Homemade pine cleaner/Gin Lee

Homemade pine cleaner from pine tree needles

With prices soaring, and products being out of stock, why not make natural cleaning products at home? Today I will show you how I make an all natural pine cleaner that works perfectly to disinfect and clean wood surfaces, sinks, toilets, countertops, showers, and trash containers. This cleaner can also be used as a natural hair rinse.

Ingredients:

• 3 handfuls of pine needles
• 1 cup of warm water
• ½ cup of granulated sugar
• 8-10 droplets of citrus essential oil (optional) or a ¼ cup of dried citrus peels
• 1 quart jar

Instructions:

Start by boiling the water in a pan, allowing the water to cool down while you fill the jars with pine needles. Skip this step if you have filtered water.

Fill a quart jar with the pine needles, add the warm and then the sugar and essential oil. Place a cloth over the jar and wrap a rubber band around it.

Afterwards, the pine solution will need to ferment for at least three weeks, sometimes up to a month.

The sugar will break down and turn into vinegar during the fermentation period.

You can also use one cup of white vinegar or one cup of apple cider vinegar instead of sugar if you prefer, but the fermentation will still take just as long.

Stir the pine needle mixture frequently with a wooden skewer. When the cleaner has reached its desired strength, strain the pine needles from the jar. Pour the cleaner into spray bottles for ease of use.

Notes:

I don't wash the pine needles before making the pine cleaner. I shake them off the best that I can to get dust, bugs, etc. off of them. I normally use the pine needles that's fallen on the ground, but you can use fresh pine needles if you prefer.

For an easy alternative to make pine cleaner, add water to a pan, bring to a boil, add the pine needles, then steep them. Allow the water to cool. Drain the pine water off of the pine needles and pour it into a spray bottle. Start cleaning!

To make an all natural citrus cleaner, add only dried citrus peels without pine needles, and follow the same instructions.

You can also add sprigs of lavender, thyme, and lemon balm to the cleaner for different scents.

Use bigger containers if you need more pine cleaner.