Five Ways to Clean Your Home with Lemon Essential Oil
Jun 30, 2023
Lemon Essential Oil is at the top of the list of essential oils that you should add to your home stock. Not only is the aroma so fresh and uplifting, but this essential oil also has a natural chemical makeup that makes it a perfect choice for ridding your home of unwanted germs. Limonene is the chemical constituent that is found in high percentages of most citrus oils, which naturally has strong antimicrobial actions. In this article, we’ll explore five ways to use lemon essential oil to green clean your home.
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Lemon essential oil (Citrus limon) is distilled from the rind of the fruit, using the cold-pressed method. You always want to be sure you’re using 100% pure essential oil to gain the amazing benefits that these precious gifts from the earth have to offer. To learn more about the basics of essential oils, read Essential Oil Basics For Beginners. In its purest form, lemon is pale yellow, to greenish-yellow in color. The aroma helps create uplifting emotional energy that invites happy and energetic feelings. It can assist in reducing feelings of depression and alleviate tension.
Cleansing the Air
Not only does diffusing lemon assist in lifting the mood, but it also cleanses the air, keeping bacteria and viruses at bay. To support the immune system, be sure to add it to your diffuser during cold and flu season. If you don’t have a diffuser, boiling a small pot of water on the stove and adding a few drops of your essential oil into the water will create lemon steam to diffuse.
Steam Clean the Microwave
Add about (2 oz) white distilled vinegar to a mug or microwave-safe bowl. Add 3 drops of lemon essential oil and place in the microwave. Turn the microwave on for 2 minutes. The steam will leave moisture on the inside surface. Take a sponge or rag and wipe the surface clean of residue for a sparkly, fresh microwave. I like to use the left-over mixture to pour on a sponge and clean my kitchen sink afterward.
Cleaning the Cutting Board
Simply add 4-5 drops of lemon on a clean sponge and wipe down your cutting board between uses. This will kill bacteria build-up and as an added bonus, it will clean your sponge in the process.
Speaking of Your Sponge, Let’s Disinfect It!
Make yourself a spritzer to leave on hand near your sink and spray your sponge after each use. Using a 1 oz (30 ml) spray bottle, fill with distilled water and a spurt of Castile soap. Add 20 drops of lemon EO or you can mix 10 drops of tea tree and 10 drops of lemon to really pack a punch. This will kill any bacteria that have developed. Being as the mixture is water-based, make a new batch every few weeks with the distilled water. If using regular water, change every few days or so.
Cleaning the Loo
I know this is everyone’s favorite chore, am I right? Seriously? I despise cleaning the loo! Here is a recipe to help leave the Jon smelling fresh and looking sparkling:
Add ¼ cup of baking soda to the toilet, being sure to sprinkle along the side of the bowl.
Next, add 2 tbsps. of hydrogen peroxide to the bowl, concentrating on where the baking soda is sitting.
Lastly, add 2 drops of lemon EO to the toilet
Let the mixture sit for at least 2-3 minutes, longer for extra grimy bowls. The baking soda and peroxide will react together and eat away at the ickiness, while the lemon helps kill the bacteria and leaves the bathroom smelling great. If the toilet is really icky, you can add an extra tbsp of peroxide to the mix. Come back and scrub with a toilet brush.
Adding Freshness to Your Laundry
Add a couple of drops to your laundry to help keep it smelling fresh. Did you forget to take the load out of the washer and add it to the dryer? No worries add 2-3 drops to the clothes before transferring them into the dryer. It will kill any bacteria that have shown up and eliminate the odor.
All Surface Cleaner
I seriously use this to clean just about every surface in my home. That includes on my counters, cabinets, Pergo floors, and stainless-steel appliances. I even use it to clean the kids’ toys. It is my “go-to” that I keep readily available at all times.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 8 oz spray container (I use a 16 oz and double the recipe because I use so much. I also recommend an amber or tinted container to “keep” essential oil in their therapeutic state, as the one shown here).
- 1/2 cup of distilled water
- 1/2 cup of distilled white vinegar
- 8 drops of pure lemon EO
- 5 drops of pure tea tree EO
Measure your water and vinegar and pour them into the spray bottle. Add the essential oil drops and give a little swirl to mix and that’s it, folks!! Easy peasy lemon squeezy!
Cleaning Floors
If you don’t have the above ingredients, but just have your handy lemon essential oil, you can simply add a drop or 2 to your mop, each time you emerge the mop in hot water and ring it out.
Even if Lemon Essential Oil is the only essential oil you have on hand in your home, you can get away with being able to clean just about every room. Happy cleaning!! If you have any questions, about how to clean your home with Lemon Essential Oil, do not hesitate to leave a comment!
