You’ve worked all week, you deserve something extra special, you deserve more than flowers. You deserve a beautiful crystal bowl filled with lemons! Imagine those fragrant little orbs of sunshine sitting evocatively on your desk tempting everyone with thoughts of ice-cold lemonade on a hot summer day, lemony clean houses welcoming you home, and sweet and sour lemon bars dusted with powdered sugar. Inhale the crisp, citrusy fragrance that refreshes your mind and spirit with each breath. It’s hard to resist picking one up, and rubbing your thumb across the textured yellow skin just to see if they are real.
Not only are they appealing to look at, but they are the perfect office accessory. Inside that thick skin flows the cleaning power of the sun, rain, Anna of Downton Abbey, Mr. Clean, and your mother. Of course, it’s not the job of the office manager to clean. That is best left to the professionals like Environmental Cleaning Services. However, the office manager may be called upon for a variety of reasons and lemons are probably the answer. For instance, the leaky ink pen that your assistant didn’t throw away has struck again. Use a paper towel to absorb any excess ink. Slice your lemon in half and squeeze the juice directly into the ink stain. Work it in with your fingers. Salt can be added to boost the effectiveness. When the ink has disappeared rinse the area with cool water or for upholstery use a damp cloth. Repeat if necessary. Let the fabric air-dry. Drying in a drier may cause any remaining to stain to set in.
First impressions, as we all know, are a valuable business tool. Make sure yours shines. Clean your brass nameplate with a little lemon juice, wipe clean with a damp cloth and buff dry to shine. While you are at it, use your lemony cloth to wipe off door handles and chair arms. Although, lemon juice is not a disinfectant according to Mythbusters, I would prefer shaking hands with someone who has grasp a clean lemony door handle. (It does create an environment less conducive to germs.) Do not use on brass plated or gold objects.
After four or five days, your lemons may begin to loose their sunny disposition but their usefulness is just beginning.
Slice one and breathe deeply. Add a few slices to your drinking water to increase the health benefits and make it more palatable. A cup of warm water and juice of half a lemon each morning is recommended to lower blood pressure.
- You can add lemon slices to your water, hot or cold tea, and soft drinks. Squeeze a little juice on your salad to perk it up too. Careful. Adding lemon can be addicting.
- Put a few of those lemons in the office refrigerator where they can be stored for another week or two. They can be sliced and used to counteract less appetizing smells in the refrigerator or squeeze the juice down a smelly drain to clean it.
- If you have a garbage disposal, you can drop a lemon in to help clean it.
- Add four or five slices to a cup a water to clean the nasty office microwave. Cook the water on high for three to five minutes, then let it set for at least two more minutes without opening the door. Use a damp cloth to wipe away those “nasties” and you will be left with a sparkling clean and fresh scented microwave.
- Lemon juice helps remove lime deposits from stainless steel and brightens silver jewelry.
Make sure you take a couple lemons home to add to your beauty regime. Lemon cleansers and facials can be very beneficial. Lemon can be used to whiten teeth, lighten your hair color, fade dark spots on your skin, strengthen nails, remove excess oil, help with chapped lips and dry scalp. Many recipes can be found online and you will find a few in your grandmother recipe book too. These are tried and true uses that have endured for years. A word of caution, lemon juice left on the skin too long or exposed to sun can cause an unpleasant reaction.
At home or in the office, you can add the lemon peels to a vinegar spray bottle for a citrusy clean touch up on windows and counters. Because lemon is acidic, we do not recommend using it on granite or marble countertops. It can cause etching and damage to the finish that was not properly sealed.
Time to refill the bowl? You deserve lemons AND limes this week!
If your office needs more than just some lemons to freshen things up, contact us for a free quote! We’re always standing by with Dallas’s top janitorial service ready to take care of you. Because you deserve it!
