Stains on your favourite white shirt or that brand new jumper could be about to end - without forking out loads on specialised cleaning products.
Cleaning experts claims the humble lemon - which will set you back just 30p - is a miracle fix for a plethora of laundry woes. Deyan Dimitrov, CEO of Laundryheap, spilled the beans on how a simple citrus fruit can come to your rescue with everything from dingy whites to deep-in-the-fibre stains. And what's even better?
You won't be putting your delicate fabrics through the wringer, thanks to lemon's natural gentleness compared to harsh chemical concoctions. The laundry expert swears by plain lemon juice for lifting greasy blunders, suggesting: "Rub neat lemon juice onto any grease marks and let it do its work.
"Once the juice has dried, place the garment in the washing machine with your weekly wash. The garment will be as good as new!" But it's not just about combating oil spills; lemon juice is apparently also ace at zapping pesky stains due to tomatoes, watermelon, and similar juicy culprits.
The expert recommended: "For a cost-effective alternative to expensive stain remover, mix one-third of a cup of lemon juice with two-thirds water in a bowl. Place your garment in the solution and leave to soak for half an hour."
To get rid of every trace of the stain, simply toss the item in for a normal wash cycle. Lemons, which you can snap up singularly from Asda for 30p or bag a four-pack for just 50p from the Just Essentials range, could bring back the brilliance to your dull whites that have dimmed over time.
Deyan insists that drizzling some lemon juice into your wash when you load up the machine will do wonders, saying it'll "naturally brighten" fabrics and might even "revive tired-looking garments".
He said: "Lemons can be used to brighten and freshen your laundry with minimal additional effort. Next time you pop on a load of washing, add half a cup of lemon juice and let it do its work. It will transform your white laundry to naturally brighten fabrics and revive tired-looking garments."
The lemon juice's wizardry doesn't end there as it doubles as a fabric softener, perfect for making those "crispy" towels and bed linens luxuriously soft again.
Toss in half a cup of lemon juice during your wash cycle, and voila, you've got yourself garments and linen that stay snuggly and smooth, all while dodging the hefty prices of plush fabric softeners and the potential skin aggravations they could cause.
Lemon juice can even be used as a non-toxic mould cleaner, helping to prevent clothes from becoming mouldy and ensuring your washing machine is thoroughly cleaned to avoid mould around the seal or in the drawer. The five per cent acid content in lemon juice makes it incredibly effective at eliminating mould spores both on the surface and deep within clothing fibres.