Cleaning with Lemons
Lemons are great for cleaning around the home but I wouldn’t suggest going out and buying a big bag of lemons just for cleaning as they can be quite expensive.
However, if you’re using lemons for cooking or find some that are slightly going over and reduced then these are some great ways to use them around the home.
And remember lemons work well for cleaning around the home because of their high acidity so treat them the same as you would vinegar and don’t use them to clean stone and marble.
How to clean a wooden chopping board with lemons
Sprinkle your chopping board with some table salt and use half a lemon, cut side down. Scrub the chopping board with the half a lemon squeezing slightly to release the juice. Once you’ve scrubbed the board leave it 5 to 10 minutes and the rinse with warm water. This will remove stain and odours from your chopping board.
How to Use Lemons for cleaning a microwave
Lemons are a great way to help clean your microwave. Pop a couple of slices in a bowl of water and place it in the microwave. Heat on high until the water is steaming, turn off the microwave and leave for 10 minutes.
Open the microwave and remove the bowl and wipe down the inside of the microwave, the greasy deposits will be easy to remove and your microwave will smell clean and fresh.
How to descale a kettle with lemons
Fill your kettle with water and pop a couple of pieces of lemon in. Bring to the boil, let it stand for 30 minutes. Bring your kettle to the boil again, empty and rinse and you see the limescale has melted away.
How to clean your Bathroom with lemons
Rub the cut side of a lemon over your glass shower screen, taps, plug holes etc to remove limescale and water marks. Rinse and dry and see how they shine.
Infuse White Vinegar with Lemon Peel
When I’m making a general purpose vinegar cleaner I like to infuse the vinegar with citrus peel or herbs first. Once you’ve infused the vinegar it can be added to your cleaning recipes or for a general purpose spray dilute it 50/50 with cooled boiled water.
YOU’LL NEED:
- Glass jar
- White Vinegar
- Citrus peel
HOW TO:
- Fill your jar 2/3 full with white vinegar
- Add citrus peel to the jar whenever you have some available
- Leave for at least 2 weeks (the longer the better)
- Strain to remover the citrus peel and it’s ready to use
- You can always have a jar on the go and just keep topping it up with vinegar and peel, you will need to discard the peel every few weeks.
Remember – Never use vinegar based cleaners on marble, stone, ceramic or granite surfaces
If you found this useful you might like to check out some of my other natural cleaning recipes, I’ve got lots in my Home Cleaning and Organising section.
