How To Use Lemon And Vinegar To Clean Your Home

Looking to avoid the use of toxic cleaning products? Here’s how to use lemon and vinegar to effectively clean your home the all-natural way.

When life gives you lemons, make cleaning products! That’s my motto anyway.

Whilst it’s not warm enough to grow lemons outdoors in Scotland, I do look out for reduced lemons nearing their expiration date at the supermarket. The reason is that lemon makes for a fantastic natural cleaner that can tackle dirt and grease with ease.

Lemon also acts as an all-natural air freshener – making your home smell like you are walking through a Mediterranean lemon grove. What’s not to love?

Whilst you can clean with lemons on their own, pair lemons with white vinegar, and you’ve got an unbeatable dirt and grease-busting duo!

Can You Mix Lemon Juice With Vinegar For Cleaning?

Firstly, you might be wondering if you can mix lemon juice with vinegar when it comes to making cleaning products.

It’s a very legitimate question. After all, vinegar doesn’t mix well with many conventional or natural cleaning products.

In some cases, such as bleach or hydrogen peroxide, mixing either of these with vinegar creates a poisonous gas which is hazardous to your health. Check out my full guide on everything you need to know about cleaning with vinegar for the full details on these safety concerns and more.

In other cases, mixing vinegar with natural cleaning ingredients such as bicarbonate of soda, soda crystals or borax renders you with an ineffective cleaning solution. This is because vinegar is an acid, and these cleaning staples are bases. Mix an acid and a base, and you get neutralisation.

In the case of bicarbonate of soda and vinegar, when you mix the two you get weak salty water. To be honest there are much better natural cleaning solutions out there than salty water! My kitchen can get in a right state and I would never dream of cleaning it with salty water and expect great results.

However, in the case of lemon juice, there are no such problems. Lemon juice is an acid. Generally, when you mix an acid and an acid no reaction happens. It’s not always the case – but certainly when you mix lemon and vinegar there is no reaction. You are simply combining two very effective cleaning ingredients into one product. The lemon also helps mask the smell of vinegar, if you are averse to the smell of vinegar.

How To Make A Lemon And Vinegar Cleaning Solution Three Ways

Now that we know that it’s both safe and effective to mix lemon with vinegar, let’s move on to how you can get your home shiny and sparkling use these two ingredients.

There are three different ways that I use vinegar and lemon to clean my home:

All-Purpose Vinegar Spray With Fresh Lemon

To make an all-purpose cleaning solution from lemon juice and vinegar, simply add 100 ml of white vinegar, 100 ml of cooled boiled water, and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice to an empty spray bottle. Mix, and you’re good to go.

Don’t be too gung-ho though. Make sure you read the note below on what you can and can’t clean with lemon or vinegar as it’s not suitable for use every surface.

In terms of usage, keep your bottle in a cool and dark spot, and use it within 7 days.

Do note that this cleaning solution has a short shelf-life because you are using fresh lemon juice, hence why I make this in small quantities.

If you can’t use up 200 ml of cleaning solution in a week, try making a smaller quantity. For example, you could half it (using 50 ml white vinegar / 50 ml cooled boiled water and a half teaspoon of lemon juice) if you find you are wasting too much.

All-Purpose Vinegar Spray With Lemon Essential Oil

If you want a natural cleaning solution that lasts a little longer, you can mix 250 ml of white vinegar with 250 ml of cooled boiled water in an empty spray bottle, and then add 15 – 20 drops of lemon essential oil. Shake well before every use.

This cleaning spray will last 6 – 8 weeks and will achieve the same results (and smell just as zingy) as using fresh lemon juice. Again, feel free to reduce the amount you make if you can’t use up the spray in time.

Again, in terms of storage keep it in a cool dark spot. Discard sooner than the suggested 6 – 8 weeks if it starts to look or smell funny.

All-Purpose Lemon & Herb Infused Vinegar Cleaning Spray

Alternatively, you can steep lemon peel (or other citrus fruits) on their own, or alongside things like pine or herbs, such as rosemary or lavender, in white vinegar, to make a lemon-scented vinegar-based cleaning solution. This takes a little time – around 2 weeks of steeping – but makes a great natural cleaner from peels that would otherwise go to waste.

Want the full details? See my guide to making herb-infused vinegar for the full how-to.

If you find you don’t have enough lemon peel to make a batch of infused vinegar, you can easily freeze the lemon peel in a tub. When you have enough, put it straight into the jar – there’s no need to defrost the lemon.

What Can You Clean With Lemon And Vinegar?

A lemon and vinegar cleaning solution can be used to clean many areas of your home. It is a real multi-tasking powerhouse! Here are some ideas:

In The Kitchen

In the kitchen, you can use the spray on most worktops to clean off dirt, grease and hard water spots. Spritz on to your tiles and backsplash, to clean up food splatters and grease. Clean and shine any stainless steel. Or wipe down cupboard doors to remove greasy handprints.

In The Bathroom

In the bathroom, you can clean your tiles with your lemon and vinegar spray to help keep them mildew-free. You can also clean your shower screen, sink, bath, showerhead, and taps to help keep them free of limescale and other mineral deposits.

More Ways To Clean With Lemon

If you’re looking for even more ways to clean with lemon, then here are some of my other favourite uses:

Make Your Sinks Gleam

Tackle dirty sinks with ease. Cut a lemon in half and sprinkle it liberally with salt. You can then use this to naturally scrub your sink, without any plastic. Squeeze the lemon as you go to release more juice. Once done, rinse your sink, spray with your vinegar spray and give it a final wipe down. Voila, a shiny clean sink!

Clean Your Microwave With Ease

I’m all about easy solutions when it comes to cleaning. Thankfully, when it comes to cleaning your microwave with lemon and vinegar, it’s a lemon-scented breeze!

Slice up half a lemon, and then fill a small non-metallic bowl with water. Pop the lemon slices in the bowl, and put it in your microwave. Next, run your microwave on a high heat setting for around 2 minutes. Once your microwave pings, leave the door closed, allowing the bowl to give off steam for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, very carefully remove the bowl. Spritz a clean cloth with your vinegar spray, and wipe down your microwave. Any food splatters should wipe off easily.

Clean & Deodorise Your Chopping Board

When you’re making your dinner, some ingredients can leave your chopping board more than a little stinky. Thankfully, there’s an easy way to clean and freshen your chopping board with lemon and vinegar, leaving it refreshed and ready for your next kitchen creation.

Simply sprinkle your chopping board with coarse salt. Then, using a lemon half with the cut side down, scour the surface. Squeeze the lemon slightly to release the juice as you go along. Next, let the salty lemon solution sit for 5 minutes, and then scrape the liquid into your sink. Rinse the surface with water. Finally, spritz with the vinegar cleaning solution and give the board one final wipe-down. Job done!

Is There Anything You Shouldn’t Clean?

White vinegar and lemon are great natural cleaners, that are safe and effective in many different cleaning applications around the home. However, it’s important to remember that both lemon and vinegar are acidic.

Several surfaces around your home should never be cleaned with acid-based cleaning products:

• Natural stone, granite, marble, quartz, or similar are good examples to avoid using vinegar and/or lemon on. This is because both vinegar and lemon can, over time, corrode unsealed stone, leaving etch marks on the surface of your worktops or flooring.
• Metallic paint is another surface prone to damage from acid-based cleaning products like vinegar and lemon.
• You should also never mix vinegar-based cleaning products with any conventional cleaning products containing bleach, or any homemade cleaning products containing hydrogen peroxide. Bleach is alkaline and reacts with the acids

What’s your favourite way to clean with lemon and vinegar?