Life Hackery

Lemon can be used in many ways, given its acidic content. It can be used for disinfecting household items, as a secondary whitener for white sheets, and can even serve as an instant remedy for sore throat. Here are some more alternative uses for this acidic fruit:

1. Fingernail Cleaner – The acidic properties of lemons are potent enough to remove the yellowish fingernail stains coming from cigarettes and coffee. Just rub the juice from a freshly squeezed lemon on your fingernail and the stains will eventually fade. You can even use the rind as a makeshift scrubber for faster results.

2. Acne Remover – Lemon juice, when applied in high doses, can cure acne. Set aside a cup of unsweetened lemon juice. Wet a paper towel with lemon juice then rub it on your skin blemishes, pimples, and other acne lesions.

3. Guitar Cleaner – With the exception of maple-based guitars, you can use lemon juice to clean your guitar and other stringed instruments. The juice strips off dirt formations on the guitar’s grooves and can even help in shining the guitar’s surface.

4. Treatment for Sore Throat – Slice a lemon and extract the juice. Cut the peel into small pieces and mix them with the juice. Heat the mixture then add honey, depending on your tolerance for sourness. Now, drink the mixture. Your throat will gradually clear up. Just repeat the entire process if your throat gets clogged again.

5. Food Preservative – The acidity of lemon can kill any trace of bacteria that resides in meat. Bacteria will instantly neutralize the lemon juice’s abrasive properties. As for parasites, you still need to wash and boil the meat to keep it free from microbes. You can mix lemon juice with water, when washing, to improve the microbe-killing rate.

6. Antibacterial Soap – When creating soap, you can add lemon extract to the mixture before the soap hardens. The addition of lemon extract practically increases the efficiency of regular soaps in removing germs from the body.

7. Natural Insecticide – Lemon contains an ingredient that is generally disliked by insects. That ingredient is called D-limonene. If you’re out on a camping trip and you suddenly run out of insecticides, you can boil lemon juice or extract, then place it in your tent. You will be surprised on how a simple solution can repulse pests like mosquitoes and mites.

8. Stain Remover – Tea stains on clothes is a usual laundry problem. Applying soap with weak active ingredients merely makes the stains fade. Add lemon extracts to the mix and the stains will disappear after several forceful scrubs. You can also use lemon extracts when removing blood, ketchup, and coffee stains. It works not only on clothing, but also on plastic containers, cutting boards and furniture.

9. Cheese Grater Cleaner – Combine high acidity to a slick solution and you can resolve one of the most annoying problems in the kitchen – removing cheese from the grater. Just rub a generous amount of lemon juice on a grater filled with cheese. The juice’s abrasiveness will loosen the grip of the cheese to the metal surface of the grater. After a few wipes, your grater will shine like a brand new item.

10. Metal Shining Solution – Lemon juice can serve as a cheaper version of the metal cleaner. Its acidic properties work wonders on the surfaces of metal furniture and china. Couple the juice with soap, when cleaning metal items. You will then see why some environmentalists have practically traded their canned cleaners for this fruit.

11. Aide for Metabolism – Drinking lemonade everyday can help increase your metabolic rate. The acidic content of the drink is abrasive for most substances, especially the broken down food particles in your stomach. Once lemonade mixes with your gastric acids, the rate of burning particles increases, boosting your metabolism.

12. Short-Term Deodorant – An empty deodorant container can be a major problem. No one wants to smell like rotten fish, when his or her sweat glands become active. For these emergency cases, you can wet your armpits with lemon extract. The deodorizing effect will last for only a few hours, so you must rush to a convenience store upon application.

13. Aromatherapy – According to resident scientists from Ohio State University, the aroma of boiled lemon extract can relax you and thrust you into a better state of mind. Further tests are being conducted in the university to formalize their findings. If the theory proves to be true, you just need to buy lemons instead of those expensive aromatherapy solutions sold in the medicine stores.

14. Table Decoration – The sight of the several lemons arranged on a clear glass bowl can be pretty and can make a dining area look more presentable. Place that arrangement at the middle of your dining table to enhance the theme of your dining room. You can apply a preservative on the lemons to keep them looking fresh.

15. China and Kitchenware Disinfectant – You can use lemon extract when washing your china and other kitchen equipment. Its acidic content displaces dirt and kills germs easily. It complements the dish-washing soap perfectly, since the cleaning and disinfecting rates increase when the two are used in conjunction.

Lemon is a highly acidic fruit. In fact, it is probably the most acidic natural item in your kitchen. Try sipping lemon juice just for kicks and you will certainly grimace from its sheer sourness. Everyone knows that lemons can produce a refreshing juice drink when mixed with sugar. Surprisingly, it can also be a potent germ-killing solution that can bail you out of tight spots.