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Monday 30 September 2013

Cleaning Skirting Boards

I find skirting boards are a real faff to try to keep clean - it seems that no matter how often I wipe them, they are always gunky!

So a tip I've found is to use tumble dryer sheets to wipe them with.  The dust and dirt collects on the cloth without smudging or sticking, to produce lovely, clean skirting boards!


You don't have to buy any special ones - just use the ones you may have already, or buy supermarket own brands!

Sunday 29 September 2013

Cleaning, Dusting & Vacuuming

It seems obvious and I feel a bit silly about posting but...


Dust first, then vacuum!



Saturday 28 September 2013

Cleaning the Steel Plate on your Iron

I admit, I'm not much of an ironer.  I prefer to hang my clothes to dry and then think, 'That will do' - unless, of course, it's a special occasion!  However, I am a little more meticulous about my kids' clothes and so there are occasions whereby I must iron.  *Sigh*

Then what really annoys me is the bottom of the iron is always grubby, no matter how much I clean it with standard cleaning products.  So I have done a little research and have come up with the solution - salt!  Indeed, plain old, cheap table or sea salt.

First of all, take an old cloth, tea towel or similar and lay it flat on the ironing board.  Remember that this is where all the grime will end up so use one that it doesn't matter if you can't get the stains out!  Sprinkle the salt on to the towel.

Next, turn on the iron to its highest setting - but no steam.  Once its heated up, iron the salt on to the towel.  And that's pretty much it!


The friction of the salt will remove the grime and you'll end up with a muck-free steel plate - hurrah!  I gave it a quick wipe afterwards with a damp cloth, just to get rid of the salt - I found when I didn't do this, I got some salt on the next thing I ironed.


Storing Ribbons for Craft Projects

One of the things I love about being a Mum is the excuse to get creative and crafty with the kids when I'm not very good at it!  However, I find that storing all the different bits tends to mean a vast amount of ugly clutter.  So for this blog, I will compile some savvy, simple and possibly pretty ideas to storage all your crafty bits - and probably other stuff too!

I've taken advantage of an idea to store ribbons - a lidded glass jar with the ribbons wrapped in lollipop sticks.  Any large jar will do, and it could be plastic, glass or any type that you feel looks good - but it obviously needs to be big enough to fit the wrapped sticks.  For this sort of thing, I tend to have a search on Ebay - I like this Biscotti jar:
Next, find some decent sized lolly sticks.  Again, I've found the best value ones are on Ebay - search for large or jumbo lolly sticks.
Then all you have to do is to wrap the ribbons round the lolly sticks, place in the jar and put on a shelf and you have a pretty, colourful and practical storage option!

Cleaning Stainless Steel

A great, cheap way to clean stainless steel like your stove or sink tops is to mix one tablespoon of cream of tartar with a few drops of water to make a paste-like substance. Rub it on to the surface, wipe with a damp sponge and then dry clean with paper towels. Voila! Quick, easy, effective and hopefully free with products that you've already got in your home.
A great alternative product is Bar Keeper's Friend. It works exactly the same as the Cream of Tartar and may sometimes work out cheaper if you aren't much of a baker...

Sunday 22 September 2013

Funny Top Tip!

mouse trap placed on top of your alarm clock will prevent you from rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button.

Coconut Moisturising Oil for Hair

First, slather the coconut oil on your hair and cover your hair with a shower cap - bonus top tip, stock up when you treat yourself to a hotel break!  It's up to you whether you wish to applying heat, but doing so will open the cuticle of each strand so the coconut oil can penetrate the core faster- so you'd only need to keep the oil on for 15 minutes rather than at least 30 without heat.  You can use a hair dryer to apply heat over the shower cap as per the picture below from 'How does She?'and relax with a book or something, if you can.  Or keep the cap on, don't warm it up, and get on with household chores.  Or watch telly or play with the kids!
Coconut Oil Moisture Treatment
Good places to buy coconut oil at the moment:
The Body Shop 
There's 40% off at the Body Shop till Monday with code 14395 or take adantage of the 25% off for new customers!

Lots of coconut oil options at Amazon!


Gorgeous, gorgeous from Neal's Yard Remedies and quite good value (in my opinion) to!

Once  time is up wash and condition your hair as you normally would although you may need to wash your hair twice to rinse away all of the oil. I usually try two shampoos before conditioning it which mostly works - it may need another go though if you've put loads on!  I haven't done this, but the author of  'How does She? says to really focus on the roots and try to shampoo the ends as little as needed.

This treatment should produce soft, silky, smooth, sleek hair that looks fantastic!  It can be done as often as you feel is necessary but the more you do it, the less you will need to.

Courtesy of 'How Does She?'

Saturday 21 September 2013

Funny Top Tip!


Avoid cutting yourself while slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold the vegetables while you chop.

Hello and Welcome!


Welcome to Top Tips UK where I'll be finding you the best, savviest and canniest ways to improve or fix your home, garden, hair or beauty regime.  I'll be searching the web and collating the best ones for your perusal!  I hope you enjoy what I find, that it will help you in your organising and making things pretty and/or practical and will also save you money on expensive ways to fix things!

Please enjoy and do email any feedback or your own top tips to me!