How Clean Is Your House?: Hundreds Of Handy Tips To Make Your Home Sparkle - Rilegato

Woodburn, Kim; MacKenzie, Aggie

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0525948570 ISBN 13: 9780525948575

Casa editrice: E P Dutton, 2004

Riassunto

Two housekeeping experts share a host of trade secrets and inventive cleaning solutions for caring for every room in the house, presenting an entertaining "filfth" questionnaire, dozens of do's and don'ts, step-by-step instructions, before-and-after photographs, and ingenious home remedies. 75,000 first printing.

Su questo libro

L'autore:

Aggie MacKenzie are the stars of the hit British TV show How Clean Is Your House? Before they became celebrities, Aggie was an associate editor for Good Housekeeping, while Kim worked as a professional live-in cleaning lady for a sheikh in Kent.

Estratto. © Riproduzione autorizzata. Diritti riservati.:

How clean is your house?

We really have had a lot of fun cleaning up Britain, and getting Britain cleaning. Now that we’re moving on to the United States, we’ve discovered that ?lth doesn’t vary much. Whether you’re poor or posh, young or old, if you don’t clean you’ll end up in a terrible state. Oh, but we’ve met some wonderful people, dirty mucky people, but lovely all the same. The poor souls, their homes had gotten completely out of control.

We loved cleaning them up, getting inside all their nooks and crannies and dislodging decades of ingrained muck. We left surfaces gleaming, taps shining, carpets spotless, beds fresh and baths ?t for an emperor. The amazing thing is that it wasn’t only the people we visited who started cleaning—you’ve been telling us that after the show you’ve suddenly felt the urge to put on the rubber gloves and get scrubbing too! Oh, we’re so thrilled you’re turning into cleaning queens!

You’ve stopped us in the street and told us how much you love the tips we dispense, and you’ve asked how you can get your taps descaled, or get the marks off your sofa, or get the bath to gleam again, and how to get rid of the smell in the fridge. “Can you write down your fabulous cleaning tips?” you’ve begged us.

So we’re very pleased to share them with you here. We’ve packed these pages with the answers to your questions, the tips we used in the series and much more. We hope that you’ll dip in and out of the book whenever you’re faced with a new cleaning challenge, and that your homes will thank you for it.

People ask us what we like so much about cleaning. What is there not to like? The pleasure that relaxing in a clean and fresh home brings is so satisfying. Less mess, more rest, is what we say . . . knowing that everything is in its place should we need it, that the cushions are plumped, the bed is fresh, the dishes are done and the floors are clean. You may well blush: if you’re thinking to yourself that sounds like hard work, you’re doing something wrong, dear. It only takes a few minutes a day to keep everything straight. Trust us—we can show you that domesticity needn’t be drudgery. So what are you waiting for? Let’s get cleaning!

Getting started

Kim and Aggie’s essential cleaning kit

A glance at the shelves of cleaning materials in any large store will tell you that there is a breathtaking array of cleaning creams, powders, polishes, liquids, cloths, mops and tablets available.

Of course you don’t need them all! Some are time-saving, but buying so many products is hardly economical—we’ll show you other cleaning methods that avoid buying a special product that does only one job. However, every home should have a basic cleaning kit. All the homes we visited contained cleaning materials—they just weren’t being used. Their purchase was a sign of the best intentions, but then they had been buried at the back of a cupboard—often covered in grease or dust!

Name a product and you can be sure that we have tried it. Here is a list of the supplies we never set off without when we take to the road to clean up the ?lthiest homes. These will work in your home too—even if you have a lot less grime.

Kim

I’ve got a tried and tested collection of cleaning materials that I always turn to whenever there’s a job to be done. I like a nice collection of dusters, cloths and mops—we all have our favorites, don’t we dear? But these work for me, so I have no hesitation recommending them to you.

Washing and scrubbing Dishwashing liquid—don’t economize—the concentrated stuff is best. Good for your dishes, your floors, your walls—you name it, dishwashing liquid can often do it. Hot soapy water is a clear winner for hundreds of tasks.

Scouring powders—I swear by a strong abrasive powder with coarse grit particles for the toughest of cleaning jobs. You can’t use it on every surface—especially not plastic, because you’ll soon rub all the shine off. But scouring powder is perfect for scrubbing inside the toilet bowl, for example.

Cream cleanser—this is good for more delicate surfaces that won’t take a coarse grit powder, such as plastic baths. It’s good on grease and very useful in the kitchen and bathroom.

Steel-wool soap pads—or just the plain wire or nylon pads for jobs where you don’t want huge amounts of soap swishing about, just a good bit of elbow grease. They can be used carefully on some stoves to remove spills on the stove top, and inside the oven too. Roasting pans are a bother, aren’t they? Good for a few months, then you get a buildup of brown spots.

Baking soda—a good old-fashioned cleaning product, with a whole host of uses. Great for washing down surfaces and especially good at cutting through grease. It is also a very powerful weapon in the battle against slimy and smelly drains. Used regularly it can save you an expensive call to a specialist drain-cleaning company. Mix with a small amount of very hot water and pour down the sink, or directly into the outside drain to help keep them clear.

Bleach—don’t overuse bleach, it’s really not necessary. Warm soapy water will often do, but a little dash of bleach in your bucket of soapy water will make some tough jobs easier.

Distilled clear vinegar—another wonderful traditional remedy my mother used which is just as good today. Use it for removing limescale—the mineral and salt deposits left by hard water—but don’t use it on plated surfaces or it will remove the plating too. Wash off thoroughly after use. It’s how my mother cleaned ?lthy windows—one part vinegar, nine parts water. But the solution needs to be rubbed off ?rmly with old newspaper or it can leave smears. A little vinegar is also good for pet urine on carpet, and it deters pets from returning to the same spot.

Bath soap—wonderful, but not in guest bathrooms. Who wants to use someone else’s old soap? Liquid soap dispensers are best for guests. Rub a damp facecloth over soap to tackle all manner of marks—such as lipstick on a shirt collar or a cotton sweater. Don’t rub heavily or you’ll spoil the weave.

Liquid carpet shampoo spray—I swear by this for small marks, but use it as soon as they appear. Test a small hidden area ?rst to ensure it won’t spoil the carpet color, and leave for at least half an hour. For small marks just rub your ?ngernail along with the pile and tease through the soap. Bang with a damp cloth, followed by a dry cloth. Dirty carpets should be professionally cleaned, and don’t be stingy with expensive rugs—take them to a specialist cleaner. If you could afford to buy the rugs you can afford to have them cleaned.

Dishwasher liquid—not only good in the dishwasher, but also for cleaning plastic baths. Don’t let dirt build up or you may mark the plastic permanently.

Powdered laundry detergent (with enzymes)—not only is this great in your washing machine, it’s also very good for cleaning a dirty bath. Fill the bath with warm water, add a couple of cups of powder, and leave to soak overnight. (You can even add men’s dirty white shirts and do two jobs at once.) Rinse and buff dry.

Fabric softener—a wonderful invention. Choose your favorite fragrance. It’s very good on natural ?bers, but not on your bathing suits; they really don’t like it.

Denture-cleaning tablets—these will clean more than just your false teeth! Pop one down the loo for a sparkling bowl, or even dissolve a couple in the kettle overnight. They will loosen the limescale and you can wipe it off with a paper towel in the morning. Rinse after use—who wants to drink tea made with denture tablets?

Polishing

Spray furniture polish—you can get some lovely fragrances. Don’t overuse, though, or your furniture will get polishbound. Once a month is plenty, the rest of the time dust with a very slightly damp duster, wrung out as tight as you can. Finally, buff with a dry duster. Beeswax polish—wonderful on rough and unpolished woods, such as pine tables. You can see when wood is gasping for some nourishment. Rub it in well and buff up with a lint-free cloth—men’s old T-shirts (washed, of course, and not the mesh ones) are perfect.

Cream pads for silver—but use gloves.

A silver cloth is good, but expensive.

A good tip for cleaning silver items, not plate, mind, but good for your jewelry. Line a plastic bowl with aluminum foil, shiny side up, and add a handful of baking soda and some very hot water. Put your silver in for 1–5 minutes—watch the dirt jump to the foil and the silver emerge sparkling. Rinse thoroughly and buff with a dry cloth.

Spray lubricant (WD40)—often found in the garage, but useful all around the home. Great for getting paint off windows—give a quick spray to loosen it, then apply a plastic scraper and elbow grease. Ensure the room is well ventilated.

Gloves, mops, cloths and other useful weapons in the ?ght against grime

Gloves—I like black rubber gloves best, and I love the novelty designs you can get now. Buy them a size too big; they’re much more comfortable. You can even wear a pair of cotton gloves inside, soaked with hand cream to keep your hands moisturized and soft all day.

Toothbrushes—these are invaluable.

Save every one! Never throw your old ones away, simply put them to a new use. They are perfect for getting into any little crevice that your ?ngers won’t ?t, or wouldn’t want to.

Cotton swabs—these are similarly useful, especially for delicate items like computer keyboards.

Toothpicks—if you’re as fussy as I am, these are perfect for picking dirt out of screw heads.

String mops—my chosen weapon for dirty floors. They’re tough, absorb a lot of water and bleach beautifully. You can wring them out really tight to stop the floor from getting too wet. Change the water frequently, and never leave a mop head dirty. Wash it out thoroughly, and never leave it sitting in a bucket—oh, the stink—stand it head upright to dry.

Dusters and rags—why do they make dusters in such bright colors? They are only any good when the dye is washed out. Buy a dozen the sam...

Su questa edizione

• Editore: E P Dutton
• Data di pubblicazione: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0525948570
• ISBN 13: 9780525948575
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 192