When Life Gives You Lime Rinds…

Make a cleaning solution!

Last night, I was craving mojitos. Yes, that delicious rum/lime/mint concoction, generally reserved for warm days on the beach. Luckily, it WAS a nice day and I had all the ingredients around the kitchen, with the exception of the rum, but my husband and Smart & Final had that covered. 

Anyways – we had to juice some limes to make the drinks – and afterwards I was staring at 6 lime halves, void of their juice. As my husband went to clear the counter, I had to stop him from throwing them  – helloooooo I’m sure they have a use!

This morning, I saw them on the counter again, and it struck me! A while back, I had convinced myself that I wanted to make all the cleaning supplies for our house. You know, laundry detergent, hand soap, all-purpose cleaner. During my research, I had been trying to use pinterest (which, I’m still no good at) and I saw many, many pictures of lemon rinds in jars of vinegar. I hadn’t had enough lemons to try it at that point, so I filed the idea in the back of my brain.

So, now, I have a pile of lime rinds – so why not use them? I like the smell of limes better then lemons and as a citrus they have all the same cleaning power! 

So, here is the recipe – it only makes about a cup of cleaning solution – but I think fresher is better, so I like making only a little at a time. But scale up as you like!

Lime-Vinegar Cleaning Stuff

Ingredients:

• Rind cut from 3 limes
• 1/3 cup of white vinegar
• Water
• Castile soap (optional)

Directions:

1. Put everything in a jar. Put a lid on the jar. Let sit for 3 weeks, shaking the jar occasionally. After three weeks, strain out the rinds, mix with 3/4 cup water and put into a spray bottle. If you want, add a drop or two of castile soap.

That’s it! An all purpose, all natural cleaner. I wouldn’t necessarily use it on windows or mirrors (there is a bit of streaking) but its great for cutting grease on stove tops, wiping down the bathroom and cleaning finger prints off cupboards.