There’s so much coverage on cleaning methods it leaves me with little to say on the subject. In particular this website here has a lot to offer in terms of articles, tips and eco-friendly advice.
So I’m not going to write about the obvious ones like mix bicarbonate of soda and water to make a great scouring paste for saucepans and dirty ovens or white vinegar and water to clean windows and polish off with kitchen roll. No, I’m just going to write about the ones I have found really useful over the years through my own experience.
Putting a quarter cup of vinegar in the final rinse will give your hair a lovely shine.
Bleach: If you are a keen golfer then soak all those dirty golf balls that you might find in the rough in a good squirt of bleach, hot water and a squirt of washing up liquid and soak for an hour or so. They come up like new.
Also, if you want to sterilise china plates, cups etc., especially pretty second hand ones soak in some hot soapy water with a squirt of bleach. It gets rid of tea stains in cups and teaspoons.
Of course any bleach should be kept out of reach to children
I hate it when I get a grease mark on my clothes. Try placing a sheet of kitchen roll on top and press lightly with a warm to hot iron. It should absorb the grease. Years ago they used to advise using brown paper but I don’t come across that very often.
When dealing with blood stains always soak in cold water first. Another way is to wet the mark with cold water and cover with table salt before washing.
Put all flour, cereals, dried fruit and any foodstuff in air-proof containers to avoid the dreaded flour weevil or beetle. They look like a small brown beetle. It’s not enough to leave food in its paper or cellophane packaging. Obviously tinned and bottle foodstuff should be OK.
Make sure food cupboards are emptied, vacuumed (important) and make sure you throw the vacuum bag in the outside bin and not the kitchen bin as they could come back. If your vacuum is bag less then empty contents in an old carrier bag and again, put in outside bin. For good measure rinse the vacuum container in soapy water and dry before you put it back. Wash inside cupboards with hot soapy water. Get into all those little crevices and corners. You could also wipe down with some diluted bleach afterwards.
Prevention is better than cure they say. If you do have an infestation you might need to get professional advice.
You can save all empty plastic ice cream tubs to reuse for storage for all sorts of things like buttons, bolts and screws etc. I just give them a hot soapy wash.
To deal with a horrible smell in the kitchen or bathroom try striking a match and blowing it out. It has to be one of those red tipped matches that you can strike a flame on anything not the grey safety match. It seems to works as the smell vanishes.
Can’t open a jar, run the lid under very hot water and it should loosen and open. Be careful you don’t scold yourself though.
