Here at Westside Wellness, we think it's important to know exactly what goes into our cleaning products. Why? Because our skin and lungs are one of our major organs of detoxification/elimination and absorption. So whatever we come in contact with via our skin and lungs (through inhalation) is going to be processed by our body, which can lead to detrimental effects.

Some cleaning products contain nasty abrasives, fragrances and whiteners to help give the appearance that they are 'doing a good job', but really what they are doing is providing an onslaught of nasties that we really don't want to be breathing in and touching. We also don't want these products entering our water ways where they cause massive detriment to the environment.

What's the solution? Enter our enzymatic, citrus cleaner. It is easy peasy to make, and a great way to reduce waste by reusing citrus peels (before they make their way to the compost). We use citrus peels and vinegar and let the combo ferment for 6-8 weeks. During this fermentation period, enzymes from the citrus peel is released and the mother from the apple cider vinegar and natural sugars from the citrus peel increases the fermentation resulting in a potent cleaning product! Now there are other recipes on the internet, using sugar and yeast, but for us this is way easier as we pretty much always have white and apple cider vinegar hand.

Once you get into the swing of things, you can have several jars on the go, staggered so you always have spray on hand.

INGREDIENTS

a wide mouthed, large glass* jar with lid
left over citrus peels- lemon, grapefruit, lime, orange etc **. Enough to fill said jar
500-1000 ml white vinegar (enough to fill jar)
2 tbs apple cider vinegar w/ mother

METHOD

Thoroughly wash your jar in hot, soapy water. Rinse soap off well.
Cut your citrus peels into quarters.
Place citrus peels in jar and pour in the white and apple cider vinegar. Push down the peels and make sure they are covered with liquid.
Place lid on, write the date and put the jar in a dark, cool place. Leave for 6-8 weeks.
Once fermented, pour your multipurpose spray into a spray bottle using a nut bag or muslin cloth to strain out any citrus flesh.

*Due to the enzymes release, it's best to use glass for both fermenting and to use as a spray. A little hack we discovered is that spray bottle guns fit most glass drink bottles that had a plastic lid!

**We keep our citrus peel in a container in the freezer until there is enough to fill a large jar.