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What happens when you mix salt and vinegar chemically?

By The Salt AlmanacUpdated November 8, 20262 sources cited

Short answer

Mostly nothing: salt simply dissolves in vinegar, and no significant chemical reaction occurs. Together, though, the acid and chloride ions make a useful cleaner for tarnished copper and brass, because they help dissolve copper oxide. That's why salt and vinegar is a classic way to shine pennies and copper pans.

The Salt Almanac

Salt + vinegar

What happensWhy
In the bottleWhat happens: Salt dissolves; no real reactionWhy: Weak acid + stable salt
On copperWhat happens: Tarnish dissolves quicklyWhy: Acid + chloride ions attack copper oxide
AfterwardsWhat happens: Rinse wellWhy: Residue promotes new corrosion
Graphic: The Salt Almanac, drawn from the sources listed below.

Why there's no real reaction

Vinegar is mostly water with about 5% acetic acid, a weak acid. Sodium chloride is a stable salt. When mixed, the salt dissolves into sodium and chloride ions, and the acetic acid stays mostly as it is.

The copper trick

Dirty pennies and copper pans are coated in copper oxides. Acid alone dissolves them slowly; chloride ions help by forming soluble copper-chloride complexes. Salt plus vinegar together clean copper much faster than either alone.

A word of caution

Rinse cleaned copper well. Left on, salt and acid residues encourage new corrosion. Never mix vinegar with bleach, which releases toxic chlorine gas.

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For school projects and reports. Teachers often prefer the original sources too: see the list below.

The Salt Almanac. (2026, November 8). What happens when you mix salt and vinegar chemically. https://saltalmanac.com/answers/what-happens-when-you-mix-salt-and-vinegar-chemically

Original sources

  1. Wikipedia. Acetic acid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetic_acid
  2. Wikipedia. Sodium chloride. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_chloride