Put Citrus Fruit To Work As Household Cleaners
Eating citrus fruit might be on the top of most peoples’ lists, but in a pinch they can serve double duty as cleaning tools and quite a few other household chores. Photo by Annushka_74.
The acid that gives lemons their tartness and the delicious smelling oil in the skin of oranges are good for so much more than flavouring things and giving drinks an extra zing. At the household blog Re-Nest they’ve assembled a list of ways you can put your citrus fruit to work. While the best course of action might be to slice up a lemon for drink on a hot day, you can also:
- Remove light stains from delicate clothing by soaking them in a mixture of lemon juice and baking soda for a half hour.
- Make your own spray cleaner by mixing two tablespoons lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon liquid soap, 1/2 teaspoon washing soda, and one teaspoon Borax into two cups hot water. Mix until dissolved.
- Get rid of mildew on clothes, by making a paste of lemon juice and salt and rubbing it on the affected area, then drying the clothes in sunlight. Repeat the process until the stain is gone. This works well for rust stains on clothes too.
For more citrus tricks, check out the full list at the link below. Whether you’re trying to avoid using store bought chemical concoctions in your home or you’ve realised the serving platter needs polishing right before guests come over and you’re fresh out of polishing paste, you’ll find some handy way to repurpose those lemons sitting in your fridge. 27 Household Uses for Citrus Fruit [Re-Nest]
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
Not so much a tip as common sense, but I love putting any and all citrus peel in my sink disposal.
I use lemon juice to remove the corrosion from the bottom of my copper pots. It lets me avoid buying and using more chemicals and is just as effective.
Also, if you really don't like the smell of garlic on your hands and don't have stainless steel lying around, mix a paste of salt and lemon juice and wash your hands with it. Instant garlic off!(tm)
@paralaxc: Are you saying citrus peel by itself is bad but a wedge of citrus fruit is ok?
Dilznoofus
@idx: Hmmm I've read that's actually a bad thing for garbage disposal systems, as the fibers can gunk up the works.
Better to shove a wedge in there and let 'er rumble!
@Log1c: This has been the method at in-n-out for food prep people for years.
s0crates82
Not at all related to cleaning, but if you've got a niece or nephew you'd like to impress with the magic of science... bending the skin of an orange near an open flame causes the orange oil to spurt out and create a mini fireball. Here's a video of a ton of orange peels being squeezed at once:
+ Watch video
If you slice a lemon in half, and sprinkle salt on the inside, you can use this to polish copper.
ClaireCybele
You can use lemon juice as soldering flux, too.
ManekiNeko
@Log1c: Plain salt works just as well.
@idx: I've been putting orange peels into the disposal to "freshen" it for years.
Don't forget to drop old ice from the ice machine into it annually to sharpen the blades too. I have no idea why this works.
TheFu
@TheFu: Me neither, but it does. I had a disposal in an apartment that was nearly useless, took forever to grind up food and still left remnants in the bottom. I read about the ice trick and it worked, the thing worked like new, I was amazed.
baquwards
@Jason Fitzpatrick: Sounds good, I remember hearing about doing this but I had never seen it.
The lime or lemon wedge is one of the best known removers of the tequila-in-the-mouth flavors. Greatly enhanced by a shake of salt to pre-treat the palate.
CurtisEnemasity