Vinegar and Hydrogen Peroxide as Disinfectants

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Vinegar and Hydrogen Peroxide as DisinfectantsYou can make your kitchen a cleaner, safer place and fight bacteria,without exposing yourself and your family to toxic chemicals that alsodamage the environment. You can use a simple safe disinfecting spraythat is more effective than any of the commercial cleaners in killingbacteria. As a bonus, it is inexpensive!Susan Sumner, a food scientist at Virginia Polytechnic Institute andState University, worked out the recipe for just such a sanitizingcombo. All you need is three percent hydrogen peroxide, the samestrength available at the drug store for gargling or disinfectingwounds, and plain white or apple cidar vinegar, and a pair of brandnew clean sprayers, like the kind you use to dampen laundry beforeironing. If you're cleaning vegetables or fruit, just spritz them wellfirst with both the vinegar and the hydrogen peroxide, and then rinsethem off under running water.It doesn't matter which you use first - you can spray with the vinegarthen the hydrogen peroxide, or with the hydrogen peroxide followed bythe vinegar. You won't get any lingering taste of vinegar or hydrogenperoxide, and neither is toxic to you if a small amount remains on theproduce. As a bonus: The paired sprays work exceptionally well insanitizing counters and other food preparation surfaces -- includingwood cutting boards. In tests run at Virginia Polytechnic Instituteand State University, pairing the two mists killed virtually allSalmonella, Shigella, or E. coli bacteria on heavily contaminated foodand surfaces when used in this fashion, making this spray combinationmore effective at killing these potentially lethal bacteria thanchlorine bleach or any commercially available kitchen cleaner.The best results came from using one mist right after the other - itis 10 times more effective than using either spray by itself and moreeffective than mixing the vinegar and hydrogen peroxide in one sprayer.Reference note: Articles on Dr. Sumner's original research workappeared in the scientific news journal, "Science News," in the issuesthat were published on August 29, 1996, and on August 8, 1998.Author's note, updated February 2008: The question I get asked most byreaders is, "Can I mix the hydrogen peroxide and vinegar into onesprayer?" The short answer is: EEK - No! The longer answer is: never mix hydrogen peroxide and vinegar together in one container. Theresulting chemical, peracetic acid, can harm you when mixed togetherthis way if you accidentally create a strong concentration in thisfashion. Peracetic acid also has entirely different characteristicsand properties than either hydrogen peroxide or vinegar. Additionally,we don't know if peracetic acid kills the same group of pathogenicfood-borne bacteria when used this way as a spray - it very well may not. Great Deals on Dell Laptops. Starting at $499.