Orange Vinegar Disinfectant Spray

An easy, inexpensive, all natural disinfectant spray.
Photo (c) Stephanie Miller ~ 2014

Before Christmas, I ordered a case of citrus (I think clementines of some sort?) from my favorite co-op source of all things produce: Bountiful Baskets.  Following the advice of some people on the internet, I saved the peels, covered them in white vinegar in a Mason jar, and waited.  And shook it occasionally.  I turned it upside down and right side up at least twice.  Mainly I forgot about it under my kitchen sink.
This weekend, I decided to see how it turned out. I strained it off (though I wish I had used a coffee filter or cheese cloth to get the little sediments).  I had to use a fork to get the rest of the peels out of the jar.  You could compost these peels or just toss them.  They're not needed after this point.

I filled by 32 ounce sprayer with about 16 ounces of orange vinegar, 6 drops of Plant Therapy Orange essential oil, and then 16 ounces of water.  You wouldn't really  need the orange essential oil, but I wanted to try to get rid of some of the lingering vinegar smell.  You could also add Tea Tree oil, Lemon oil, or another similar oil for more germ or bacteria-fighting abilities.

To me, the use of essential oils to fight some of these germs and to help clean the house is old news.  I've heard about it quite a lot over the years, but I'm rather new to it in practice, especially when it comes to making my own.  Just in case you have any hesitation in using an all natural product, use Google to find some research.  For example, the first link that came up today when I Googled "antibacterial properties of orange oil" was this decades old research from the American Association for Microbiology.

Vinegar also holds antimicrobial and antibacterial properties.  Thankfully, it is also quite inexpensive, so it's easy to use around the house.  I, however, have never liked the smell of vinegar, so I'm glad to have found this concoction, although the original "recipe" was just handed down word of mouth to me by my friends and on Facebook groups.  I hope you enjoy it, as well!