Cleaning wood floors

Add a teabag to your water to clean wooden floors.

Get rid of shoe and heel marks with a pencil rubber (eraser) or turpentine. Always use a soft mop - and cold water rather than hot water.

Refreshing Carpets

Sprinkle tea leaves and salt over your carpet - wait for a short while then vacuum.

This will freshen up your carpet. Or clean it with some water (70%) & vinegar (30%).

Linoleum Floor Polish

Clean your lino with some detergent.

Then rub into some mixture of milk & turpentine (50-50%). Then polish with a cotton cloth.

Cleaning Icy Entrance

Mix one aspirin with half a pint of warm water and one tablespoon of methylated spirits.

Pour it over your entrance. Your door steps will be clean - and no longer icy!

Dusting

Use a paintbrush to dust off furniture.

Use a hairdryer to blow dust off lampshades. Line the top of your cupboards with newspaper. Replace these when needed.

Blinds

Clean your Venetian blinds in your bath - just soak them in water& detergent then sponge them.

Hang them over the bath to dry. Louvered windows and shutters can be cleaned with a dump paint brush.

Odor

Spray furniture cleaner behind a radiator - the heat will circulate the smell into the room.

Or rub your ( cool) light bulbs with some nice perfume. Your room will smell lovely when your lights are on.

Cleaning Materials

Clean your sponges in your dishwasher!

When you've finished with cleaning, remember to dry your dishcloths - bacteria love dampness. When your rubber gloves are worn out cut strips from the cuffs which you can use as rubber bands.

Window cleaning

Clean your windows with water+vinegar or methylated spirit.

Use newspapers or scrim. To remove masking tape use baking soda or lighter fluid. Get rid of light scratches by rubbing them with abrasive toothpaste or exfoliator using a piece of muslin or cotton.

Vinyl Floors

A simple but effective way to cover scratches.

Use shoe polish of matching colour to cover up scuff marks and scratches.rnIt's not permanent but lasts a while and buffs up well!

Insects in Wooden Ornaments

A way to get rid of insects that are eating up your wooden carving.

I tried all sorts of insecticides on a nice little Indonesian statuette but none of them worked. There were always liitle tell-tale piles of dust around it. I then tried sealing it in a plastic bag and put it in the deep-freeze for a few days. It did the trick!

Carpet Cleaning Tip

How to get rid off food & drink stains

If you spill red wine try using Dettol – the transparent spray – or salt. Beer stains can be removed with soda water. If you drop bits of oily food, use a damp cloth or sponge with detergent and warm water. Don’t use other cleaning agents because they may have bleach in them which will discolor the carpet. Remove curry stains with lemon juice mixed with warm water. Make sure you clean the affected areas immediately.

Carpet Cleaning Tip 2

How to remove everyday stains

If you have blood on the carpet, use a sponge and cold water, then press a dry towel over the stain to soak it up. Leave muddy footprints to dry, then vacuum. If the stain still remains use carpet cleaner with a sponge. Soot can be removed with some salt. If ink stains your carpet, use a piece of blotting paper and wet sponge to soak up the stain. Wax can be removed with a piece of absorbent paper and iron

Removing cigarette stain

Cigarette stains can be removed with milk and potato!

Do you have cigarette stains on your carpet? As long as you didn’t burn the carpet, you can remove the stains! Pour a little milk over the cigarette stain and leave it for a while. This will stop the stain getting brown. Then rub the stain with a bit of raw potato. When the stain has gone, use a carpet cleaning detergent over the area.

Pet Stain on Carpet

This is how to remove pet urine & footprints from the carpet:

Do not use disinfectant, as it reacts with the ammonia in the urine and leaves a mark. Instead, mix 50% vinegar with 50% cold water. Using a sponge and a dry towel, blot up the stains. Alternatively, use soda water and blot up the stain. When dry, sprinkle some baking soda over the affected area and leave it for 30 minutes or so before vacuuming. To remove muddy footprints, leave the stains to dry – then vacuum. It's as simple as that!

Sticking Windows

If you've got a normal casement window and it's always difficult to open, don't just force it open every time because you'll damage it.

If it's really tight then you'll probably have to plane it down a bit, but on all windows it's sensible to rub some candle wax on from time to time because this helps keep them opening smoothly.

TV or Computer Fire

If your TV or Computer catches fire, first turn off the power supply.

Either pull out the plug or switch off at the main fuse box. Throw a heavy blanket or rug over it. DO NOT THROW WATER OVER IT! You could get a shock even when its off from static/residual electricity.

Furniture Repair

Small scorches, scratches and stains can be dealt with the following remedies:

Clear nail varnish can be used to fill chipped or scratched varnish. Danish oil can be used to disguise scratches on varnished surfaces - alternatively use a felt-tip pen of the same color or oil paint mixed with some clear furniture wax. Scratches on French polished surfaces can be disguised by rubbing it with a mixture of equal parts of white spirit, methylated spirit and linseed oil. White ring stains can be removed with some car running compound and metal polish rubbed gently onto the surface.

Homemade Furniture Cleaner

Make your own furniture cleaner!

Mix equal parts of white vinegar, white spirit and water. Add a few drops of washing-up liquid. Apply this with a spray to waxed or varnished furniture, but make sure that you wipe off the remains of the liquid properly before it gets hardened. Lemon & salt can be used on bare wood (but not on old furniture).

Damaged wall corners

Convex wall corners get damaged over time and need to be repaired.

If the wall is plastered the plastering needs to be repaired by pinning a piece of planed timber flash to the edge of the corner, then plastering up to the batten. When the plaster has dried, reposition the timber to the repaired side of the corner and repeat the plastering process on the adjoining wall. For very exposed corners use zinc-plated metal angle bead, nailed in place then plastered over. For plasterboards use a self-adhesive joint tape or metal angle bead for very damaged corners.

Creaking stairs

Brush some talcum powder along the tread and riser joints of creaking stairs. It solves the problem temporarily.

Alternatively, from underneath, fill the gap between the treads and risers with polyurethane foam filler. The foam prevents the wood from chafing. Make sure that the wooden edges under the stairs that hold the risers and treads tight are not loose. If they are, remove the wedges, remove any dried glue and tap them back into place with some fresh glue.

Broken window

If the glass in your window is broken you can temporarily repair it with thick polythene secured by timber battens around the frame -

or a sheet of plywood if security is important. A simple crack in a pane can be temporarily sealed with Duckt tape on the outside. When you want to replace cracked glass, criss-cross the pane with masking tape – this will stop the smashed glass flying everywhere. Break the pane from the inside with a hammer and a block of wood. Chip out the smaller pieces. Now you’re ready to place a new pane in the frame. Make sure you protect your hands, feet and eyes by wearing thick gloves, safety goggles and leather shoes!

Bicarbonate of soda

Bicarbonate of soda can be used to clean many materials: plastic, stainless steel, glass, textiles etc. Here are a few tips:

Mix some bicarbonate of soda with water to make a paste. Use this to remove tea stains from mugs, clean plastic bottles, venetian blinds & jewellery. Mix 1 cup of bicarb, one cup of water and 2 tablespoons of vinegar. Use this to clean around the bathroom and your kitchen appliances. Keep some in your refrigerator to avoid odors and sprinkle some in the bottom of your bin.