3 Ways to Use Homemade Orange Peel Vinegar Around the House

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Vinegar has so many household uses; it is considered a staple in any natural household. But when you combine it with an orange, something wonderful happens.

 

Orange Peel and vinegar are a match made in heaven. It can be used to clean almost anything in your house with great results. But orange peel vinegar is useful for other things around the house besides cleaning as well.

I’ll get to that in just a moment. First we need to go over how to make this wonderful concoction.

 

HOW TO MAKE ORANGE PEEL AND VINEGAR

To make your orange peel vinegar, all you need is orange peels and white vinegar (are you shocked?!).

Fill a mason jar with orange peels (after you’ve eaten the fruit, of course!). Any type of orange will work for this. I typically use small clementines since my kids devour them and we have plenty of peels available.

Cover the orange peels with white vinegar.

Make sure the peels are completely covered and put a top on the jar.

TIP: If using a metal top, make sure to place a piece of parchment paper between the lid and the jar. Vinegar erodes metal and will eat away at your metal lid.

If I don’t have quite enough orange peels to fill my jar, I will add more for the next few days until my jar is full. If you do this, add extra vinegar as needed to make sure the peels stay completely covered.

Leave your orange peel and vinegar jar alone for at least 2 weeks. I have a back section of my counter where I store whatever concoction I am currently infusing/brewing. A kitchen cabinet or your pantry will also work.

After 2 weeks, strain the orange peels out of the vinegar and put back in a jar or bottle.

 

HOW TO USE HOMEMADE ORANGE VINEGAR

Most people just use their orange peel and vinegar concoction solely as a cleaning solution and call it done. But that’s just not my style.

I love a good multi-purpose product, and vinegar is the king of multi-purpose products. And now orange vinegar is the queen.

I’m going to show you how to use your orange vinegar for cleaning, ant removal, and salad dressing.

 

You’ll probably want to make a BIG batch.

HOMEMADE ORANGE CLEANER

To use your orange vinegar as an all-purpose cleaner, mix with water in a spray bottle, half vinegar, half water. Use on counters, bathrooms, floors – this stuff works all over the house.

 

NOTE: While it DOES smell like oranges, it also still smells like vinegar. So if cleaning with vinegar isn’t your thing because of the vinegar smell, orange peel vinegar won’t eliminate that.

 

ORANGE PEEL AND VINEGAR ANT REMOVER

The first time I made homemade orange vinegar I just so happened to have a giant ant mound taking over a small section of my yard. And another colony of ants SOMEWHERE outside the house that was slowly sneaking in through the back door in pairs and singles.

 

I don’t like to use any chemicals in or around my house, so ants really like my yard. I’ve tried lots of natural ways to get rid of them, and usually the best I do is deterring them or convince them to move.

 

Vinegar is a common natural remedy to get rid of ants and so is orange oil. So as soon as my orange peel vinegar was ready I immediately tested it on the ants.

 

I’ve used this orange vinegar on ants outside the house in a mound AND to deter ants from entering the house.

Here’s how I use it.

Orange Peel Vinegar to Deter Ants inside the House

To use your homemade orange vinegar to deter ants inside the house is super easy. Simply mix equal parts orange vinegar and water and spray the mixture around the doors, windows, or cracks where ants are coming in.

Ants hate the smell of orange and the mixture will deter them from entering your home. This does NOT kill the ants (unless you hunt them down and spray them with it directly), but simply keeps them from entering your home.

I like to make my mixture extra orangey and add about 10 drops of orange essential oil to the bottle before I spray.

The orange scent does fade after a while, so you will need to reapply regularly to areas where ants commonly enter your house

ORANGE VINEGAR SALAD DRESSING

Your homemade orange peel vinegar makes a super quick and easy salad dressing!

 

• Combine equal parts orange vinegar and oil of your choice (avocado oil is my favorite for salad dressing)
• Add a dash of salt and pepper.
• Whisk thoroughly until well combined.

 

TIP: I like to mix salad dressing in a small mason jar. Measure ingredients into the jar, pop on the top and shake it until it’s ready.

 

 

What is your favorite household use for vinegar? Try it with orange infused vinegar and let me know how it works!