Wednesday, March 13, 2013

5 Ways to Clean with Olive Oil

Delicious, rich and healthy olive oil. When you think of that gorgeous, green-tinted oil you likely think of whipping up some fresh vinaigrette - not cleaning with the stuff. But, olive oil is a useful cleaner for nearly every room in the house. Here are five of my favorite ways to use olive oil to clean your home:

  1. Remove fingerprints and smudges from stainless steel. Just a tiny amount of olive oil (any type - light, extra virgin, etc.) on a soft cloth will buff out any fingerprints, smudges or marks on stainless steel. Just literally a few drops will do the trick. Don't use too much oil or you'll be left with an oily residue.
  2. Polish wood. I like a combination of olive oil and a little squeeze of lemon to polish wooden furniture or surfaces - but even a wee bit of olive oil alone will give you a lovely, shiny clean wooden surface. Adding the lemon also  makes it smell wonderful.
  3. Polish leather furniture. Whether it's leather chairs at the dining room table, or leather sofas or couches, a tiny bit of olive oil on a soft cloth will buff that surface up beautifully.
  4. Add moisture to wooden utensils. Especially in dry climates, wooden utensils, spoons and wooden cutting boards need a little love and attention. Rub some olive oil into the wood and watch the wood soak it up like a thirsty little sponge!
  5. Remove glue and other sticky stuff. A bit of olive oil left to sit on sticky residue (such as leftover goo from a price tag or sticker) will make it easy to gently scrape it off.
Those are my favorite uses - now, do you have a secret way to clean with olive oil? Share it in a comment!

1 comment:

Margaret Lemon said...

Regarding olive oil on leather. I used to sell leather furniture so I suggest you test olive oil on a hidden area. Some leathers will absorb the oil and turn dark. Also, use of olive oil would void any warranty. In general, oils are bad for leather.