Vinegar

[Frenchfry1942]

Someone just told me that vinegar works just as well as alcohol. Any thoughts, experiences?

Thanks

 

[amoret]

I had tried vinegar but it left a flavor even after rinsing. I had better luck with a baking soda soak for removing flavor/odor, but that doesn't actually clean the wicks, etc. So I ended up doing dish soap, well rinsed followed by a soda soak.

I had also heard that denture cleaner works, and am experimenting with that. So far it works very well, but what I had available was mint flavored and left some flavor. Okay with my menthol and spearmint juices, not so good with tea or fruit. So I am going to order some unflavored denture cleaner and try that.

All of the above require a rinse, of course.

 

[BeRight]

I use 1/3 vinegar 2/3 hot water for soaking - then rinse under hot tap water let sit over night to dry out and vinegar odor is gone plus device has a clean smell

 

[Festizious]

Personally I wouldn't want to use Vinegar for cleaning anything you're going to be vaping. Especially if you're going to use it to clean anything containing wicking material. It all boils down to how you're going to get the alcohol or the vinegar out of the wicking material after its absorbed it. Vinegar is mostly water 95-82% and Acetic acid. Acetic acid has a higher boiling point than water 244-246deg. Fahrenheit which means that it will have a correspondingly lower vapor pressure. Basically what this means is if you soak your wicks in vinegar it will take a long time for the water and Acetic acid to evaporate out. Acetic acid will also form a crystalline solid and having a slightly lower vapor pressure than water, the water may evaporate out first leaving the Acetic acid behind in the wick to form crystals in the wick if its not properly rinsed out. Acetic acid is not something you would want to inhale as it is highly corrosive. Alcohols on the other hand have very low boiling points and correspondingly high vapor pressures. This means they evaporate readily at room temperature and atmospheric pressure leaving little to no residue behind in the wicking material. While Acetic acid may be a decent solvent its really no better than alcohol especially considering that its going to be very dilute in any vinegar you purchase from the store. If you do want to go with vinegar just rinse your gear really, really, really well. Then rinse it again. Personally I'd just stick with alcohol IMO. Personally I don't use either because I wouldn't want to vape either one. Also not knowing what juice manufactures use for flavoring (I'd like to think but highly doubt it's all natural flavorings) I'd prefer not to add highly reactive organic solvents like alcohol or Acetic acid to them and then vape the resulting compounds. I know rinsing everything really well drastically reduces that risk through dilution but why take the risk. I just use plain old distilled water. Water is a polar solvent and I've had no trouble cleaning my gear satisfactorily with it. I just think I'ts a safer alternative.