Mix 1/2 cup vinegar with 2 tbsp pumice instead of powdered cleanser; the gritty homemade mixture can remove stains or polish surfaces

There is a particular way of feeling guilty when you are in the cleaning aisle and see a spray bottle for $9.99 that will "cut through grease and grime," and then you have to ask yourself why you're spending $9.99 on soap and water and marketing. You may have seen people mix vinegar and baking soda in a mason jar, only to create a messy science experiment. In fact, this is more than a visual preference; it is a popular internet cleaning tip.

One of the easiest things to replace a store-bought powdered scouring cleanser, according to this guide by the New Mexico State University, is as simple as using half a cup of distilled white vinegar and two tablespoons of pumice (which is used specifically to remove stubborn stains or to polish surfaces). No wordy 14-syllable chemical names, no mystery fragrance, no fine print warning to ventilate the room. Only two products in your pantry and back closet of the nail salon, respectively.

The little-known grit in your bathroom


Pumice is a volcanic rock that is also used in pedicures and foot scrubbers, and is really just nature's sandpaper. Porous, slightly abrasive, and not breakable like baking soda, it's well suited to scrubbing away stuck-on grime, rather than to deodorizing; that part is a general property of pumice itself, not a specific claim from the NMSU guide, which recommends it more broadly for "stains" without naming which ones. Vinegar, on the other hand, is acidic enough that it eases mineral deposits on surfaces so that the pumice doesn't have to do as much work. This isn't a combination that random health gurus came up with on some Tuesday, it's one home economics extension programs have quietly been recommending for decades, long before the hashtag was coined for "non-toxic living."

But does vinegar really kill, or is this just a myth?

This is where things become a little bit more interesting and nuanced than these infographics presented in a pastel palette suggest. A 2020 peer-reviewed study titled “Did granny know best? Evaluating the antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral efficacy of acetic acid for home care procedures,” published in the journal BMC Microbiology, shows that plain white vinegar (the kind you buy in a grocery store) could eradicate multiple common bacteria and a fungus, when tested directly on surfaces, at the concentration used in the store.

That said, the study's authors found that broader, tougher disinfecting action against a wider range of germs required raising the acetic acid concentration to 10%, plus added citric acid, well above the roughly 5% acidity in the vinegar sitting in your kitchen cupboard. That doesn't mean your vinegar spray is disinfectant-grade today. But it's not the placebo that cleaning-product marketing teams might like you to believe, either.

The part your favorite cleaning brand doesn't put on the label

Here is the mildly infuriating context. An Environmental Working Group analysis identified over half of the thousands of household cleaners tested that contained ingredients that are known to irritate the lungs, and about a fifth that contained ingredients associated with asthma attacks in non-asthmatic people. Just 7 percent of the products EWG reviewed adequately disclosed their full ingredient list. While your bottled cleaner has a "spring meadow" scent, you may not know where it originates or even what you're breathing in when you clean a counter.

Before you toss every bottle under your sink

Pumice is quite abrasive, and the roundup on Bob Vila's site of professional cleaners warns that it should not be used on fiberglass, marble, or plastic, or it may permanently scratch the surface. Designed to handle more rugged materials: porcelain, tile, and metal. This is also why "polish surfaces" in the guide's own wording means those tougher materials specifically, not every countertop or glossy finish in your house.

As for basic safety, the NMSU guide is straightforward: label, keep out of reach of children, and never store in an old food container. Frugal and ingredient-conscious cleaning isn't a new concept to millennials. Our grandparents did it before sustainability was a marketing term. Now the difference is that the receipts are here, and many of them are peer-reviewed, and many of them are common sense.