8 Savvy Uses For Orange Peels

Updated on 12/23/2019 at 12:25 PM

You throw away your orange peels after getting to the actual fruit, because there's no use for them, right? Wrong! Turns out, there are several awesome things you can do with orange peels.

Cook with them. There are many ingredients that call for citrus peel, one of which is candied peel (get the recipe here). The orange skin is so fragrant and flavorful that you can use it for a variety of dishes, ranging from savory to sweet. It's also good for meats like fish because it tones down the "fishy" scent.
Clean with them. When making cleaning supplies, such as a vinegar water mixture, soak the peels in the vinegar for a few days to give it citrus scent.
Stove-top air freshener and humidifier. Heat up a pot of water and throw in orange peels and other spices such as cinnamon and cloves. This will make your home smell good (and humidify it!), which is helpful if your kitchen smells strongly of the meal you just cooked up.
Cat repellant. If you want to repel cats from an area, such as your plants, surround it with orange peels. Felines aren't fans of the citrus scent.
Body scrub. Ground up the orange peels and mix them with your homemade body scrub mixture.
Fire starter. The peels are highly flammable, so the orange skin makes a good kindler or fire starter.
Garbage deodorizer. Throw a few peels down your garbage disposal and turn it on to deodorize it. You can also throw them in your trash can to deodorize the smells there.
Bug repellant. Orange peels can repel bugs, and some people rub the peels on their skin as a natural bug repellant. You can also put peels around places in your home that get a lot of ants and mosquitoes to chase them away from the area.