When you take a bite of your favourite type of fruit, you almost instinctively know which ones need to peeled and those that can be consumed together with the skin. Oranges and bananas, for example, are fruits that we will always peel. For the most part, the fruit skin is discarded. However, there are so many ways in which you can use these skins in your home and kitchen. Here are some ideas.

Around the home

If you have spilled something greasy, you can clean it up easily using baking soda with lemon halves. Lemon rinds can also be used along with salt and ice to shine your coffee pot. All you need to do is swirl the mixture around inside the pot for a few minutes before dumping it out and rinsing well. As for your tea kettle, fill it up with water and add a handful of lemon peels. Boil the water and allow to stand for about an hour before draining and rinsing. You can also use pomegranate peels to colour fabrics. Just make sure that you use a stainless steel pot when making your dye. You need to add the peels to the pot along with hot water. Allow to sit overnight before simmering the following day. Remove the peels and add your wet fabric to the pot before simmering for one hour. Allow to cool overnight and remove the fabric the next day. Rinse with cool water and allow to dry.

In your kitchen

Fruit skin can also be used to make some delicious dishes. Citrus peels, like oranges, lemons and limes can be dried out and ground into a powder. You can also make citrus sugar by adding the citrus powder to your sugar. Lemon zest is popular in many recipes so consider grating the zest before using your lemons. You can portion the zest in little bags and freeze them for the next time you plan on baking. Another great idea is to make infused honey or vinegar by adding fruit twists and allowing the flavours to blend with the vinegar or honey.

Personal care and beauty

You can make your very own banana sugar scrub using the fresh side of the banana peel. Sprinkle some sugar on the peel and rub it gently over your body much like you would a loofa sponge. Rinse off any residue in the shower. You can also use grapefruit or orange skins to make a lovely skin tonic. Avocado peels can be used on your face for deep and rich moisturizing. So think twice before you toss this fruit skin away!

As you can see, there are plenty of fruit skin uses. Even if you don’t plan on using them right away, skins can be frozen and used at a later stage. If you feel like you really have no use for the skins, you can create your very own compost heap and provide your plants with some extra nutrients.