How to Make Your Own All Purpose Cleaner

How to Make Your Own All Purpose Cleaner

I came across a recipe on Facebook for an all-purpose cleaner you could make yourself. I’m really trying to cut down on the amount of chemicals I use around here, so I thought I would give it a try. Here is the recipe:

*A large jar with a lid (I used a mason jar)
*At least 6 lemons depending on the size of lemons and the size of the jar (you can also use oranges, grapefruit or limes)
*White vinegar

First cut the lemons in half and juice them to make lemonade (recipe for lemonade at the end of the post). Put the rinds in the large jar, fill to the top with vinegar, and put on the lid. Now you just let it sit for two weeks. That’s the hard part. I’m not a very patient person. After two weeks you remove the rinds, strain the liquid, and put the vinegar/citrus liquid in a spray bottle with water. You use one part water to one part of the vinegar/citrus mix. Mine made 1 2/3 cup of the mix so I added that much water.

Lemon rinds in vinegar

I made this two weeks ago, and this morning I got to open the jar and see if this stuff really works. My biggest concern was the smell. I’m not a huge fan of vinegar and I didn’t know if the lemon would over power it enough. To my delight, I opened the jar and didn’t gag! Yay! Good so far! Now the real test – how well does it clean?

I’ve been in my current house for three months now, and since that time I’ve tried and tried to get the shower door in my kids’ bathroom clean. Nothing I use does the trick. I decided to really put this stuff to the test. Again, to my delight (and utter astonishment), it cleaned the soap scum, water spots and mineral deposits off the door when all the many strong chemical cleaners couldn’t do it. Check out my door now!

Shower door with a section cleaned with the vinegar/citrus cleaner

Now for my favorite lemonade recipe:
6 lemons (or one cup of lemon juice – sometimes it takes 7 lemons depending on the size)
1 cup sugar (or one cup honey if you’d like to try something different)
4 cups water
1/2 cup blackberries (optional)

In a small sauce pan add 2 cups of water with one cup sugar. Cook and stir until sugar is dissolved (or use honey instead of sugar if you like). Once dissolved, set aside to cool.

Juice lemons until you get one cup of lemon juice.

Poor lemon juice and sugar water into a pitcher and add 2 cups of water (or more if you like it a little weaker).

If you want to add the blackberries, first put them in the blender, then put through a strainer. Add the liquid and stir. Yum!

*On a side note if you have a left over lemon rind put it in your garbage disposal and turn it on. It cleans and deodorizes while it’s in there!

2 Responses »

  1. I may have to try both of these recipes! I wonder how it would work on “boy” bathroom smells and spills. We all love lemonade as well so there is some extra incentive for us. Thanks for sharing this!

    • Just don’t use it on brass fixtures. They won’t stay brass for long…learned this one the hard way. I should probably update that post and put that in there!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *