Keep your home squeaky clean

Cleaning laminate countertops: Cut and squeeze the juice onto the counter. Using the lemon as a scrubber, work the juice over the stains. Leave the juice on until the stains disappear then rinse with water and dry.

Cutting boards: The same procedure works on cutting boards. Rub the lemon onto the stains and let it sit until the stains are gone. Cleaning copper: Cut a lemon and sprinkle salt onto the lemon. Massage the lemon wedge onto the brass, squeezing the juice out until the tarnish is buffed off. As it stops working, add more salt to the lemon. Rinse well with water and let dry.

Cleaning brass: Use the same method for cleaning solid brass as for copper – one half of a lemon with salt sprinkled on it and rub until it is clean. Rinse well with water.

Removing rust from clothes: Put lemon juice on the rust stain and then sprinkle cream of tartar onto the top of the juice. Rub in the solution and let it sit on the stain until the rust is gone.

Bleaching white clothes with lemon juice: Mix 1/2 cup lemon juice with one gallon of very hot water. Soak the clothes (only cotton and polyester) in the solution. Let the clothes soak from an hour to overnight, depending on how badly the clothing needs bleaching.

Remove the clothing from the mix and pour the mix into the washing machine and wash as usual. It's impossible to over-bleach using lemon juice.

Getting stains out of Tupperware: Squeeze lemon juice in the container and then add baking soda. Use the lemon as a cleaning tool and work it in. If the stains are bad, let it sit overnight before scrubbing the stains.

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