YOUR SPRING CLEANING 101
Those household chores that no one likes just got a little bit easier with our expert tips
Our guide to making chores easier
Soda crystals can help neutralise nasty odours
We asked you what your least-loved cleaning jobs were via Instagram, Facebook and online polls, and you answered in your droves! While we can’t make them vanish completely, we can make them a bit more bearable with expert advice from the GHI team…
1 CLEANING THE OVEN
The trick is to keep your oven clean as you go along to avoid spending hours waging war on baked-on splatters. After each use, put a heat-resistant bowl of water in the still-hot oven and leave it for 20min, then wipe the interior when cool enough. Wash the shelves regularly in the dishwasher and use a Magic Non-stick Oven Shelf Liner (Lakeland, £13.99) in your oven to catch spills.
HAVE A MEGA-BLITZ
For speed and efficiency, you can’t beat a specialist cleaner such as Oven Pride (£3, Tesco), but to keep it green, try this:
Mix a little water with bicarbonate of soda to make a paste. Rub all over the inside of the oven and door.
After 20min, spray with distilled white vinegar.
Once it’s stopped fizzing, wipe residue with a clean sponge dipped in hot water (with rubber gloves).
Repeat until all the residue has disappeared.
2 KEEPING THE LOO PINE-FRESH
While this is no one’s favourite job, there is a certain satisfaction when you end up with a sparkling clean, pine-fresh loo. Don’t leave it too long between cleans; over time, a build-up of limescale may become discoloured and will be far harder to shift. Sure, we all know how to clean a loo, but here are a few tips you might not be aware of…
Squirt limescale remover under the rim of the loo and leave it while you clean the rest of the bathroom. Alternatively, use distilled white vinegar and leave overnight before flushing for a greener clean. Neutralise odours and clear and prevent blockages in the pipes by pouring a cup of soda crystals into the bowl then flushing. Repeat weekly.
Pour cola down the pan (an internet tip to help clean) but remember: it won’t disinfect. You’ll still need bleach for that.
3 TACKLING LIMESCALE
Shifting limescale is a pet hate for many. Try these clever tricks… Make up a spray bottle of 1:1 distilled white vinegar and water and use it to spritz tiles and screens after baths and showers, then rinse thoroughly with water and buff dry.
For taps, soak a cloth in the same vinegar solution. Wrap around the tap and leave it for a couple of hours or overnight. Then wash in hot soapy water. Or halve a lemon, squeeze out some juice, and put the lemon halves on to the tap spouts. Then soak a cloth in the lemon juice and wrap around the rest of the tap. (Neither of these tips are suitable for plated taps, particularly gold.) Unscrew and soak showerheads overnight in a solution of half water, half distilled white vinegar. Rinse with water and use a needle to poke remaining scale out of the jet holes.
4 KITCHEN BIN MAINTENANCE
There are rarely any volunteers for taking the bins out, much less cleaning them! But as the weather gets warmer, your bin can become a bacterial hotspot. It shouldn’t need a deep clean too frequently if you empty the bag regularly. When you change the bag, freshen the bin with Jeyes Freshbin Powder (£4.04, Amazon), then once a week, spray with a disinfectant and wipe dry.
5 GET A FRESH FRIDGE
Ideally, aim to deep clean your fridge every three to six months. Remove and wash the shelves and salad drawer in hot soapy water. Allow to dry thoroughly.
Use a toothpick or cotton bud to remove food residue in the join between the surface of the shelf and the surround.
Wipe down the interior using a solution of Milton Sterilising Fluid (£2.49, Boots) and cold water (hot water will raise the fridge temperature).
Use the crevice nozzle on your vacuum cleaner to remove food crumbs that have collected in the folds of the door seal (or a stiff washing-up brush).
Wash the door seal with Milton solution.