Photo credit:
KitAy
One of my cleaning mantras is "to clean my sink I use my lemon sponge" this particular mantra can be sung to the tune of REM's song, Orange Crush. Don't call me if you are humming this at 3:00 in the morning!
Of the virtues of lemon, dare I speak? OK, twist my arm, here goes: I buy lemons for cooking and cleaning. I cut the lemon open and squeeze some of the juice out, saving it for cooking. I store the juice in the fridge in a glass bottle if i'm going to use it soon, or freeze it into cubes for use later. I then take the lemon half and make a cut halfway through so I can flatten it down. This somewhat juicy pulpy "sponge" can then be used to clean anything from the kitchen and bathroom sinks and countertops, to the fridge and toilet. Lemon is a great dissolver of lime scale; I use it to keep all my faucets sparkling clean. Wipe up any lemony residue with a warm, damp cloth. Lemon also acts as an environmentally safe, natural disinfectant.
After you have exhausted the juicy goodness of your lemon sponge, cut off a small piece of the dry outer peel and squeeze the lemon oil into the air—the clean citrus smell it imparts is a welcome bonus.
How to green your detergent usage
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ok, lucy. you've sold me. i love the smell and taste of lemon. now i have another use for them. excellent. i can hardly wait to get home to try it out.
Can one/do you keep the lemon sponge in a bag in the fridge to keep it fresh so you can reuse it?
I also use lemons to clean my wooden cutting board. I throw course salt on the board before I apply the "lemon sponge" and it acts as an abrasive. I let it dry for about 30 minutes or whatever time it takes me to clean the rest of the kitchen and then I wipe it down with a dry cloth. It's great.
I am Greek so I always have lemons in the fridge and I put lemon juice and/or lemon zest on almost everything I make. Oh and I *never* use Meyer lemons to clean. They are my favorite kind of lemon and I after I squeeze most of the juice out of them I actually eat the pulp like an orange :).
It also works great with some salt, to clean anything copper :D