For some people, cleaning can be a big chore that you never really want to do, but you know that to have a clean living space, you need to do it.
Luckily for me and my home, I am not one of those people.
Instead, when I need a moment to relax without sitting down and doing nothing, I clean.
As the daughter of a cleaner, I grew up watching my mum head out to work every day with her bucket of cleaning supplies, hoover, and a mountain of sponges and cloths.
The idea of having a cleaner myself has never particularly appealed to me, largely because I have seen how hard a job it is, and how often it can go unnoticed.
That is why when I have a spare weekend, I would rather spend it cleaning the house than heading out to town and splashing the cash.
I follow my mum’s example, using reliable bleach, kitchen detergent, polish, and any other handy, simple cleaning tricks.
However, recently I have noticed an influx of new cleaning methods popping up across my social media that have piqued my interest.
TikTok has long been a place where you can get mostly useful cleaning hacks, but for some reason it is adamant about showing tricks just using lemons.
I have never thought that a lemon could do much cleaning, but my curious mind has led me to try the fruity hacks out for myself to see if it is better than the old dependable.
I cleaned my home just using lemons – does it work?
To make the test fair, I used three different lemon cleaning hacks, all gathered from professionals and cleaning influencers.
My first lemon hack took me to the kitchen to see if the fruit could get my microwave sparkly clean.
Can a lemon clean my microwave?
I got this hack from a Mrs Hinch cleaning tips Facebook group, which encouraged users to put a lemon with water in the microwave.
A group member shared that all you need to do is “put half a lemon inside on the glass and turn for 30 seconds.
“Then wipe with a kitchen towel”.
The lemon will clean the microwave through the steam created, helping move the grime inside the machine.
Recently, my life has been a bit busier than normal, so my microwave was not in its usual pristine condition, so I thought this would be the perfect time to evaluate the hack.
Following the Mrs Hinch fans' instructions, I cut the lemon, filled a bowl with water, popped the lemon in, placed it in the microwave, and waited 30 seconds.
Using a sponge to clean, at first attempt, it seemed little had been done by the power of the lemon water.
So, I decided to try again and put it back in the microwave for a further 30 seconds.
Lo and behold, it seemed to have done the trick.
As I whipped away at the inside of the kitchen appliances, it was quickly back to its shiny self and looking fabulously clean, plus it now had the fresh lemony scent.
So far, the lemon was winning me over.
Next, onto the taps.
Lemon vs limescale
Cleaning expert James Elston shares that if you use a cut lemon on taps, it “is an excellent method for not only removing them [limescale] but also infusing a delightful freshness to your kitchen”.
This chemical-free method was promised to be quick and simple and would leave my taps looking new.
With that in mind, I sliced the lemon and got scrubbing my taps, hopeful the limescale would be gone.
After a few moments of scrubbing, the fruit had done a decent job, but there was still some work needed.
So, I went again, and after a while, there seemed to be a slight change, but there was still some stubborn limescale hanging on.
In the end, after trying again and still seeing only a slight change, I gave up.
The lemon had little left to it and had tried its best, but this hack did not convince me it could do a better job than some chemical products.
Hear me out: a lemon, toothpaste, and a washing machine
Saving the oddest till last, this was a hack I found on TikTok and would never think of.
This hack aims to leave your washing machine smelling fresh without using heavy fragranced chemicals.
All I had to do was cut a lemon in half, squeeze some toothpaste onto it, and pop it in the washing machine on a quick spin.
15 minutes later, I opened the door to be met with a lovely fresh scent, and a sparkling drum ready for my next load of laundry.
The toothpaste and lemon had done their job perfectly, although I will admit that I did feel a bit stupid putting them in the washing machine, but whatever works, I guess.
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Can lemons clean a home?
I do not think that I will be swapping out my chemical cleaning products for a bag of lemons.
I can see the appeal.
The easy, chemical-free fruit helps homes smell fresh and look shiny, albeit in some slightly bizarre methods.
But the next time I am caught out with no bleach and only some lemons, I will at least still get a clean home.
Would you use lemons to clean your home? Let us know in the comments.
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