Question 1

How long after spraying weeds should I notice it working? How many hours without rain does it need to be effective?

Accepted Answer

I mix 32oz of 75% vinegar, 4oz dawn concentrated dish soap, and 4oz of salt in a 1 gallon sprayer.  I then add water to finish filling the sprayer.  Spray the weeds in the morning on a sunny day and they will be dead within an hour of sun hitting them.  Mixing salt and vinegar makes sodium acetate and hydrogen chloride. Don’t get this on anything in your yard you don’t want to kill.  The soap is important because it holds the mix to the weed.

Question 2

Will this clean stains off of concrete?

Accepted Answer

Bottom line:  
** yes AND no! **

This acetic acid (aka white vinegar) at 75% concentration is nearly as caustic as the standard dilution of muriatic acid.  In fact, it will do as much or more damage to certain porous mineral surfaces like concrete (especially if floated very smooth), limestone as well as sandstone.

Be advised that if not first diluted to 15% or less concentration, you should NOT leave the solution on concrete for an extended period unless you intend to etch away 1 or 2 mm from the surface with each treatment!

This obviously is NOT the best choice for intensive acid etching such as would be needed during surface preparation of a dirty, oily but generally smooth unpainted garage floor prior to applying a bonding primer and 2 part epoxy maintenance-free floor finish.

Generally speaking, concentrated muriatic acid or dilute sulfuric acid would be used to assure a complete and even etching on porous stone / concrete.

I highly recommend finding PHOSPHORIC ACID for the purpose you mention....it is less toxic, safer (though still requires proper handling) and the formulation happens to be better suited to concrete cleaning!

Now, the reason my answer started out with both yes AND no, has to do with the TYPE of STAINS you are trying to remove.

Essentially, for many organic, water based stains including calcium / lime scale build-up, the vinegar along with Dawn dish soap (which makes an excellent all purpose degreaser and surfactant that will bind up the acid-loosened minerals or similar stains, aiding in easy rinsing!

For severe oily stains the vinegar and dish soap solution won't be adequate so don't waste your time and energy.   This is where you will want to invest in TRISODIUM PHOSPHATE (TSP), an industrial foaming degreaser and of course for a uniformly clean concrete surface, spraying an even PHOSPHORIC ACID solution over the entire surface will make for a fantastic finished result no matter how bad the original stains nor variety of tough stains encountered.

Be mindful these solutions all are damaging to ornamental grasses, turf grasses and shrubbery.   Vinegar and Dawn would be red least harmful provided all the cleaning solution was thoroughly rinsed away and not allowed to sit on delicate foliage for any longer than necessary.  All of these solutions pose some risk unless handled properly...a couple of them pose severe risk...so common sense is key and always READ THE DIRECTIONS / MANUAL THOROUGHLY before starting a project like this.

It should be noted that many metals & alloys will quickly react  to concentrated acetic acid (vinegar), often becoming permanently discolored & dulling significantly, so keep this in mind as well.

I hope this gets you headed in the right direction!  Good luck and safe cleaning.

Cheers

Question 3

how much do you dilute to achieve 20%, 30% and 40% vinegar solution?

Accepted Answer

One part concentrated vinegar to 0.87 parts water (a little less than 1 to 1) will yield a solution that is 40% acetic acid (the active ingredient in vinegar.

One part concentrated vinegar to 1.5 parts water will produce a 30% solution.

One part concentrated vinegar to 2.75 parts water will produce a 20% solution.

Question 4

Will it kill nutsedge? All the way down to the nut?

Accepted Answer

Like a navy seal

ASIN	B08QS85XN6
Best Sellers Rank	#82,771 in Grocery ( See Top 100 in Grocery ) #384 in Vinegars
Brand	Calyptus
Brand Name	Calyptus
Container Type	Glass Bottle
Contains Liquid Contents?	Yes
Customer Reviews	4.6 out of 5 stars 2,980 Reviews
Item Form	Liquid
Item Volume	1 Quarts
Item form	Liquid
Item volume	1 Quarts
Material Features	Biodegradable
Material features	Biodegradable
Model Number	1
Part Number	CALYPTUS-VINEGAR-80-32OZ-1X
Scent	Unscented
Special Features	Concentrated
Specific Uses For Product	Multi Purpose Cleaning and Degreasing
Specific uses for product	Multi Purpose Cleaning and Degreasing
Surface Recommendation	Window, Floor, Wall, Countertop, Drain, Stone, Gutter
UPC	850000272248
Unit Count	14195.3 Milliliters

75% pure, super concentrated vinegar..

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