20 Of The Most Practical Ways You Can Use Lemon Oil

The Many Uses For Lemon Essential Oil

Although I love pretty much every citrus fruit, I do have a special place in my heart for lemon, and not only because it’s of my all-time favorite scents and flavors. It certainly doesn’t hurt that lemon essential oil (one of my favorite oils, along with lavender, peppermint, and tea tree) is so useful around the house!

To give you an idea of all the great ways you can put it to good use, I picked some of the best ones to share with you today. Below, you’ll learn about 20 ways to use lemon essential oil around the house, including to treat laundry stains, clean greasy messes, and much more!

20 Practical Ways To Use Lemon Oil

1. Sanitize Your Toothbrush

Add a drop of lemon oil to your toothbrush about once a week. It will help sanitize and deodorize your toothbrush (an important aspect of oral health), plus help keep your mouth fresh and clean!

2. Treat Nail Fungus

Lemon oil makes a great treatment for fingernail and toenail fungus. Just add a drop or two to the affected nail several times a day as needed.

3. Eliminate Food Odors

Are food odors lingering in your kitchen? Just bring a small pot of water to a boil on your stovetop, then add a few drops of lemon essential oil to the simmering water. The steam will carry the citrus aroma into the air and freshen it in no time!

4. Remove Gum From Hair

When someone has gum in their hair, lemon essential oil can be a real lifesaver! Work a few drops of lemon oil into the gum to loosen it from the hair, adding more oil as needed until you’ll able to pull the gum free.

5. Wash Your Produce

Fill a large bowl with cold water and add 2–3 drops of lemon oil to make a simple and effective produce wash. Swish your fresh produce around in the water to remove dirt and grime and enjoy clean, healthy fruits and vegetables.

6. Kill Aphids

Kill aphids and other pesky little bugs on contact with a simple oil spray. Fill a big glass or PET plastic spray bottle with water, add 3-5 drops of lemon essential oil, then shake to combine. (The oil and water will separate over time, so just be sure to shake it up again before each use.)

7. Personalize A Letter

Add a dab of lemon oil to the envelope the next time you send a letter or card in the mail. The recipient will love the little personal touch!

8. Make Your Dishes Sparkle

Add a drop of lemon oil to your natural dish soap or your dishwasher detergent when you run a load of dishes. There are a couple of benefits to this: they’ll come out sparkling clean, and they’ll smell nice and fresh too!

9. Clean Your Hands

Out and about and forgot to bring your hand sanitizer along? A drop of lemon oil can help sanitize your hands in a pinch!

10. Highlight Your Hair

You can use the photosensitivity of lemon essential oil to your benefit by using it to highlight your hair. Just work a drop or two of lemon oil through you hair with a brush or comb before spending time in the sun. (Just be careful to keep the oil well away from your scalp—having lemon oil on your skin out in the sun can lead to serious burns.)

11. Clean Hard Floors

Add 5-10 drops of lemon essential oil and 1/4 cup of white vinegar to a bucket of water, then dip your mop into the solution and use it to clean hard floors. If your floors are especially dirty, add a few drops of dish soap to help cut through the grease and grime.

Note: When cleaning with vinegar, especially on porous surfaces like hardwood floors, it’s important to dilute it properly to avoid accidental damage.

12. Treat Calluses & Corns

Lemon essential oil is great for softening and exfoliating areas of tough, dry skin like corns and calluses. Rub a drop of lemon oil onto a corn or callus daily until it disappears.

13. Freshen The Air

Fill a small spray bottle with distilled water, add 6 drops of lemon essential oil, then shake well. Use the spray to freshen the air in your bathroom, laundry room, kitchen, or any room around the house.

14. Soften Dry Heels

Add a drop of lemon oil to a teaspoon of your favorite carrier oil and massage it onto the soles of your feet before bed. Repeat nightly as needed for softer, more moisturized feet!

15. Erase Greasy Marks

Use 1-2 drops of lemon essential oil to erase oily marks left behind by gum, oil, grease, or crayons. This works well on most hard surfaces! (It actually works on fabrics too—check out the link below to learn my favorite lemon oil laundry hack!)

16. Boost Your Mood

Feeling a little blue? Add lemon essential oil to your diffuser and your disposition will be sunnier before you know it!

17. Deodorize Your Fridge

Add a few drops of lemon oil to a fresh box of baking soda and place it in your fridge or freezer. The baking soda will absorb unpleasant odors and replace it with the fresh scent of citrus.

18. Breathe Easier

Add a few drops of lemon oil to your humidifier to help ease a cough or other respiratory symptoms.

19. Shine & Protect Leather

Add a drop of lemon oil to your cloth whenever you polish or condition leather items, including shoes, bags, jackets, or even sofas. The lemon oil will add shine and help prevent the leather from splitting.

20. Conquer Cold Sores

Apply a drop of lemon oil to a cold sore to help promote healing. The antiviral properties of lemon oil may help fight the virus that can cause cold sores.

Don’t take just my word for it! Here’s how OGT Readers feel about the lemon essential oil from my shop:

“I’m a big fan of lemon and this scent is close to fresh squeezed! Some essential lemon oils smell like lemon furniture polish, but this one is crisp and fresh.”

Barbara

“I love this oil. It makes a great DIY cleaner for floors, counters, and it smells so good in my diffuser. It’s so much better than the lemon oil I buy at some home stores.”

Anne

“Since I started making my own household cleaners (thanks to Jillee’s great how-to’s), I rely on the fresh, clean scent and antibacterial properties of this lemon EO as an essential ingredient.”

MARY

“I bought this as part of the recipe for a stain remover, and it worked on hair dye that had splashed on my BRAND NEW WHITE bathroom carpets. Amazing!!”

SUSAN G.

“I tried the mix of a little olive oil and several drops of lemon oil mix for my table that had awful water spots and WOW worked wonders!”

BONNIE S.