7 Homemade Lemon Cleaners

Store-bought household cleaners can come with a hefty price tag. They can also come with a lot of chemicals. Homemade lemon cleaners are a powerful, natural alternative. Lemon juice fights bacteria, removes stains, and, bonus alert, it smells like lemons.

Try these homemade remedies with lemons, salt, and other natural items from around your house to keep your home sparkly clean and lemony fresh.

Whole-Home Sanitizer

Mixing lemon with vinegar, another unstoppable cleaning force, can help neutralize its smell and freshen up your home. Heat a cup of vinegar to 135 degrees, add half a cup of lemon juice, and pour into a spray bottle. Spray the mixture on desired surfaces and give it about a minute to work its sanitizing magic, then wipe away. Voila!

Teakettles and Coffeepots

Descale
your tea kettle or coffee pot by adding a few tablespoons of lemon juice to about
1 quart of water, then boiling the mixture. Minerals will flake away, leaving
you free to pour fresher morning pick-me-ups.

No Streaking

Add
two or three tablespoons of lemon juice to a spray bottle and fill with water.
Shake it up to mix, and spray. Wipe away with a microfiber cleaning cloth for
streak-free glass.

Live Stain-Free

Combine
lemon juice and coarse salt to make a scrub that will work wonders in removing tough
stains; simply scrub in with a cloth or sponge. Alternatively, you can pour salt
directly on half a lemon and use that as your scrubbing tool. Stains on cutting
boards, butcher blocks, and the bottom of coffee mugs don’t stand a chance.
With a little bit of elbow grease, your homemade lemon cleaner will even work
to remove hard-water stains from faucets and shower heads and to polish copper
or brass.

Feed the Sink Monster

With
your water running, feed half a lemon to your kitchen sink and turn on the garbage
disposal to sharpen its blades and freshen your whole kitchen.

Zap Away Grime

Fill
a microwave-safe bowl with water and the juice of a lemon, then microwave on
high for 3 to 4 minutes. The lemony steam will loosen years of built-up grease
and grime on the inside of your microwave so that it can be easily wiped away.
Just be careful removing the mixture — it will be hot.

Freshen Your Water

Reusable
water bottles, as well as plastic food-storage containers, can get harder to
clean over time. Scrub with lemon juice to destroy stains, eliminate odor, and
banish the bacteria that cause it.

Time for more home projects? Learn how to declutter your home and make laundry fun again.