More and more people are opting to use natural household cleaning products as they strive to protect the environment in every way they can.
White vinegar is a popular alternative to chemical cleaning products due to its ability to perform various cleaning hacks around the home. It’s often combined with bicarbonate of soda, salt or water to achieve the desired results.
Where to Buy White Vinegar for Cleaning in the UK
Some of the best places to buy white vinegar for cleaning in the UK include Amazon for bulk purchases and Wilko for smaller purchases. Below are three recommended products you can order online.
Of course there are lots of other options out there, and white vinegar is available in various brands and quantities, so you can choose a product which suits your needs best.
Online
1. Golden Swan White Vinegar 5 Litre
Golden Swan White Vinegar is available to buy on Amazon in 5-litre bottles, which is ideal for those who want to introduce this natural cleaning agent into their everyday cleaning routine.
Each bottle has a shelf-life of 24 months if left unopened, however, once opened the shelf-life decreases significantly, to six months. Since this product is so multitalented in household cleansing, you may find that you use up 5 litres within this 6-month timescale.
Check out our list to the bottom of this post to find out all of the great uses for white vinegar for cleaning. This particular brand of vinegar is produced in the UK which is great for supporting British-made produce.
Ideal for a range of cleaning jobs – this white vinegar can be used as fabric softener when doing laundry, without causing damage as well as all of the jobs we have mentioned in this post.
2. Jocker Woods Cleaning Vinegar 5 Litre
Some of the great things you can use this vinegar for include cleaning glass, removing limescale, killing weeds and as a fabric softener in the washing machine.
3. Stardrops White Vinegar Spray 750 ml (6-pack)
This 750 ml spray bottle is ready to use as soon as you get it, making it much more convenient than the large bottles of white vinegar (reviewed above), which would need to be decanted into a separate spray bottle.
Having white vinegar in this format makes it especially useful for cleaning glass and other surfaces around the house – polish mirrors with ease and get into all the crevices in the bathroom with a handy white vinegar spray.
Stardrops are a well-established cleaning brand, with a wide range of cleaning products and this white vinegar spray has proven to be quite popular with cleaning buff influencers across the UK.
Unfortunately, this product uses acetic acid – the main compound from white vinegar which performs cleaning tasks, rather than actual white vinegar, so it is not as natural as using plain-old distilled vinegar.
4. Dri-Pak White Vinegar 500ml
This white vinegar spray by Dri-Pak is eco-friendly and 100% biodegradable, which is perfect for those who are looking to reduce their carbon footprint when it comes to cleaning.
Made from pure diluted acetic acid, this cleaning product can be used to remove stains from clothing, carpets and upholstery as well as to add shine back to your mirrors and other glass surfaces.
It will cut through limescale around taps or on your shower head and deodorise surfaces. Once the vinegar smell dissipates, it takes any existing smells with it.
It’s the ideal choice for homes with pets or children as there are no risks when this vinegar spray has been used to clean surfaces.
The handy trigger-style bottle means application could not be easier, especially for getting into tight spaces or for treating carpet stains.
5. Ecodoo White Vinegar 5 Litres
This large bottle of white vinegar from Ecodoo is the perfect option for those who like to do lots of cleaning and also it’s a great container for heading to the eco shops to refill once empty.
With 12% acidity, this white vinegar will help to cut through limescale, polish glass and silverware and even disinfect surfaces.
The large bottle means this would be the ideal choice for someone who makes their own cleaning natural products and for someone who uses white vinegar as fabric softener – placing 30ml into the fabric softener drawer for each wash means you’ll get 166 washes out of one 5 Litre bottle!
Buying in bulk like this can really save you money over time and it will help you to save the planet a bit more too!
In shops and supermarkets (offline)
Of course, you can find white vinegar in supermarkets and eco-friendly shops across the UK, so you don’t have to buy online to be able to clean with distilled vinegar.
Most large supermarkets will have white vinegar in stock, so you will probably find just what you need while carrying out your usual grocery shop.
Just make sure to look for ‘distilled’ on the label, you don’t want to end up with white wine vinegar – it’s not the same thing as white vinegar!
Check your local supermarket (just be aware that smaller versions of supermarkets may not have as wide a stock as larger ones):
- Asda
- Tesco
- Sainsbury’s
- Morrisons
- Waitrose
- Marks & Spencer
- Co-op
- Aldi
- Lidl
Other shops which sell food and cleaning items will also be quite likely to have white vinegar or white vinegar-based cleaning sprays in stock:
- B&M
- Poundland
- The Range
- Home Bargains
And let’s not forget eco-friendly shops, who will definitely be selling white vinegar as an alternative cleaning method. If you’re cutting down on your plastic waste and reusing containers, then a local eco shop will be the ideal choice.
Many environmentally-friendly shops have refill stations where you can purchase lots of eco cleaning products and use your own containers to keep your cupboards stocked.
White Vinegar FAQs
Is white vinegar the same as white wine vinegar?
If you’re new to cleaning with white vinegar you might be tempted to buy a cheap bottle of white wine vinegar in the supermarket. However, white vinegar for cleaning and white wine vinegar are actually different things.
White vinegar is made from acetic acid which has been diluted in distilled water, whereas white wine vinegar is (unsurprisingly) made from white wine.
White vinegar for cleaning is also known as distilled vinegar, so look for the word ‘distilled’ if you want to be sure you’re buying the right kind of vinegar. It’s sometimes referred to as ‘spirit vinegar‘ as well.
How much does white vinegar for cleaning cost?
A small (500-600 ml) bottle of white vinegar can cost less than a pound in the supermarket. However, if you’re going to make vinegar part of your regular cleaning routine it will work out cheaper to buy vinegar in bulk.
If you buy vinegar in large quantities it can cost around £0.60 per litre, as opposed to about £2 per litre if bought in smaller quantities.
Is there a difference between white vinegar and cleaning vinegar?
Some brands sell products labelled as ‘cleaning vinegar’ rather than ‘white vinegar’. According to online store Grove, cleaning vinegar is 6% acid and 94% water, while white vinegar is 5% acid and 95% water. This means that cleaning vinegar is stronger and therefore more effective at cleaning.
We couldn’t products labelled as ‘cleaning vinegar’ rather than ‘white vinegar’ for sale in the UK. However, you can buy products like Dri-Pak Extra Strength White Vinegar, which is 6% acid.
What can you mix with white vinegar for cleaning?
White vinegar is a very versatile cleaning product that can be mixed with other things to improve the smell or get better results.
You could mix it with lemon juice or a citrus essential oil to get a nice citrusy scent.
Mixing it with rubbing alcohol and water creates an effective glass cleaner. If you want to make a DIY furniture polish, try mixing it with olive oil.
You can also mix white vinegar with bicarbonate of soda to create a powerful cleaning solution.
You should never mix vinegar with bleach, as they will react to form chlorine gas, which is very dangerous.
Uses of White Vinegar
White vinegar has an almost endless list of possible uses and there are a ton of places to buy white vinegar for cleaning. Here are just a few cleaning tasks you can do with trusty, natural white vinegar:
1. Removing light stains
Carpet stains are inevitable from time to time, so enlist the power of white vinegar to help you tackle them. Half a cup of vinegar mixed with 2 tablespoons of salt, rubbed into the carpet, left to dry and then vacuumed will eliminate the light stains from a carpet.
2. Removing tough stains
Tough carpet stains can also be tackled by vinegar – mix up a paste with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and 1 tablespoon of corn starch then rub it into the stain. This solution should be left for two days to set in and then it must be vacuumed up, revealing your newly unstained carpet!
3. White vinegar fabric softener
As we mentioned above in our products section, people do use white vinegar as fabric softener. You might be scared that your clothes are going to smell like a box of chips from the fish shop, but white vinegar actually leaves your washing and machine smelling fresh!
Just add 60ml of vinegar to the fabric softener drawer and run your normal wash. You could save a lot of money by switching to white vinegar for fabric softener.
4. Cleaning vases
White vinegar is useful for cleaning vases as the acetic acid can cut through a whole manner of gunk and can remove hard water deposits from vases with ease.
If you keep flowers in a vase for an extended period of time without changing the water then the vase will often be left with sediment stains.
White vinegar can break down these stains as well as any gunk which may have formed a ring where the water level once was.
Simply wipe the inside of the vase with the vinegar, leave for a few minutes and then wash the vase with warm soapy water. You now have a wonderfully clean vase ready for your flowers.
The same works for bottles and jars. Fill them with vinegar about halfway, shake and leave for a few minutes and then wash them as you would do normally.
For more persistent hard water stains, you can add rice to the vinegar and shake – this is a mild abrasive which will help to remove more staining.
5. Cleaning a clogged showerhead
To clean stubborn grime from showerheads, dismantle the showerhead and soak the pieces in a bowl of white vinegar for up to three hours.
Clean off any sediment with a stiff brush and rinse thoroughly with warm water. Run the showerhead a little, before showering to ensure all limescale is removed from the holes.
6. Removing tea and coffee stains
Most of us enjoy a cup of tea or coffee in our favourite cup but after a while, these drinks leave stains on the cups or pots. With white vinegar, this is easily solved!
Soak the cups and pots in hot vinegar and then wash with warm soapy water. Usually, this is enough, but for especially stubborn stains add a teaspoon of salt to the hot vinegar and rub it into the stains with a brush or mildly abrasive scouring sponge – being careful not to burn yourself or splash vinegar everywhere.
In The Wash is your guide to the best laundry and cleaning products, tips and tricks. Our mission is to solve the UK’s cleaning and laundry dilemmas!
