Citrus – Healthy and Great For Eating…And Cleaning! – On the House
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Citrus – Healthy and Great For Eating…And Cleaning!

By on November 4, 2015
citrus fruits to clean with

Winter is when healthy fruits such as oranges, tangerines and grapefruits are harvested in Northern California. The end result becomes glazed oranges, dried oranges, orange juice, orange soda, lemonade, grapefruit juice and more. But best of all we as keepers of the home end up with a whole line of cleaning and deodorizing tools as a byproduct of good eats.

Lemon Oil

Not lemon juice, lemon oil. Lemon oil is absolutely the very best glass cleaner we know of. If you have calcium build-up on your shower then you need lemon oil. Simply use a piece of extra-fine 0000 steel wool dipped in lemon oil to clean a shower door that you currently can’t see through because of the lime deposits. Once the door is clean, then wipe the surface down with a fresh coat of lemon oil and future lime deposits won’t have a chance. By the way, we also use car wax to protect glass in the shower when lemon oil isn’t available. Wipe on, wipe off, that’s all it takes to protect the inside of the shower.

Lemon Juice

Not lemon oil, lemon juice. Have a recipe that requires half a lemon and don’t know what to do with the rest of the juice? Lemon juice is highly acid and is a great cleaning agent. Pure lemon juice is great for removing stains on many of the new solid surface countertops such as Corian®. Best of all it is non toxic and you can even drink it.

I thought about this cold press juicing technology designed for higher yields of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. This cold press juicing technology can also juice hard fruits and vegetables such as beetroot and ginger, soft varieties like leafy greens, and it is perfect for celery juice.

Lemon Rind (Peel)

Not lemon oil and not lemon juice. The peel is what we’re talking about here. Don’t you just love the smell of a lemon! Well, the smell comes mostly from the lemon oil that’s in the skin. Grab a lemon and rub the whole piece of fruit firmly between your hands. The warmth of your hands and the pressure you apply to the skin will extract lemon oil from its skin and your hands will smell wonderful. That’s why a lemon rind is so absolutely perfect as a deodorizer for your garbage disposal. In this case it would not be a cleaner, but a deodorizer instead! Drop the rind down the disposer and in no time the fragrance of lemon will permeate the air around your sink. Before using the lemon rind we mix a cup of water and a cup of vinegar (any kind) into an ice tray and make cubes. We mix the water in with the vinegar because the vinegar won’t freeze on its own. By the way, be sure to mark the ice tray so that the next batch of cold drinks doesn’t end up with a surprise flavor. Drop the cubes down the disposer and the ice will coagulate grease and oil and at the same time will act as an abrasive instantly cleaning the grease and grime in your disposal. We always follow this procedure with at least on half of a lemon rind. OK, OK, you can you an orange rind if you like. Choose the fragrance do you like best.

Orange Everything

Orange oil, orange juice and orange rinds can be used for the exact same purpose as lemons. However, be careful when shopping for citrus based cleaners at the store. Often companies will advertise their cleaner as “Lemon Cleaner” or “Orange Cleaner” when in fact the active cleaning ingredient is not citric acid at all, but some other chemical instead. This is important because citric acid is non toxic and often its pleasant fragrance is used in combination with very dangerous chemicals. We know for a fact that one company uses orange oil as a fragrance in its paint remover. The basic ingredient used is highly toxic and very dangerous. They refer to their product as an “orange paint remover”. No, we don’t have anything against paint remover or the toxic chemical used. We do however object to companies that insist on using misleading labeling that could cause harm to an unwary user. So, when you purchase a product that says it is an orange or lemon cleaner – double check – to make sure what that the active cleaning ingredient really is. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Tip: Bake orange and/or lemon rinds in your oven on low. Your home will smell sweet and fresh all day long. Sprinkle on a little cinnamon if you like to step things up a notch.

Here’s a really great tip. Although lemons are readily available all year long oranges are not. If you like the fragrance of oranges and want to use orange instead of lemon to deodorize your home then simply chop the rinds, towel dry them and slip them into a food storage bag and pop them into the freezer. At the end of an afternoon “orange juicing session” you should be able to collect enough rind to last for an entire year – or more. This can be done with lemon rind as well. Hey, and why not use a combination of fragrances once in a while?!? Store both. The price is right!

Grapefruit

Grapefruit also is an absolutely great cleaner. Cut one in half, dip the exposed fruit in a dish of salt and you have the best marble cleaner money can buy. Caution here: don’t leave the citric acid on the surface any longer than it takes to remove a stain. Flood with fresh water and towel dry immediately. Oh, and don’t use citric acid to clean marble when it isn’t stain. If fresh, clear water will do the trick then that’s all that should be used.

Looking for some other healthy fruits that are good to eat like dates? Pemborong kurma green diamond which means dates wholesaler in Malaysia, and is where you can buy dates with wholesale prices with best quality in all over Malaysia. You can also order dates online in Malaysia. Product such as kurma Ajwa, kurma Mariami, and Kurma Rotab.

However, for more home improvement tips and information search our website or call our listener hot line 24/7 at 1-800-737-2474.

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