After a recent survey of 800 people, asking for their top kitchen tips, you’d be amazed at how many tips that utilise a lemon came to light! I thought a lemon was something you sliced and put into drinks but o no, it’s capable of a whole lot more than that!
So, lets get to the good bit and just before I do, the next time you have some food containing lemons, just look at the small amount of lemon that is actually in there. Adversely, when you pick up some lemon fresh cleaning fluid next, you’ll be surprised find how much lemon is actually in there!
Let’s begin!
Before you start reading, put some lemons on your shopping list or reading the rest of this article will be pointless!
- Want your fridge to greet you with a fresh smell rather thank one of going off food? Simply use half a lemon in your fridge to keep it smelling nice and fresh.
- Microwave caked in crud? Put a fresh lemon cut in half in a microwavable bowl with some water and cook for 1 min to keep your microwave smelling fresh and help clean the hard to budge cremated bits of food that will be starting to fall off the roof of the microwave.
- When cleaning glass fronted appliances, add a little lemon juice or vinegar to the water to make them sparkle like new.
- Put lemon juice into a bowel of hot water to give your kitchen a clean sheen and a lovely fresh smelling kitchen.
- If you boil your kettle with lemon slices in it, it will remove all lime scale and leave the kettle smelling lemony fresh. Just boil it again afterwards with clean water to stop lemon tea flowing naturally
- Refresh your dishwasher with half a lemon in the cutlery tray, the contents and the dishwasher well be clean and fresh after the next wash!
- Always use lemon juice as a natural disinfectant on your chopping boards. There is nothing worse than buttering some bread and getting a garlic tastes from last nights dinner!
- To remove rust mix one part cream of tartar with a little lemon juice and apply the paste to the rust stains and rub in. If the rust is heavily embedded leave the paste for a few hours.
- When you clean your doors on your kitchen cupboards, put some lemon juice in some warm water will make them sparkling and the kitchen will smell fresh.
- Put slices of lemon, lime or orange in your bin every couple of days. This will keep it smelling fresh and mask those odours that can tend to fill the kitchen on a warm summers day!
- Use Bicarbonate of Soda mixed with a little lemon juice to clean cooker and sink tops works just as well as expensive cleaners.
- The netting which holds lemons shouldn’t be thrown away, you can bunch it up and clean cooker tops with it. It’s not as harsh as wire wool or abrasive scrubbers and it brings your hob up a treat!
- If you only need to use part of a lemon, rather than waste it, slice what is left and freeze it ready for a nice G&T later that evening after all that cleaning!
- Rather than thinking outside of the box on this one, simply zest and juice 3 lemons and it to 15 crushed ginger nut biscuits, 1/2 a tablespoon of demerara sugar, 50g of melted butter, 250g of mascarpone cheese, 200g of single cream, a 400g tin of condensed milk and you’ll have a nice ginger and lemon cheesecake in no time at all. If that G&T is at hand sit down and enjoy them both!
Well there you have it, 14 tips to get the most of out lemons and ensure that none of it goes to waste.
Experimentation
After writing this article I tried experimenting a little. I cleaned the inner door of the washing machine with a lemon and left one in there as the door had been closed for over 24 hours and stunk! The lemon did a good job of absorbing the odours, I found out that hard way by sniffing the lemon afterwards, do not do it!
I’m also an avid walker and walk 4 miles a day, so my shoes can start to hum a little, so I squeezed some lemon juice in there and placed half a lemon in there too. If left for a few days, your shoes are good for another outing without any smells but leave the lemon in a pair of shoes for over a week, and you’ll come back to a fungal invasion as lemons, although fresher than fresh, do go moldy.
Be warned, experiment at your leisure but lemons in the wrong hands, or near feet can be dangerous:-)
Download our mobile app
Looking for some kitchen inspiration? Take a look at some of our real customer kitchens, video reviews as well as advice in our mobile app. We’ll also keep you up to date with any new ranges and offers that we have available.
 |
 |
Up to 50% off competitor kitchen prices
At DIY Kitchens, not only do you get a quality rigid built kitchen but you also get it at a fabulous price too! Price your kitchen up on our site and you could see savings of up to 50% off other kitchen quotes that you’ve had.
Take a look at our kitchen price comparison page here.
Real customer kitchens
Get some inspiration for designing your own new kitchen with over 3,000 pictures of our customers’ kitchens that they ordered from us.