If you’ve ever been on Pinterest for longer than 5 minutes, you’ve seen the Homemade Orange Cleaner recipe. A jar of orange peels swimming in liquid which claims to be a simple and easy (not to mention cheap) household cleaner. I’ve seen it called DIY citrus Cleaner, Orange and vinegar Cleaner, Orange Peel and Vinegar Cleaner, Orange Enzyme Cleaner, Well after eating a temple orange at the beginning of the month, I thought “Why not? I’ll try it.” I learned that yes, orange peels in vinegar is a wonderful INGREDIENT to a homemade cleaning solution. BUT, it cannot be used on all surfaces.
Let me start off by saying that this method makes CONCENTRATE. That means that it will have to be DILUTED when used for cleaning.
Homemade Orange Cleaner Concentrate Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 or 4 Orange peels (pith included)
- 2- 3 cups of White vinegar
Directions:
I stuffed orange peels in an old 14 oz. tomato sauce jar and covered them with vinegar. Let the mixture sit for at least 3 weeks. (the longer you do this, the more potent the mix).
No, I didn’t sit down and eat 4 oranges at once, I simply ripped up an orange peel after I ate the wedges and poured enough vinegar over the peel to cover it. As I ate more I added more to the jar and poured more vinegar in. By the end of the week, I had a full jar, (which frankly I left in a back corner of my kitchen and forgot about until my mother came to visit and asked me about it.) I turned it upside down occasionally before pulling it out this week to start working with it. All in all the orange peels sat and steeped in the vinegar mixture for about 4 weeks. The solution that will result will be thick like syrup and again, MUST be diluted when using it for everyday uses.
Homemade Orange Cleaner All-Purpose Spray Recipe
Ingredients:
- ½ cup Homemade Orange Cleaner Concentrate
- ½ cup water
- optional: 20 drops of essential oil of your choice ( i used rosemary but you can use whatever you’d like)
- Spray bottle
Directions:
Pour concentrate and water into bottle and shake vigorously. Then add essential oils and shake again.
How I used it:
I used this spray to clean my stainless steel sink. After scrubbing it down like this first. I also used it in the bathroom on the tile and in my porcelain sink. My tub is fiberglass and I used it in there too. I was REALLY impressed with how it handled the soap scum on the shower door! I added a capful of hydrogen peroxide to the mix and cleaned the toilet and floor around it as well. I can see this, combined with my Simple Super Scrub are going to be my go to items to clean my bathroom with
There are things you CANNOT clean with Homemade Orange Cleaner
Many of the posts out there say you can use this to clean EVERYTHING and you really can’t, because citrus is an acid and it can damage or change the composition of certain things it comes in contact with.Below is a list of a few that I know of. (If you know of more please comment below and I’ll add it to the list!)
DO NOT USE ANY TYPE OF CITRUS CLEANER ON THE FOLLOWING SURFACES
- Granite or Marble counter tops
- Stone Flooring
- Hardwood floors (Sealed or not)
- Stainless Steel
- Painted surfaces
So the bottom line is, yes, Homemade Orange Cleaner is a cost-effective alternative to cleaning with commercial grade cleaners, BUT you cannot use it on everything, so be mindful. Next time I’m going to try mixing a few citrus items together, like orange, lemon and grapefruit peels. I’ll let you know how it turns out!
- How do you use your Homemade Orange Cleaner ?
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