5 Ways to Clean Your Home with Lemons

My husband is home sick, so he's been drinking mug after mug of hot lemon concoctions. (And FYI: no swine flu here, I swear.) Lemon with ginger, lemon with mint, lemon and more lemon. So, we've been going through more lemons than usual.

And that reminded me just how incredibly useful this common little citrus fruit really is. I wanted to share with you guys 5 ways to use lemons (and sometimes you can interchange oranges or limes) to clean around your home. Naturally, and with an oh-so-fresh aroma.

1. Scour it. Dip a halved lemon into regular table salt and use in kitchen sinks, and along countertops as a natural scouring agent. Just wipe the residue away with a moistened sponge. Especially nice in the kitchen as it leaves that real lemony essence lingering behind.
2. De-Stink It. Natural lemon juice helps de-stink (okay, freshen) your hands and any other surfaces that fish came into contact with. And leave a wedge to serve with the fish, too please!
3. Bleach It. Lemons are nature's own little bleach machines. Add some fresh lemon juice to white laundry to replace bleach OR make a thick paste of lemon juice and baking soda to scrub stained dishes or plastic storage containers. That powerhouse team of baking soda and lemon juice will also leave those containers smelling sweet and fresh.
4. Shine It. Add a little lemon juice to any of the natural glass cleaning recipes in my book to get lemony fresh cleaners, minus all the chemicals and additives in commercial varieties. You could even add some to club soda, one of my favorite shiny surface cleaners!
5. Wash It. This is a cool tip I just found out about, and plan to try later on tonight. Pop a half lemon right into the dishwasher to get sparklier, more delicious smelling dishes. I might try just filling the regular detergent with baking soda, and then throwing in half a lemon and see what happens. However, I almost feel sorry for what the poor lemon will endure...

So, pop over to the supermarket and pick up a lemons. It's more than an aromatic addition to your iced tea - it's a cleaning mighty mouse!

Removing Cat Urine Odors from Carpets - Organic Cleaning Tips

Looky, looky! I just received this fantastic testimonial on using plain old water and vinegar to get out cat urine smells. And I own two cats, both of whom have had occasional 'oopsies'...so I know very well that particular TANG of cat urine. Ick.


Here's the original post on using water & vinegar to clean carpets: http://www.happyslob.com/carpetsolution.html
Here's the email:

Hi Christina,

I actually used the Steam Cleaning Tip of Hot Water and Vinegar and unbelievably it cleaned out a cat urine smell. (my cat was ill and had an accident).

I had tried the commercial solution and it smelled like flowery cat pee LOL. I used the vinegar and water solution in my machine for 3 days straight and even though the vinegar smelled a little ripe, the end result when it dried was no odor, and the carpet was much brighter overall.

Thanks for the tip!

Lynnette