Orange Peels and Vinegar: 5 Ingenious Tips for Cleaning with Citrus

Want your home to smell fresh and stay clean? Here's your guide to making cleaners with citrus like orange peels and natural agents such as vinegar!

How do you clean in an environmentally friendly, chemical-free way that's actually effective?

Sure, you can spend hundreds of dollars on green cleaning supplies, but why not make your own?

By simply combining citrus fruit with other natural agents, such as orange peels and vinegar, you can create the answer to all your cleaning needs!

Read on for our top five ingenious tips for cleaning with citrus!

Lemons for Laundry

Have you ever had trouble with stains that just won't go away?

Pretty much everyone has. Whether you are dealing with ink, food, drink, or underarm stains, this tip can save you time and money. No more replacing clothes after a couple of months or trying product after product of "guaranteed" commercial cleaning agents.

Lemon juice is a great natural cleaner.

For getting out harsh stains, get scrubbing as soon as possible with straight lemon juice.

For basic underarm stains, scour the stain with half water/half lemon juice before throwing it in the wash.

Finally, adding lemon juice to a batch of whites in the cycle can really brighten things up!

Citrus Microwave Cleaner

Does the inside of your microwave resemble something from a horror movie?

Don't be embarrassed, most people are in the same boat. Microwaves are a pain to clean. Anything that splatters onto the surfaces of the microwave gets cooked onto it.

However, for a quick and easy fix, pour one or two cups of water into a bowl with three tablespoons of lemon juice. Then, microwave the bowl for three to four minutes. Be careful taking the bowl out!

Dip a cleaning rag into the solution and wipe out the microwave. The residue will be primed for cleaning due to the evaporation of the solution during the cycle.

You're welcome!

Citrus Degreaser Spray

The only thing worse than the microwave is a greasy stovetop or oven.

Grease is not water soluble and is very difficult to clean. 

However, with just two simple ingredients, your worries will be a thing of the past. All you need is salt and lime juice!

Coat the greasy areas with a liberal amount of salt. Then cover the salt with the lime juice.

Once it has set for five to 10 minutes, use a scrubbing pad or sponge to work the mixture into the grease. Finally, wipe your worries away with a rag or paper towel!

Orange Peels and Vinegar All-Purpose Cleaner

For an amazing all-purpose cleaner, all you need is water, orange peels, and vinegar.

Get a mason jar of any size, depending on how much cleaner you wish to make. Stuff it to the brim with orange peels. Pour white vinegar in over the top.

Now, seal the jar and place in a cool, dark place, such as a pantry or cupboard. Allow sitting for two or three weeks. When the concoction comes out, remove the orange peels and pour the solution into a spray bottle.

This will leave you a fresh, orange scented all-purpose cleaner without a strong vinegar odor.

A Word of Caution

Finally, when using orange peels and vinegar or any other citrus cleaning solution, make sure you know what surfaces will take the solution without causing damage.

For example, some surfaces, such as hardwood floors, stainless steel, and granite or marble countertops, will not react favorably to orange peels and vinegar cleaning agents.

Test your solution on subtle areas first before cleaning the entire surface with your concoction.

Cleaning With Citrus

Citrus fruit is great for eating healthy, their wonderful citrus aromas, cleaning agents and more!

You walk inside and squeeze yourself a fresh glass of orange, then take the peels and repurpose them for an environmentally friendly, chemical-free cleaning spray! Think about how much money you'll save by switching to orange peels and vinegar for cleaning. 

Growing trees is fun, but if you want to have delicious, seasonal citrus fruit right away, join the Craft Citrus Club!

Try our seasonal citrus box while its available...the Craft Citrus Club!

Our Rio box is a 15-lb curated box of our fresh-harvested citrus from South Texas. The fruit is NOT gassed, rather it is tree-ripened. Our season runs from Nov-May for  oranges, grapefruit and mandarins.

Our Grande box is a 30-lb box of either fresh-harvested Rio Red Grapefruit or Sweet Oranges from South Texas.