Make all natural citrus vinegar peel counter and laundry cleaner. Super easy DIY! With the peels left over from your Christmas oranges and winter lemons, here’s how to make citrus vinegar cleaner.
Homemade Citrus Vinegar Cleaner
Do you have leftover citrus peels lying around? Don’t put them in the garbage! Learn how to make a citrus vinegar cleaner instead.
For this homemade citrus vinegar cleaner you can use the rinds of lemons, oranges, limes or any other citrus you have on hand. Ever heard of a pomelo? It’s kind of like a cross between an orange and a grapefruit and has a lovely green rind (you’ll see it in the pictures below).
Instructions for Making Citrus Vinegar
These instructions are not very complicated. In fact, this is a great kitchen job to set your kids to accomplishing. Even young children can follow all these steps with a little supervision.
- Fill a glass jar with citrus peels, dried or fresh.
- Cover them with white vinegar, cap and shake a bit to coat all the peels in vinegar.
- Screw on a lid and wait for at least a week, or up to four, for the oils to infuse into the vinegar.
- Strain out the peels and compost them (or grind up a few in your garbage disposal to clean it).
- Put the vinegar back into the mason jar. Use for cleaner or condiments.
To Use Homemade Citrus Vinegar
If you’re cleaning with it, you can dilute this mixture to scrub counters, toilets, glass, your five year old and whatever doesn’t run fast enough.
I usually do 1 part vinegar to 1 part water for cleaning surfaces and as an after spray on my shower walls.
For cleaning the toilet, I put one cup of this citrus infused vinegar (undiluted) into the bowl and let it sit for five to ten minutes. Then, I add a 1/3 cup of baking soda and scrub the toilet clean.
You don’t have to use this stuff as a cleaner only. You could also use your citrus infused vinegar in salad dressings and sauces.
For further reading, here’s a great little article about Orange Oil Uses for Home and Beauty from Little House Living.
Homemade Citrus Laundry Wash and Vinegar Cleaner
Ingredients
- Citrus Peels any variety
- White vinegar
Instructions
- Place fresh or dried citrus peels into a glass jar that can be lidded, e.g. a canning jar.
- Cover the peels with white vinegar. Shake a bit to cover the top-most peels entirely with vinegar.
- Cover and allow to sit for at least a week, up to four weeks.
- Strain out peels and return the vinegar to the jar. Use as needed.
Notes
Leftover Citrus Peels?
If you have citrus peels leftover after making this recipe, please visit Montana Happy for lots more ideas on what to do with orange peels.
HE Washer? Try Citrus Vinegar
A great way to use this citrus vinegar cleaner is in an HE washing machine. We had one for awhile that just always stunk. Always. Didn’t matter what I did to it or how often I used the chemical cleaner you can buy at the store. The machine stunk, the clothes stunk, we stunk.
We no longer have that machine but I’m still using this wash on whites and cloth diaper inserts (not the covers). Oh, and towels. This laundry wash along with line drying clothes in the warm sun works wonders on the laundry pile. I don’t use this vinegar citrus wash to replace my laundry soap, but rather, to augment it.
When I started using this citrus vinegar cleaner as a laundry wash that nasty HE washer smell went away. We had to use it pretty much every time, but it worked!
Special Warning for Cloth Diaperers
Incidentally, I think the constant use of vinegar is what made my cloth diaper liners stop working, so but be judicious if you’re using a diapering system that involves PUL fabric.
To learn more about our cloth diaper issues, click here.
To read about trouble shooting cloth diaper issues, click here.
Other DIY Ideas
For more ideas on what to do with vinegars, try these fine topics:
Homemade Cleaners
Thieves vinegar recipe
Natural Stove Cleaners - 3 Kitchen Cleaner Recipes, Plus Tips for Cleaning Baked on Grime
DIY Natural Laundry Detergent (without bar soap!)
Thank you for the links! I love that you included the fact that this stuff can be used for cleaning AND eating. Sometimes it’s hard to get around the psychological idea that you’re “using cleaner on your salad”… lol
Great post!
Great idea! The vinegar smell bothers me but I never thought of infusing it! I will be trying this, for sure. Thanks!
Once it goes through the laundry, you can’t smell anything but citrusy scent. If you’re using it as a household cleaner, you can smell it as you’re using it but the citrus makes it pleasant. And clean smelling, ya know?
Do you use this in place of laundry soap? Or alongside another laundry soap?
I use it with my laundry soap. I have a homemade laundry soap I use and then I use Ecos (I get it at Costco) on my cloth diapers. The only thing I don’t use the vinegar on is the cloth diaper covers because it makes the PUL fabric go all wonky and then it leaks. Otherwise, love this vinegar! You can, like I mentioned, use it as a salad dressing base, too. Just very versatile!
Hmm…I have Eco’s and mixed lemon essential oil in it and wash diapers like that…wonder if I should stop doing that?!? Haven’t done but few times!!
Do you wash the liners or just the prefolds? Or do you have pocket diapers? The prefolds should be fine but I suspect the vinegar did a number on my liners. I can’t prove it, though. Maybe I just had bad liners? I ditched pocket diapers and am now using liners and prefolds which I wash separately so that I can blast the gunk out of the prefolds without shredding my liners. So far, its working.
Hi there! We love citrus too! There are so many projects for the homemaker which utilize the citrus peel. Thank you for sharing your techniques on the Art of Home-Making Mondays 🙂 I do something similar but will have to give your method a try…
We try to eat seasonally but citrus is one of the exceptions, at least with lemons and limes as we eat them all year round. I do cut back the oranges until its cold again but I’d be lying if I said this California native didn’t miss them!
What a great idea! I never thought to infuse the vinegar with anything else, and I’m sure it gives it a better smell than the plain old vinegar that I use 🙂
It does smell much better and it turns a lovely color – especially if you’re using orange rinds.
Hi! Thanks for the info. My HE washer stinks and I am looking for a solution and excited to try this idea. How much of the solution did you use for each cycle?
Ah, Lauren, if only I measured! It probably amounts to 1/4 cup with each load but fiddle with it until you find what works for your washer.
I know vinegar is quite useful when it comes to cleaning but I was not sure how to use it. But after reading your post now I can prepare this cleaner and also save money on expensive chemical products.
So glad it was helpful! Be sure to follow the links because other people have had wonderful ideas for using it!
My hubby loves oranges, so I’m excited to try this!
Its a great excuse to eat more citrus!
I love this! I have a jar of orange peels an vinegar on my kitchen windowsill. I hate the smell of vinegar but it’s so darn good for cleaning so the the citrus peel cuts the smell and I am happy 🙂
I know, right?! Vinegar is so nasty smelling but the citrus makes it wonderful, especially for cleaning.
can this be used on a high gloss laminate floor?
I live the shine; but all the cleaners i’ve tried leave a dull haze.
This should be fine, Donna. My suggestion is to try it once a week for a month on one corner of your floor to see how it does. If it performs to your satisfaction, you’re good to go.
I’ve used vinegar on a variety of surfaces and never had a problem. Let me know how it works, if you do it!
Hi, can you use oranges and lemons after squeezing the juice from them? Or should I remove the flesh and just use the peel.
Thank you
Great question! Yes, you can use the peels if they still have bits of citrus flesh attached. Just be sure to mix them into the vinegar solution so they’re saturated, which will prevent them from molding.
Thankyou! There is now a jar of lemon peels and white vinegar brewing on my counter top. I love citrus and have been feeling frustated about “wasting” the peels. Following natures way I often throw them around my mandarin tree, or sometimes rub my chopping boards then leave them in the sun to keep them fresh. I still have some left over so now I have an ideal use for them – in with the wash. I had tried using this mix as a cleaner before and wasn’t keen on the smell but it turns out it should’ve been diluted! Duh lol. So thanks for that info too. ?I have added cloves to mine…for the smell mainly. Has anyone else tried it?
Ooh cloves, what a great idea! I love citrus, don’t you?
Thanks so much for stopping by!
I use a lemon/clove scrub for my sink that is basically two cups of baking soda and 10 drops each of lemon and of clove essential oil. The citrus-clove scent has me scrubbing my sink every night!
What a great combination! I need to go order more lemon oil – I run out SO fast.
My sister always smked in her house. The week she passed away we removed all her clothes from her home & OMG the stink. I let the clothes air out & infused vinegar & orange peels then added baking soda to the wash & it really helped the smell.
I’m so sorry for the loss of your sister but am glad you were able to clean the space so well. Citrus and vinegar is really a wonderfully cleansing combination!
HE washers will stink if the door is left closed between washings. Best way to keep washer smelling great is to use vinegar each time you do a load of wash. I have used vinegar instead of a commercial rinse for the last 20 years. Benefits are: no smell in washing machine – leave the door open a bit so air can circulate – and no static cling. Static cling occurs when there is detergent residue left on clothes. The technician installing our washer, 22 years ago, suggested no more than 4 TABLESPOONS of a commercial laundry detergent in a load of wash. I do a double rinse with every load. Because I have very hard water, I also use 1/4 cup baking soda in every load.