Natural Multi-Purpose Citrus Cleaner

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I love a clean house, but it's always been a love/hate relationship (until recently).  

What do I mean by this?  I mean, I've always thought there was a problem if I had to clean in a "well ventilated" area and turn on my vents in the bathrooms, or open the windows just to make it easier for me to breathe.  I also hated telling my 4 year old that she couldn't help me clean the bathrooms because of the toxic smells.  This just seemed like a problem to me.  

I heard about people using vinegar to clean, but frankly, I can't stand the way the stuff smells.  It's almost as bad as the toxic smell of the conventional cleaners.  I also prefer something that I can spray (and not sprinkle like baking soda).  So, what was I to do?

I just happened to stumble across a picture from my friend at The Hippiekarmama on facebook of a natural cleaning solution not long ago. So, I asked her about it and decided to make it myself.  I modified her version just a little bit for an extra boost.  

It's super easy and effective!  So far I have used it on the kitchen counters, sink, stove, and table; I have used it to clean the bathroom counters, sinks, and toilets.  And I even used it on some tough grease in a pan I used to cook breakfast sausage.  

What you'll need:

Recycled Glass containers

Orange peels (Or any other citrus fruit peels.  This makes it smell great plus it adds cleaning power.)

1 T Salt (any kind)

Vinegar

Distilled Water

5-10 drops Essential oil (optional)

Step One:  Cut orange peels (I had these frozen from when I made orange juice) and fill any empty glass containers you have on hand (I'm crazy about saving ALL glass containers).  If you don't have glass containers you can fill any containers that you have.

Step Two: Add some salt to the orange peels and let them sit for 20-30 minutes (or longer).  This will pull the oils from the peels and ultimately make your cleaning solution stronger.  You only need enough salt to lightly cover the peels.

Step Three:  Fill the containers with vinegar and water.  You can do all vinegar and leave it as is, you can do all vinegar and then add the water at the end of step 5, or you can do 1/2 water and 1/2 vinegar. 

Step Four:  Put a TIGHT FITTING lid on the jars and let the solution sit and be pretty for 2-3 weeks.  The longer it sits the better.  They make a great conversation starter too!  

Step Five:  Strain the solution and fill a squirt bottle with your natural ORANGE cleaner.  I just happened to have this one under my sink.  If you are using essential oils you will add them at this time.

Overall I love this cleaner.  My bathroom sinks were the worst they've ever been and this did the trick.  I did have to use a little more elbow grease, but I honestly didn't have to scrub that much harder.  I also didn't mind the extra scrubbing because I wasn't breathing in those awful fumes from my old cleaner.  This cleaner was also super cheap (which we all love).  I do recommend that you start a new solution as soon as you start using yours so that you have it ready when you run out.


What other natural cleaners do you use?  If you enjoyed reading this please share it with someone else!

UPDATE: I had several people experiment (as did I), and we found that you can reuse the peels at least one more time.  The solution obviously isn't as strong the second time around, but this makes it great for cleaning floors.  I found that if I don't mix the original solution with water it makes my floors sticky (and who wants to see shoe prints on a clean floor??).

I have included affiliate links in this post.  That means that if you purchase something by clicking from this page I will get a portion of money from the sales, at no extra cost to you.  Thank you so much for supporting this blog and my family.

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Make Your Own Monday

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DIY Thrifty Thursday
Make-It Yourself Monday
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Frugal Way Sustainable Ways Wednesdays