On the versatility of…citric acid

Citric acid for many uses.

This time in my series on the versatility of common household products…citric acid!

Citric acid is a crystalline powder that is most often sold for use in cooking, cleaning, caning, and gardening.  It is a low cost product and a little goes a long way.  It can be used straight or mixed with water or other substances depending on its use.

Citric acid for cleaning

I’ve mentioned before, that citric acid can be used with a lemon to make an abrasive cleaner.  However, my favorite way to use citric acid to clean requires far less effort – I use it to make a spray on cleaner.

Citric acid dissolved in water is a powerful natural cleaner.  It eats away at soap scum and water spots without damaging surfaces.  Simply dissolve 1 tablespoon of citric acid in 1 quart of water and spray onto the surface you wish to clean.  Leave it on for about 10 minutes and wipe with a wet rag.

This method works great for tubs, showers and sinks.  I keep a bottle of citric acid and water under my kitchen sink and start my house cleaning ritual by spraying all my kitchen and bathroom surfaces and letting them sit while I clean around the rest of the house.  This mixture, along with my alcohol vinegar tea tree and lavender cleaner, is basically how I keep my house clean.

Citric acid crystals.

Citric acid for dishwashers and dishes

If your dishes aren’t coming as clean as they used to and/or you’re noticing a weird build up inside your dishwasher, try running an empty cycle through with citric acid in the soap dispenser instead of dishwashing detergent.

You can also run any dishes with hard water spots/mineral buildup through your dishwasher with citric acid instead of dishwashing detergent to get them looking bright and shiny again.  For best results, start with dishes that don’t have caked on food.  If you’re looking for help with a particularly nasty load of dishes, use citric acid along with your detergent.

Citric acid for washing machines, laundry and cloth diapers

Just like dishwashers and dishes can get built up with minerals, so can washing machines, clothes and cloth diapers.  If you washing machine isn’t getting you’re clothes as clean as it could be, you’ll notice more drab, more dingy and even more stinky clothes – this is especially true of towels.

I’ve blogged before about using vinegar for laundry, and baking soda is also a good product for clothes, towels and cloth diapers, but I find citric acid to be the most effective and versatile out of all three methods.  This is because citric acid not only cleans the build up off the laundry, but also off the machine itself.

For clothes and towels, run a load through a cold rinse, then sprinkle some citric acid into the machine and run it through a normal cycle.  It’s best to start with wet clothes to get the citric acid to mix and activate well when the cycle starts.  Like with dishes, it’s best to start with clothes that aren’t too soiled.  Alternatively, you can add citric acid to a regular load along with  laundry detergent just like with your dishes.

For cloth diapers, the same rules apply.  Plus, you can use citric acid to strip your diapers when you notice they are getting less absorbent and more stinky.

Citric acid for drinks

My husband loves to use citric acid to make himself a drink.  He dissolves 1 teaspoon of citric acid into a large metal water bottle of water or seltzer water.  Sometimes he adds vodka and Splenda.  I don’t like it – it’s too sour for me (plus I think Splenda is gross), but I do like the idea of using it to make a tangy strawberry water mix.

So, there are the most common ways I use citric acid.  What do you do with it?