Don’t throw out your orange rinds! Orange peels have so many uses and you can save money and use the whole fruit with these clever and surprising Uses for Orange Peels.
Uses for Orange Peels
There’s a use for everything! Even things that you’d typically think are just garbage, recycling, or composting material often have many other possible uses. A great example is orange peels! People throw away orange peels all the time, but what they’re actually throwing out is a great material that can be used in a variety of ways! Check out these 5 Surprising Uses for Orange Peels!
5 Surprising Uses for Orange Peels
1. Make Brown Sugar Soft
Does your brown sugar always harden up? You can easily fix that problem using orange peels! One of the great uses for orange peels is as a brown sugar softener. To soften the sugar you need to put an orange peel or two into your container of brown sugar and leave it for a couple hours. When you check back on it, you’ll have nice, soft brown sugar! Then remove the peel and use your sugar!
2. Make Orange Peel Tea
If you’ve got a bunch of washed, organic orange peels, don’t waste them! Instead, make tea out of them! Orange peel tea is full of nutrients that help you fight colds and can reduce the pain of stomach cramping. You can dry the peels to make them last longer, or can use them fresh. If they’re fresh, chop them up small. If they’re dried, crush them. All you need is a few tablespoons of peel to make tea, but it doesn’t hurt to add more! Mix your peels with boiling water and let it steep for 15 minutes (again, more doesn’t hurt). Then strain the peels out, and enjoy your tea!
3. Repel Cats
Are your cats (or your neighbor’s) bothering your garden? One of the great uses for orange peels is as a cat repellent! Homemade orange peel cat repellent is very easy to make. All it takes is a bunch of cut up orange peels. The bigger an area you want to protect, the more peels you should cut up. Then just sprinkle those peels around your garden. Cats will smell the citrus and decide to stay away!
4. Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner
Don’t like all the chemicals in commercial cleaners? You can easily make your own green cleaner using orange peels! You just need a jar, orange peels, and white vinegar. Put enough peels in the jar to fill it halfway, then pour in the vinegar. Let that mixture sit for two or more weeks (ideally in a dark area), and the end result will be a homemade orange all-purpose cleaner! Take the peels out and you can pour your cleaner into a spray bottle!
5. Shine Glassware
Orange peels have citric acid, which gives them some handy properties. In particular, one of the surprising uses for orange peels is as a great glassware cleaner! To see the effects, you need to soak your glassware in a bowl or sink full of warm water and orange peels. Let that soak for about 5 minutes, then give your glassware a quick wash. When you’re done you’ll have brilliantly shiny glassware!
Do you reuse your orange peels?
Did you like these 5 Uses for Orange Peels ideas? Find more on my In the Kitchen and Cleaning boards on Pinterest!
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Great post! I had forgotten about using those as a repellant. Here are a few more ideas: trialanderrorhomeec.blogspot.com/2012/11/ktt-how-to-use-orange-rinds.html
I make candied orange peel with mine – soooooooo good! It turns out kinda like the consistency of gummy bears and is fairly easy to do. Yum!
Sounds delicious!