Does White Vinegar Neutralize Salt?

Inquisitive minds want to know.
What's the best way to combat road salts on your vehicle?
Here's what sounds like a simple solution, but does it actually work?

The following info was found via Google search.

Get a pressure washer that has a soap container attachment and fill it with vinegar. It'll mix with the water and will neutralize the salt. Of course, your car will smell like a douche for a day or so, but it's better than rust. Use white vinegar; don't use balsamic red wine vinegar, obviously.

I have a Pressure Washer (with a solution tank), and a gallon of White Vinegar.
I'm going to spray the entire (underside will be my main focus) truck with it, and let it sit for the day, then wash it

 

Water dissolves salt, so... just spray it off? Maybe the vinegar isn’t needed, although vinegar will help remove some types of water spots.

 

I prefer balsamic

 

Apple cider

 

Just hose it off and flush the frame real good.

Your regular household vinegar is low concentration but I don’t think I care to spray it all over my frame and associated lines....it’s still an acid.

 

What do you mean by "neutralize"? Its not really like an acid, where you would add a base to get a neutral solution

 

The acetic acid of the vinegar reacts with the salt, or sodium chloride, to produce sodium acetate and hydrogen chloride. Hydrogen chloride is a strong acid. A thorough car wash using traditional car wash soap to remove salt works well, no need to neutralize.

 

I had good luck scrubbing salt off car mats with APC, and stiff brush. Then rinse rinse good. I also had to pick the dried up salt chunks off.

If you feel the need to neutralize the vinegar then baking soda will do the trick.

 

IMHO,
Acids, like vinegar, oxalic acid, etc., will slightly help clean the road salts off of your vehicle. Although, I wouldn't recommend using it. Water, especially hot water, will dissolve it just fine on it's own. A little surfactant (car wash soap) will help the water get into all of the nooks and crannies. What you want to do is "neutralize" (replace the chlorine that has bonded to the metals) the metal that the salt has attacked. There are plenty of products that will help with leaving the metals more "passive". I have been using Salt Away for the last several years (not a sponsor, no connection). There are plenty other products though. Such as: CRC Salt and Corrosion Terminator; Starbright Salt Off; Bio-Clean Salt Kleen Neutralizer, etc...
With that said, a good application in the fall of Fluid Film (Wool Wax, etc...) will protect most of the metals from being attacked by the salt. I still give my vehicles a good treatment of Slat Away, followed by a good wash, as soon as I can in the spring.

 

Seen a product called Salts Gone, never tried it, looks interesting.

 

A foam cannon and a scrub brush is about fancy as I’d get. Rinse with pressure washer. Bonus points if you can get the truck up. If you’re really concerned you could hit it with a degreaser first. I’d also apply cosmoline or lanolin after it all dries.