Update: Citrus Vinegar for Cleaning

In a previous post we talked about soaking citrus peels in white vinegar to make scented vinegar for cleaning. I’ve been doing this for a while now, using a 50/50 water and vinegar blend in my spray bottle, and I like the scent, but I’ve realized that because the vinegar is tinted by the orange peel if it is left to dry on a white surface it will leave yellow marks behind.

This is not a big deal, because when using vinegar spray you are usually spraying and wiping at the same time, and I’ve never seen yellow streaks left behind from using this way. But a few times I’ve sprayed something and then forgot to wipe it down. When the spray dries, a pale yellow residue shows up. It doesn’t stain, you just have to go back and wipe it up. Unfortunately, though, it looks a lot like urine, leading to puzzling questions until you figure out what’s going on!

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8 Comments

  1. how about if you steep the peel in boiling water. Allow to cool, strain and mix that water with the vinegar…no yellow stain! Better yet, add some thyme to the water and peel and you will get more antibacterial properties.

    • Yes, I left a spray pattern on the pedestal of our bathroom sink and initially blamed Trout, our male cat. I thought he’d taken to spraying all of the sudden. But of course he’s innocent of that–if not innocent of shredding our curtains.

      At least I didn’t blame Erik…

  2. I made lavender vinegar spray. First made lavender tea, then mixed it with vinegar. Smells very nice. It’s sort of brownish, I think due to the lavender interacting with the acid from the vinegar, but I wipe it up as soon as I use it. It’s good for getting bad smells out of things and as a Windex substitute. I used it to get the burnt smell out of my kitchen after I burned something I was cooking pretty bad.

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