48 Ways to Use a Lemon

Let’s take a look at just how “green” yellow can be by exploring the myriad of ways that you can replace many household cleaners, beauty supplies, etc… with the all-natural, economical,  multipurpose lemon.  There are a million different uses for lemons and just as many web sites listing those uses. Here is my compilation of 48 ways to use a lemon to add to those millions.

48 Ways to Use a Lemon

{Around The House}

1.) Citrus Vinegar
2.) Brighten your laundry by adding lemon juice, an all natural bleach alternative, to your wash.
3.) Use on your laundry to remove rust and mildew stains.
4.) Freshen your air by slicing lemons. Alternately, you could simmer it on the stove with (or without) some cloves. – Obviously not as frugal of choice as you are using electricity.
5.) Lemon juice works as an insect repellant, particularly for ants. Sprinkle some in your hot spots or wash your floors with the citrus vinegar from #1.
6.) Scale deposits? Substitute lemon juice for CLR or Lime Away. Soak the area for up to several hours and then wash away.
7.) Clean your shower with the juice of lemons in the same manner as in #6. Difficult areas can be scrubbed with a paste made from the juice and either salt or baking soda.
8.) Lemon Dusting Cloths

{In The Kitchen}

9.) Stop the oxidation process on fruits and vegetables by sprinkling with the juice. This works particularly well with apples, pears, and potatoes.
10.) Remove stains from your countertop or cutting board by making a paste with baking soda or salt.
11.) After you make lemonade, throw the rinds down the garbage disposal and freshen it up.
12.)  Combine 1 Tablespoon juice per 1 cup of milk  and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Use as a substitute for buttermilk.
13.) Remove offensive kitchen odors such as onion, garlic, or fish from your hands.
14.) Add a few teaspoons of lemon juice to the water when cooking rice. This should prevent sticking.
15.) Clean your metal with a lemon juice/baking soda paste.
16.) Keep a peel in with your brown sugar to keep the sugar soft.
17.) Make Homemade Sour Cream
18.) Place a lemon half in the refrigerator (or anywhere stinky) to remove odors.
19.)  Place small slices in the trays when you make ice cubes.
20.) Old Fashioned Tips has some fantastic looking recipes for ice tea that I can’t wait to try, many of which include lemons.
21.) Make an Herbal Compound Butter with Lemon & Dill to cook fish
22.) Dehydrate the peel and grind it for DIY yellow sprinkles.
23.) Make Mascarpone Cheese.
24.) To leach more goodness from the bones when you make meat stock.
25.) Make Real Homemade Lemonade

{Natural Health & Beauty}

26.) DIY frugal teeth whitener – Use them with baking soda to whiten your teeth! It’s fun because the acid foams when it meets up with the baking soda
27.) Lemon, Honey, & Thyme Cough Syrup
28.) Detoxify your liver and gallbladder by adding lemons to your water.
29.) Gargle with lemon water to alleviate a sore throat.
30.) Soak yellow nails to stregthen and brighten, then dip in vinegar water to rinse.
31.) Topically apply  to soothe a poison ivy rash.
32.)  To stop bleeding and use as an antibacterial treatment, apply to minor cuts and scrapes.
33.) Mix with water to soothe a sunburn.  (I like this much better than the vinegar my husband uses! It’s so difficult to sleep when you’re smelling vinegar.)
34.) Aromatherapy- the smell of lemons is sure to lift your spirits.
35.) Use as an antiseptic. Lemons can kill mold, bacteria, and germs.
36.) Remove dead skin cells  by using the fruit acids in lemons to loosen the cells before washing your face.
37.) Hairspray
38.) Hair Conditioner
39.) Lemon juice works as a coagulant. To control nosebleeds, dab a bit of juice inside of your nose.
40.) Boost your metabolism. The acid in them helps to burn up your food in your stomach.
41.) Cosmetics
42.) Stonewall Jackson used to eat lemons because he felt that they aided with his indigestion. Turns out he was onto something. Lemons prevent bacterial growth thereby inhibiting acids from forming.
43.) Homemade Lemon Soap
44.) Lemon Socks for a fever

{Science Projects}

45.) Lemon battery
46.) Lemon fizz
47.) Charge you ipod with a lemons.
48.) Invisible ink

Do you have a way for using lemons that isn’t on this list?