Orange cleaner! Alternatives?

[usedteabag]

Hi all!

Found a fantastic recipe for orange cleaner, here if you're interested:

http://ybertaud9.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/diy-citrus-cleaner/

BUT. I live in Nova Scotia and it's difficult to find citrus grown locally (I have my sources... But still, difficult and inconsistent). Is there any way I could use different fruits with similar results? Here, I can seasonally get strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants, gooseberries, peaches, pears, apples, plums... Any thoughts? I don't buy fruit from away, so you can see my challenge.

 

[Wannabefree]

I think it's specifically citrus peel that has the proper cleaning qualities. I dunno how you'd use any other fruit. Maybe someone else knows something I don't though

 

[moolie]

I have a hunch that the orange peels are simply added for a better scent

All we use for cleaning around here is vinegar and water, hubs has a cool recipe that I've posted before for shower/tub cleaner that is a mix of dish soap and vinegar that works super as well.

 

[Wannabefree]

^^^^See. I thought it was the oil from the peel that was the cleansing agent. I do often use plain vinegar to clean too though. Seems like the citrus would give it a boost though

 

[so lucky]

It is said that the orange oil has antibacterial properties. Maybe that's why it is used in a household cleaner.

 

[hqueen13]

I have made a citrus cleaning (didn't look at this link, so I don't know how it compares) by simply putting orange peels to soak in Vinegar for about a week (or several if I forget to take it out!) and it makes a WONDERFUL cleaner. I find that it works MUCH better on my stove top than plain vinegar does. The citrus probably does do something for the cleaning power, so I don't know that you can simply substitute it out with some other fruit. In my opinion (not based on any scientific fact, only my own experience) the orange vinegar really does work better.
You may just want to try to find some other kind of homemade cleaner instead.

That being said, if you can treat yourself to the oranges once in a while it might be good. The peel isn't normally used anyway (other than making zest), so it is a byproduct of whatever you do with the oranges themselves. I have also taken the peel and "double soaked" it - let it sit in the vinegar for a few weeks, poured off the vinegar into a spray bottle and then refilled the jar with the peel with vinegar again and then poured it off a few weeks later.

Good luck with your cleaning!

 

[Joel_BC]

I've used several different commercial citrus-based cleaners - hand cleaner, general-purpose household surfaces cleaners, etc. I've also used vinegar. I don't say I have complete answers to the questions here, but I'll offer some thoughts...

I've tried vinegar as a glass cleaner (with woodstove windows blackened with baked-on carbon, for instance) and compared it with the result of using a citrus-based cleaner. The citrus-based one proved superior in my experience.

usedteabag, I believe your climate is fairly similar to that in my part of British Columbia... not citrus-fruit country, as you say. But some years back, a lady my wife and I knew was living here and she raised a lemon plant (slowly became a tree) in a big planter in here livingroom (south-facing window light). With good soil care and indoor warmth year-round, it flourished. Not sure how many lemon peels it might take to make quantities of cleaner, though.

 

[elijahboy]

i did try this method with the orange peels

i had a gallon of vinegar and i dumped half into another container so there would be room for the orange peels

with 5 people in my house i had the empty half of the gallon container ful in no time

i wil admit the smell is delicious..............its wonderful as a hair rinse

i will never ever ever clean my floors or my shower with it ever again...maybe i will with the shower BUT NEVER THE FLOOR

im not sure if they are certain varities of oranges that have better antibacterial peoperties or something or if i had toooooooooo many orange peels but........

when i cleaned my floors with it it was as if someone poured syrup all over the floor.....justy nasty and sticky

 

[hqueen13]

elijah did you strain out the peels and everything before using the vinegar? Mine has never been sticky or gunky in any way, so that sounds a bit strange.

 

[elijahboy]

i didnt strain it per se but when poured into a spray bottle nothing but liquid went into the bottle

im sure if any peels or anything solid would have3 went into to spray bottle it would have atleast clogged the bottle and that never haqppened.

i did use cuties (i think clementines or something) and that may have beent he issue because i like it in the beginning but not after the vinegar bottle was 80% full of the orange peels

elijah did you strain out the peels and everything before using the vinegar? Mine has never been sticky or gunky in any way, so that sounds a bit strange.