How To Make Your Own Natural Orange Peel Cleaning Spray

Do you prefer using natural cleaning products in your home? Or are you curious about trying some? You’ll love this homemade natural orange peel cleaning spray. It’s easy to make, cost effective and has a beautiful citrus smell too.

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Why use natural cleaning products?

Have you ever looked carefully at the ingredients in commercial cleaning sprays at the supermarket? They are loaded with chemicals that may be good for cleaning, but aren’t necessarily good for you. Stronger smelling cleaning products can also be an asthma trigger for some people. They are also expensive, and buying plastic spray bottles creates a lot of waste.

Making your own cleaning sprays with natural ingredients is not only kinder to you and to the environment, it can be much more cost effective.

Orange and vinegar

Vinegar is a great natural cleaner. It’s acidic and great for cutting through grime, including soap and greasy or sticky messes.. Depending on how it is used, vinegar can also be strong enough to kill bacteria. While I wouldn’t rely on vinegar alone as a disinfectant it is a really good cleaning aid for a variety of surfaces.

You may already be a fan of using vinegar and bicarb soda in your cleaning routine. However white wine vinegar does have a distinctive smell.

This is where orange comes in to play. The combination of vinegar with the natural oils from orange peels is not only a great cleaning aid, it also smells much better. I also like to add some fresh herbs to my orange peel cleaner for even more scent.

When oranges or mandarin oranges are in season, our family creates a constant supply of orange peels. These usually go into our home compost, but using them to create orange peel cleaning spray is another great way to reduce, reuse and recycle waste. It’s also a great way to use up madarin orange peels from Halloween mandarin pumkin decorations.

How to make the orange peel cleaner concentrate

To make your own orange peel cleaning spray you’ll only need a few things:

• a large (quart or 1 litre) wide mouth Mason jar with a well fitting lid
• peels from 4 to 5 oranges (or mandarin oranges)
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary (optional)
• 4 cups of white wine vinegar
• muslin cloth or sieve for straining
• glass spray bottle

If you don’t have a Mason jar, any large glass jar with a tight fitting lid will do.

Simply place the orange peels in the mason jar, filling most of the way. If you are adding herbs, slide the fresh rosemary sprigs down into the side of the jar. Then fill the jar with white wine vinegar. Screw the lid on tightly and place the jar in a cool, dark place (like the back of a cupboard),

You’ll need to leave the peels and vinegar for at least 2 weeks to allow the orange oils (and herbs) to infuse into the vinegar.

After 2 weeks, you can decant the vinegar mixture. Use a sieve or a muslin cloth to strain the liquid and remove the peels and herbs. You now have a concentrated orange vinegar that can be diluted to create a cleaning spray.

Preparing your orange cleaning spray

To create an all purpose spray, fill a spray bottle with half vinegar concentrate and half water. I prefer to use glass spray bottles rather than plastic. The ones I use come with a silicon cover for the bottom of the bottle to help prevent against accidental breakage.

You will now have a 50/50 mix of orange vinegar and water, ready to use for most cleaning jobs.

For stubborn stains or cleaning bathroom tiles, you can also make a stronger spray using 2 parts orange vinegar concentrate to one part water.

Remaining orange vinegar concentrate can be kept in a clear lidded jar in the cupboard for 6 to 8 weeks, or up to 6 months in the fridge. Just make up a new spray bottle as needed by adding orange vinegar and water.

How to use homemade orange peel cleaner

Now that your delicious smelling orange cleaner is ready to use, it’s important to know what you should and shouldn’t use it for.

As it’s made with vinegar, which is quite acidic, you’ll need to be careful about the surfaces you spray. I find orange peel spray ideal for cleaning bathrooms tiles and showers, laminate kitchen benches, sinks, cooktops, whitegoods and even glass. However I avoid using orange peel cleaner on:

• natural stone, granite and marble;
• unglazed ceramic tiles;
• stained or polished timber (including polished floors); and
• some metals.

If in doubt, do a small spot test on an inconspicuous area first.

More ways to use oranges and other citrus

Looking for more handy ways to clean with citrus? You’ll love our posts on how to clean a microwave with just lemon and water and how to clean your wooden chopping boards.

Or for more ideas for using oranges, find out how to make your own dried orange slices, make a festive citrus simmer pot or discover some of our delicious orange recipes.

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