Q: I’ve heard about numerous ways to use vinegar for cleaning—when should it not be used as a cleaning agent?

A: There are three different types of soils—acid, alkaline and oil-based—and vinegar is used to remove alkaline soils. For example, salts in pet urine convert to alkaline after drying, so it would take an acid-based solution like vinegar and water to remove salts from the carpet. My concern about vinegar is with natural stone tiles, which are in most homes today; since vinegar is an acid, it can damage natural stone. Considering most household soils are acid-based, I would recommend a peroxide (oxygen)-based solution, which is safe for most cleaning.