Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • By now, I'm sure you all know that I love cleaning with baking soda,

  • and the same goes for vinegar and dish soap and rubbing alcohol.

  • In fact, we've made videos about each and every member of this cleaning royal family,

  • and this week I'm going to introduce you to another family member,

  • His Royal Highness, Lord Lemon. His scent is fresh, clean, and energizing.

  • He is quite inexpensive and easy to come by too.

  • I know sometimes it can be hard to find white vinegar in certain countries.

  • But lemons? I think we're all good.

  • Lemons contain both acidity found in the juice, along with the grease-cutting oil contained within its skin,

  • to create a superb cleaning sidekick.

  • This beautiful, acidic, multi-purpose, yellow gem can be used to clean

  • countless things around the house and has so many other great uses outside of cleaning as well.

  • But this week we've got 10 great uses for cleaning with lemons lined up, and,

  • as I like to say, when life hands you lemons, you start cleaning.

  • We all know, I hope at least by now,

  • that leaving a box of baking soda in the fridge will help manage unpleasant odors.

  • But did you know you can do the same thing with a lemon?

  • That's right, and there are a few ways to accomplish this.

  • You can either soak a cotton ball in lemon juice and put that in a little bowl in the fridge,

  • you can leave a small bowl of fresh-squeezed lemon juice in the fridge,

  • or you can even cut a lemon in half

  • and leave it in a small bowl flesh up.

  • You're going to want to change it out every week or so, or else you'll replace

  • that funky smell in your fridge with the smell of rotting lemons, which is not hot.

  • You'd be surprised just how easy it is

  • to tackle even the most stubborn stains inside your microwave using nothing more than a lemon and a bowl of water.

  • Simply cut the lemon in half and squeeze each half of the lemon into a bowl,

  • which is filled halfway with water, then place the rest of the lemon, skins and everything, into the bowl

  • and place it inside your microwave.

  • Set the timer for about three to five minutes and cook it

  • on the highest setting available. Once it beeps, let the microwave cool down for five minutes or so

  • and prepare for a very easy cleanup.

  • The lemon will eliminate nasty odors, and the steam will mix with all of the

  • lemon oils and loosen all of that buildup on the inside of the chamber.

  • Now you can just wipe everything away

  • using a paper towel or a clean, damp cloth.

  • Cheese graters are excellent for grating cheese and horrible at staying clean.

  • Bits of cheese get stuck inside that cheese grater, and even after you pull it out of the dishwasher

  • you still might see some of that cheese remaining.

  • So for an easy way to clean your grater, just cut a lemon in half and

  • then grate the fleshy side of the lemon on both sides of your cheese grater.

  • The lemon oil and juice will help cut the dairy fat and break up

  • any of those stubborn proteins. After a quick rinse, you should find

  • that the lemon does an excellent job

  • and it also saves you from ripping apart your sponges.

  • We made a video about this a while back,

  • but the trick is so good I had to share it again.

  • All you need is a little bit of coarse salt and, you guessed it, a lemon.

  • Sprinkle the salt all over the entire surface of your wood cutting board

  • and use half a lemon, juicy side down,

  • and as much elbow grease as you can give her.

  • Scrub as thoroughly as you can and you'll discover that food stains

  • will start to disappear. You'll also be deodorizing your cutting board at the same time.

  • Once you've rinsed and dried everything,

  • consider finishing this up with a hit of mineral oil to protect your board.

  • I've got the video linked down below for you

  • so you can check everything out in that one.

  • If you are a heavy duty kettle user like I am,

  • here's a handy tip to easily descale your kettle.

  • Simply mix one ounce of lemon juice to two cups of water

  • and pour that into your kettle. Bring it to a boil and then let it cool.

  • Empty out the kettle and give it a few good rinses and voila,

  • your kettle should be shiny and clean once again.

  • For those that just can't stand the smell of vinegar, and I know there are many of you,

  • do I have a glass and mirror cleaner for you.

  • Squeeze about three tablespoons of lemon juice into a spray bottle

  • and then add about a cup of water.

  • Next, you'll shake up the bottle and spray your mirror or glass down.

  • Then, just wipe away using a clean microfiber cloth,

  • and there you go, that easy.

  • As is the case with many videos here at Clean My Space,

  • we find ourselves beside the toilet once again.

  • But this time for good reason because I'm here to show you a great way

  • to use lemon juice and salt to rid yourself of ring around the toilet bowl.

  • All you need is a half lemon, which you will squeeze into the bowl, and then

  • sprinkle in some coarse salt and finally use your toilet bowl brush to give the bowl a good scrub.

  • Now for added scrubbing power,

  • you can throw some baking soda or Borax into that mix,

  • and for the less squeamish, you can avoid the first thing we talked about

  • and simply add your salt directly to the half of the lemon, glove up,

  • and use that instead of a brush or a sponge to scrub away the ring.

  • Since I'm so comfortably perched on the tiny ledge of my bathtub here,

  • we might as well talk about soap scum, and yes there is more than one way

  • to conquer soap scum in your shower and

  • one of my favorites involves nothing more than simple lemon juice.

  • Just apply the lemon juice directly to the area using a sponge or,

  • better yet, a spray bottle. Allow it to sit for a minute and then wipe clean using a clean, damp cloth.

  • Thanks to the acidity contained within the lemon,

  • soap scum actually struggles to stick around under Lord Lemon's mighty power.

  • This also works great on glass shower doors and even in the bathtub.

  • What's one more awkward bathtub angle?

  • There's nothing quite like the appeal of a shiny, streak-free faucet.

  • So whether yours are made of chrome, brass, or even copper,

  • here's a hassle-free way to make them sparkle with lemon power.

  • All you have to do is cut a lemon in half and that's it, seriously.

  • Just work the fleshy part of the lemon directly onto the faucet, making sure you

  • get into all of those little nooks and crannies

  • where the acidic juices will cut through grease and loosen mineral deposits.

  • Finish up by wiping everything away using a clean, dry microfiber cloth.

  • Finally, when you're done using the lemon for all of the other great cleaning tasks we just talked about,

  • you can use the peels and any other remains to clean out your garbage disposal.

  • Now, I don't have a garbage disposal to demonstrate on,

  • but if you did have one, all you have to do is drop the

  • lemon remains in the sink and turn on the garbage disposal, which would probably

  • sound something like this [garbage disposal sound] and you're good to go.

  • The lemon bits will freshen the garbage disposal parts and even deodorize it.

  • So it's a true two-in-one solution.

  • Oftentimes when I finish cooking with a lemon,

  • I'll try to use it to do a secondary cleaning task like one of the

  • ones we just covered, cleaning the cutting board, the microwave, shining up some chrome,

  • or if I had a garbage disposal, I'd be cleaning that.

  • But now you'll always find a way to get a second life out of that lemon.

  • I recommend using a fresh lemon whenever possible to do these tasks.

  • You can use the bottled stuff if you need to, but I believe that

  • a lot of the value comes from the skin where the lemon oil is contained.

  • So just keep that one in mind.

  • This week's comment question is:

  • Which member of the cleaning royal family is your favorite?

  • Let me know down below because I love reading your comments.

  • There's a button down there that lets me knows you care, so click it if you liked this video,

  • and also click this button right here to subscribe

  • and begin your journey to a cleaner life.

  • Stick around for another couple of minutes while I get back to

  • some comments from last week's video and

  • make some great recommendations for some other Clean My Space videos that you might enjoy.

  • As always, thanks so much for watching, and we'll see you next time.

  • And now it's that magical time of the week where I get to respond to your comments.

  • The first comment comes from the "Cline five."

  • They left a long comment. I'm just going to read the beginning part.

  • "Hey there, I just found this channel, so I don't know if you've done a video on this before,

  • but I am curious if you have any suggestions for ant killer?"

  • And we actually do have a suggestion for that.

  • It is hidden within our "10 More Uses for Baking Soda" video,

  • so we will link that for you down below. Check it out. Bye-bye to ants.

  • Next question comes from kshell09. "Hey Melissa, love this video.

  • Random question. Did you get your graphic tee at Banana Republic Factory Store?

  • I work there and I've seen you wear stuff from our store in several videos."

  • Okay, secret's out.

  • I got it at Banana Republic Factory. There you go.

  • Girlnotgreat84, sometimes the names are hard to read.

  • I'm sorry guys, but I'll get to it.

  • "Where do you find all your spray bottles? I have not been able to find cute

  • spray bottles for cleaning at all. I found one at my local Dollar Store,

  • but they only had green in stock. And then I bought some from Walmart,

  • but they stopped working after the third or fourth use."

  • Okay, I have looked far and wide for a variety of cleaning spray bottles.

  • I find them in all kinds of random, weird places, like, you know,

  • small garden centers, and honestly when I find them, I hoard them.

  • So all I can tell you is keep your eyes peeled and ask around and, you know,

  • just look in little random stores that you wouldn't necessarily expect to sell spray bottles,

  • like garden stores or drug stores,

  • and I'm sure you'll come across something.

  • I wish I had more info for you, but I don't guys, sorry.

  • Mydaughtermyworld says, "Melissa whenever you're introducing

  • essential oils into a cleaning solution, you must either use a

  • glass or aluminum bottle. Plastic will not keep the oil effective,

  • and it will leech out into the product." So this is a good point.

  • Yes, it's true, if you are using essential oils and you are planning on keeping your products for a long time,

  • it is best to use glass or aluminum.

  • But as we've learned, it's really hard to come across spray bottles period.

  • So I've always just tried to do my best. I've used plastic.

  • I go through my stuff pretty quickly, so it's not sitting for two, three months.

  • But yes, if you look at the higher end cleaning products that contain essential oils,

  • they will all be in dark glass bottles.

  • So if you can find them, do that.

  • And Diana Valatin says, "Have you always eaten healthy,

  • or did something in your life make you want to change?"

  • Yeah, that something would be a doctor.

  • I stopped eating gluten, sugar, and dairy and some other stuff when I was about 18 years old, and

  • I did that because I was having acne issues that I couldn't get rid of and I was also

  • having IBS that I was really struggling with.

  • So I had some allergy tests done, and the doctors basically told me

  • I had to go off all kinds of stuff, and I did that, and things in my body started

  • to change for the better, and that is why I don't eat that way anymore.

  • If I could, I'd be eating pasta and chocolate cake till the cows came home.

  • Anyway guys, it was great reading your comments as usual.

  • Thank you so much, and I will see you again next week. Until then.

By now, I'm sure you all know that I love cleaning with baking soda,

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it