Mixing Vinegar And Pine Sol For Cleaning: Is It A Good Or Bad Idea?

Everyone wants a clean, safe, and inviting home. Products like Pine-Sol have been offering disinfection with a side of signature clean scents for decades. As an EPA-registered disinfectant, there are tons of ways you can use Pine-Sol around your house. In recent years, however, the idea of using natural cleaning ingredients that utilize fewer harsh chemicals and additives — like vinegar — has taken a serious foothold. It only makes logical sense that the two cleaning camps would eventually collide, and someone would wonder: What would happen if you mixed Pine-Sol and vinegar together?

Does adding vinegar to Pine-Sol give its cleaning abilities a natural boost or result in a harmful chemical reaction? Or does it have no effect at all? Pine-Sol's position on the matter is clear. The website states: "We do not recommend mixing any Pine-Sol^® product with other cleaning products or chemicals. Mixing cleaners can result in the release of hazardous gases." But, theoretically, what might happen if you did mix the two? 

The ingredients in Pine-Sol are listed as water, C10-12 alcohol ethoxylates, sodium secondary C13-18 alkyl sulfonate, fragrance, citric acid, colorant, xanthan gum, and preservative. Notably missing are the three substances that shouldn't be mixed with vinegar, as heralded by cleaning connoisseurs: bleach, hydrogen peroxide, and ammonia. The remaining active ingredients include surfactants and citric acid. None of these ingredients seem to be known for creating a harmful chemical reaction when mixed with vinegar.

Both Pine-Sol and vinegar get their cleaning power from acids. Pine-Sol uses citric acid to cut through dirt and grime; vinegar uses acetic acid. Generally speaking, harmful gases are created by mixing an acid and a base together, not two acids. However, the fact that there is a low risk of producing toxic fumes when combining these two products together doesn't necessarily make it a good idea. When it comes to actually disinfecting your home by killing pathogens, citric acid is much more capable than vinegar. Since it would add no benefit, it just doesn't make sense to risk mixing vinegar and Pine-Sol for cleaning.