30 Clever Uses for Lemons and Lemon Juice

Who  doesn’t love lemons?  They smell great and enhance many different recipes.  Plus, fresh squeezed lemonade is the best!  However it turns out that lemons can be used in many different ways in your home.  Check out these incredible uses for lemons and/or lemon juice.

Uses for Lemons: In The Kitchen

• Stop sliced fruit and vegetables from turning brown.  Apples, bananas, potatoes, and avocados all turn brown quickly after peeling or slicing.  Try dipping apples and potatoes into water with a little lemon in it.  Or sprinkle avocados and bananas with a little lemon juice.  The acid in lemons helps to stop the oxidation process.  Did you know that you can freeze apples?  Find out how HERE.
• Having trouble getting your whipping cream to stiffen? Try adding a drop or two of lemon juice to help the process along.
• Lemon juice is also great at getting rid of berry stains from your fingers.
• Wash your hands in fresh lemon juice or rub sliced lemons on your hands to get rid of odors from onions, garlic, and fish.
• Get rid of cutting board odors by scrubbing it with a half a lemon.  Then rinse the board in cold water.
• Drop some lemon peels down your garbage disposal and grind it to get rid of odors and make it smell really good.
• Soak a sponge or cloth in lemon juice and place it in your fridge to get rid of strong smells.

Uses for Lemons: Natural Health and Beauty Product

• Create your own sugar scrub with lemon juice to exfoliate skin and leave it soft.  Here are more tips and ideas of making homemade salt and sugar scrubs.
• Lemon juice make a nice natural deodorant.  Generally rub some in your armpits and then dry the area with a towel.  The acid kills odor causing bacteria.
• Make your nails stronger and less brittle by daily rubbing lemon juice over your nails and cuticles.
• Get if of oily hair by mixing a cup of water with a teaspoon of lemon juice.  Wash the mixture through freshly shampooed hair.  Let the lemon water mixture set for 3 or 4 minutes and then rinse it out with warm water.
• Naturally highlight or lighten your hair with lemon juice.  Would you use lemon juice instead of store-bought highlights?  Join the discussion HERE .
• Rubbing lemon juice on your skin regularly can help get rid of dark patches, freckles, and age spots.
• Apply lemon juice to acne before bed.  Rinse your face in the morning.  Try this for several nights to see a reduction in acne.
• Lemon slices, juice, or pulp can be used to sooth the hurt from bug bites and bee stings.
• Have rough and sore hands and feet?  Wash them in lemon juice, rinse, dry, and massage with olive oil.
• Treat dry and chapped lips by mixing a teaspoon of lemon juice with a teaspoon of honey.
• Stirring that same mixture into a mug of hot water or tea can also help sooth a sore throat.
• 4 teaspoon of lemon juice with 1 teaspoon of honey mixed into warm water can help relieve constipation.

 

Uses for Lemons: Around the House

• Lemon juice is a degreaser.  Because of that, it makes a great cleaning product.
• Water and lemon juice makes a great streak-free cleaner for glass window and mirrors.
• Rinse washed glassed in water mixed with lemon slices of skins for a steak-free shine.
• Scrub stains from toilets and showers by dipping half a lemon into salt and wiping the stains. Check out this other alternative tub cleaner using lemon juice.
• Find out how to use lemons to clean stainless steel HERE.
• Add a teaspoon of lemon juice to your humidifier to add a fresh lemon scent to your home.
• Brighten your whites naturally by adding lemon juice to a load of a laundry.
• Apply lemon juice directly to a stain to remove it.  For larger stains, soak the clothing in baking soda, lemon juice, and water.  Have you tired using lemon juice for your laundry?  Share your thoughts HERE.

Misc Uses for Lemons

• Keep your dog’s skin and fur healthy by slicing a lemon into a cup of boiling water.  Let the mixture sit overnight, strain it, and add the lemon juice to a spray bottle.  This solution can me sprayed and massaged into a dog’s fur.  As an added bonus, it also helps with flea prevention.
• Lemon juice is a natural weed killer.  It’s especially effective on the weeds that pop up in the cracks of your sidewalk or driveway.
• Lemon juice makes a fun invisible ink.  Write a message on a paper with a q-tip and let it dry.  To reveal the message, hold the paper near a hot light bulb and watch the “ink” turn brown.

*Note:  These uses may not work for everyone all the time.  Whether you are using lemon juice on your laundry, hair, or on a window, try a test area first.