I wanted to share about my new secret cleaning weapon- lemon essential oil. Essential oils are great as an ingredient in homemade cleaning products (usually combined with vinegar, baking soda, or a little castile soap), but I wanted to say how amazed I’ve been lately on using a few drops of straight lemon essential oil on stubborn stains and dirt- things that I’d tried everything else on without success.
If you have any adhesive residue, a couple drops of lemon oil removes it in seconds. I’ve even used it on stubborn scuff marks and old scratches, that had been cleaned with other products without success, and a bit of straight lemon oil (and a little elbow grease) made them look better than I ever thought possible.
I even spilled some of a medicine for my daughter’s fish tank on a table, which was dark blue and seemed very much like ink. I tried wiping it up with a wet towel or glass cleaner, but it seemed to be soaked in to the finish of the table and wasn’t going anywhere. I thought of lemon oil and was worried it might ruin the finish on the table, but thought even if it did, I thought it would be better than the dark blue blotches I’d made. A few drops of lemon oil took the inky blue stains right out of the table, and the shine on the table didn’t look like it had any damage!
I’ve been using lemon oil all the time now on stubborn dirt and stains around the house, and I really can’t recommend it enough!
Straight essential oils are very strong, so be sure to wash your hands well after using or use cleaning gloves. Also, since lemon oil is so potent, I’d recommend testing a patch on surfaces first to see if it damages the finish.
Generally, essential oils are best as part of an ingredient in a homemade cleaning solution (here is a link to a site with a lot of great simple recipes for making household cleansers with lemon oil), but for those times when nothing else works, a few drops of straight lemon essential oil can work like a miracle!
