Here’s How To Make DIY Vinegar Cleaner That Actually Smells Good

Spring cleaning season is now in full force, and if you’ve been trying to find the best natural and budget-friendly ways to clean your home, you’ve no doubt come across the recommendation to use plain old white vinegar. But, while you might be sold on vinegar’s effectiveness as a cleaner, you probably also struggle to get past its rather potent, and not so pleasant, smell.

Thankfully though, there are DIY bloggers who’ve come up with a solution: DIY Orange Vinegar Cleaner

This cleaner offers not only an affordable way to clean, but it’s easy to make, will leave your home looking spotless, and smells great.

Ready to give it a try? Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

• Orange Peels—Feel free to throw in lemon or lime peels, too. It’s completely up to you.
• White Distilled Vinegar—You’ll need enough to fill up a Mason jar or two, so it might be worth spending the extra $1 to get a bigger jug.
• Mason Jars—You can typically find new ones for around $1 at stores like Michael’s Art & Crafts, or you might be able to pick a few up at your local thrift store.
• An Empty Spray Bottle—Pick up a new spray bottle at your local grocery store or a dollar store or reuse an empty one at home.

Photo by fred_v

Now that you have your supplies, it’s time to start peeling your citrus fruit. You’ll want to have enough peels to fill up the mason jar about halfway.

Once you have all of your citrus fruit peeled, you’ll want to put it in your mason jar along with white vinegar. Make sure once your mason jar is filled, that you cover it tightly. You’ll then want to store it in a dark place for around two weeks.

If you want to store it for an even longer period of time, go for it. The longer you let the citrus peels sit in the vinegar, the more it will be infused with the fresh citrus scent.

Once your new cleaning concoction is done sitting, you’ll want to separate the orange peels from the vinegar so you can then add the liquid mixture into a spray bottle.

I’ve tried this myself and it works quite well. While I still smelled a slight hint of the vinegar, adding the citrus peels definitely helped subdue the pungent vinegar smell. And the best thing is, your new cleaner is multi-purpose, meaning you can use it on anything from counter tops to wiping up your kids spilled milk on the floor.

Happy cleaning!