In the spirit of living a waste-free life, we have gathered an interesting list of things from your daily life that you never thought of using as a cleaning product.
Most of us know you can do much with some kitchen scraps. For example, you can make a composter to enrich your plants, a spray to refresh the air at your home, or a skin-care face mask. But have you ever thought of using potato peels to clean burnt stains?
If you want to minimise your carbon footprint and improve your cleaning skills, keep reading to find more.
Table of Contents
Banana peels
We all enjoy breakfast or an afternoon snack that contains banana bits. But most certainly, after we are done, we throw away the peels.
Banana peels, however, contain natural oils that can be used to polish different items. For example, you can polish and shine leather shoes and bags. You can do that by simply rubbing the inside of a banana peel over the leather surface and then buffing it with a soft cloth.
Banana peels can also be used to properly clean silverware. Thanks to the same oils, they contain and helped with the leather. Simply blend a few banana peels and a bit of water until you’re left with a thick banana paste. Add the paste to your cutlery and polish them with a soft cloth. The paste will make them shinier. Once buffing the cutlery, rinse it off with warm water and dry it with a clean towel.
Cucumber peels
One of our favourite salad ingredients has its role in cleaning too. Using cucumber peels, you can clean and polish the stainless steel sinks and appliances in your kitchen. Rub the peel’s inside over the surface and buff it with a soft cloth afterwards. You can also use cucumber peels to clean tables, countertops and even marks off a wall.
Potato peels
A potato peel works wonders when removing nasty burned stains inside your pot. Simply fill the pot up to the top with water, add the potato peels, and heat it until it boils. After boiling the potato peels for 10-15 minutes, turn off the heat, remove the peels and rinse the pot. Next, put some detergent on a sponge and wipe the pot again. The stains should disappear.
Coffee grinds
The world’s favourite morning drink plays quite a role in cleaning. One of the ways you can use coffee grinds is in the fireplace. To prevent an ash storm from forming in your fireplace, it is a good idea to sprinkle wet coffee grounds on top of the ashes. That way, you don’t get minute particles rising.
Another great way to use coffee grinds is to fight foul smells. A small bowl of coffee grinds can be placed in the fridge or freezer and left for a few hours. They will absorb any unwanted odours in the refrigerator and freezer. Simply leave the bowl with grinds for a few hours, and any unwanted smells will be removed.
Lemon peels
Using lemon peels, you can make a natural homemade cleaner. Just fill two lemon peels in a jar with white vinegar. Let the mixture soak for around two weeks before transferring it to a spray bottle. You can clean the stovetops, microwaves, oven exteriors, and refrigerator doors with the cleaner you now have.
You can also clean and deodorise your garbage disposal by grinding lemon peels and running cold water over them.
Eggshells
Eggshells can be a fantastic non-toxic abrasive to scrape pots and pans. When combined with soapy water, they are particularly effective.
You can also use crushed eggshells to clean stains that have developed inside mugs and teapots. Add crushed eggshells to some water and scrub gently with a brush. Rinse and dry.
Some more kitchen scraps to use for cleaning
Just like the kitchen scraps mentioned above, there are more that you can use to enrich your cleaning skills.
- White vinegar. Despite not being a kitchen scrap, vinegar is a common household item that can be used for cleaning. It’s a natural disinfectant that is usually used to clean windows, floors, countertops, etc. You can often find it in combination with baking soda, especially when dealing with clogged drains, greasy ovens and smelly sinks.
- Orange peels. Like lemon peels, orange peels can deodorise and clean your garbage disposal. Simply grind up a few orange peels in your disposal, then run cold water for a few seconds to remove any residue. Orange peels are also a popular choice for refreshing the air in your home. You can simply place the peels around the room and enjoy the fresh smell. Moreover, the citrus smell repels mosquitos. So you can enjoy a nice smelling room with no annoying pests.
- Tea bags. The easiest way to clean wooden surfaces is to dip a soft cloth in the tea and wipe them down. All you have to do is brew a pot of tea, dip your fabric in, and clean your wooden surfaces.
- Onion skins. The onion skins can be used to dye Easter eggs or fabric. To make the dye, boil the skins in water for a few minutes, then strain the liquid. Once you have used the skins for dye, you can leave them to dry in a sunny place. After that, grind them in the blender and use the powder as compost for your plants.
- Avocado pits. Making your own natural laundry detergent can be done quickly using avocado pits. Just dry them out, grind them into a powder, and add them to your laundry detergent.
Conclusion
Living a waste-free lifestyle can be challenging from time to time. With the proper knowledge, however, you can find a purpose for almost everything. As you can see, you can do so much with a few peels you throw regularly in the garbage. However, remember that in certain situations, the help of cleaning experts will be much better than grinding your onion skins.