Wash windows and glass. Place club soda in a spray bottle and add a teaspoon of lemon juice. No club soda? Use distilled water spiked with a splash of lemon juice to create your own glass cleaning spray.
Disinfect everywhere. They are a natural disinfectant, stain remover and are wonderful for polishing metal. Germs don’t spread by wiping down door knobs, car door handles, refrigerator handles, TV controls, and other often-touched surfaces with a cloth sprayed with a mix of lemon juice and water.
Make a handy-dandy scrub. Combine two parts salt with one part lemon juice to create an abrasive scrub that you can use to remove rust, eradicate clothing stains, and clean piano keys, copper pots, cutting boards, and scummy shower doors.
Gain a painter’s helper. Painting projects get easier with these tips from the Old Farmer’s Almanac: Renew paint-hardened paintbrushes by setting bristle ends in a pot of boiling lemon juice. Lower the heat, let brushes sit for 15 minutes, then wash them with soapy water. Remove dried paint from window glass by wiping the drips with a soft cloth and hot lemon juice. When the lemon juice is nearly dry, wipe off the juice and the drips.
Refresh garbage disposals. Banish food odors by tossing used lemons into the disposal; or, throw in frozen lemon quarters to create citrusy scents while cleaning disposal blades.
Steam-clean microwaves. Put a bowl of lemon juice in the microwave and let it boil away. The lemon juice will steam to soften stuck-on debris so you can clean the interior with the wipe of a cloth.
Scour dishwashers. Place a bowl of lemon juice in the top rack or basket and run the machine on a normal cycle. The juice will mix in with the cycling water to remove hard water spots and iron build up.
Degunk grill grates. Spear a lemon half on a long fork and rub the exposed side across a hot grill to clean the surface.
Sharpen small appliances. Pop frozen lemon peels into blenders and coffee grinders to clean the blades. Turn on the power and let blades whirl.
Tend to dishes. Clean water spots off your china and silverware using a microfiber cloth dampened with a touch of concentrated lemon juice. Remove stains from plasticware by rinsing them with lemon juice. Cutting boards: The same procedure works on cutting boards. Rub the lemon onto the stains and let it sit until the stains are gone. The lemon will also disinfect the board at the same time. Cleaning copper: Cut a lemon in half and sprinkle salt (any kind – even sea salt) onto the lemon. Massage the lemon wedge onto the brass, squeezing the juice out until the tarnish is buffed off. As it stops working, add more salt to the lemon. Rinse well with water and let dry. It is important to keep copper bottom pans clean because they redistribute the heat according to how clean they are on the bottom.
Bleach stained grout. Carefully apply the juice of a lemon to grout lines to remove mold and stains. Lemon juice is an acid that can pit and damage tile, stone, and composite surfaces, so make sure you wipe up juice spills immediately. Reichert recommends the following grout cleaning formula: Mix concentrated lemon juice with borax or baking soda to create a paste. Use a stiff toothbrush to apply the paste to grout lines; let it sit awhile to bleach the grout and wipe off.
Bleaching clothes Bleaching white clothes with lemon juice: Mix 1/2 cup lemon juice (or sliced lemons) with one gallon of very hot water. Soak the clothes in the solution. Do not use for silk, it is best for cotton and polyester. Let the clothes soak from an hour to overnight, depending on how badly the clothing needs bleaching. Rremove the clothing from the mix and pour the mix into the washing machine and wash as usual. It’s impossible to over-bleach using lemon juice.