Vinegar and baking soda in holding tanks?
Forgive me: Age-old subject beat to pieces! We have used strong vinegar to clean our holding tanks before and get gauges working. Have heard others mention using vinegar AND baking soda. We know h...
Forum Discussion
Baking soda and vinegar react to produce carbon dioxide and sodium acetate in solution. The carbon dioxide has no real cleaning benefit (though dissolved in water it is acidic, which may help very slightly with some mineral deposits), and sodium acetate is also so far as I know not a particularly effective cleaner, though it does have some other industrial and commercial uses.
Plain baking soda is useful as a cleaner mainly in being a mild abrasive that is soft enough to not harm many surfaces. Vinegar is useful do to its acidity mainly. Neither one is especially effective against soils and general dirt (if you aren't actively scrubbing). Laundry detergent or dishwasher detergent and a lot of water would be more effective than either, in my estimation. Scrubbing with a brush would also work very nicely, but is very rarely practical and probably never pleasant for a holding tank.
Plain baking soda is useful as a cleaner mainly in being a mild abrasive that is soft enough to not harm many surfaces. Vinegar is useful do to its acidity mainly. Neither one is especially effective against soils and general dirt (if you aren't actively scrubbing). Laundry detergent or dishwasher detergent and a lot of water would be more effective than either, in my estimation. Scrubbing with a brush would also work very nicely, but is very rarely practical and probably never pleasant for a holding tank.
