Image by: www.freedigitalphotos.net
Lemon isn’t just great for consumption, but has diverse uses in the home too. Make sure you stock it up in your kitchen, and here are a number of reasons why:
Freshen the fridge. Remove refrigerator odours with ease. Dab lemon juice on a cotton ball or sponge and leave it in the fridge for several hours. Make sure to toss out any malodorous items that might be causing the bad smell.
Refresh cutting boards. No wonder your kitchen cutting board smells! After all, you use it to chop onions, crush garlic, and prepare fish. To get rid of the smell and help sanitise the cutting board, rub it all over with the cut side of half a lemon or wash it in undiluted juice straight from the bottle.
Keep insects out of the kitchen. You don’t need insecticides or ant traps to ant-proof your kitchen. Just give it the lemon treatment. First squirt some lemon juice on door thresholds and windowsills. Then squeeze lemon juice into any holes or cracks where the ants are getting in. Finally, scatter small slices of lemon peel around the outdoor entrance. The ants will get the message that they aren’t welcome. Lemons are also effective against roaches and fleas: Simply mix the juice of 4 lemons (along with the rinds) with 1/2 gallon (2 litres) water and wash your floors with it; then watch the fleas and roaches flee. They hate the smell.
Clean tarnished brass and polish chrome. Say good-bye to tarnish on brass, copper or stainless steel. Make a paste of lemon juice and salt (you can also the salt for baking soda or cream of tartar) and coat the affected area. Let it stay on for five minutes. Then wash in warm water, rinse, and polish dry. Use the same mixture to clean metal kitchen sinks too. Apply the paste, scrub gently, and rinse. Get rid of mineral deposits and polish chrome taps and other tarnished chrome. Simply rub lemon rind over the chrome and watch it shine! Rinse well and dry with a soft cloth.
Eliminate fireplace odour. There’s nothing cosier on a cold winter night than a warm fire burning in the fireplace, unless the fire happens to smell horrible. Next time you have a fire that sends a stench into the room, try throwing a few lemon peels into the flames. Or simply burn some lemon peels along with your firewood as a preventive measure.
Neutralise cat-box odour. You don’t have to use an aerosol spray to neutralise foul-smelling cat-box odors or freshen the air in your bathroom. Just cut a couple of lemons in half. Then place them, cut side up, in a dish in the room, and the air will soon smell lemon-fresh.
Deodorise your dustbin. If your bin is beginning to smell nasty, here’s an easy way to deodorise it: Save leftover lemon and orange peels and toss them at the base under the bag. To keep it smelling fresh, repeat once every couple of weeks.
Get rid of tough stains on marble. You probably think of marble as stone, but it is really petrified calcium (also known as old seashells). That explains why it is so porous and easily stained and damaged. Those stains can be hard to remove. If washing won’t remove a stubborn stain, try this: Cut a lemon in half, dip the exposed flesh into some table salt, and rub it vigorously on the stain. But do this only as a last resort; acid can damage marble. Rinse well.
Deodorise a humidifier. When your humidifier starts to smell foul, deodorise it with ease. Just pour three or four teaspoons of lemon juice into the water. It will not only remove the off odour but will replace it with a lemon-fresh fragrance. Repeat every couple of weeks to keep the odour from returning.
This week’s blog is courtesy of www.trueactivist.com
