I am hearing this more and more often – the discovery that very basic staple item that you have in your kitchen can actually do a whole lot more than make food taste better. In this Back-to-basics cleaning series, I decided to list a few cleaning tips that most of you have probably already heard of or used. I am also going to list some surprising ones – like: Did you know what ketchup can help you with?
Hope you enjoy trying these tips and I will – as always – welcome your comments and suggestions
Lemons
- The acid in lemon juice removes dirt and rust stains. It works even better when mixed with table salt – it will make an excellent scouring paste.
- To clean your countertops, dip the cut side of lemon in baking soda, scour your countertop and then wipe clean with a wet sponge.
- Get line scale off your faucets by wiping lemon juice on them, letting it sit overnight and then just wiping with a wet cloth.
- You can freshen your garbage disposal by cutting a lemon in a half and running it though the disposal
- Coffee stains or other stains in the grout of your tile countertop or backsplash can be cleaned by adding lemon juice to couple of teaspoon of cream of tartar – making it a natural bleaching agent. Apply the paste with a toothbrush and rinse clean.
- Use lemons after working with fish – just rub your hands over cut lemon – it will neutralize the odor.
- In the laundry, you can add about 1/2 cup of lemon juice to the rinse cycle to brighten your whites.
- Plastic food containers can get stained with storing items such as tomato sauce – rubbing lemon juice on the stains and letting them dry in a sunny spot will help that.
Watch for the next Back-to-basics cleaning post – with Cooking Oils
