DIY citrus vinegar cleaner – Easy to make

Easy DIY citrus vinegar cleaner without harsh chemicals. Only three ingredients: vinegar, fruit citrus peels, and water. It has a fresh aroma! An eco-friendly solution using kitchen scraps.

DIY citrus vinegar cleaner glass bottle

Are you ready for spring cleaning?

I am ready, and I want to do it in a more eco-friendly way!

Part of my journey to green is to start using more natural products and eco-friendly containers in my house. This way, I’ll be helping my family to reduce harsh chemicals in our home and help mother earth by reducing plastic from our landfills.

So, I wanted to start this process with the cleaning product that I use the most at home. Yes, you guessed it! It is my kitchen cleaner. That is to say, it is the most used cleaner in my home and also the one we (as a family) breathe every day.

This is also a great way to use kitchen scraps saving the peels from your morning orange juice or lemonade.

Citrus vinegar cleaner vs. all-purpose cleaner

First of all, before making my DIY citrus vinegar cleaner, I wanted to learn more about the differences between the types of cleaners.

  • Citrus vinegar cleaner (sometimes called Multi-purpose cleaner): Because its acidity is not recommended for natural stone or wood surfaces. However, this cleaner can be used on laminate, glass, and stainless steel.
  • All-purpose cleaner: Usually can be used on multiple surfaces around the house. I have a homemade all-purpose cleaner recipe here.

I use my citrus vinegar cleaner to clean my stove and kitchen, and it works great!

vinegar cleaner with refill

The Ingredients

The main ingredient in this DIY cleaner is Vinegar. This ingredient has been used for years around the house (mostly to clean windows), but one thing I was not too fond of vinegar was the smell left after cleaning. Even though this scent goes away pretty quickly, I wanted to try another alternative with the same benefit.

After looking into so many recipes, I found this one that I like. I learned that soaking the citrus peels in the vinegar for two weeks absorbs the aroma of the citrus, reducing the smell of the vinegar. This made my decision easier to change to a more natural and eco-friendly product.

  • White Vinegar: its acidity helps to clean dirt, grime, and grease.
  • Lime or Lemon peel: increase the acidity and add aroma.
  • Orange or Clementine peels: add aroma.
  • Water: to dilute the concentrated mix.

Also, I want it to be an eco-friendly product, so I use a reusable glass spray container, which reduces the amount of plastic used in my home.

What do I need to make this DIY citrus vinegar cleaner?

DIY citrus vinegar cleaner ingredients needed

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Tools:

  • 1 glass container with lid (I re-used a glass tomato sauce container)
  • 1 Glass spray bottle
  • Colander
  • Measuring cup

Materials

  • 1 cup white vinegar
  • 4 peels Lemon or lime
  • 2 cups of Distilled or filtered Water
  • 4 peels orange or clementine

How do I make this DIY citrus vinegar cleaner?

glass container with citrus peels and vinegar
  1. Add the vinegar into a glass container with a lid.
  2. Soak the citrus peels in the vinegar. Let it sit for two weeks.
  3. Strain the liquid with a colander in a glass spray bottle.
  4. Add water.
  5. Mix well and it’s ready to use!

Note: This is a concentrated formula; dilute one cup of vinegar into two cups of water.

This DIY multi-purpose cleaner is very easy to make, and it didn’t take me much time to prepare.

Useful Tips

  • Strain the liquid if using leftover lemon from your lemonade, as the pulp will clog the spray bottle. By experience!
  • Always try it in a small area first.
  • For more money-savers and eco-friendly ways, I reuse a tomato sauce glass container to prepare the mix.
  • In addition, I re-use a glass tomato sauce container to keep my refills.
  • I do have a separate measuring cup to prepare all my cleaning products.
cleaner with refill and gloves

I hope you like this easy, eco-friendly, and budget-friendly citrus vinegar cleaner. You may also like ” Easy to make Powder Laundry Detergent.”

DIY citrus vinegar cleaner
DIY citrus vinegar cleaner glass bottle

DIY Citrus Vinegar Cleaner

Yield: 1 bottle
Prep Time: 2 minutes
Additional Time: 14 days
Total Time: 14 days 2 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Easy DIY citrus vinegar cleaner without harsh chemicals. Only three ingredients: vinegar, fruit citrus peels, and water. It has a fresh aroma, and it works! An eco-friendly solution using kitchen scraps.

Materials

  • 1 cup White Vinegar
  • 4 peels Lemon or lime
  • 4 peels Orange or clementine
  • 2 cups Distilled or filtered Water

Tools

  • Glass container with lid
  • Glass spray bottle
  • Colander
  • Measuring cup

Instructions

  1. Add the vinegar and peels in a glass container with a lid.
  2. Soak the citrus peels in the vinegar. Let it sit for two weeks.
  3. Strain the liquid with a colander into a glass spray bottle.
  4. Add Water
  5. Mix well.

10 Comments

  1. Love a good cleaner- especially one that’s all natural. I’ve made it and it works so well.

  2. I love that you found a way to reduce the vinegar smell. The vinegar smell was always a turn off for me. I’ll have to try this soon. Side note, I never knew the difference between multi and all purpose cleaners. Very interesting.

    1. Thank you, Sarah. Yes, looking into several articles I found out that there is a difference between these two kinds of cleaners.

    1. I hope it works for you. I’ve been using this cleaner for more than 6 months in my kitchen and it’s working great!

  3. I’m assuming I can add grapefruit rinds for this cleaner?
    Also wondering if I have to use a glass spray bottle? Won’t plastic work?
    I know you’re going green here.
    Thanks for posting this. Making it up right now!

  4. Thank you Jean! I haven’t tried with grapefruit peels, but I think it will work too.

    It may be ok to use a plastic spray bottle; at this point, the mix is already diluted in water, and I’m not using the essential oils. I have read that it is recommended to use a glass bottle when using essential oils. But I still believe that it will be better to use a glass bottle instead of the plastic one.

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