Orange peels are more than a natural wrapper for a deliciously refreshing fruit; they have many uses around the house, really, you’ll be surprised. The idea here is to upcycle a commonly disposed fruit peel, and with oranges, it’s easy. Here are ten excellent orange peels benefits, from starting a fire to lower blood pressure and more!
Starting a Fire
Did you know the oil in orange peels is an excellent fire starter? It’s basically natural fuel and adding a few dried orange peels to your coals is enough to start a fire. The lovely smell is a bonus. Forget about toxic gasoline and expensive lighter liquid; just store your orange peels for your next grilling party!
Freshen your compost
Making compost at home is the best way of disposing of organic matter while creating super-healthy soil for your house plants and garden. The problem with compost is that it’s often smelly. Add some orange peels to your compost and see the foul odors go away almost instantly. Instead, you’ll get the nicest smelling dirt you’ve seen.
Make candles
Using hollowed and dried orange peels as vessels for candle wax is now common, but it’s still a beautiful way of upcycling the peels. Aromatize the candles with natural orange oil and let the peel do the rest. These bohemian candles look beautiful, and they smell even better. These are fantastic holiday gifts, so start saving your orange peels.
Aromatize your closet
This is particularly effective in damp closets that unavoidably smell awful and make your clothes smell bad too. Orange peels not only aromatize tight spaces but they also absorb some of the moisture, so you can mask the damp smell while controlling your closet’s humidity. This works for drawers, too, as long as you don’t mind your socks smelling like oranges.
Make candied orange peels
Why throw away orange peels when you can eat them! Boil them, pat them dry and bake them with a thick sugar coating and watch the orange peels turn into crackly all-natural candies that taste as good as they smell! Candied orange peels are also great cake toppers, and you can decorate cupcakes with them, too.
Make potpourri
Mixing orange peels with flower petals, aniseed and other natural aromatics and storing them in a bag is a great way to give a lovely granny smell to your bathroom, closets and even your car. There’s nothing like all-natural air fresheners, and trust us, they’re way better than the artificial stuff you’ve been using. Natural is always better!
Give life to wood furniture
Grab a fresh orange peel and rub it on your wood furniture, the oil will make the wood look bright again, and it will aromatize your home beautifully. The effect lasts a long time, so you just need to do this every one or two months. You can quickly restore old furniture for sale!
Make a vinaigrette
Mix olive oil, white vinegar and a bunch of orange peels to make a homemade, summer-scented salad dressing to liven veggies and salads with orange’s bright personality. The oil in the orange peels will leach out and infuse the dressing marvelously. Store your vinaigrette in the fridge for best results and try it on everything; you’ll love it!
Garnish cocktails with them
Dehydrate orange peels for the most beautiful cocktail garnishes ever. This type of all-natural garnish is way better than using paper umbrellas, and the hottest bars around the country are using it. If you like mixing drinks from time to time, you’ve got yourself the perfect garnish, and it’s free! Cut and curl the peels before drying them for the loveliest twists.
Orange peels can lower your blood pressure
There’s hesperidin in oranges and orange peels, a natural bioflavonoid with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects that can potentially lower your blood pressure. Orange juice might be the best way of getting your daily dose, but extract from peels is widely available. Find it in natural health stores.
Oranges Are Incredibly Versatile!
As you see, orange peels are not trash; they’re your friends. A little creativity goes a long way here, as you’ll surely find a way of using orange peels in every room of your house. Eat them, cook with them, make something pretty with them or use their enticing scent to aromatize your home. There’s more than one way of using orange peels, and they’re all easy!
