When Life Hands You Lemons

What did one lemon say to the other lemon? ... Sour you?

We’ve been good and sick this month. In fact when I look back on this past fall and winter we’ve been sick a lot. More than usual. My family usually has a robust immune system. Other than a cold here or there we’re fairly healthy people.

The flu didn’t surprise me really. Every 4-5 years, like clockwork, I get a good one that lays me out flat for a few days. The kids get it every other year and the Man always gets it right after Christmas in time for New Years. That’s how it usually goes.

The kids have had the flu twice and a heady dose of a cold this year. It got me to thinking. Normally I clean house with hot soapy water. Except in the bathroom (it gets proper disinfectants just because poop, yeah I said it) I rarely use a store bought industrial cleaner. I’ll use vinegar and water or bleach and water solutions if I feel something needs a deep cleaning but normally it’s just good ol’ hot water and soap.

When we listed the house for sale we started using Mr. Clean and a variety of chemically type cleaners. I had stopped using them about 5 years ago when a friend of mine mentioned she was sensitive to cleaners they caused her to get sick, either bad headaches or whatever. So being a good friend I tried to go as natural as I could with cleansers so she could visit me. I noticed right away the  kids and I stopped being so sick ourselves. There was less colds  and flus happening with them. I’m not an expert or claim anything here but I feel commercial cleaners can do more harm than good in some instances. Also some people are more sensitive to chemicals than others, not everyone will have the same reaction or notice a difference. I’m just saying for my household I notice something isn’t  right and I’m going to see if this is what is happening.

Anyways after we de-listed the house I kept the new habit of cleaning by using cleansers. I can’t help but notice a difference in our health because of it.

So I’m going back to the old way of cleaning with hot soapy  water and vinegar/water, bleach/water solutions as needed – the bathroom still gets full Lysol treatment. But then I  remembered reading somewhere of making your own lemon or orange cleaner. Remember the big fad of orange oil a few years ago? I think every name brand corporation had their own version of it. They worked awesome and smelled even better! Anyways I’m making my own to see how it goes with natural cleaning and to have a nice scent afterwards. I googled for a recipe and it’s pretty  simple.

All you need is oranges or lemons and vinegar. That’s  it. Vinegar has anti-bacterial properties to it. Which is why it makes an excellent all purpose cleaner around the house. Plus it’s  food safe. You don’t  have to worry about chemical transfer from surfaces or having to rinse with water afterwards.

I took three lemons. I peeled the rinds off and placed the rinds in a 500 ml canning jar. Then I filled that to neck with vinegar (you add enough to cover the rinds). It takes about 4 weeks for it to settle into lemon oil – shake the bottle through out the four weeks. Then you strain the lemon-vinegar solution into a bottle, throw the rinds out (or compost) and you have your cleaner. I can’t remember if you have to dilute it to use it.

Anyways, I won’t know how well it works for another  three and a half weeks. Maybe I’ll post an update. Maybe I’ll have googled to see if it needs diluting. We’ll see.

Lemon rinds in vinegar. A still life.

I wrote the finish date on the jar lid so I’ll  remember when it’s  ready for use.

If it works out I’ll probably try it with oranges next.

Take care and be well.