When life gives you lemons, you can do a whole lot more with them than just make lemonade. Lemons are the superwomen of fruit. From a special sweet treat, to cleaning your home or amplifying your beauty routine…lemons are wonderfully versatile. When most of us think of lemons we think in terms of cooking or baking, but lemons make for fantastic household cleaners. Here are my ten favourite uses for lemons in the home.
Clean your microwave and stovetop
I love these two cleaning ideas, because they are so wonderfully easy and you’re not introducing chemicals to the inside of your microwave, putting your family at risk of ingesting them.
Grab one or two lemon halves that you have already squeezed for juice. Put them into the microwave for about 20 seconds, carefully take them out and rub them onto the dirty surface of your microwave or stovetop, then wipe the surface down with a wet cloth.
Or fill a microwave safe dish about halfway with water, squeeze a lemon into the water and pop the squeezed lemon into the dish. Microwave the mixture for 3-5 minutes. Don’t open the door immediately. Let the steam work it’s magic for a few more minutes (and let that dish cool down just a bit) before you wipe down the inside of your microwave. Dip a sponge in the lemon/water mixture and watch caked-on stains wipe away easily! This warm homemade cleanser is great for all surfaces like counter tops, the inside of the fridge, as well as your sink, toilet, tables and more!
Make an all-purpose cleaner
What makes lemons great is that you can use every part of the fruit. For this recipe one uses the peels which usually end up in the bin.
Take the peels of about five lemons and put them in a large jar, fill it to the top with white distilled vinegar and pop it in a cupboard out of direct sunlight for about 2 weeks. Strain out the peels and funnel your solution into a spray bottle. Use it on kitchen tops or in the bathroom.
Refresh your cutting board
Sprinkle your cutting board with a hard grain salt then take a squeezed half lemon (better if there’s still some pulp intact) and rub it vigorously. Give your cutting board a good rinse and allow to dry.
Dehydrate your peels for recipes and tea
Cut the rind into strips and scrape away as much of the pith as possible. Dry the peel in a single layer on a plate or drying rack for a few days.
You could also dry your lemon peel in the oven. Lay them out on baking paper and pop them into the oven on a low temperature, about 100 degrees. They’ll dry out slowly over a few hours, make sure to check and turn them every 20 minutes of so. Store them in an airtight container.
Make lemon pepper
Chop your dehydrated lemon peel finely and mix it into your pepper grater for fresh lemon pepper.
Deodorise your garbage bin
To freshen up your bin place lemon peels, pith removed, at the bottom of your bin underneath the plastic bag. This will add a lovely lemon scent to your bin. Replace them weekly.
Remove scum and grime from your bathtub and basin
In case you haven’t noticed, I love using baking soda around the house. To sort out scum build up in your bathroom sprinkle the area with baking soda and scrub it away with a lemon quarter. The lemon acts as a bleaching agent leaving your bathroom squeaky-clean.
Clean off underarm stains
For that discolouration around the underarms of your shirts, take a squeezed lemon half and rub it vigorously on the stain. For tough stains sprinkle some baking soda on top for good measure. Let it sit overnight and then wash. This works for grease stains as well.
Clean teapots
If you have a sediment build up in your teapot, add the rinds of two lemons, 2 tablespoons of salt, and a cup or two of ice cubes to a cool pot. Swirl it around for a few minutes or until you notice the build up has dissolved. This is a great alternative to using abrasive cleaners.
Pop those peels in the compost
Finally, despite popular belief, you can compost citrus peels. If none of the above work for you, pop your lemon peels and leftovers on your compost heap. Citrus peels may take a long time to decompose, but they do. You can speed up the process by cutting up the peels into small pieces.
Happy cleaning, but be sure to save a few lemons for a lemon meringue.
xxx
