How to Make Homemade Cleaners with Lemon Essential Oil

One of the biggest changes I've made in my quest to have a greener and healthier home is in the way I clean my house. I've been replacing toxic commercial cleaning products with homemade cleaners using natural ingredients.

I've found that they do just as good a job as the store bought ones, if not better. What's more, I don't have to breathe in noxious fumes or worry about it touching my skin. These cleaners leave my house sparkling clean and smelling wonderful.

Plus it saves me a lot of money.

Most of the cleaner recipes I make use one or more essential oils. Hands down, my favorite oil for cleaning is lemon. I love the fresh citrus fragrance!

But it's not just about the scent.

Lemon oil also has excellent cleaning and germ killing properties. It's versatile and useful in so many ways.

It's also less expensive than most other essential oils, which is a good thing because I use a lot of it!

There are dozens and dozens of ways to use lemon oil around the house. Here are seven of my favorite ways to use it for cleaning. Maybe you'll want to give some of them a try.

1. Lemon Oil Stickum Remover

Self-sticking things are great until you want them gone.

Lemon essential oil is fantastic for cleaning up the messes left behind by stickers, price tags, and self-adhesive hooks. Use it full strength on a paper towel or cloth to wipe away the sticky residue.

Have you ever tried to clean earwax off of earbuds? It's nearly impossible. Well, a little lemon oil on a cotton swab will take it right off. No problem!

2. Glass Stovetop Cleaner

For a gentle but effective way to clean your glass stovetop, make a paste with baking soda and water and add a few drops of lemon essential oil. Apply with a sponge or damp cloth and rinse well.

You might need to repeat if you have some really hard cooked on spots.

If you have any paste left over, you can use it to clean the outside of your tea kettle or anything else nearby that might have oil splatters on it from cooking. Lemon oil is a super effective degreaser!

This recipe from Dr. Axe is my favorite cleaner for countertops, cabinets, doors, and almost any other surface in the house.

To make it, combine 1 cup of water with 1/2 cup white vinegar in a glass spray bottle. Add 15 drops each of lemon essential oil and tea tree oil. Swirl it around, spray it on, and wipe with a clean microfiber cloth.

By the way, essential oils are corrosive to plastic, so you always want to use glass bottles for your homemade cleaners.

You can make your own glass spray bottle using a vinegar bottle and a spray nozzle from an old plastic cleaning bottle. Or you can buy a new glass spray bottle like the one I found on Amazon. Click here to see if it's still available.

4. Soap Scum Remover

I've tried lots of different methods of getting soap scum and water marks off my glass shower door. Most of them don't work very well.

One day I was looking online for more possible solutions, and this time something caught my eye - lemon oil.

And sure enough, it worked!

Here's how to do it:

Get a bowl of hot water and add 6-10 drops of lemon oil. You can also add 6-10 drops of Thieves oil. Dip a microfiber cleaning cloth into the solution and wipe away. It's amazing!

You can use it on the fiberglass enclosure, too. It's easiest to do when you're right in there, so I like to do my shower cleaning when it's time to take a shower.

Here's an easy way to make your wood furniture glow and to protect it from scratches.

Combine 4 ounces olive oil and 10-15 drops of lemon oil. Rub it into the wood with a soft cloth. Give the wood a little time to absorb the oil and then give it a buffing with a clean cloth.

This also works to revive and protect your cutting boards. It's non-toxic, so you don't have to worry about it coming into contact with food.

As a bonus, this combination also makes an excellent stainless steel cleaner. Rub it on with a paper towel or cloth, then buff it with a clean microfiber cloth. You'll love the way it shines!

6. Microwave Cleaner and Deodorizer

Most of us let the microwave go until it's a disgusting mess, and then it's a big chore to get it clean again.

Boy, do I have good news for you!

You can make your microwave spotless in about 10 minutes, and there's no scrubbing involved.

If you follow these directions from The Thrifty Couple, the microwave, some water, white vinegar, and a few drops of lemon essential oil will do most of the work for you. All you have to do is wipe with a dish cloth.

Here's the proof - "before" and "after" pictures of my own microwave. It was so simple!

7. Scuff Mark Scrubber

I like Mr. Clean Magic Erasers, but they are pricey and they fall apart in no time. They're not environmentally friendly, either.

So I was happy to discover lemon essential oil can take the place of the Magic Eraser for a lot cleaning jobs.

Apply a little lemon oil to a soft cloth to clean scuff marks, pencil, crayon, and grimy finger prints from hard surfaces. It works on painted walls without taking off the paint like the Magic Eraser does. Test it in an inconspicuous place first, though, if you're going to use it on your walls.

These are just a handful of the many ways that you can use lemon oil to clean your home. You can find lots more ideas on Pinterest or by googling "lemon oil uses". Or just experiment and invent your own cleaning solutions!

Have you tried any of these ideas? What are your favorite ways to use lemon essential oil for cleaning? Tell us about it in the comments below!