I am totally abandoning vinegar if this experiment works out and I can't think why it shouldn't.

I assume people have been using vinegar for ages to change ph. In dyeing, vinegar is used to help strike the color on a wool fiber. I try to be as organic as possible. I am not comfortable with sulfuric acid and muriatic acid. I used to work with sulfuric acid and it ate holes in a my clothing. I worked with a rubber apron on and thick rubber gloves. Big ones. I was very careful not to splash.