Oranges are delicious, and they also smell great. Their peels have so many different uses, and they can be put in everything from body scrub to essential oil. You can even eat them! If you find yourself with a bunch of oranges and aren’t sure what to do with them, here are 12 different uses for orange peels to try out.
Make your own body scrub
Using coconut oil and coarse raw sugar as your base, you can then add the zest of your orange, obtained using a zester or cheese grater, for a clean body scrub that is great for exfoliating and rejuvenating your skin.
Teeth whitening
Some say that the peel itself, without any of the acidic fruit attached to it, rubbed on the teeth may actually be useful for teeth whitening.
As an insect repellant
The orange oil in the peel rubbed on your skin, may act as a natural insect repellent when rubbed on the skin! Its pungent flavor, like that of garlic, is too overpowering for them that as long as its oil lasts on your skin from rubbing it with peel, bugs will stay away.
Place in brown sugar bin
Dried orange peels are able to draw moisture away from other dry products such as brown sugar.
Put a couple dried orange peels in the container with the brown sugar for a fresher product longer!
Boiling orange peels
For the day you just want your home to smell like oranges immediately for when guests are coming over, boiling orange peels into a pot on your stovetop would work wonders for you
Then, smell as your whole home begins to smell amazing for a period of time.
Orange peel tea
You can cut off the zest of the orange into strips and dry them for tea.
Orange peel tea benefits include support in the natural immune system and overall skin health. This is also great with Earl Grey!
Use the dried peels as a natural deodorizer
Put them in clothes drawers or your shoes. Simply place the dried peels into a small miche or muslin bag and tuck them into where you’d like a nice orangy clean smell.
How to make candied orange
You can find many recipes on how to make candied orange peels online. Make a cute gift to friends or family with a bit of a sweet tooth, or for a little bit of a treat for yourself.
Zest is one of the bests uses for orange peels
Try zesting the peel and putting It into various things that you’re eating throughout the day such as on toast, cereal, yogurt, or pasta salad can be great ways to receive its health benefits.
As a candle
Here’s a unique idea on what to do with orange peels as long as you know how to peel an orange in a certain way.
Cut around the orange with a knife so that you are able to get two bowl-like shells of orange peel, one of the halves with the “inner” stem attached, can be used as the base and the top of a candle!
The stem that’s jutting out of the bottom half will be the wick and simply pour a tablespoon of oil such as canola or olive oil over the wick and into the base and then light your candle.
Cut a hole just in the top of the other half so that when you place it on there is some ventilation so oxygen can reach the wick.
As a face mask
Mix two tablespoons of orange zest with honey until it forms a paste that can be applied to your face! Great for acne scars and rejuvenating the skin.
Place orange peels in your garbage disposal or under the trash bag
Orange peels can keep some pretty noxious smells at bay. Allow them to keep these problem areas smelling cleaner longer!
Takeaway
Seeing that there are many uses for orange peels, you would never want to throw them away. It’s a win-win situation for you because you get all the freshness and goodness of the fruit – and the peel as well. Peel away!