Beneficial Uses for Lemon Juice

• Use lemon juice for lemonade, and making your own cleaning and beauty products. Mark Weiss/Photodisc/Getty Images

  Lemon juice is often used in cooking, baking, and drink mixes and cocktails, but it also has other uses. Lemon juice can be a less expensive and environmentally friendly alternative to synthetic beauty products and harsh cleaning chemicals.

Skin Care

• Lemon juice, with its abundance of vitamin C, can be used to treat acne; its astringent properties help dry pimples out. Make a homemade acne lemon juice face mask or exfoliant treatment using egg whites and witch hazel. Use lemons to get rid of blackheads each night by rubbing lemon over blackheads until they have receded. The citric acid in lemon juice is also a good agent in exfoliation. Lemon juice used in acne treatment is a natural skin whitener, reducing redness and inflammation. Lemon juice's whitening properties can also help with acne scars to lighten their appearance.

Cleaning

• Lemon juice helps remove stubborn stains from the bathtub and can be used as a chemical-free cleaning agent. You can also use lemon juice and salt to remove mildew in clothes. Use lemon juice as a hand sanitizer and deodorizer, to remove strong odors like onion, garlic, fish or raw meat, and remove berry or fruit stains. Use a lemon juice and borax solution as a non-harsh cleaner on toilet bowls.

First Aid

• Lemons, with their acidic nature, can be used for their antiseptic properties. In the past, Southeast Asians also used the juice during extensive sea voyages to guard against scurvy. The high vitamin C content of lemon juice can help to suppress the onslaught of a cold. Lemon juice boosts the immune system and aids in digestion. The citric acid in lemon juice is also an immune-boosting remedy for the flu and fever.

Hair Care

• Apply lemon juice during a final rinse to give hair a shiny, clean look and add extra volume. Lemon juice hair cleansers and shampoos can also stop dandruff. You can cheaply and safely lighten your hair using lemon juice due to its natural lightening properties. Applying lemon juice to hair in the summer can give hair a beach-kissed look.