Versatile Lemon
Lemons are versatile in every form — whether as fruit juice, lemon peel or concentrated citric acid. What would your recipes, cocktails and cleaning be without the use of lemons? What would a cold winter be without hot lemon, a hot summer without mineral water with ice cubes, mint and a slice of lemon? The lemon is a helper for many occasions.
1. Versatile Lemon – the Health Booster
Lemons contain vitamin C. Vitamin C is involved in numerous metabolic processes. It supports your immune system, aids your body in collagen synthesis and acts as a free-radical scavenger. That is not all: the vitamin-rich citrus fruit also contains vitamin B6. This vitamin performs important functions for the nervous system and mental health.
The potassium from the lemon helps balance your acid–base homeostasis. In your body, the versatile lemon is indispensable.
2. Versatile Lemon as a Natural Pain Reliever
You can indeed use lemons as a pain reliever for headaches. A dash of lemon juice in coffee is an established home remedy. The taste is, of course, debatable. But: the lemon juice suppresses your headache, the caffeine in the coffee dilates the constricted blood vessels in the head — and you may feel better again.
3. Versatile Lemon as a Bleaching Agent
Of course you can use lemons for their mild bleaching effect on white laundry. Add approx. 200 milliliters of undiluted lemon juice to the wash cycle and to the detergent — and your white laundry will be clean again. For stubborn stains on white garments you can pre-treat with lemon juice. Dab the lemon juice onto your garment and let it sit briefly. Repeat if necessary until the stain has disappeared. Then wash the garment with your white laundry.
Lemon as a Natural Bleaching Agent for Blonde Hair
Another bleaching use for lemon can be applied to blonde hair. Here is the natural recipe to lighten your „summer-blonde hair“: mix 200 ml lemon juice with 100 ml water. Dampen your hair slightly beforehand. Pour the lemon-water mixture preferably into a spray bottle and then wet your hair with it. After spraying your hair with the natural bleaching mixture you can wrap a prewarmed towel around your hair. Heat amplifies the effect. Rinse your hair thoroughly after about 20 minutes. Afterwards you should apply a conditioning treatment, as the hair can become somewhat brittle due to the acid.
4. Versatile Lemon – Chemical-free Cleaning Agent
The peels of untreated lemons are a wonderful degreaser. If you have a lemon that has already been squeezed, you can use the inner side of the lemon to easily clean pans with burnt-on grease, worktops or oven trays. You can make small cuts around the edge of the lemon half so it opens more easily and the lemon juice comes out well.
5. All-purpose lemon – natural descaler
Do you have hard water in your household? Hard water is known to cause unsightly deposits in the kitchen, on fittings and on dishes. With citric acid you can remove stubborn limescale deposits in an environmentally friendly way. If you start removing the first limescale deposits in time, you won’t have to perform multiple treatments later to deal with stubborn limescale build-up. Simply use the inner side of a squeezed lemon for this.
To descale your coffee machine you need 1 squeezed lemon. It’s best to pass the lemon juice through a sieve so no pulp or seeds get into the machine! Mix the lemon juice with 1 liter of water and pour the mixture into the coffee machine’s water tank. When half of the mixture has run through, switch your coffee machine off for about 30 minutes to allow it to take effect. Then switch the machine back on to run the remainder of the mixture through. Afterwards let 2 carafes of water run through the coffee machine to rinse it thoroughly.
The all-purpose lemon removes limescale from scaled surfaces and machines in your household completely chemical-free. This descaling method also works well for your washing machine.
6. All-purpose lemon for cleaning the microwave
The all-purpose lemon will tackle even your dirty microwave effectively. Put the juice of half a lemon and some lemon peel into a microwave-safe bowl full of water and place it in the microwave. Then run the microwave for three minutes at the highest setting.
The lemon’s essential oils spread through the hot steam and loosen all deposits. Afterwards you can wipe everything down with a damp cloth. The lemon also leaves a pleasantly fresh scent.
7. All-purpose lemon as a beauty treatment
A proven home remedy for beauty treatments at home is a facial mask made from milk, egg yolk, a little lemon juice and almond oil. Whisk the mixture and apply it evenly to your face. Leave it on for about 20 minutes. Rinse off with lukewarm water. With weekly application the pores will become finer and your complexion clearer. You can dab troublesome pimples with diluted lemon juice. For hygienic reasons you should use a cotton swab for this. The all-purpose lemon is known for its anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and astringent properties.
8. All-purpose lemon as an air freshener
The aromatic scent of essential citrus oils works well as a room freshener to eliminate unpleasant kitchen odors. How does it work? Put water on to heat and add a few lemon slices. Optionally you can add a sprig of rosemary or a split vanilla pod. Bring the mixture to a boil and let it simmer until the unpleasant odors dissipate. Lemon scent also has an invigorating effect, promotes concentration and improves mood. Lemon juice in bathwater also awakens your senses. You can use a already-squeezed half lemon and some salt to remove garlic or onion odor from your hands.
9. All-rounder lemon as an appetite suppressant
Cravings are known to occur on any diet. Use the power of lemon (preferably untreated organic lemons!) as a natural appetite suppressant. Squeeze the juice of half an organic lemon and fill the glass with water. Lemon acts as an appetite suppressant and, due to its pectin content, has a satiating effect.
10. All-rounder lemon as a morning energy booster
For your liquid energy booster, squeeze one lemon and one lime. Add ground star anise and chopped ginger. Let the mixture steep for about 15 minutes. Then top your glass up with mineral water. Drink the beverage preferably on an empty stomach. This will give you energy for your day.
11. All-rounder lemon as a natural cleaning agent
The recipe for the natural cleaner is very simple. Fill a large jam jar halfway with white vinegar and halfway with lemon peels. Then let the mixture steep in the closed jar for about 2–3 weeks. Please ensure the lemon peels are completely covered by the vinegar.
Strain off the lemon peels and pour the vinegar mixture into a spray bottle. You now have a powerful lemon-vinegar cleaner. With this you can degrease and disinfect surfaces in the kitchen and bathroom.
12. All-rounder lemon as a practical rust remover
You can remove rust from corroded items using a mixture of powdered citric acid and water overnight. Dissolve two teaspoons of citric acid powder in 200 milliliters of cold water. Apply this mixture directly to the rusty areas with cloths or immerse the items in it. Let it act for about 1 hour. Afterwards you can remove the rust from the item with an old brush. Depending on how badly the item is corroded, you may need to repeat the process several times. Rinse the items with clear water afterwards.
13. All-rounder lemon as a natural fabric softener
You can make a low-cost fabric softener for your white laundry. Add 6 tablespoons of citric acid powder to one liter of water. Put about 50 to 100 ml per wash into the fabric softener compartment. Your white laundry will become softer and whiter. A pleasant side effect: the washing machine drum is also descaled. Incidentally, you can also remove unsightly deodorant stains from white T-shirts with citric acid. For that, add 15 grams of citric acid to one liter of water and soak your discolored white shirt overnight. Put it into the drum with the REST of the white laundry the next morning and wash it together.