7 Clever Ways To Clean Your Home With Lemon

Looking to clean without the use of harsh chemicals? Here are lots of clever ways to clean your home with one of my favourite natural ingredients: lemons.

I love cleaning my home with vinegar, but I know not everyone is into the smell. Whilst the vinegar smell does dissipate as soon as it dries, for some, it’s a step too far.

If you don’t like the smell of vinegar, you don’t have to abandon your green cleaning dreams. Lemons can do most jobs vinegar can do, all whilst leaving your home naturally clean and smelling positively zingy!

The reason that lemon makes for such an effective cleaner is because it’s naturally acidic. Acidic cleaning products are particularly good at removing hard water and mineral deposits from surfaces, rust stains, and soap film buildup. In short, lemons are incredibly handy to have around if you’re trying to cut back on synthetic cleaners. 

In this guide, I’ll share my favourite ways to clean with lemons around the home – from tackling limescale to freshening up laundry – along with a few handy tips to help you get the best results. 

Clever Ways To Clean Your Home With Lemons

Ready to embrace the joy of cleaning with lemons? Here are my favourite ways to clean with this citrus superstar that don’t involve the use of any vinegar:

Non-Toxic Microwave Cleaner

A food-splattered microwave doesn’t have to be a chore to clean. You can clean it whilst kicking back with your feet up, thanks to the power of the lemon.

All you need to do is:

• Slice a small lemon into slices.
• Next, add hot water to a microwave-safe bowl – leaving at least an inch from the top.
• Pop the lemon slices in the bowl, and pop it in your microwave.
• Run your microwave on a high heat setting for around 2 minutes.
• Once it pings, leave the door closed, and let the bowl give off steam for 15 minutes.
• After 15 minutes, carefully remove the bowl before wiping down your microwave. Those encrusted food stains should wipe off without a sweat.

Your microwave will look and smell fresh. And you can compost the slices of lemon so that the whole process is entirely zero-waste.

See my full guide on how to clean a microwave with lemon for more top tips.

Natural Laundry Brightener With Lemon

If you’re looking for a natural way to keep your white clothing looking fresher for longer and avoid the dreaded ‘greige’ look, then you don’t have to reach for the bleach.

Instead, try adding 100 ml of lemon juice to the pre-wash compartment of your white loads. Then add your usual detergent, and run your wash cycle as normal.

The acids in the lemon juice act as a gentle natural bleaching agent, which helps to keep your clothes looking bright and zingy.

This works best on durable white fabrics like cotton and linen. It’s best to avoid using lemon juice on delicate materials such as silk or wool, where the acidity can be too harsh.

Sustainable Stain Remover

As well as brightening your favourite white clothing, lemon juice is great at removing certain stains. These include rust, mildew, and fruit juice.

I’ve found the best way to tackle these stains is this four-step process:

• Saturate the stain with cold water before pouring some lemon juice directly onto the stain.
• Pour a good amount of salt onto the lemon juice – you really don’t want to skimp on the salt. Fully cover the stain, adding a little more for good measure.
• Leave the lemon juice and salt combo overnight to work its magic on your stain.
• The next morning, brush the salt off and then wash your garment as normal. If you can, pop it out on the line to dry in the sun for an extra boost.

Try my guide to natural stain removal tips for advice on tackling other types of tricky stains.

All-Natural Sink Cleaner

If your sink is looking a bit grimy, then let lemon come to the rescue!

Simply cut a lemon in half and sprinkle one half liberally with salt before using the cut side to give your sink a good scrub. Squeeze the lemon as you go to release more juice. Once you’re done, rinse your sink and step back and admire the shine!

Non-Toxic Chopping Board Cleaner

Certain types of food – including onion, garlic or fish – can leave your chopping board a bit whiffy. If you’re looking to clean and deodorise it naturally, then try lemon.

Similar to cleaning your sink, take half a lemon and sprinkle your chopping board with salt. Use the cut side to scrub the surface, squeezing the lemon to add more juice as you go. Let the solution sit for 5 minutes before rinsing it into your sink and wiping it dry.

This works especially well on wooden boards, helping to both clean and neutralise odours naturally.

Natural Shoe Shiner

If your leather shoes have lost their shine, then they can also get the old lemon juice treatment. This can help make them shine again and help them look like new.

All you need to do is to take a soft cloth and add a little lemon juice to help bring the shine up on them.

As with any natural method, it’s best to test a small, hidden area first to make sure the finish isn’t affected. 

Clean Your Taps

Finally, lemons are great at bringing the shine back to your taps – particularly if they have any hard water or limescale deposits on them.

All you need to do is pour a little lemon juice onto your taps and leave it for about half an hour. After half an hour, try scrubbing the taps with an old toothbrush to remove the deposits, before rinsing with water. Once rinsed, buff your taps with a soft cloth for a spotless shine.

It’s a great way to restore the shine of your taps, without having to rely on harsh chemical descaling products.

What Not To Clean With Lemon

It’s also important to understand when you shouldn’t use these citrus fruits in your home. Whilst lemons are entirely natural, using them as cleaning products can damage certain surfaces. And if mixed with other cleaning products, it could be hazardous to your health.

First up, you should avoid using lemon to clean natural stone, granite, marble, quartz, or similar. As lemon is acidic, it can, over time, corrode the stone. This would leave etch marks on the surface of the stone.

Metallic paint is also vulnerable to the impacts of acidic-based cleaners, so don’t use it to clean your car or surfaces painted with this type of paint.

And most importantly, from a safety point of view, lemon juice should never be mixed with any cleaning products that contain chlorine bleach. Mixing lemon juice with bleach can release chlorine gas, which can cause serious harm to you, and in some situations could be fatal. So keep your lemons well away from the bleach.

My Top Tips To Help Reduce Costs

The one downside to using lemon to clean is that they can be more expensive to buy than vinegar. As such, I like to buy lemons when I see them reduced at the supermarket. This helps to keep things cost-effective, whilst helping to tackle food waste. Win-win!

Similarly, if you have an old bottle of lemon juice lingering in your fridge that you aren’t going to use up, then this can also be used to clean with. It’s a great way to use up the juice without wasting it.

It’s not going to work in every circumstance – you can’t use it to clean your chopping board or sink, for example. However, for descaling your taps, removing clothing stains, or brightening your laundry, it’s ideal.

Your Top Lemon Cleaning Tips

Do you have any other tips for cleaning your home with lemon or other citrus fruits? I am all ears!

And if you have too many lemons, did you know you can freeze lemons to use at a later date? See my guide to find out the best way to do this – and you’ll always have lemon juice on hand to tackle clothing stains or limescale!