6 Ways to Clean Your Home with Onions

Did you know that you can clean your home with onions? In fact, onions have many popular uses far beyond the kitchen. Learn all about them in this article!

There are foods and cooking ingredients that are famous for their cleaning properties. Think of foods like lemon, salt, and olive oil, as well as agents like baking soda. However, did you know that you can clean your home with onions?

You probably have this food on hand in your home and likely add it to many dishes. However, you probably haven’t thought of using it for cleaning.

Today, we’d like to present six ways to clean your home with onions.

6 ways to clean your home with onions

Although it’s common to complain that onions make us cry when we cut them, this is a very precious vegetable because its usefulness extends far beyond the kitchen. 

First of all, onions a basic ingredient in many recipes. It’s also proven to be a food with medicinal properties, so onions can be included in various home remedies. For this reason, there are those who believe that the consumption of onions provides several interesting health benefits within the context of a balanced, healthy diet.

However, one of the lesser known uses of this food is the one that onions can be used in cleaning and other household chores. Below, we’ll describe the best ways to clean your home with onions according to popular belief (think: your grandmother’s home remedies!).

1. Clean pans, pots, and grills with onions

The first way to clean with onions that we’d like to explain has to do with removing dirt from pots and pans. So, how can you do it?

It’s easy:

• First, wipe half an onion all over the pot or pan that has food debris or dirt stuck to it.
• Then, add warm water and let it soak for a few minutes for the onion to act.
• After, you will just have to wash it like you usually do and you’ll have a shiny pot or pan in a matter of minutes!

This same principle can be applied to grills. If you’ve had a barbecue and find meat remains stuck on the grill when you go to use it again, you can use ae onion in the same way to remove them without problems.

But why do some people believe that onions are good for removing grease?

Like many traditional remedies, the origin of this belief is not very clear, but it could be linked to the antimicrobial properties of this bulb. Therefore, this property may work to eliminate the bacteria present in pans, pots, and grills, thus helping to clean them.

2. Repel insects with onions

Although this isn’t really a cleaning method, it’s one of the most popular uses of onions outside the kitchen. According to popular belief, the strong smell of onions is useful for keeping away mosquitoes, ants, and other insects.

In fact, some of its components are even part of some insect repellents, as some studies show.

In order to use onions as an insect repellent, you have two options:

• First, you can chop it and place it directly on the path used by the insects you want to scare away.
• Secondly, you can grate an onion and leave it to soak in hot water. The next day, keep the liquid and put it in a sprayer to apply it in the places you need to ward off insects.

3. Clean your home with onions: Remove stains from clothes

Many people wonder how to remove sweat stains from clothes. According to some, onions can help with this problem. 

Like hydrogen peroxide, it’s believed that onions have the ability to penetrate the fabrics of clothing without affecting them. This may be due to their antimicrobial properties.

Here’s how:

• Just grate a piece of onion and apply it directly to the stain.
• Then, after about 10 minutes of letting it take effect, proceed to machine wash as you normally do. This step is very important to eliminate the onion smell.

4. Eliminate rust

If you have rusty tools, scissors, chairs, jewelry, or knives, this tip for cleaning your home with onions will be of great help. Did you know that it’s believed that this food can help you eliminate rust particles from the surface of these elements?

• You just need to cut an onion in half and pass it over the item you want to restore.
• Then, apply some grease and, as a final step, rub the item with a cloth to clean it completely.

5. Get rid of a new paint smell

If you’ve painted a room or your entire home recently, chances are the smell of paint is getting to you. Again, onions can come to the rescue! They can help you to easily get rid of this smell. 

How to do it?

• First, put warm water in a bowl and dip some onion slices in it.
• Then, leave it overnight in the room with the doors and windows closed.
• Finally, the next morning, you’ll notice that the unpleasant smell has disappeared!

6. Clean your home with onions: Remove dirt from an exhaust fan

Undoubtedly, kitchen exhaust fans are one of the most difficult elements to clean. After all, the kitchen exhaust fan can be a real headache, unless you know this simple popular trick.

• First, take half an onion and combine it with baking soda and water.
• Then, apply it to the fan. Let it sit for a few minutes.
• Finally, wipe with a damp cloth to remove the residue.

It’s possible that the antimicrobial properties of onion combined with the antibacterial effect of baking soda help to eliminate grease and disinfect the extractor.

Recommendations for cleaning your home with onions

With these recommendations, you’ll have found a new ally when it comes to disinfecting and cleaning your house. As you’ve seen, cleaning your home with onions is not only possible; there are many ways to do it. Best of all, they’re all healthy and environmentally friendly.

However, remember that these are tricks taken from popular culture, so it’s possible that they are not as effective as a specialized product. In this sense, you may have to scrub harder and longer to get the desired results.

However, they can get you out of a pinch when you don’t have a specific cleaning product available. You never know!