Last Thanksgiving, I was hosting dinner for the first time. My mother-in-law was coming. That sentence alone probably tells you everything about the pressure I was under. I had a turkey in the oven, four side dishes in progress, and a gravy that was refusing to thicken. At some point during the chaos, I turned away from the stove for maybe thirty seconds to check the dining table. When I turned back, a pot of potatoes had boiled over, sending starchy water cascading across my glass cooktop, where it immediately burned into a blackened, crusty mess.

I spent the next twenty minutes scrubbing with a sponge, then a scrub pad, then the special cooktop cleaner I had bought specifically for this stove. Nothing budged those burned-on stains. My mother-in-law arrived early. She saw me hunched over the stove, sweaty and defeated, and said the words that changed my kitchen cleaning life: “Do you have any vinegar?”

She filled a spray bottle with equal parts white vinegar and water, spritzed the entire cooktop generously, and told me to wait five minutes. I used that time to compose myself and pour her a very large glass of wine. When I came back, she wiped the cooktop with a microfiber cloth, and the burned-on starch lifted off like it had never been there. No scrubbing. No special cleaners. Just vinegar and patience.

Since that day, I have kept a spray bottle of diluted white vinegar next to my stove at all times. It has become the most-used cleaning tool in my kitchen. Vinegar’s mild acetic acid breaks down alkaline food residues — the stuff that hard water, starch, and proteins leave behind. It cuts through grease on my backsplash, dissolves water spots on my stainless steel faucet, and deodorizes my cutting boards after I have been chopping garlic or handling raw chicken.

I use it on my microwave too. Instead of scrubbing the inside walls (which always feels awkward and never gets everything), I fill a microwave-safe bowl with equal parts vinegar and water, microwave it for five minutes until it is steaming vigorously, and let it sit for another two minutes. The steam loosens every food splatter inside. A quick wipe with a paper towel and the microwave looks brand new. The vinegar smell dissipates within minutes, taking any lingering food odors with it.

One thing I learned the hard way: do not use vinegar on natural stone countertops like granite or marble. The acid can etch the surface. I nearly ruined a section of my parents’ granite island before my dad stopped me. For stone, stick with a pH-neutral cleaner or just warm soapy water. But for literally every other surface in my kitchen — glass, stainless steel, ceramic, laminate, sealed wood — vinegar has been safe and effective.

The cost comparison is almost funny. I used to buy a different specialized cleaner for every surface: cooktop cleaner, stainless steel polish, degreaser, microwave cleaner, cutting board spray. Each bottle was between five and twelve dollars. Now I buy gallon jugs of white vinegar at the grocery store for about three dollars each. A single gallon makes eight spray bottles of diluted cleaner. I am spending pennies per month on something I used to spend thirty or forty dollars on.

My mother-in-law still brings up that Thanksgiving whenever she visits. Not to embarrass me — she actually seems proud that her vinegar trick stuck. Last week she noticed my spray bottle by the stove and just smiled. Some of the best kitchen advice comes from people who have already made all the mistakes you are about to make.