid which is not the same).

No, this will most likely poison the soil. If you're talking about mold growing on soil in a plant pot, you could just physically remove it with a gardening tool.

It can be useful, especially when combined with generic Oxy/generic Dawn type dishwashing liquid. Sprayed on or slopped on, it loosens mold which is now ready to be scrubbed and hosed away. Ammonia and water also work very well.

Soak it with vinegar for an hour, then rub it with a brush and rinse with warm water.

In my experience, no. The mold gets into the pores of the wood and just grows back after the mold on the surface is removed. Your best bet is to sand the wood down until you see no more mold, and then sand a little bit more to make sure. If doing indoors, do not use a power sander without a dust-collection system/vacuum attachment, as it will cause mold to become airborne as well as annoying teeny tiny sanding dust-particles. Seal the wood with varnish or lacquer or enamel or any wood sealer to prevent this from happening again.

Pour vinegar into the vents first. Then have the vent give out warm air for 20 minutes, then cold air for 10.