I love lemons. If I could be a fruit, I would be a lemon. Seriously. They are so versatile, so easy to get hold of (even if you don’t have your own trees), so amazingly lovely and lemony and so blimming useful. Just off the top off my head, here are a few things that you can do with lemons;
Chuck them at your husband/wife when he/she annoys you.
Trick the dogs in to thinking it is a ball because you can’t find their actual ball.
Make zesty home-made soaps (soon to come).
Make all sorts of lemon-flavoured cakes and treats.
And, home-made lemonade, of course!
That’s five things without even trying.
Two weeks ago, I made my first batch of home-made cleaning solution. As part of our continuing efforts to live as naturally as possibly and trying to free our home from the many chemicals that plague our lives, I’ve started with something easy, quick and simple, as those three words always appeal to me on any day of the week.
I remember when I was pregnant, I read somewhere to be careful with household cleaning products and to avoid unwitting ingestion. This got me thinking. If this stuff isn’t good for my unborn child, what makes anyone think it is good for me?
And whilst it’s brewing, it looks pretty too.
So using pinterest and other articles that I found online, I half filled a kilner jar with lemon quarters/chunks then added white wine vinegar to cover the lemons, then added more lemons and then more vinegar until the jar was full with both. If you are a plonker like me, you will probably add too much vinegar so that when it comes to closing the lid, you end up squishing stinky vinegar everywhere. Hopefully, you are not a plonker!
I then left this on the work top for two weeks so that the lemon has a good chance of infusing the vinegar. I think it makes quite a nice decorative feature, too! I’m still on the look out for a glass spray bottle, as opposed to a plastic one. I figure that seeing as I am trying to make something as natural as possible, it would defeat the purpose to put it into a plastic, chemically treated bottle. So currently, until I find a glass bottle I am taking to pouring the liquid onto a cloth and using it that way.
RESULTS: I am pleased with it. I don’t think you can ever diminish the smell of vinegar but the lemon does mask it very well and it definitely does not smell like you have used a load of vinegar to clean your house. I think this solution is great for kitchen surfaces, tiled floors and even our battered old leather chairs but my next plan is to try to make a chemical free soap-based cleaning solution which we can use in the bathrooms, as I like the idea of tackling bath surfaces with a soapy solution. I don’t know why. But all in all, I am happy with this alternative cleaning product. It’s cheap and easy to make and is completely natural and as far as I can see (and smell) it is doing as good a job as any commercial product.
I would love to hear if anyone has done something similar or about to? Or if anyone has any other tips for natural cleaning products, do share! x
Trying to live naturally... 