Forget The Cleaning Vinegar: Wipe Down Countertops With 2 Simple Ingredients

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Vinegar this, vinegar that — usually that's what comes up when you do a search for simple household cleaning ingredients online. While vinegar is certainly capable of doing the job, it might cause more harm than good on surfaces like your stone counters. Chances are you (or someone you're renting from) spent good money on those bad boys, so ditch the cleaning vinegar for two products you already have at home: dish soap and water. Put these two in a spray bottle, and you've got yourself a 2-ingredient miracle cleaner ready to make your kitchen counters sparkle.

Despite what its name suggests, using it on countertops is one way you probably didn't realize you could use dish soap. It's full of surfactants, molecules that help attract grease and grime. Soap and water can remove dirt and most germs from household surfaces, making this simple mixture a great option for routine countertop cleaning. But cleaning is not the same as disinfecting, so you may still need a more powerful disinfectant when the kiddos are sick or you've been handling raw meat.

Perhaps the biggest sell is this combo can also be a gentler alternative to vinegar. Since vinegar is an acid, it can break down sensitive stone material and actually ruin your counters over time. It's recommended to use warm water and a mild liquid dishwashing detergent for many stone surfaces (except marble — more on that later), but just make sure your mixture is diluted properly. Too much soap can leave behind streaks, which is unsightly but isn't the end of the world. A second pass with a microfiber cloth can take care of that.

As with most cleaning DIYs, ratios matter, and you need to make sure you dilute your mixture properly. This recipe from Real Simple uses four cups of water and one teaspoon of dish soap, which can be cut in half to fit into a standard 16-ounce spray bottle. You'll want to fill the bottle with water first, then add the soap to avoid a bubbly overflow. Next, place the spray nozzle back on your bottle and gently shake until combined. To use on your counters, remove any stray crumbs first so you don't drag them into the surface (which could create scratches), then spray your solution and wipe clean with a microfiber cloth. For any caked-on bits, you can let the solution soak for a few before wiping away. Before storing, label your bottle so you don't forget what's inside.

Knowing the types of countertops you should never clean with vinegar doesn't mean every alternative is automatically safe for every surface. While the mix works great on soapstone, granite, quartz, and quartzite, it should not be used on marble. Consumer Reports spoke to one manager at Lowes who revealed that "dish soap should be avoided altogether for marble countertops, and professional cleaners like Granite Gold Daily Cleaner should be used." Marble is extremely porous and can absorb liquids easily, which makes it very finicky when it comes to picking the right cleaning product.