Are you ready for all the new ways you’re about to use lemon? These quick and easy fixes that improve your day in general might surprise you. What good are lemons besides in water? Although their juices can sting, it’s naturally acidic and unique in scent. Lemons are capable of much more than a refreshing drink, so lets get started.
1. Make lemonade
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Homemade recipes can easily be found online, but this one is from my mother where she makes and sells daily at her cafe, the Dragonfly.
Cut one lemon in half and squeeze both parts into a cup, then put one of the cut pieces into the cup as well. Next, boil sugar and water to make what is called simple syrup. Fill a fourth of the concoction into the cup with the lemon. Lastly, add ice and water to the brim of the cup and enjoy your freshly squeezed lemonade.
Here are some more lemonade flavors you need to try this summer.
2. Naturally lighten your hair
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You can buy products like Sun-In to do the job, but after some experience with blonde friends, this seems to do the trick. Evenly squeeze half of a lemon in your hair and stay in the sun to help it dry.
#SpoonTip: Heat in general can help your blonde come out. Try squeezing the lemon in your hair after the shower and blow it dry.
3. Keep apples and avocado from browning
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If you remember snack time, your parents put those freshly sliced apples in a bag with lemon for a reason.
Place your avocado or sliced apples into a plastic bag with small slices of lemon to help prolong fresh food and prevent brown film from developing. Now take those fresh avocados and prepare them in these different ways.
4. Use rinds as an odor eliminator
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Reader’s digest revealed 7 ways to naturally eliminate odors around the house, and one is easy as throwing away trash.
Leave lemon and/or rinds hidden in plain sight or throw them on top of the trash or in your garbage disposal to help neutralize bad odors.
5. Whiten your clothes
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Before you turn to bleach, try this family recipe first. Three teaspoons of lemon juice added to a load of laundry helps whiten clothing.
6. Infuse your water
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Don’t wait for the next hotel that offers fancy water. Make your own refresher.
Water and fruit are both refreshing for the body. Cut up lemon as well as other fruits with antioxidants and add them to flavor your water. Try these water infusion combinations and you’ll be hooked on this trick.
#SpoonTip: Strawberries, blueberries, cucumber, mint, and pineapple are great to mix and match.
7. Clean your kitchen and bathroom
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Lemons are great to use for multi-purpose cleaning.
Microwaving one cup of water with 1/4 of lemon juice for five minutes loosens grease or any other grime stuck to the microwave. After it’s been washed, cut one half of a lemon and rub it across a cutting board to get stains out of small crevices. A half of lemon also cleans grime and limescale off of stainless steal, just rinse with water after.
#SpoonTip: Don’t use lemon on marble surfaces because it’s too acidic. Also, add salt to the mixture to make the solvent more coarse.
8. Help your dog out
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Dog expert Cesar Millan published safe options on how to clean your pets. Have you ever noticed tear spots on your pet? Mix equal parts baking soda, water, and lemon juice, then lightly rub in those areas, but keep it away from eyes. Leave on for ten minutes and rinse with water. This should help brighten those brownish pink spots on the fur.
9. Age like fine wine
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Snapchat’s Cosmopolitan page always has our backs when it comes to beauty hacks.
Simply use a Q-tip and rub lemon juice on the spots for a few days to tighten the skin and you’ll look like these finely-aged celebs.
10. Repel pesky mosquitoes
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Don’t like the smell of vinegar trying to keep ants out of the house? Lemons are naturally acidic and smell a lot better.
Cut up lemon slices and leave them where bugs such as roaches and fleas tend to enter your house such as cracks by windows and doorways. You can even rub it along surfaces for a broader range of coverage. This repellent works because of the acidic smell.
11. Whiten your nails
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I have to thank my nail salon, Sharon’s Nails, for this inside tip.
Cut half of a lemon and squeeze it into a small bowl. Soak your fingers for ten minutes and pretend you’re getting a legit manicure. Rinse with vinegar and voila.
12. Write secret messages
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If you’ve ever seen National Treasure, you watched Nicholas Cage use lemon juice as invisible ink to help uncover a secret message on the back of the Declaration of Independence.
Okay, so you probably won’t have this same opportunity, but you can write messages by using the juice as a pen. Next, uncover your message by applying heat from a hairdryer.
13. Get rid of acne
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This is a quick and easy remedy that you may or may not have heard of.
Cut half of a lemon and rub the juice on your face, especially in the problem areas or where pimples occur most such as on the forehead and chin. Let it sit for 15-20 minutes and rinse off.
Your diet has a lot to do with the quality of your skin so check out these healthy foods you should eat to avoid breakouts.
14. Kill weeds in your yard
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As I mentioned before, lemon is a natural acidic deterrent that kills bacteria or, in this case, weeds.
Squeeze lemon directly onto the weeds or squeeze juice into a spray bottle. Coat the leaves until they are covered in juice, then let it sit for a couple of days and watch them disappear.