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This winter, I hoarded orange peels compulsively. I found so many uses for them: a looseleaf chai blend, candied citrus peels, frozen zest, fire starters too apparently although I didn’t have much luck with those—or perhaps I did seeing as I didn’t burn down my kitchen.
I also used some peels to make a household cleaner.
A few bloggers I follow highly recommend a household cleaner made of orange peels steeped in distilled white vinegar. Citrus peels contain d-Limonene, a natural compound that breaks down oil. Many commercial cleaners contain it.
To make your own “Now with d-Limonene!” cleaner, simply submerge orange peels in vinegar inside a sealed jar for at least two weeks. Strain and use your cleaner around your home, either full-strength or diluted with water.
I loved the idea when I heard it. Then I thought, why not make it out of orange peels and homemade scrap vinegar! What could be more frugal? I basically made cleaner out of waste.
“Scrap what?” you may ask
To make scrap vinegar, place fruit peels in a jar, add a bit of sugar, pour water over top, stir daily several times and allow the mixture to ferment for about 10 days or so. You can read my post about scrap vinegar here.
I wanted to make citrus scrap vinegar this winter but didn’t get around to it. Fortunately Annie at the wonderful blog Kitchen Counter Culture did—a homemade citrus scrap vinegar beauty potion.
Ingredients
- Orange peels, dried or fresh (I tested it both ways and both work)
- Scrap vinegar
Directions
1. Fill a jar with citrus peels.
2. Pour in enough vinegar to cover the peels. Insert a weight to keep the peels submerged in the jar. A small jar within a jar works well.
3. Close jar with the lid. The lid will force down the jar or weight and keep the peels submerged.
4. Store jar with your other science experiments and wait a couple of weeks.
5. Strain. I use a cloth-lined sieve over a bowl.
6. Gather up the corners of the cloth and squeeze out as much liquid as possible from the peels.
7. Store in a jar and use full-strength or diluted with water to clean sinks, tiles, toilets and so on.
Citrus Peel Scrap Vinegar Cleaner
Ingredients
- Orange peels, dried or fresh
- Scrap vinegar (here is the recipe)
Directions
1. Fill a jar with citrus peels.
2. Pour in enough vinegar to cover the peels. Insert a jar or weight to keep the peels submerged in the jar.
3. Close jar with the lid.
4. Store for two weeks at room temperature.
5. Strain through a cloth-lined sieve.
6. Gather together the corners of the cloth and squeeze out as much liquid from the peels as possible.
7. Store in a jar and use full-strength or diluted with water to clean sinks, tiles, toilets and so on.