Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy - Using Lemons Around The Home

We say NO to chemical cleaners - not only are the often bad for our health, they are bad for the planet - including in the processes they are manufactured with and how they are disposed of. At Eco Cleaning Fairies we only use products that are kind to our planet, with brands such as Method and Ecover. But we are also BIG fans of natural products, so today we thought we'd muse on our love of lemons!

Lemons are a fab natural cleaning tool, they have powerful antibacterial properties and are a great deodoriser due to their acidic content. Here are some ways you can use lemons in you home:

Lemon as a disinfectant

Slice a lemon in half and rub it over your kitchen surfaces, including your wooden chopping boards and butchers blocks. The acidity in lemons is a powerful disinfectant, creating an acidic environment that microbes don't want to be caught in. You can also give your chopping board a bit of a spa treatment by sprinkling it with salt and rubbing a lemon it, this also works with a squeezed lemon, so it can be done after using it to cook.

Lemon & vinegar are da bomb

We will also be blogging about our passion for vinegar, but for the moment we'll keep our focus on the humble lemon! You can create an all purpose kitchen cleaner with vinegar and lemon (or any citrus fruit!). Chop up your citrus selection so that it fills about half a mason jar, then pour over white vinegar to the top. Seal the jar and leave it for a couple of weeks. The oils in the citrus will diffuse and create a powerful cleaning product with the bang of vinegar, the disinfectant properties of acidic citrus and, joy of joys, it will smell great! You can also use this to to scrub clean your kitchen bin, leave it to dry and then wash it out with fresh water and let dry completely before you pop a bag back in.

Cleaning Copper Pans

Have your copper pans lost their shine, it's lemon time! Grab a lemon and slice it in half, squeeze the juice into a bowl with a couple of table spoons of salt. Mix it into a paste and apply it to the pan using the lemon half, buff away and rinse - you'll be amazed by the results!

Polish Spotty Knives

Over time knives can get rust spots, this can be produced by time in the dishwasher or being left in the sink. Lemon can help, just use a used or fresh lemon and rub it on the knives and then polish with a clean rag.

Clean your microwave

Microwaves can get really grubby, grab a lemon and a microwave safe bowl. Put half a cup of water into the bowl and cut the lemon in half and squeeze into the water. Drop the lemon halves in and and pop it into the microwave. Microwave for 3 minutes on high and the let it stand for 5 minutes so the seam trapped will loosen the food debris. Then just wipe clean, if there are any stubborn stains then dip a rag into the lemon water and give it a scrub. Why not then use the lemon water for a once over on the kitchen....

Remove stains from Tupperware

Oh loathsome Tupperware stains, if you've ever put a delicious chilli in Tupperware or, almost anything else, you'll know the issue. Lemons are your friend here too - Cut a lemon in half and rub it on the Tupperware, make sure you push hard while doing this to give it a really good scrub. Then leave to dry and wash in good soapy water and ta da! Almost as good as new :)

Clean Your Blender

Food processors and blenders can be cleaned beautifully with lemons. Fill your blender half full of warm water, add a good dash of white vinegar, and finally add a coarsely chopped lemon, Run the machine for about a minute and you'll have a beautifully clean, fresh smelling blender to create your kitchen masterpieces!

Do you have any more tips for the use of lemon in the home? It'd be great to hear your tips and tricks!

Lots of Love

Jules & The Fairies

Eco Cleaning Fairies is a cleaning company based in Liverpool that offers domestic cleaning services and commercial cleaning services. We are passionate about the planet and do everything we can to use natural, kind to the planet products to get your space clean. Do get in touch if you would like to a quote.