When you set out to clean your house, you might be thinking of a vacuum cleaner, a few rags, buckets, brushes and other cleaning products, but it won’t hurt if you arm yourself with some lemons
Sounds weird?
Well, not really. Lemons are actually quite an effective way to get the residual smell and splatters out of your microwave without the aid of scrubbing.
No one raised eyebrows when grandma used household products for the same purpose, and for a good reason.
You can find most of these things inside your fridge or your pantry.
The point is that we all want to live in a clean home, but one that is free of dangerous, harmful and expensive chemical cleaning products.
Here is a guide to clean your house on a modest budget by using a few unorthodox methods. First, I will list the ingredients that you will need to keep handy:
- Bicarbonate of soda
- Vinegar
- Olive oil
- Lemons, oranges (even grapefruits will do)
- Dishwashing soap
- Boiling water
- Hydrogen peroxide
- Essential oils (eucalyptus, lavender, lemongrass and other such oils)
- Herbs (if you have any)
- Rye bread
- Surgical spirit or rubbing alcohol
These ingredients will cover most of your household cleaning, from disinfecting to deodourising and even leaving a nice, fresh smell across your house.
You will find these ingredients being used in most of the methods shown below.
Contents
- 1 Use White Vinegar To Clean Countertops, Mirrors
- 2 Clean Your Fridge With Coffee
- 3 Use Bicarbonate Of Soda On Carpets, Ovens
- 4 Got Burned Pans? Ketchup Will Do It!
- 5 Smelly Shoes And A Foul Shoe Cabinet? Get Some Activated Charcoal For It
- 6 Rye Bread For Pencil Marks On Your Walls
- 7 Smokers Rejoice – Your Lighter Fluid Can Save All Your Stainless Steel From Rust
Use White Vinegar To Clean Countertops, Mirrors

Vinegar is one of the cheapest and the most versatile substances you will find in your kitchen. You can clean mirrors, glass shower doors, metal caps and even countertops.
Use equal parts vinegar and water to clean inside your fridge so you make sure you are not using chemicals where you keep your food.
The same solution can also be used to clean windows.
A big plus is that vinegar does not leave any smell at all after drying.
Another excellent use is to mix vinegar with equal parts water and the essential oil of your choice (ideally a lemon-based or lemongrass oil) into your microwave and let it stew there for 5 minutes on low heat.
This will steam clean your microwave and leave it smelling nice, as a bonus.
Clean Your Fridge With Coffee

Sure, you already cleaned your fridge using vinegar, but I didn’t say it was the only way. If you use ground coffee, don’t throw it away yet.
Let it dry and put it in a small plastic container (better if it has holes in it) and keep it somewhere in your fridge.
This will act as an eco-friendly filter and trap unsavory odors in your fridge. No more unpleasant surprises when you open your fridge!
Use Bicarbonate Of Soda On Carpets, Ovens

Sprinkle bicarbonate of soda at night over your carpet and use a vacuum cleaner the next morning to remove all odors from them.
If your carpet has light stains, mixing baking soda in a little hot water and rubbing it on the stain will help lighten it.
These days, it is not hard to find a budget vacuum cleaner. The days of having to spend at least £200 – £300 on a hoover are long gone.
Check out the best vacuum cleaners under £100 and grab yourself a bargain.
Read More: Best robot vacuums under £200
For your ovens, mix bicarbonate of soda with water to form a paste. Now apply this to the inside of your oven and leave it overnight.
Spray vinegar on this paste with the help of a dispenser and see the grime being washed away like magic before your eyes!
This powerhouse duo of bicarbonate of soda and vinegar works just as well for clogged drains.
All it takes is putting half a cup of bicarbonate of soda into the drain, wait for a few more minutes, now pour half a cup of vinegar down the drain.
Cover the drain, and after 10 minutes, flush the drain through with warm water. No more plumbing nightmares in the middle of the night after a big dinner party!
Got Burned Pans? Ketchup Will Do It!

If you wince and go about attempting to clean your burned pans, every time you look at them, you have a reason to rejoice.
You already possess something that will get rid of these burn marks for you – ketchup.
Liberally pour this inside your burnt pan of choice and leave it overnight. The burn marks will wash away with ease in the morning.
Smelly Shoes And A Foul Shoe Cabinet? Get Some Activated Charcoal For It

Activated charcoal is one of those miracle cures for just about everything, which the chemicals and solvents manufacturers wished you didn’t know about.
Charcoal is a great absorber of odors and toxins because of its porous texture and hence works as a great air purifier. No more smelly shoes in the shoe cabinet!
Place 200 grams of activated charcoal in small hemp pockets into your shoe cabinet, your wardrobe and any musty place, and bid goodbye to those moldy bacteria forever whilst clearing up all unwanted smells.
Oh and did I tell you that come rainy season (especially if you live in a cold wet place), charcoal placed strategically inside your home serves as a great dehumidifier as well.
No need for those expensive electric dehumidifiers and air purifiers. Some handy charcoal will do the trick.
Rye Bread For Pencil Marks On Your Walls

Every hard working mother usually has a prodigy Picasso or two at home, waiting to unleash their art and creativity on the world (in this case, your walls, as soon as you leave home for work).
And you thought wallpapering it up or periodically painting the walls is the answer?
Not at all! Look to your bread basket for the answer! Some rye bread slices rubbed against the pencil marks will make them disappear like magic.
Smokers Rejoice – Your Lighter Fluid Can Save All Your Stainless Steel From Rust

Finally, something for the smokers who, despite the advent of vaping, have managed to hold on ferociously to their cigarette lighters.
You know how stainless steel kitchen countertops and kitchen sinks tend to rust after a while?
Not only is rust ungainly to look at, but any brush with rust that causes your epidermal skin layer to rupture (in other words, if you hurt yourself whilst cleaning) and rust brushes on to an open wound, you are at risk of getting tetanus.
In which case, tetanus vaccination is your best bet. However, here is lighter fluid to the rescue!
Rub the rusted area with some lighter fluid and then scrub the area with some non-abrasive dishwashing powder and water.
Wipe down with a wet sponge and finish off with some surgical spirit and let dry. Bingo, Mr Rusty is a goner.