I love making something out of nothing.
I’m still not a composter even though I know how easy it can be (*cringe* I know, I know, get on top of that one, Katie), so anytime I can reuse food scraps (orange peels, in this case) before I toss them, it makes me indescribably happy. I posted a while back on Ways to Cook with Garbage, and now I have a great one for how to clean with garbage.
Here’s one way to use orange peels for cleaning rather than tossing them.
- Juice about 3-4 oranges or save the peels from eating them.
- Put empty rinds into a quart jar.
- Cover with white vinegar.
- Allow to sit for about 2 weeks, either in a cabinet or on the counter.
- Shake when you think of it.
After 2 weeks, strain out the vinegar, which will smell clean and citrusy. Really. It will. There’s no other way to describe it – the bite of smelling straight vinegar is gone, and the orange smell is heavenly.
Citrus will help cut the grease when cleaning and be a good substitute for those commercial orange cleaners that harness the natural cleaning power of oranges and then adulterate it with a bunch of other junk.
A reader shared in the comments that she makes this out of grapefruit peels, which makes me pretty confident that lemon would work excellently as well. Maybe I can finally have that “Pledge” smell for dusting again but without the chemicals!
Store citrus vinegar in a glass jar for a very long time – no reason this should go bad. I got about 1.5-2 cups from a quart jar, and I was still using a jar from last year just this week.
How to Use Your New Orange Power Cleaner
- Mix in a ratio of anywhere from 1:1 to 8:1 with water in a spray bottle and clean anything, from counters to floors to toilets, with it (but vinegar is not recommended for wood floors, granite, or marble). I also use this DIY all-purpose cleaner.
- Pour into your rinse aid dispenser in your dishwasher.
- Use the orange vinegar as part or all of the vinegar for the natural dishwasher cleaning method.
- Use it in place of any of the uses for vinegar mentioned is this post.
Those readers who know me will have already guessed that I tried using the rinds for another batch. It works great! The result is perhaps slightly less dark than the original, but surely will still have great cleaning power and smells great. (I do the same thing with bones for everlasting chicken stock.)
Use the Orange Peels a Third Time To Clean Your Garbage Disposal!
Once you’ve strained out your vinegar, keep the jar of orange rinds by the sink. They shouldn’t mold after all that vinegar. About once a week or when your garbage disposal gets a little stinky, use the rind to wipe around your entire sink, especially the drain area, and then put down your disposal. It smells great! Combine with a little baking soda to really scrub the grime out of the sink.
I learned this method here. This post contains affiliate links. See my full disclosure statement here.
Katie Kimball, CSME is a trusted educator and author of 8 real food cookbooks. She is passionate about researching natural remedies and making healthy cooking easier for busy families. She’s been featured on media outlets like ABC, NBC and First for Women magazine as well as contributing regularly on the FOX Network. 
A mom of 4 kids from Michigan, she is a Certified Stress Mastery Educator and member of the American Institute of Stress.
Katet says
I’ve been doing this for years. We pop citrus peels into a mason jar, cover with white vinegar, and let it brew for a week or so, turning it occasionally upside down to get maximum exposure. Then, filter it through 4 or 5 successively smaller filters, strainer, metal coffee strainer, paper toweling, then coffee filter papers (several of these passes) until the liquid is clear, golden, and has lost all opacity. We store in a mason jar, with plastic wrap protecting the metal lids from the vinegar. We mix in spray bottles with 1/4 citrus vinegar, 1/4 white vinegar and 1/2 water. We save the filters used to strain the mixture and the rinds, and use those as scrubbers for tough oven and stove areas, refrigerator or for other high need places. We use the citrus vinegar cleanser on windows, kitchen surfaces (we don’t have marble or granite), wooden cutting boards, and floors. In the bathroom, we use it on all surfaces. It works well on stainless steel surfaces too.
Carolyn @ Kitchen Stewardship says
That’s a great idea to use the coffee filters as scrubbers! Thanks for sharing your process in such helpful detail!
Beth says
I’m late to the party here, but I wanted to share a bit what I do for mine. I put my peels in some cheesecloth before I add the vinegar, I also add a few whole cloves for the scent, but if you don’t like that smell you can leave them out. I found doing it with cheesecloth almost eliminated all of the floaties that people were talking about. Plus it’s easier to store the used peels once the mixture is finished. I keep the peels to clean the stove and microwave, and I have thrown the cheesecloth in the washing machine or dishwasher on just a plain hot water cycle for a natural cleaner and deodorizer rather than those commercial washer cleaners. I hope that helps!
Carolyn @ Kitchen Stewardship says
That’s a great idea Beth! Thanks for sharing!
Debbie says
Hi!
I use lemon, orange, lime and grapefruit peels in mine. Grapefruit is my fav. 🙂 I put them in the freezer until I am ready to use them. I usually let mine go for 4-5 weeks, strain and store in a glass jar. I delute 4:1. I clean everything with mine. Floors, counters, glass, mirrors, showers, etc. It is super awesome in the dishwasher as rinse agent. I have never had any funky things growing in mine. I have seen recipes that you soak the peels in salt first. Soak, strain and rinse. I have not done that but maybe it would help.
For laundry you can some lavender essential oil with the orange cleaner. Lavender and orange smell lovely.
LadyV says
Katie, have you ever used lemongrass essential oil? It smells just like pledge! So now when I make my homemade wood furniture polish I add lemongrass essential oil to get that familiar scent of Pledge spray. Sometimes I cheat and diffuse the lemongrass too ’cause it makes our home smell like its been cleaned top to bottom.
Rosemary says
Good to know about the lemongrass! I also add a bit of dish soap (7th Generation) to my orange vinegar cleaning solution.
Carolyn says
Hi, I’ve never commented on a post before but feel compelled to add my own comments. I’ve been making my own orange oil cleaner for over 6 months now and love it! After I add white vinegar to the orange (and lemon peels if I have them), I put the jar on top of my dryer and turn it upside down every few days. When I put the liquid into a spray bottle after 2 or more weeks I add about the same amount of water and also a small squirt of dawn dish detergent. I’ve never in the 3-4 batches I’ve made had any problem with floaters or clogging and love the fact that I’m not leaving unwanted chemicals behind on any of the surfaces I clean.
Andrea says
Hi, I came across your post and wanted to respond to the folks we have the moldy problem. I use a diy cleaner and was looking to add citrus to it. I use vinegar, borax, and water. It has been sitting on my counter for weeks with no mold. So I think if you add less orange vinegar just a small cap full goes a long way and borax -which is a natural mold killer , it will help your solution from molding up. I have been using this diy cleaner for a while with no problem. I am going to try to make the orange vingear and use that as my base.
Kristin says
I just tried this with a lemon. I used a small whole lemon, cut into slices, filled the rest of the jar with white vinegar, and let sit for about 45 days, shaking occasionally. The mixture still smells pretty vinegary to me and my husband, but I am about to dilute it and give it a try! We’ll see how it works!
Gloria says
I have been using white vinegar/water (1:4) on my laminate flooring. Has anyone tried the orange cleaner for this. I am wondering about streaking as I have had such a hard time to find something that will work without streaking. Other than the vinegar/water the only other thing that I have found that works is Natura laminate cleaner with australian tea tree oil.
That makes me wonder if tea tree oil could be added to the orange cleaner??? any thoughts??
Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says
Gloria,
I don’t see why one couldn’t add an essential oil…hope it works great for you! 🙂 Katie
Angleia says
Tried to purchase the e book you mention on cleaning supplies it said not available. Any new link available?
Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says
Angelia,
Hmmm, your comment came in when we were having some website problems, so maybe that was an issue with the link. This link went right to the site for the cleaning ebook today: https://www.e-junkie.com/ecom/gb.php?cl=166937&c=ib&aff=114298 Hope that helps! 🙂 Katie
Jeanne says
I made an orange cleaner using orange peels, vanilla beans, cinnamon sticks and white vinegar. The vanilla beans and cinnamon sticks add nice cleaning properties as well as the citrus and vinegar. It cleans/smells soooo good! I got the recipe here: http://fresh-eggs-daily.blogspot.com/2012/06/homemade-orange-peel-white-vinegar-coop.html
VA says
Great post! I see you mention garborators. I read somewhere that these are not good for our waterways as all that scrap food ends up directly in lakes etc. Just FYI if anyone is interested.
Raheela says
That would only happen if your septic or sewer solid waste drained into the waterways.
Sam says
VA,
You do realize that your sink is grey water and hence goes through the sewage treatment plant?
So unless your municipality doesn’t treat it’s grey water ( like Nowhere in N America, except maybe Flint, MI) then your warning seems nonsensical.
Tammy says
HI Katie,
I have a batch of the “brewing”right now. It should be ready for this Friday’s cleaning. I’ve read to use vinegar and water to clean windows. Do you think it would work with this vinegar? I’m not sure if the oil from the orange rinds would cause streaking.
Thanks.
Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says
Tammy,
I do the same thing and haven’t noticed a problem with greasy streaks… 🙂 Katie
Charlotte says
I started a batch of this a couple days ago, and can’t wait to try it! I use vinegar and water to clean the whole house, so this will be a fun change. I’m wondering about pesticides on the peels, though. I was just thinking that maybe I should only do it with organic, but then even they have bad chemicals. And we buy conventional oranges because organic is so incredibly pricey. My kids go through too many oranges and bananas all winter to splurge on better ones! Do you think it’s bad to have the pesticides in this, or does the vinegar somehow neutralize them?
Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says
Charlotte,
Since pesticides aren’t living things, I can’t imagine that vinegar would neutralize it in any way…but I guess I simply can’t worry about that myself – what little pesticides might get all the way to my kitchen floor or whatever will have to be an acceptable risk. ???
🙂 Katie
Rob says
I read this in my RSS feed, and happened to be able to grab about 3 lemons worth of left over wedges from work, threw those in a jar with a couple cups worth of vinegar. Will see how it turns out.
Been using soapnuts for laundry for a few months now, wondering about adding a bit of vinegar like this to the wash as well.
Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says
Rob,
I think some folks do add it to the laundry – can’t hurt! 🙂 Katie
Andria says
I’ve had the gross mother-like stuff at the bottom of my spray bottle when I used orange vinegar but not with the lemon. If you use distilled water it should help. I only mix with water in small batches and keep the rest under the sink in a glass jar. The lemon vinegar doesn’t smell “off” yet (in the jar, NOT mixed with water) but the orange went sorta-bad after about 6 months. You can also freeze the peels after removing them from the vinegar and when you cook something greasy pull a few out to thaw while you cook and when you are ready to clean, run them all over your stove with baking soda to clean the grease off.
Dana says
I’ve been doing this for a couple of months and loved it…until I realized it was leaving an orange film on my table and counters. It was quite diluted too. Anyone else have that problem?
Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says
Dana,
I haven’t, but my table surface is so funky…I would never notice! :/ Katie
Angelia says
I keep another spray bottle with hydrogen peroxide. I spray orange then the hydrogen then wipe up it is the best for having no residue works great. Just remember to keep them in 2 containers so you wont loose potency..
Vicki B. says
Ugh! We just juiced the last of our oranges yesterday for smoothies. Maybe next time.
Rachel says
I’ve done this with clementine peel and it works well also. I imagine from what I’m seeing in the posts that most citrus seems to work well. I wonder what a combination might be like.
Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says
Rachel,
Someone replied to this post via email and said that they combine different ones – even added a cinnamon stick to an orange batch! Yum! 🙂 Katie
Carrie says
I did this too, but heated it on low till it smelled more like citrus than vinegar (i didn’t let it boil), let it sit a couple days and strained it into my spray bottle. i got the idea from the quick method mentioned on your vanilla recipe post and learning a bit about making tinctures. I think it works really well for cleaning! I’m thinking about using it for the vinegar conditioning wash on my hair too so it doesn’t make my bathroom smell so much like vinegar.
Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says
Carrie – love the idea for the hair conditioner! Might have to steal that one. I also wonder if your method to infuse the citrus into the vinegar would help those people who are getting moldy clogs in their spray bottles…
🙂 Katie
Annette says
I have been doing something very similar this past year….save citrus scraps in an old plastic juice bottle, mix water with brown sugar, add to citrus scraps, loosely close lid and set in cool dark place for 3 months. I give it a shake every now and then and release the pressure too if the lid is closed too tight. I add 1 cup of apple cider vinegar after I strain. This stuff is an amazing cleaner. Pineapple is my favorite.
Julie says
I have a great recipe for furniture polish that smells just like Pledge…not for regular dusting though, but for occasional polishing. Your wood looks great when you’re finished.
2 cups olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
20 drops lemon essential oil
Mix all ingredients together in a clean glass jar. Dip a lint-free cloth into the mixture and use to polish and buff wood.
Lanette says
Any cleaners using vinegar/acid should not be used on granite or marble. It can dull the marbles and eat away at the granite sealer.
Kristen @ Smithspirations says
Like some others commented, I’ve gotten the floaty goop in my citrus vinegars, but I keep using them. I just strain them again when I notice it. I’ve also had the vinegar darken over time, so I wonder if refrigerating would help. It doesn’t smell any different, though. It was nice to read other ladies find the goop in their vinegar, too, because I was wondering what in the world I had done wrong!
LauraSC says
I just set up a wide mouth Mason jar beside my sink. Cut up an orange and put the peels in the jar to get started. That was a tasty orange, too, so I am sure it will make me some fine orange vinegar. I have read that vinegar tinctures need to be stored in the refrigerator. I don’t know if this goes for citrus, too. I don’t have all my peels together just yet, but one option is to bring the vinegar to a boil and pour over the peels to extract more. Once it cools, you still have to let it soak for a couple of weeks or more shaking it every few days. This is such a great idea to keep handy for vinegar cleaning.
Alissa says
I love this post and all the “easy fix” comments. I am a super lazy cleaner, so I need these simple methods in my life. This whole series: make citrus vinegar, then steam peels in water to clean the mircowave, then pour down the garbage disposal…. so awesome! Going to start ASAP.
I’m thinking you could actually put a jar 1/2 full of vinegar by the sink and slowly add citrus peels to it over a couple days and end up with the same result.
robyn says
I use citrus peels to clean the microwave too. Just put some in a bowl of water. Nuke it for 4 mins or so to get it nice and hot. Let it sit there and steam for 10 minutes, then pull out the bowl (to pour down the disposal) and wipe down the inside of your microwave. The citrus steam dissolves any gunk.
Brittney @ Sound in Wind and Limb says
Wow! Thanks for sharing! I use lemon essential oils and thieves cleaner from Young Living and works great! I’ll have to try your orange recipe 🙂
Jill says
When you say to mix the vinegar in a spray bottle, what do you mix the vinegar with? Water?
Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says
Jill,
Ah, good point. Missed a beat there! Yes, with water. Just a few Tbs. to maybe 1/4 cup vinegar with 32 oz. water or so. 🙂 Katie
Stacy Makes Cents says
Girl – you are so frugal. This whole post just makes me smile…but yeah, I had the same problem as some readers with the scoby gunk – only after it sits a while though, so I just don’t make a ton of it. And I hadn’t added water yet.
Denise says
I have a ton of lemon peels in my freezer that i dehydrated after receiving more than enough lemons from a friends tree… I wonder if these will work???
ericka says
Denise, I’ve used dehydrated citrus for this and it works great!
Susan says
After squeezing lemons or lime for a recipe, I take the inside (pulp stuff that is still attached to rind) and wipe my sink down, then throw them down the garbage disposal to me ground up. I love the smell it makes.
Also, with regards to white vinegar…if you happen to leave a load of laundry in the washing machine overnight (like I sometimes do – just plain forgot about it), and it has that mustly smell – just pour white vinegar over the clothes, add laundry det. and wash again. Takes the musty smell away.
Also, to clean your microwave, take glass bowl, fill with water about 1/2 way – and add vinegar (about 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup) – let the microwave run ( I do for 15 minutes – but can do less), long enough to get the top and sides steamy – wipe down microwave. I then pour vinegar down my drain where garbage disposal is – you could probably put bowl and vinegar in dishwasher to clean dishwasher.
Susan
Stephanie says
WARNING: It is possible to SUPERHEAT water in the microwave to the point that it “explodes.” It is rare, but does happen. Please be careful heating water in the microwave for long periods of time.
Diana says
I put citrus down my garbage disposal, but never thought to wipe down the sink with it first. I bet that would make the orange aroma even better! 🙂 Thanks!
Kelly says
I’ve done this with grapefruit, lemon, lime, clementines, oranges – you name it, if it’s citrus it goes in the vinegar jar! I always filter it through cheese cloth. Perhaps boiling (and cooling) the water you use for dilution would help those people who are getting funky spray bottles. That has never happened to me, but that might be a possible solution.
Katie – get a tumble style composter, they are SO easy and you don’t have to see or smell the compost pile and it’s really easy to give it a turn whenever you add scraps. Just keep it close to the kitchen so it’s convenient to dump stuff out there.
Angelique says
I did use the peel only, and strained it through a coffee filter. It still grew bacteria after a few weeks, which clogged the nozzle.
Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says
Angelique,
Now I’m wondering if once it’s diluted with water the problem begins. I’m going to go check all my bottles… 🙂 Katie
blessed says
I was wondering–if some people find there is stuff floating in the mixture that clogs the spray bottles, maybe the mixture needs to be strained when it is being put into the spray containers?
Jacqueline says
I do the same thing, with grapefruit. Love it! I do use just the rinds, no inner skin or anything, in response to some of the comments above.
Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says
Jacqueline,
Oh , good! I’m going to update the post with this note. I’m sure lemon works too; I think I’ll try both this week! 🙂 Katie
Angelia says
Yes, lemon works great and I like the smell to I also you tangerines as well
Margot C says
Heh, yeah this is fun and for some reason is enjoying a surge of interest just lately. In fact I did it again recently myself. That smell is wonderful.
Angelique is right about the strange kombucha-like phenomenon though because I have done this before.
I think if the mixture was made from only the orange bits of the rind (not the white styrofoamy parts) then that would cut out or eliminate that, or maybe adding some isopropanol. I haven’t tried this mind you. I did stick my recent one in the refrigerator, but that only adds so much life. So, I used it up in the dishwasher doing the vinegar thing in the natural dishwashing method that you showed me about here (and which is so awesome!).
As for composting, I don’t want to be a natural nag, but really it’s so easy and rewarding. Do you have the space for it?
Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says
Margot,
I know, I know…it’s just getting the system started. I know once I get going it will be easy, but let’s put it this way: we moved 14 months ago now, and I still have over a dozen boxes not unpacked!!! I’m just….busy.
I wonder what the difference is with the yucky film. I totally didn’t have that happen in a whole year, but now I want to go check my other jars…
🙂 Katie
Jendeis says
A tip for those who don’t compost for their own use (yet): we save compostable items in a bag in our freezer to donate to my SIL’s compost pile.
Angelique says
I did this last year. My bottles of diluted mix formed kombucha-like scobys that clogged (and ruined) the spray nozzles. It was gross.
Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says
Angelique,
Really!! Ooo, yucky. I did not have that happen at all; I wonder what the difference was. 🙁
Katie
Kristen @ Smithspirations says
I’ve also had that happen, Angelique! I’m not sure what it is, either. It kind of reminds me of the “mother” that’s in raw ACV. I’ve restrained my vinegar when I see it and then continue to use. It is annoying, though!
Laurie says
Annoying? No WAY! Use the mother to make more vinegar – I’ve never tried it, but I’ll bet if you poured apple cider in a jar and put the scoby/mother in it, you’d end up with great apple cider vinegar!
Evie says
Is it gross to use peels that people have eaten off of or will the vinegar disinfect them?
Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says
Evie,
The vinegar should disinfect it just great. If you have a choice, I would still opt for not-eaten peels myself though… 🙂 Katie
Evie says
This looks awesome!
Amy says
Katie,
I use vinegar instead of Downy in my washing machine. Do you think this would be a weird substitute? I’m kind of thinking that orange-smelling clothes would either be really fabulous or really awful 🙂
Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says
Amy,
I’m sure that would all be a matter of opinion. I haven’t found it to be sticky – might not be quite strong enough to make the clothes have a scent. Worth a try! 🙂 Katie