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How to Make Lemon Furniture Polish & Flannel Dust Cloths

How to Make Lemon Furniture Polish

How to Make Easy Lemon Furniture Polish

Do you want to start cleaning your home with non-toxic, inexpensive cleaning products you can make from scratch? With just a few simple ingredients, you can make your own DIY cleaners, save money, and reduce your household waste. This lemon furniture polish requires only 2 or 3 ingredients and it’s one of the easiest cleaners to make, so this is a great project for beginners!

Over the years I’ve stopped purchasing almost all of my cleaners and started making them from cheap, easy-to-find ingredients like baking soda, vinegar, witch hazel, and essential oils.

At first, I couldn’t believe how easy it was to make these household cleaners and now I can’t imagine buying any of the toxic stuff. There are just a few things I still buy, including bleach (mostly used for sanitizing) and everything else is homemade.

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Lemon Furniture Polish Instructions

I probably shouldn’t even call these instructions… it’s sooooo easy to make this stuff. If you would like to try another scent in place of lemon, you can do that. I like pine-scented furniture polish, too. Just make sure the essential oils you use are safe for your household pets.

You can also replace the sweet almond oil with another light-colored and light-weight vegetable oil, mineral oil (although it is a petroleum product), or oil specifically made for protecting wood such as Danish oil or Tung oil.

Some homemade furniture polish recipes call for fresh squeezed lemon juice and you can use this in place of the vinegar. Just make a small batch because the lemon juice is not shelf stable and must be used quickly. That’s why I use the vinegar instead in this recipe. You can also leave this ingredient out if your wood needs protection more than cleaning.

Here are the easy instructions to make your own furniture oil…

Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Lemon-Scented Furniture Oil

This simple to make furniture polish cleans and protects wood, leaving a fresh scent.
Prep Time5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup sweet almond oil or another light textured oil
  • 1 tbsp white vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp lemon essential oil

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients and pour into a bottle for storage.
  • To Use: Shake the bottle well and pour a few drops on a dust cloth. Polish wood furniture and woodwork, but choose another product for hardwood floors, since this oil will make them slippery.

Notes

You may use another scent of essential oil in place of lemon, but be sure it is safe around your pets. I like using pine, fir, cedarwood, orange, lime, or grapefruit in place of the lemon essential oil.
You may also replace the sweet almond oil with another vegetable oil that won’t go rancid quickly, or use Danish oil, Tung oil, or another oil specifically made for protecting woodwork and furniture. 

How to Make a Flannel Dust Cloth

Here’s another super simple project that’s right up my alley… making my own dust cloth from a flannel scrap or remnant. Old flannel pajamas make great dust rags, just use a pair of pinking shears (if you have them) to cut the fabric into squares about 8 inches x 8 inches. Cutting the cloth with pinking shears helps prevent fraying, but it’s certainly not essential.

To be totally honest with you, it kind of blows me away that people buy dust cloths!

I usually use old socks and underwear for dusting and they work pretty well. However, I found some flannel for about 50 cents in the remnants at the fabric store and decided to try making some cleaning cloths with it. Now, THIS is one of the easiest fabric ‘projects’ I’ve ever made! Plus, I didn’t want to take a photo of my old underwear for this post. 😄 

Why Make Your Own Furniture Polish?

I remember using a furniture polish that came in an aerosol can… many years ago. Since I’ve become more aware of the hidden cost of products like this, I stopped buying them. What are those hidden costs?

  • Household waste that can’t be recycled or repurposed adds to our landfills
  • There’s an environmental cost to produce the product and packaging
  • Many cleaners contain hazardous, toxic, or non-renewable ingredients
  • There is an environmental cost to ship products

For my frugal friends, there’s also the fact that a batch of this furniture polish costs much less than store-bought! I can also adjust the ingredients to suit my needs, the ingredient packaging is recyclable, and there aren’t any toxic chemicals used in this recipe. What’s not to love about that?!

If you are interested in reducing the toxins in your home, check out some of my other helpful tips and instructions for handmade cleaning and bath and body products…

Non-Toxic Air Freshener Spray
Clean Your Pantry in Winter for the Best Results
Choose the Best Essential Oils for Forest Bathing
How to Make Cooling Eucalyptus Mint Body Spray
How to Make Gardening Hand and Skin Salve
How to Make Lip Balm with All-Natural Ingredients
How to Make a Peppermint Bath & Body Gift Set

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8 Comments on “How to Make Lemon Furniture Polish & Flannel Dust Cloths

  1. Hey, Lisa!
    I had to laugh at the underwear comment! But they do work, eh?

    I just heard that you wouldn’t be hosting the Farm Fresh Blog hop anymore. That’s sad to me. I haven’t been all that busy on my blog because of life, but your blog hop was my favorite.
    I wish you well in your other pursuits. I’ll be checking back to your blog and I hope you continue to share at the Homestead Blog Hop.

    Laurie
    ❤️

    1. Hi Laurie! Thanks so much for stopping by… I will miss hosting the blog hop and seeing your posts each week. Life has just gotten so busy and I know you are super busy, too! I will be by as often as I am able to share!

  2. 5 stars
    Lisa, I have a post idea for you I think would be great. I am letting my veggies and some types of fruits sprout, etc. I have a lavender plant, pineapple crown and now a yellow onion that has about a 10″ sprout. I am going for a potato and celery soon. Just what should I do and what climate areas are best? If has to be a way I can plant in a tub or similar as I don’t have access to a plot. Thx!!

    Serving This Week 2-22 to 2-26-2021 On Tuesday was Egg Drop Soup. Wednesday was Chicken Stir Fry. Thursday was Won Ton Soup. And Friday was Shrimp Chow Mein. Enjoy!

    1. Hi Marilyn… What fun! I regrow my Romaine lettuce and celery this way and enjoy getting a second life from them. 🙂 You can re-grow some things in plain water in a windowsill but planting in a small flower pot (or recycle a yogurt container and poke holes in the bottom, put the lid underneath to catch drainage) with a bit of fertilizer will encourage more growth. A potato plant will need more space, but you can plant it in a pot or grow bag in a sunny spot and keep adding straw until the plant blooms, then begin harvesting several weeks later. I have thought about doing a post like this and maybe I’ll tackle that soon. Thanks for the idea!
      Your recipes always look so yummy! Thanks for sharing!

  3. Thank you for featuring my post “25+ things to stop buying at the store” on this week’s hop! What fun to see it in the place of honor! 🙂

    1. Hi Kathi,
      Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful posts with us each week! I really enjoyed your 25+ things to stop buying at the store and I’m sure it’s beneficial for our readers!

    1. Hi Deb! It always wonderful to see what you are up to each week! I hope you’re doing great and staying safe!

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