Lemony Pledge experiment..."Schpledge"

I know, I know! I can't help it!  Try not to hate me for the title of my post!  You knew it was coming, right?
I can't help myself.  I have no filter.  I was born that way and apparently, that is not going to change.
Remember the other day when I made some fresh-squeezed lemonade?  I saved the peels and conducted another experiment.  Read on to see what happens!

I first peeled my lemons because I didn't

want to waste them.  I didn't really know what I

was going to do with them, but something.....

I threw them into a little pot with water.  The peels of 5 lemons

were added by the time I was done with the lemonade.

I then brought the peels to a boil.  I let them go a really long time, 

at least an hour, maybe more.  Sorry, I didn't time it.

It was late at night when I did this, so I threw it in the fridge in 

a measuring cup to cool.  The next day, I strained it by putting a 

coffee filter in a sieve and placed it over a bowl to drain.

I ended up with about 1C of lemon juice/oil.  I decided to try an

experiment of adding two parts olive oil to one part juice.  I made

up a small amount so I didn't waste a bunch.

I then mixed it up well and dipped the corner of a cleaning rag in it.

I did the right side of my kitchen table with it.  Looks purty, but

it's kinda oilier than I had anticipated.

I then decided to do the left side with my old (expensive) Pledge.

Not bad.  Kinda streaky and not quite as shiny, but nice.

Deciding it was just a little too oily, I changed

my ratio.  This time, I'm going one and one.  I took a risk and 

did the whole darn batch together.

I mixed them together in a cheap dollar store sprayer.  It seems

to work pretty well if you remember to shut the nozzle to OFF

when you're done.  Otherwise, it has a case of the drips, grrrrr.

Label your container carefully.  I stored mine in the fridge, 

juuuust in case the lemon starts to turn bad.

But wait!  I'm not done yet!  I found that the lemons

still had a lot of scent to them, so I decided to cover

them with vinegar.  Why?  I dunno. I'm thinking maybe

I can make an all-purpose type cleaner out of it.

I put some cling wrap over it and put it in the fridge

for now.  I'll let you know what I end up doing with it!

Notes:

This smells nice and lemony...almost like the real deal!  I suppose it's just different than Pledge in that it's kinda greasy where Pledge is waxy.  Works really well.  The wood still feels really nice and it didn't leave

little splotchy oily spots like I imagined when it evaporated a bit.  That's good news.

I put my concoction in the fridge (after warning everyone in the family as to what it is, do NOT eat/drink it, and labeled it properly).  I did this because I've heard other people who make this with actual lemon juice and olive oil and they say it gets moldy.  I'm hoping because I boiled the tar out of it that I can avoid this.  

I'm now saving my orange peels, too, lol!  My husband must think I'm insane.  Or maybe it's finally confirmed!

Just think....I've got some really cool "Schpledge" that uses totally natural ingredients!  No harmful chemicals, no propellants.  Shoot, you could drink it (if you could stand the bitterness).  I like that.  The thing that makes me happiest is that I made it out of something that would have been trash. Lemons themselves can be pricey.  Peels are free! 

Save some of your peels and see what you can make out of them!  For other useful tips on using peels, click HERE and go to the bottom of the post.

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