An Insanely Easy Eco Oven Cleaner
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- Ronald Ferreiraon Jan 7, 2021
nice job beautiful polish
- Kathryn SandersonJust now
I've never cleaned my oven this way, but I've made the orange peel-vinegar solution specifically to kill ants.
A couple years ago, ants invaded my kitchen counter after a massive plumbing backup was fixed. Naturally, I didn't want to use Raid or the like on the counter where I prepare food. I read that the citrus vinegar was a good ant repellent, so I went to work. I strained the citrus-infused vinegar into a spray bottle and added a few drops of clove essential oil. (Ants hate cloves, too.) When I saw ants, I sprayed. Holy cow! That stuff kills ants on contact!
More ants kept coming, so I kept spraying for a few weeks until one day...they were gone. I guess they finally got the idea that coming up to my counter was a really bad idea. I haven't seen any ants in my kitchen since then. Not one.
The advantages of this mixture are that it's not toxic to humans, it's very inexpensive, and it smells nice, more like orange and clove than vinegar. I highly recommend it.
That said, there are a few disadvantages. It did take a few weeks (maybe 3?) before the ants were completely gone, and I had to spray nearly every day. It leaves a sticky orange residue...which is better than ants crawling on your counter, but not ideal. It does wipe off easily with water, but I left it on the counter as a deterrent. My countertops are laminate, so it was OK to use vinegar on them, but please check whether vinegar is OK for your counter surface. Citrus is bad for cats, so don't use this mixture in places where your cat eats or spends any time. I did have a cat during the ant invasion, but she never jumped on the counter (really!), so I felt confident about using the mixture there. I would never use it near her food bowl, for example.
Now I can't wait to try this on my oven!
Have a question about this project?
Can this be used on quartz countertops?
Great idea. I read about it in here something like this post that orange peel in tub water help with get rid of weeds?
Can you use orange essential oil instead of the orange peels?