Cleaning the Shower

A great tip for keeping the shower clean from lime and grime is to keep a fill and clean scourer (like the Dishmatic one, pictured) in the area, half filled with white vinegar and half with washing-up liquid.  Just wipe the walls and door of the shower when you're done and rinse!  Saves on buying those fancy - and expensive - cleaners which may or may not work...

Cleaning Make Up Brushes

I've covered make up expiry dates, as well as DIY make up pads but I haven't given a tip on how to easily keep make up brushes clean. Obviously, you can just wash them in a little soap and water but I've found a great combination of products to use to remove make up much more easily and quickly is 1/2 portion of olive oil and 1/2 portion of washing up liquid. Just mix it together, swivel the brushes in the solution, rinse and there you go!

Play the Kitchen Game

I find that waiting in the kitchen for things like the kettle to boil, the microwave to ping or the washing machine to finish tends to be dead time when there is just a few minutes left.  There's no point in going elsewhere to do anything - by the time I get there, the time will be up and I just will have to go back to whatever it was I was doing in the kitchen.  So I just hang around, waiting.

But I spotted a good way to take advantage of this time - play the kitchen 'game'! Grab a cloth and see how much you can wipe down, put clean dishes, glasses and crockery away, empty the recycling, anything that yu can quickly do to tidy just a little. And stop whenever what you are waiting for has finished! You'll be amazed to see how much can be accomplished with little effort and in very little time.

Removing Stains from Mugs and Cups

Tea and coffee does stain one's mugs and teacups which is annoying and ugly.  A simple way to remove these is to wipe with a little baking soda - or, as we know it, bicarbonate of soda - then rinse with water for spotless drinking vessels!

Funny Top Tip!

Good housekeeping?

Unclogging a Drain

Firstly, boil some water.  While this is being done, pour a bunch of bicarbonate of soda (also known as baking soda) into the drain.  I use enough to go in to the plughole and pretty much cover it.

Then pour on some vinegar, an amount a bit less than the baking soda.  Some places suggest white vinegar but I find malt vinegar works just as well.  You'll see it all start to work, with the mixture bubbling up nicely and satisfactorily!  This is the clog breaking down.

Next add some salt on top of the vinegar to make it even more foamy and work even better.

Let it sit for a while to gurgle away - 15 minutes or so, until you're ready to clear it all out by pouring in the boiled water.  This should do the trick easily and naturally.  And look!  Pretty sink with no clogs, environmentally-friendly and naturally.

If necessary, repeat for those more stubborn clogs.

Cleaning Steel Cutlery

Have you noticed how cutlery can get stained quite easily?  I'm sure it's quite safe, but it doesn't look great and it doesn't seem to get clean when washing normally either by hand or in the dishwasher.  But a top tip is to use a lemon!

Chop a lemon in half and wipe on the stained cutlery.  For more stubborn stains, wipe a little harder!

Then rinse under the tap, dry and voilà!  Unstained cutlery!

Red Wine Stains

One of the best tips I have ever been given is how to clean red wine stains.  Quite simply, pour over some white wine, leave to soak a few minutes and wipe!  That's all!  The white wine somehow dissolves the red, normally leaving no stain at all.  It is fantastic!

Alternatively, just drink the white!

Cleaning your Hairbrush

You use your hairbrush at least once a day, so just think of all the stuff that collects in it!  Hair, dust, grease, hair product, dirt - yuck!  So you should think about washing your hairbrush fairly regularly to ensure it's nice and clean and all this muck isn't being transferred back into your hair.  This is mine pre-cleaning - a ton of hair and dust.  Blee!!

As ever, it's quick and easy.  All you have to do is remove the excess hair from the brush.  Then fill the sink with warm water and add a little shampoo - I just used one of my free samples from a recent hotel visit.  Leave to soak for a few minutes, assuming it's a plastic brush.  If it's fabric or wood, dip it in the water to just get the bristles.  In addition, if there is a lot of gunk on the brush, use an old toothbrush to remove it - but I've not yet had to do this!

Remove from the sink, give it a little shake to remove excess water and then place on a towel to dry.  Good as new!

Cleaning your Phone's Earbuds

Probably the last thing on your mind is keeping your phone's earbuds (or headphones as I prefer to call them) clean.  But just think of all the muck and yuck that will get on them if you don't!  Ewww...  Not only will there be the gunk from your ears on them, but the amount of times that they will be pulled in and out of pockets and bags means that there is bound to be all sorts getting stuck to them.  So clean them regularly!

All you need to do is detach them from your phone and wash with mild soap or dishwashing liquid and a small amount of water.  If there is stubborn dirt, use a toothbrush or cotton bud to get rid of it.  And that's it!  Word of warning though - never submerge them totally in water, just wipe gently.

Cleaning the Blender

I've always been a little worried about cleaning our blender, as I'm terrified of slicing my fingers as I'm doing so.  Which is why this simple top tip is so great!

All you have to do is put some washing up liquid in the dirty blender - any will do.

Add some water, give it a whirl and rinse.  And there you have it - one clean blender, no bleeding fingers!

Descaling the Kettle

If you live in a hard water area like me, limescale builds up on your kettle very frequently.  Not only does this affect the taste of your drink, but horrid chalky bits end up in your tea or coffee and it's just vile!  Look at mine today - gross!

In order to combat this, you can fork out on chemical descalers.  However, apart from the cost of these, my main problem is the fact that it's so unnatural and I imagine if it's not rinsed from the kettle properly, it would be nasty.  Which is why I was so pleased to discover that plain old malt vinegar does the same thing as a chemical descaler.  Any malt vinegar works; I usually use supermarket own brand, but I guess they had run out as I was substituted with some posh stuff!

To descale the kettle, pour the vinegar into the kettle - use as much as you like.  I then top it up with water to cover all the limescale, but you could use more vinegar if you don't want to dilute it too much.  Wait at least half an hour, rinse and voila!  A sparkling clean kettle, at a cheap cost with no chemicals (albeit a bit smelly - rinse, rinse, rinse)!  Perfect!

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!

Cleaning, Dusting & Vacuuming

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

Dust first, then vacuum!

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.

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...