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Orange Oil

One of the most interesting specific products that I talk about that has a considerable amount of research is orange oil. Orange oil can be used in gardening and pest control in several ways.

One of the fire ant products that is currently on the market and has EPA registration for fire ant control is Safer’s Fire Ant Control. It used to be called Citrex so you may have heard me talk about it in the past. It is an orange oil or d-limonene product that has very detailed research both from Texas A&M in the field and the University of Texas at Austin in the lab. The product is currently owned by the Woodstream Company and is sold under the name Safer Fire Ant Control Give it a try. It works very well. Another orange oil product with the research behind it needed for its EPA approval is Orange Guard. It is registered for the control of many household insect pests. There are of course many other uses for orange oil and its extract called d-limonene. Just a few of the products include air fresheners, cleaners and soil detox products. Why use toxic chemicals when non-toxic food products work just as well.

Orange Oil is available commercially, or you can make your own:
Put a bunch of citrus peelings in a container and cover them with water. 
Let them sit for a couple of days, then strain off the liquid.  You can extract more oil by simmering the peelings.

The strength of homemade orange oil varies significantly, so you will have to experiment when using it in recipes.  It is impossible to duplicate the concentration of commercial orange oil or
d-limonene.

Orange oil is a pleasant smelling solvent.  Commercial d-limonene at full strength can replace a wide variety of products, including mineral spirits, methly ethyl ketone, acetone, toluene and glycol ethers.  Be careful when using strong solutions since it can melt plastic and ruin paint finishes.  For most practical purposes, 1 - 2 ounces per gallon of water should be the maximum concentration.


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