We all know the saying: when we’ve got lemons, we’re supposed to make, well, lemonade. But lately, since I’ve started looking for less expensive, more environmentally friendly ways to look and feel better, I’ve realized that people have been using the fruit to do just that for centuries.
Medieval explorers utilized lemons, widely grown throughout history, as protection against scurvy. The Victorians grew them in their homes as status symbols. (What says, “I’m rich” more than a lemon tree in your dining room?) The yellow fruits were also used throughout the ancient world as an antidote for various poisons, a medicine, an all-purpose cleaner, and an insecticide.
In search of cheap, green ways to get things done, I sought to harness the uses for lemons and try some of the go-to citrus’s noncooking powers. Turns out, the ancients were onto something—I ended up with a whole lot more than lemonade.
Health Applications
Sore Throat
A combination of honey and lemon can temporarily provide natural relief for throat pain—instead of that sticky syrup. Mix lemon juice and honey to taste in a glass of hot water, then let it cool before sipping. The honey coats and soothes the throat, and the lemon eliminates mucus, says the Mayo Clinic.
Pimples
The citric acid in lemons helps abolish acne, according to The Lemon Juice Diet, by Theresa Cheung. Cheung writes that anyone suffering from pesky pimples should give this DIY treatment a try: Mix one part lemon juice with one part honey water, then let it sit on the pimple for at least half an hour before rinsing. Repeat twice daily.
Fatigue
Feeling that three o’clock slump? Lemon oil stimulates brain activity, according to a study published in Experimental Biology and Medicine, so rubbing a few drops on your wrists can perk you up enough to make it to 5 p.m.
Colds and Flus
Squeezing some juice into tea or warm water every few hours supplies us with extra vitamin C—like those fancy vitamin packs from the grocery store. The trick is to begin right when you start feeling sick, according to the Mayo Clinic. So add a little immune-boosting juice to that water glass. It can’t hurt.
Bug Bites
Smarting from a bee sting or a mosquito bite? Ease the pain with a few drops of lemon oil mixed with a teaspoon of honey and massage it into the bite, writes Cheung.
Household Help
Stains
My cutting board was stained orange after chopping up squash, so I tried rubbing it with half a lemon and baking soda, following some DIY Network advice. Guess what? My board’s white like new. This trick works for Tupperware, too.
Decorations
Amber Rose, an event planner in San Francisco, recommends using lemons to add a little (cheap) zing to your usual table decorations: “Fill a hurricane vase or whatever you have on hand with lemons, or arrange them with tea candles for a cheerful centerpiece,” she advises.
Food Freshener
“If you’re making appetizers like guacamole or chopped apples, you’ve got to keep them from browning during the entire get-together,” says Rose. “Sprinkle lemon juice on them to keep that telltale brown color at bay.”
Air Freshener
“Before a dinner party, I’ll boil some lemon rinds with other fragrant spices, like cloves or cinnamon, to create a cozy aroma before guests arrive,” says Rose.
Dirty Surfaces
Lemon juice creates an acidic environment that makes it difficult for bacteria to grow (bacteria thrives at a pH of over 4.6, and lemons are about 2.3). Rub a lemon half over counters and stovetops to clean without having to worry about nasty chemicals getting into food.
Smelly Garbage Disposals
Got that icky food smell? Toss some lemon rinds and slices down the hole and grind them up for a fresh, clean kitchen scent. Is the sink itself the problem? Mix some salt with the juice, and scrub away.
Graters
My boyfriend and I are always bickering about how he leaves cheese remnants in the grater. Turns out, all it takes is rubbing the pulp of a lemon down the grates to push it out. Relationship saved.
Pests
Lemons can work as a natural defense against pests—before you have to shell out big bucks for chemical-filled killers. Squirt the juice into any holes or cracks that the bugs may be coming through, because ants, roaches, and fleas aren’t fans of the fragrance. “At the advice of a natural pest cleaner, I washed my floor with a mixture of lemon juice and water,” says dog owner Keira Ramirez, whose pet had brought some fleas into the house. “It worked, with no icky chemical smell.”
Laundry
Lemons can work as a gentle alternative to bleach—just mix baking soda and lemon juice with water and soak for thirty minutes before washing.
Beauty Basics
Nail Stains
As someone who recently started painting her fingernails, I’ve noticed that polish tends to leave behind discoloration. Soaking my fingers in some lemon juice is all it takes to get them fresh and clean.
Smelly Hands
Speaking of hands, chopping onions or garlic can leave them reeking. Rubbing a lemon wedge between your fingers can remove the scent pronto.
Tough Elbows and Heels
Soaking elbows and heels in lemon juice and warm water, followed by rinsing and moisturizing, will slough off dead skin and leave them soft.
Bad Breath
Feeling breath-conscious? Rinsing with lemon juice will kill stinky bacteria lingering on your teeth and tongue. Just rinse with water afterward to make sure no acid is left behind.
After giving these tricks a try, I understand (as do my guinea-pig friends) why we’ve used lemons for so long—they may be as close to a one-stop household shop as we can get. From now on, when life gives me lemons, instead of creating a sticky, sugary drink, I’ll be cleaning, beautifying, and healing.
