20 useful Lemon tips

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Assam, Beverages, cooking, Environmentally friendly, fruit, home, household purposes, household tips, Lemon, organic, zest

 

 

Lemons – a fruit with a wonderful fragrance, great in food and beverages, but also very handy for multiple purposes around the home!

 

Lemons have been cultivated by humans for over a thousand years. The fruit is mentioned in tenth century Arabic literature, but was probably first grown in Assam, India.

 

Lemons are high in vitamin C, have an anti-bacterial effect and are thought to possess antioxidant and anti-carcinogenic properties. The juice consists of about 5% acid, which also makes them useful for a variety of household purposes. Lemons and/or lemon juice are a popular addition in environmentally friendly cleaning applications.

 

20 useful Lemon tips

 

Related articles

• The Amazing frozen Lemon (aristonorganic.wordpress.com)
• 45 uses for lemons that will blow your socks off (undergroundhealth.com)

 

Citrus fruit, 27 uses

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citrus fruit, clean windows, cleaning, furniture polish, household tips, ink spots, laundry, lemons, limes, mildew, oranges, polish copper, stains, underarm stains, vinegar

Citrus fruits are some of my most favorite things in the world – their color, their taste and their association with sunshine does it for me.

But these tasty little fruits also have some incredible uses around our home  – particularly for cleaning, freshening up and deodorizing foul odors.

A staple in most homes, citrus fruit, including oranges, lemons and limes, makes a beautiful, fragrant display that can piled in a bowl. We also like to use them in a flower arrangement. Peeking out from the bottom of a clear glass container, they serve a dual purpose: beauty and as an anchor to an arrangement. They’re also handy to have around the house for the reasons we’ve gathered together here…

If you don’t have the citrus suggested, use whichever one you have on hand (although we’d suggest sticking with lemon juice when the objective’s bleaching):

 

• Polish copper by rubbing it with a lemon juice soaked cloth and buffing it dry.
• Brass and aluminum can be polished with a paste of lemon juice and cream of tartar. Another way to polish brass is by sprinkling salt on half of a lemon and rubbing it on the brass item. This method works on stainless steel as well.
• Rub lemon on your faucets to remove lime scale, hard water stains, and soap residue. It also works on porcelain.
• Whiten tennis shoes by spraying them with lemon juice and placing them in the sun
• For a mild, stain-free bleach, soak your delicates in a mixture of lemon juice and baking soda for at least half an hour before washing.
• Boost your laundry detergent’s power by adding lemon juice to a wash cycle for fresh smelling laundry, to brighten whites and remove rust and mineral stains.
• For ink spots on clothing, apply lots of lemon juice to the stain as soon as possible. Wash the garment in normal cycle in cold water.
• Remove unsightly underarm stains from shirts and blouses simply by scrubbing them with a mixture of equal parts lemon juice (or white vinegar) and water.
• To get rid of mildew on clothes, make a paste of lemon juice and salt and rub it on the affected area, then dry the clothes in sunlight. Repeat the process until the stain is gone. This works well for rust stains on clothes too.
• Grind citrus through the garbage disposal to get rid of nasty odours and freshen the drain.
• Add half a lemon to the dishwasher load for sparkling spot-free clean smelling dishes.
• Make your own spray cleaner by mixing two tablespoons lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon liquid soap, 1/2 teaspoon washing soda, and one teaspoon Borax into two cups hot water. Mix until dissolved.
• Another all-purpose cleaning solution: combine lemon juice, vinegar and water in a spray bottle.
• Add a nice clean scent as well as cleansing power to all liquid cleansers by adding two tablespoons lemon or orange juice.
• Cut a lemon in half and sprinkle baking soda on the cut section. Use the lemon to scrub dishes, surfaces, and stains.
• Use as a natural furniture polish, combine 1 part lemon juice with 2 parts olive oil.
• Create a wonderful natural air freshener by mixing lemon juice and water in a spray bottle.
• Place half a lemon or an orange in a dish can help freshen a room. You can also boil up the peels to freshen up the whole house.
• Humidifiers can pick up unwanted scents. Freshen up the aroma by adding 3 to 4 teaspoons citrus juice to the water.
• Clean your windows and glass by rubbing straight lemon juice on them and then buffing dry with newspapers.
• Dry lemon or orange peels can be used to freshen drawers
• Stud an orange with cloves and hang it in your closet to keep moths away.
• Rub fresh orange or lemon peels over your exposed skin to keep away mosquitoes and gnats.
• Puree orange peels in 1 cup warm water. Slowly pour the solution over and into anthills to get rid of them.
• To keep cats from using your lawn as a litter box, mix orange peels and coffee grounds and distribute it around their favorite spots. If they don’t take the hint, lay down a second batch and try moistening it with a bit of water.
• Certain people are having trouble with their barking puppies. Train them to stop by getting a squirt of lemon juice in their mouths.

Apartment Therapy

Don’t throw that eggshell away

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Apple Cider Vinegar, calcium, compost, egg shells, Egg white, Eggshell, environment, gardening, green tips, home grown, household tips, Mortar and pestle, nature, organic, Pest control, Potting soil, Re-use, recycle, skin

The next time you use an egg, don’t toss your shells. Eggshells have nearly as many uses as the eggs themselves. Here’s how to get the most from them.

Put them on your face
To restore a youthful glow to your skin, pulverize clean, dried eggshells with a mortar and pestle. Mix the powder with some egg white and spread on your skin. Allow the mixture to dry before washing it off.

Clean your house with them
Ground eggshells make a wonderful (and nontoxic!) abrasive for those tough-to-clean pots, pans, and thermoses. Mix them with a little soapy water for a powerful clean.

Unclog your drains
Keep a few ground eggshells in your kitchen sink strainer. They trap additional solids and when they slowly break down, they will help to naturally clean your pipes on their way out.

Fertilize your garden
Eggshells are rich in calcium and other minerals that help your garden thrive. Crush eggshells into tiny pieces and use them as compost.

Clear up your skin
Drop an eggshell into a small container of apple cider vinegar and let it soak for a couple of days. Dab the mixture on minor skin irritations or on itchy skin.

Start some seedlings
Fill an egg carton with empty, rinsed eggshell halves and poke a hole in each one for drainage. Then add potting soil and one or two seeds to each shell. When the seedlings are big enough for transplanting outside, just crack the shell at the bottom and plant them, shell and all. It’s biodegradable!

Fortify your pet
Dry eggshells in a 250-degree over for 30 minutes. Then put them in a plastic zipper bag, seal it, and crush the shells with a rolling pin until they are a fine powder. Put this into your dog’s food as a great calcium supplement to help its bones and teeth.

Scare away slugs
Crush eggshells and scatter them around your vegetables and flowers to fend off hungry herbivores, such as slugs, snails, and cutworms without using toxic pesticides. The smell of eggs will also deter deer.

Sweeten your coffee
Add some crushed eggshells to ground coffee before brewing it to make it taste less bitter. When you’re done, toss the grounds and shells on your compost heap!

 

Related articles :

15 surprising uses for eggshells

 

Some handy household tips

Tags

bicarbonate of soda, Boiling, cooking, home, household tips, Parboil, shopping, Sodium bicarbonate, Soups and Stews, Stainless steel, Toilet, vinegar

1. Roasting potatoes – Parboil, roll in oil, then in flour, roast. Result lovely golden outer crust.

2. Sprinkle a little bicarbonate of soda under paper lining in bread tin and bread will remain fresher.

3. Add 1 tsp vinegar to water in which you wish to poach an egg if you have no poaching pan. It helps coagulate the white neatly.

4. Cream that is very thick can be brought to pouring consistency by stirring in a very small amount of iced water.

5. Slightly old cream is freshened by adding a little bicarbonate of soda.

6. To crisp wilted lettuce stand it in a little water in which you have placed a piece of coal.

7. Ants, sprinkle a little borax around, or some baby powder.

8. To remove ballpoint or koki pen – moisten with methylated spirits and wash in cold water.

9. To remove ink – soak in sour milk or lemon juice and salt.

10. To remove coffee stains – use borax and boiling water.

11. To clean tarnished brass – soak in brown vinegar over night, wash in cold water.

12. If a saucepan has been burnt – pour in cold water and vinegar and boil slowly for 1/2 hour. The surface will then clean easily.

13. To remove smells – baby vomit of fridge odors – wipe with a mixture of 1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda to 600ml water.

14. Before cutting onions, dip your fingers in vinegar to prevent the smell from adhering to your hands.

15. Vinegar mixed with lukewarm water is excellent for washing down leather, carpets or upholstery to remove unpleasant odors such as baby’s vomit or cat’s wee.

16. Blunt scissors? Cut through a piece of sandpaper to sharpen.

17. Too salty soup? Slices of raw potato added to the soup absorbs the saltiness.

18. Shoes pinch? Place a freshly peeled potato in the shoe and leave overnight, helps the leather expand and shoes to fit better.

19. To keep stainless steel in tip top condition rub with a few drops of baby oil or olive oil on a soft cloth.

20. To remove chewing gum from fabric or hair – soak with a little paraffin and rub between the thumbs. Wash out with soap and warm water.