Natural Orange Cleaner

A couple of weeks ago I saw a pin on Pinterest about how to make natural orange cleaner, and I thought I'd try it myself.

It's really simple.
All you need is some orange peels and white vinegar, and a jar.
I always feel guilty about throwing out my orange peels, because I just knew there had to be some cool way to re-use them but wasn't sure how to go about it.
Here is a super easy way to make those orange peels work harder for you, and to get some nice natural cleaner in the process.

Simply take some oranges, peel them and put the peels in a jar. How many oranges you need depends on your size of jar. About 3 large orange peels will fill a quart size jar. I only had two oranges for this batch, so it didn't fill the jar completely. ( Save your jars from honey and pasta sauce to re-use for things like this!)

Pour white vinegar over the peels to cover them.

I added lavender into this batch for some extra scent and cleaning power.

Put a lid on the jar, let it sit for 10 days (at least.) I lost count, but I think I did let it set at least that long.
Maybe if you're like me, you should label the date on the jar, or write it on your calendar or in your iphone or something. ;)

Then, at the end of 10 days, strain out the liquid throw away the peels and you have an all-natural, all purpose orange cleaner! I added lemons and limes to my first batch, because I had the peels and figured that since they were citrus, it would still work fine. This is what it will look like when it's done:
You can put it in a spray bottle and clean away! (I need to make a trip to the dollar store to get a spray bottle.)

Vinegar works especially well to clean windows, in addition to your usual bathroom/kitchen cleaning needs.
I'm so excited to use it, because I"m just running out of my store-bought cleaner and am thinking I may never have to buy cleaner again. :)

What are some natural cleaners that you use?




This post is shared at Wildcrafting Wednesday at Mind Body and Sole