TIME TO clean up...
Tackle those household chores that no one likes with these practical tips
CLEANING THE OVEN
This little job is public enemy number one. The trick is to keep your oven reasonably clean as you go, so you avoid having to spend ages waging war on baked-on splatters using harsh cleaning chemicals. After each use, put a heat-resistant bowl of water in the still-hot oven and leave it for 20 minutes, then wipe the interior when it’s cool enough. Wash the shelves regularly in the dishwasher and line the clean oven floor with Magic Non- Stick Oven Shelf Liner, £14.99, Lakeland.
FOR A DEEP CLEAN
When it comes to speed and efficiency, you can’t beat a specialist oven cleaner such as Oven Pride, but if you want to keep it green, try this…
● Use a little water to make up a paste of bicarbonate of soda and rub this all over the inside of the oven and the door.
● After 20 minutes, spray with distilled white vinegar.
● Once it’s finished fizzing, wipe the residue away with a clean sponge dipped in hot water (wearing rubber gloves).
● Repeat until all the residue has disappeared.
LOVE YOUR LOO!
It may be our leastfavourite job, but there is a certain satisfaction when you end up with a sparklingly clean 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. Here are a few tips…
● Give the pan a squirt of limescale remover under the rim and leave it while you clean the rest of the bathroom – it will be easier to tackle. Or sprinkle soda crystals around the inside of the bowl, leave overnight and flush away in the morning.
● Neutralise odours by pouring a cup of soda crystals or bicarbonate into the bowl once a week.
LOSE THE LIMESCALE
Try these tricks to shift that stubborn limescale…
● Make up a spray bottle of half vinegar and half water and spritz tiles and screens after baths and showers, then rinse with water.
● For taps, soak a tea towel or cloth in the same vinegar solution. Wrap it around the tap and leave it for a couple of hours or overnight. Or halve a lemon, squeeze out some juice and put the lemon halves on to the tap spouts. Soak a cloth in the juice and wrap around the rest of the tap. But avoid if you have plated taps.
● Unscrew and soak shower heads overnight in a solution of half water and half white vinegar. Rinse and use a needle to poke any scale out of the jet holes.
BLITZ THE BIN
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. When you change the bags, freshen it with Jeyes Freshbin Powder (Amazon, £4.95) and then once a week, wipe the inside with a disinfectant spray and dry.
FRIDGE RAIDER
Make sure your fridge is up to the task of storing food safely with a deep clean every three to six months, just before a weekly shop.
● Remove and wash the shelves and salad drawer in hot, soapy water and allow to dry thoroughly. Do this in the bath if you want more space!
● Use a toothpick or cotton bud to remove food residue that has collected in the join between the surface of the shelf and the shelf surround.
● Wipe down the interior of the fridge using a solution of Milton Sterilising Fluid and cold water ( hot water will raise the fridge temperature and delay how quickly you can get perishables back inside).
● Use the crevice nozzle on your vacuum 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.