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Homemade Lemon Vinegar Cleaner

This DIY natural lemon vinegar cleaner, using every day ingredients, is INCREDIBLY easy to make. Your home will be squeaky clean in no time! 

Lemon and vinegar cleaner in a glass mason jar.
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Natural Lemon Vinegar Cleaner

In the mood to deep clean your house? Get to work with this vinegar and lemon cleaner. It’s the perfect all-purpose cleaner that’s natural, cost effective and smells great.

I am SO excited to share this homemade lemon vinegar cleaner recipe with you all. After making a big batch of homemade lemonade with my littles the other day, I couldn’t help but stare at all of the left over lemon peels, gathered on my kitchen counter.

I’m one of those, “How can I use this?” kind of gals…who tries to think of every way to use something before tossing it out. I had thought about freezing the peels and then talked myself out of that because I’d just be in the same position, months later, when I looked at them buried in the deep freeze.

Then I thought about creating a recipe where I could zest the peels…but every recipe I could think of, didn’t require the zest of a gazillion (totally exaggerating) lemons. Then I began to remember that I had heard lemons were good for cleaning.

Jar of homemade vinegar and lemon cleaner.

In our home, we try to use as many “natural” cleaners as possible. We are also on the “money saving” plan these days, so making DIY cleaners are right up there on my “to do” list. So, I decided to combine the peels with vinegar (another FABULOUS natural cleaning ingredient) to create my own lemon-vinegar cleaner!

I’m honestly blown away at how much I LOVE this cleaner. After letting the lemons soak in the vinegar for a couple of weeks (recipe below), it was ready to use and I began experimenting. I was cleaning EVERYTHING with it. Bathroom vanities, floors, windows, and the list goes on. It works so well!

Why Does it Work?

The key ingredient here is the vinegar. It makes a wonderful non-toxic cleaning agent and helps get rid of dirt, mold and bacteria. It’s also super acidic, which is great for dissolving any stubborn gunk.

The lemons are added to help offset that strong vinegar smell, leaving your house with a fresh and bright scent.

What to Use it For

This lemon vinegar is an amazing all-purpose cleaner and is so versatile! Use it to clean:

  • Bathroom vanities
  • Showers and tubs
  • Floors
  • Windows
  • Mirrors
  • Kitchen
  • Stains

Please note: I would pay very close attention to what you can and cannot use this cleaner on, as the lemons and vinegar are acidic. I refrained from using it on our granite countertops, because I’ve heard it can scratch the surface. This applies to marble countertops as well. 

Vinegar and lemon juice cleaner in a glass mason jar.

How to Make Homemade Lemon Vinegar Cleaner

I hope you all LOVE using this homemade lemon vinegar cleaner too! I’d love to hear what you think!

Supplies:

  • Lemon Peels
  • White Vinegar
  • Glass Container

Instructions: 

Quantities depend on size of your container. I simply just choose a container large enough to hold the amount of lemon peels that I have to work with.

  1. Place lemon peels in container and completely cover peels with vinegar. Cover and let mixture sit for around 2 weeks.
  2. Remove peels from vinegar and discard peels. Add water to the vinegar. (I usually do equal parts of vinegar to water.)

Final Note:

The lemon vinegar cleaner isn’t the horrible “smell,” that you would expect. The lemons seem to help balance out the smell of the vinegar, providing a fresh, CLEAN smell (compared to those harsh chemicals of others) that makes me feel good while cleaning.

Large mason jar full of lemon vinegar cleaner.

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Homemade Lemon and Vinegar Cleaner

Lemon Vinegar Cleaner Recipe

5 from 8 votes
↑ Click stars to rate now!
Author: Jamielyn Nye
This DIY natural lemon vinegar cleaner, using every day ingredients, is INCREDIBLY easy to make. Your home will be squeaky clean in no time! 
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 1

Equipment

  • Glass container

Ingredients 

  • Glass container
  • 2 cups White vinegar
  • 1 Lemon peels

Instructions

  • Place lemon peels in container and completely cover with vinegar. Cover and let mixture sit for around 2 weeks.
  • Remove peels from vinegar and discard peels. Add water to the vinegar. (I usually do equal parts of vinegar to water).

Notes

Quantities of ingredients depend on the size of your container. I simply just choose a container large enough to hold the amount of lemon peels that I have to work with. 
Please note: Pay very close attention to what you can and cannot use this cleaner on, as the lemons and vinegar are acidic. Refrain from using it on granite or marble countertops, as the acidity can scratch the surface. 

Nutrition

Calories: 0.4kcal | Sodium: 0.04mg | Potassium: 0.04mg | Calcium: 0.1mg

Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.

Course: Gift
Cuisine: American

Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!

Photography and recipe contributed by Jessica from Fantabulosity for I Heart Naptime.

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