Strained and diluted orange cleaner, orange peels soaking in vinegar

Before I got pregnant with Lee, I was working as an assistant to a dentist in my area. I got to help him with all sorts of tasks, like cleaning up the after effects of oral surgery as well as assisting in root canals, building crowns and drilling implants. Dentistry is messy stuff, with lots of leftovers remaining in mouths after procedures. To remove all this gunk, we used something that my boss simply called “orange cleaner”. Find out more about it on this blog.
After inquiries, I found out that it was made from the oils in the peel of an orange. Powerful stuff, that was, and completely chemical free and non toxic to boot. (I should hope so if it was being put in peoples’ mouths.)
For a while I’ve wanted to purchase some of that uber powerful orange stuff, but never got around to it.
Then I discovered how to make my own.

Homemade Orange Cleaner

Ingredients:
Orange peels. A ton.
Vinegar. Synthetic stuff is fine to use.
Water

Instructions:
1. Fill a glass jar with orange peels. It needn’t be done all at once. Just whenever you eat an orange, put the peels inside the jar.
2. Cover the peels with vinegar. You may want to pack down the peels so less vinegar is needed for this step, but it’s not necessary.
3. Let the vinegar and orange peels sit for a few weeks. The vinegar will take on an orange/golden hue and smell powerfully of oranges.
4. Take the vinegar out of the jar and pour it into a spray bottle, diluting half/half with water.
5. Use with a rag to clean, well, anything! This works well to clean sinks, mirrors, windows, floors, wooden chairs, counters, etc… I haven’t tried it yet on toilets and bathtubs, but I have no doubt it will work.
Feel happy knowing that you’ve got a really powerful

P.S. You can also make this with tangerine or clementine peels. I made mine with a mixture of orange and clementine peels.
P.S.S. Best of all- this is made with something that you’d otherwise be throwing out!

What homemade or green cleaners do you use in your house? Have you ever heard of orange cleaner before? Do you think you’d try making this?