17 Helpful Household Uses for Lemon Essential Oil

Even though we are “thrifty” we also try to live and eat as “naturally” as we can on our budget.  Along our thrifty and healthy journey, we discovered essential oils and have been using them now for many years. If you are not sure what essential oils are, you can read up on them HERE. 

We started using them in our home first and then as we learned more, started incorporating them into natural alternatives to personal care, diet and health.  But, the household uses are still the most popular, easiest and a very beneficial uses around the home!

Replacing commercial cleaners with our own homemade versions was not only healthier, but it was one healthier switch that is far below the cost of commercial cleaning! Just saving hundreds per year is one reason to switch to homemade cleaners!

Well, one of our favorite oils to use around the home is Lemon Essential Oil! It is very useful for many purposes around the home!

These are 17 ways we have used it and there are probably more – so share your ideas too!

1.  Laundry refresher – if you accidentally left your laundry wet in the washer, you know that it can already be developing a smell – which means bacteria.  It has to be rewashed.  Well, add a few drops of lemon essential oil to help eliminate the odors that developed and freshen your laundry naturally!
2. Fridge freshener – If your fridge is getting a not so great smell, you can use baking soda of course. But you can up the effectiveness by a lot by adding lemon essential oil to cotton balls and stick into your fridge for a few days.
3. Microwave cleaner – heat lemon essential with vinegar and water in the microwave to clean and deodorize your microwave. Details on Natural Microwave Cleaning HERE.
4. Laundry – more than just refreshing day-old laundry, you can just use it in your laundry in each load.  You can add it to your detergent, or even use a bit of vinegar with lemon oil as a fabric softener HERE.  There are lots of ways to add it to your laundry! 
5. Keep garden pests away – Make a solution of water and lemon oil in a spray bottle and spray your garden plants with it.  They are perfectly safe for your plants, but pests do not like the citrus smell of lemon and will stay away.  Spraying at the base of the plant is best.
6. Degreaser – lemon essential oil is great for removing grease from skin and surfaces.  Just add a few drops to a soap mixture or baking soda paste and you are set to degrease!
7. Disinfectant – make a simple disinfectant spray using lemon essential oil. Recipe for a Homemade Disinfectant HERE.
8. Remove sticky residues – simply use a bit of lemon essential oil and remove sticker residue, tape residue, gum and gum residue and other sticky substances from a surface by rubbing lemon oil into the residue and wipe away.
9. Polish wood furniture – make a mix of lemon essential oil and olive oil for a natural wood furniture polish.
10. Perk up, moisturize and clean leather –  Just use a corner of a rag with lemon oil to gently buff leather.
11. Odor neutralizer – neutralize odors on food surfaces and containers like a sippy cup HERE.
12. Rag refresher – Does your dish rag need a “pick-me-up?” Well, just put a drop of lemon oil on it before you use it next!
13. Keep pests away – similar to the garden plants, keep pests out of your home with lemon oil.  You can add it to a spray bottle with water or a baking soda and lemon powder at the doors and windows or other area of your home where pests are a problem. You can also see our Natural Spider Repellant recipe HERE and the Carpet Deodorizer recipe HERE that both repel pests!
14. Stainless steel polisher – Clean smudges and clean your stainless steel with lemon essential oil.
15. Brighten carpets – by adding a few drops of lemon essential oil to carpet shampoo mixture.  It will clean and brighten carpets.
16. Remove tough marks – rubbing a bit of lemon oil into crayons, scuff marks and pencil marks should remove them from most hard surfaces.
17. Key ingredient in homemade natural cleaners – finally it is a key ingredient in many homemade cleaners. If lemon essential oil was the only essential oil you had, you could make a lot of household cleaners anti-bacterial and deodorizing with the addition of lemon essential oils for no matter what the recipe may be!

Recipes using lemon oil:

1. Floor cleaners for different floor types
2. Anti-bacterial Cleaning Wipes
3. Mold and Mildew Remover
4. Vacuum Cleaner Deodorizer
5. Fruit and Veggie Wash
6. Glass/Window Cleaner
7. Antibacterial Cleaner
8. Bathroom Scrub/Homemade Soft Scrub
9. Stain Remover
10. Kitchen/Food Area disinfectant
11. Toilet Cleaners
12. Carpet/Car deodorizer
13. Dishwasher Soap
14. All-Purpose Cleaner
15. Homemade Jet Dry
16. Heavy Duty Natural Cleaner

*Whenever you are using a cleaning product, natural or not, you should always test a small area before fully applying, especially when applying to a porous surface.

Where to Get Essential Oils

If you would like to learn what essential oils I have chosen to use for my family and my home, please see my essential oil journey that has been a long road regarding my story and experience. In addition, I share the best deal you can find on them. You can see the 7 Best Essential Oils for Cleaning HERE as lemon is one of them. Again, you can see our suggestions for the cleaning oils HERE.

 Please note, these are NOT fragrance oils, but essential oils, which are totally different.  You cannot get them at a store like Walmart or Target.  It would need to be certified source.

See more frugal and healthy living ideas