Cleaning the Natural Way

Lately I have become increasingly concerned about all the chemicals in my life. In an effort to cut down my family's exposure to toxic substances I have begun to use more natural remedies for dirt and grime.
One of my new favorite things is lemon (or lime) infused vinegar! This stuff is amazingly easy to make and actually works very well. I must admit that I am not the originator of this amazing stuff. I have seen it on many blogs (remember I do research before I try something) and I thought, hey, if they can do it then I can do it! Here is the blog I snitched the recipe from - One Good Thing. Here is another page that has some great ideas for lemon for lemon-lime cleaning spray.

So without further ado here is my foray into the world of lemon and lime cleaning spray!

I love a bargain so I go to the bargain fruit bin and get a bag of lemons or limes for a dollar. As you can see this particular bag had about 15 limes in it for a dollar. That is a bargain when citrus is at the summer high.

 Take a clean Mason jar. I use quart jars because I use this cleaner on almost EVERYTHING. I even use it as an air freshener because I have two dogs and two cats as well as a smelly husband living with me.

You can use a lid with a ring or these nifty reusable plastic lids. They are made by Ball and you can get them online. I bought mine from ACE Hardware's online store. Take a look here. They are a little pricy but considering you can use them over and over the cost dissipates after time.

 Get some plain old vinegar. I buy it in the gallon size because of my copious use of my spray.

Before I cut the limes I roll them on the counter. This will get the juices flowing for easier squeezing.  I cut my limes long ways because I want maximum exposure to the vinegar.

 I squeeze the lime juice into the jar them drop in the rest of it. I like strong lime smell so I fill my jar pretty full of limes. You can use less if you like but I don't recommend it. I mean, if you are going for a lime smell why skimp?

 I hope you can see that the bottom of the jar has a concentration of lime juice. I give my jar a shake to mix it all up. I don't want the lime juice and the vinegar to be separate so a gentle shake mixes it up.

I was able to get two jars of lime vinegar from the bag.

 Put your limes in a dark quiet place and don't bother them for at least two weeks. I always mark my calendar because I get way too excited and will dig into the jar before the limes have had time to do their thing.

 After two weeks your limes will look a little less colorful and your liquid will be a yellowish color. Not to worry, this is what you want. You want all that good lime infusion.

 I strain my vinegar in a pretty fine strainer because I don't want little bits of lime clogging up the squeeze bottle when I am trying to clean.

Once you have your lime vinegar ready to go store it in a clean spray bottle. Don't mix it with anything else. If you don't like the strong smell you could put in a little distilled water. I don't because I want it strong.

ENJOY! : )