I can’t remember where I first saw this idea, probably somewhere on pinterest, but I can’t take credit for coming up with it! Others have done it before me, but I love this little project so much that I had to share it with you!

Do you squeeze lemon into your water? What do you do with the lemon after the fact? I keep a lemon in my water all day, and then it goes in the compost. Which is preferable to going into the garbage, but wouldn’t it be even better if you could use it once more before composting it? Well look no further as I have the perfect project for you!

Lemon is a powerful de-greaser and anti-bacterial, so it’s a great ingredient for cleaning products. Combine lemon with vinegar, the most useful of all cleaning ingredients, and you create a potent cleaner that not only degreases and shines, but also kills unwanted microbes without any nasty chemicals! Here’s how:

Lemon Vinegar Cleaning Solution

Grab a large jar or bowl and fill it up about half way with plain old white vinegar. Store it somewhere that is an easy reach from your prep area in the kitchen. Every time you use a lemon – either for cooking or in your water – when you’re done, simply throw it into the vinegar. Once you fill up the jar to the top (the lemons should be completely submerged in water), let it sit for 2 weeks. Remove the lemons from the vinegar (now you can compost them!) and voila – you have yourself an amazing cleaning product that is effective and also smells lovely!

You can use it on its own for the kitchen and bathroom, or combine with additional ingredients such as those found in my Bathroom Cleaner!

There you have it! A simple way to reuse leftover lemon peels to keep your house clean and smelling great!

Do you have any tricks for squeezing in one more use out of something before recycling/composting? Share below!