I have a thing for lemons.
It’s pretty rare that I don’t have a couple lurking in the fridge. Lately, I’ve been finding more and more ways to fuel my addiction. Lemons are not only packed with antioxidants and rich in vitamin C, but they are detoxifying for the body and are said to contain cancer fighting compounds. You can read much more about them (along with limes) over at World’s Healthiest Foods.
Today, our mission is to compile the world’s biggest list of the many ways to use lemons. Or at least a long one! I started us off at the bottom of this post, but it’s up to you to add to it if you’d like.
But first, I’m sharing with you one of my all-time favourite ways to use lemons with a couple ingredients you probably have lurking in your pantry. I’ve been making variations of this hand scrub for a couple years now and it never lets me down!
My hands (and elbows, feet, knees, etc) can get very dry and this scrub exfoliates and seals in moisture like nothing I have used. I like to keep a jar in the fridge and whip it out a few times a week to give my hands a good scrub. It also makes an amazing facial scrub and body scrub too!
You can make a basic scrub using just a few ingredients. I personally like using:
- 1 part oil
- 2 parts sugar
- lemon juice + zest
Glowing Lemon Sugar Hand Scrub
Adapted from my previous scrub.
Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup olive oil (or oil of choice)
- 2/3 cup sugar (see tip)
- Juice of 1/2 a lemon (about 1.5 tbsp)
- pinch of two of lemon zest
1. In a jar or small container, stir together the oil, sugar, lemon juice, and zest. Store in the fridge with a lid for maximum freshness. Feel free to use this scrub on your hands, feet, elbows, knees, face, and total body whenever it needs a burst of moisture and shiny glow.
Tips:
The finer the sugar you use, the less rough your scrub will be. I like using a fine white sugar if I’m using it on my face and hands since those parts tend to have thinner, more delicate skin. If I’m making a body scrub, I like using a coarser sugar like brown or turbinado or even coarse sea salt.
If using this on your face, be sure to use a cleanser afterwards to remove the oil.
You have to try this.
Rub it all over your hands and give yourself a good massage!
My hands aren’t normally very soft, but this scrub makes them feel like a baby’s bottom! Or maybe even softer…
I used it yesterday morning and I can still feel the difference on my hands this morning. Truly amazing.
Looking for others fun uses for lemons? Check out this list I compiled below. Special thanks to Green Living Tips and Eco Knowledge for some of the tips.
Other ways to use lemons:
1) Homemade detox drink. Juice a lemon and mix it with water. Drink it on an empty stomach as soon as you wake up. It will aid in digestion and give you a great start to your day. Just be sure to drink it with a straw as the acidic nature of citrus can wear the enamel of the teeth.
2) Clean silver, chrome, and tarnished brass.
3) Clean your microwave: Juice 1 lemon and add to a bowl of water. Place in the microwave and heat for about 5 minutes on high. The steam will help soften any gunk on your microwave so you can easily wipe it down afterward.
4) Freshen your garbage disposal. Instead of throwing out your lemon scraps, toss them into your garbage disposal to freshen it up and deodorize.
5) Make potpourri.
6) Scrub your kitchen. Mix lemon juice and salt together for an all-natural kitchen scrub.
7) Deodorize your humidifier. Add some lemon juice to your humidifier water to deodorize.
8.) Prevent spoilage. Add some fresh lemon juice on an avocado or fruit salad to prevent browning.
9) Homemade fruit and veggie wash. Mix 1 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp vinegar, and 1 cup water together to make a natural fruit and veggie cleaner.
10) Chop, chop. Use lemons to clean your chopping boards.
11) Baking and cooking. The obvious one here, but lemon is a fun ingredient in many recipes. One of my favs are these Tropical Lemon Cranberry Chia Bars! I also have 53 recipes that contain lemons!
What are your favourite ways to use lemons? Do you ever make any homemade scrubs or other beauty products?
Hi Angela
I am a 32 years old who is recovering from ED , I need a good book about body image to work on that. I searched on internet but i did not find any specific book. could you ask your readers to introduce a good book for me, by the way English is my second language .
thanks
I want to add that i want a life changing book , I started to recover from ED after reading ” intuitive eating ” book …. this book really changed my life ,but i have some problems about accepting my body and i am looking for a good body image book to change my view about my body .
thanks ,
tima.
Lemon is one of my all time favorite scents so I can’t wait to try out some of these uses for it!!! They all sound fantastic! Never would have thought of some of them….
Clean out the disposal and make it smell fresh! After using lemons to cook with, whatever you have left simply put down the disposal.
I can’t wait to try this! My hands are so SO dry.
I liked reading about the other things you can use lemon for too.
I always do #4 with orange peel, lemons, limes…
I am always using lemon scraps to freshen up the waste disposal haha. Best secret weapon ever! Thanks for the hand scrub recipe, I am always loving making my own natural beauty products :).
I’ve used it as a deodorant in the past. Just pat some of the juice in your armpit, let it dry, and the acid kills the odor causing bacteria that gives you BO. It didn’t irritate my skin like I thought it might either.
I LOVE lemon. I wish everything in my house could smell like lemon. If I could, I would just bathe in lemon. Lemon lemon lemon!!
I make a lot of homemade beauty products. LOVE, LOVE this post! I’m going to get my aromatherapy license now that I turned my thesis in!!
Great ideas Angela! When I feel like I’m coming down with something (or actually get sick), I pour hot water into a big mug over half of a sliced lemon, fresh ginger, and a spoon full of honey. It’s a great hot drink to help battle colds and flus. Or to just warm the soul. :)
anything to get that glow on! i love these ideas Angela, they’d make a really thoughtful gift, too!
my favorite ways to use lemons: home decor (like on the movie: The Break-Up) and lemon bars!
You can leave the olive oil on after if you want. Olive oil is great for your skin as a moisturizer. It is also great at removing make up!
i love cleaning and baking w lemons too. here’s my recipe for a liz lemon bread pudding!
http://theactorsdiet.wordpress.com/2012/03/29/what-would-liz-lemon-do/
I haven’t made any scrubs or DIY beauty products but I am getting more natural all the time! I do use vinegar in my smelly gym clothes to get the stink out! :)
this post couldn’t have come at a better time for me…i was just looking at the state of my dry hands this morning wondering just what i was going to do with them! so thank you thank you! i didn’t have enough olive oil so i used coconut oil and i think it turned out fine. it smells amazing and i had to taste a tiny bit too. ha!
I made a scrub like this with my friends last summer and it worked so well! Thanks for the tip about cleaning microwave – I’ve actually been putting that off because there is goop caked on it and I’m dreading the task! :P
My favourite way to use lemons is in dressings for salads. I’m actually eating one right now with lemon, Bragg’s soy seasoning, and EVO for the dressing!
I have a pretty sweet job – part of it consists of doing marketing for a certain citrus oriented company. I won’t name it, I’m not trying to promote anything. Just wanted to share. Before I started this job, of course I was into fruits and veggies, but after being immersed in citrus this and citrus that – you’d think I’d hate the stuff. But my citrus obsessions get curiously stronger. My new favorite color is orange, I seek out new varieties, and am always cooking with the stuff. I think I need an anonymous support group. I’ve had to make myself a fountain of lemon facts and home tips. Lemons can be used in gardening for plants that need acidity, removes discoloration in tea kettles, it takes odors off cutting boards – and one of my favorite tips…rub your hands with lemon after handling chilis. It neutralizes the enzyme that causes the burn. (My hands are magnets to my eyes after I forgot I’ve been cutting chilis. That is real pain.)
Thanks for the post and the recipes. Clearly, I need more lemon stuff. You’re really just feeding my habit.
haha awesome tips Sarah!
I needed that tip about using lemons after handling chilis! I made salsa yesterday and even though I washed my hands after chopping the jalapenos, I rubbed my eyes later, burn baby burn! Thanks!
mmm loving citrus lately, although it’s been limes for me. I add it to tons of dishes and my water- thanks for the teeth enamel tip though I should be careful with that.