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A Cleaning Pro’s Stain Busting Secrets
At the beginning, I said professional cleaners had their trade secrets and I would come clean by showing you how a few cheap ingredients, some practical hints and brushing up your cleaning skills can make your home look, feel and smell better.
Water contains minerals depending on the geology of where your water supply originates.
Brown or black stains – your water has traces of manganese and calcium that form lime scale.
Treatments include:
- Applying a paste of cream of tartar and hydrogen peroxide
- A solution of one teaspoon of water softener to a gallon of water
- Applying a paste of white vinegar and baking soda
Green or blue stains – these stains come from copper or acid in your water. The tell tale sign is green or blue stains around your plumbing fittings.
Remove with a proprietary acid cleaner or treat with white vinegar or lemon juice.
These stains on enamel baths come from dripping taps. Change the tap washer to solve the problem, then clean the stain away.
Red or brown stains – iron in your water causes these stains, which are effectively rust. Different treatments work in different areas, depending on the proportion of iron in the water. Try:
A paste of lemon juice and borax powder left to dry on the stain then rinsed off
Oxalic acid is a rust remover. A solution of one part oxalic acid to 10 parts water is recommended
- A paste of scouring powder, cream of tartar and hydrogen peroxide takes about 30 minutes to clear the staining.
Here’s my A-Z of stain removal tips
But don’t forget one of the most important tip of all is never rub a stain or mark. Only dab, because eventually the stain will go. I learned that tip the hard way. Here are the rest:
Ballpoint ink
Dab off with a white cloth soaked in methylated spirit.
Beetroot juice
Rinse with cold water. Soak coloureds in a borax solution for 15 minutes. For whites, sprinkle borax on the fabric and wash off with hot water.
Then wash the fabric with a biological detergent.
Bird droppings
Scrape off the excess. Sponge with a borax solution or biological detergent. If the stain persists, soak whites in chlorine bleach or coloureds/synthetics but not nylon in hydrogen peroxide.
Blood
Soak stains in heavily salted water or detergent.
Blu Tac Get more blue tac and dab it on the mark you want to remove.
Candle wax
Scrape off any excess. Place a paper kitchen towel over the remnants and press with a barely warm iron until the paper absorbs the wax.
Dab any persistent staining with methylated spirit.
Chewing gum
Get a bag of ice and freeze the gum hard, then scrape the gum away with a knife.
Coffee and tea
Flush with cold water and spot clean with a solution of detergent but not soap.
If the stain persists, soak in a solution of one part white vinegar to two parts water or a borax solution.
Contact adhesive and glue
Dab with nail polish remover.
Cooking fat
Spread a paste of bicarbonate of soda and water over the stain. Leave for 30 minutes and wash in a biological detergent.
Crayon
Scrape away excess before dabbing with methylated spirits.
Dried fruit
Place the garment stain side down on a kitchen towel and dampen with lemon juice. Dab with hot water and wash.
Fresh fruit
Dip in a borax solution for 15 minutes and then wash, or cover the stain with salt and wash.
Grass
Detergent will remove grass stains. Dab any persistent staining with methylated spirit.
Ink on coloured fabric
Soak immediately in slightly warm milk then wash.
Ink and felt tip pen
Dab with an absorbent cloth dipped in methylated spirit.
Lipstick
Rub fabric against fabric with soap or a little washing up liquid then wash. Dab with methylated spirit if the fabric is not washable.
Mildew
Mildew on different materials requires differing treatments:
Dried mildew – Rub with damp salt or lemon and leave in the sun for 12 hours
Mildew on shower curtains – Sponge or soak in diluted bleach and machine wash with detergent
Mildew on white cotton or linen – Soak in diluted bleach then thoroughly rinse and wash
Mildew on white synthetics – Soak in one part of hydrogen peroxide to nine parts water. Rinse and wash
Paint
Emulsion or water based – Sponge immediately with warm water. Dried paint can be scraped or picked off, but is difficult to wash away.
- Gloss or solvent based – Dab with white spirit
Perspiration
Dab with white vinegar or lemon juice
Pollen
Lift away the pollen with sticky tape or a vacuum cleaner, but don’t rub.
Red wine
Dab with bicarbonate of soda or soda water and wash. Don’t pour white wine over a red wine stain; you’ll probably do more harm than good.
Shoe polish
Dab with white spirit and wash
Battling Bacteria in the Bathroom
Keeping the bathroom clean and fresh not only makes the room look good, but also avoids creating a breeding place for germs and bacteria.
Cleaning methods for basins, bidets and baths depends on the material they are made from:
Acrylic – rinse and dry with a soft cloth after your bath, especially if you relaxed with a bubble bath that leaves a film on the acrylic. If you need to give the bath a good clean, rub in a non-abrasive cream cleaner, rinse and buff. Scratches are easily removed by rubbing gently with a metal cleaner.
Glass fibre – clean with a neutral detergent and take care not to scratch as the colour is often just a thin surface coating. Do not scrub with abrasive or metal cleaners, as they will eventually scour the surface away.
Vitreous or porcelain enamel – do not use abrasives as they will dull the sheen. Try white spirit on stubborn surface marks and tidemarks. Wash the white spirit off straight away with a neutral detergent.
Assaulting mouldy sealant
Get to grips with mouldy bath sealant with bleach on an old toothbrush. Rinse when clean then treat with a fungicidal wash to deter the mould returning.
Top tips for taps
Just like baths, the cleaning method depends on what the taps are made from:
Chrome taps need a wipe with a damp cloth and buffing dry. Grease comes off with a neutral detergent and more serious stains are removed with a nonabrasive liquid metal cleaner.
Gold-plated taps need wiping with a soft cloth while they are still damp to stop marks.
If the tap has lime scale on the spout, fill a small container with white vinegar and tape the container to the tap, so the spout is in the vinegar to dissolve the lime scale. An hour soaking is generally long enough, but if the scale remains, try for another hour.
Clean plugs and overflows with a bottlebrush. Pour some bleach down the plug and rinse after a minute or two to kill smells.
Turpentine will bring the shine back to rubber plugs.
Magic with the mirror
Rub a little liquid soap on the mirror, then dry off with kitchen roll to eliminate steaming up when you run a bath or shower.
Cleaning with a lavatory cleaner weekly will keep the bowl clean. Hold off the bleach as it damages the glaze and makes the bowl harder to keep clean. Where lime scale stains inside the bowl, you will first need to remove the water with a small, disposable container then apply a descaler. Don’t mix and match chemical cleaners as they may give off dangerous fumes. Wash the lavatory brush in hot, soap water and rinse in cold water containing a few drops of disinfectant to stiffen the bristles. Wash and disinfect the holder as well. Wipe the lavatory seat on top and underneath with a germicidal solution. Dry with kitchen paper.
Always keep any cloths for the bathroom separate from others to prevent cross contamination.
Tip: Use different colour cloths for your bathroom to those you use in the rest of the house.
Scrub any non-slip rubber mats with a brush and neutral detergent. Rinse well so they remain non-slip
Clean the shower cubicle according to the hints above for tiles, taps and baths. Methods for descaling shower heads depends whether they are metal or plastic. The formula for a shower head descaling solution is one part white vinegar to two parts water. Make up the same solution for both types of shower heads – using warm on metal and cold on plastic. If you can detach the shower head, make the solution in a small saucepan from half a litre of white vinegar to a litre of water. Bring to the boil and submerge a metal shower head for about 15 minutes. Allow the solution to cool for plastic shower heads. If the shower head is not removable, let the solution cool, pour in to a plastic bag, tape to the shower head and leave overnight.
Getting In To Bed With The Enemy !
I’m sure you have been reading about the invasion of bed bugs in some of New Yorks finest hotels recently well many people do not understand the dangers of the enemy that lurks within their beds – the dust mite.
These microscopic creepy-crawlies, that are invisible to the naked eye, feed on skin flakes we shed in bed as we sleep. It is not so much the mite but what the mite excretes that is the problem.
A typical dust mite lives for up to 150 days and excretes 200 times its body weight in that time the excrement includes a compound called guanine, that is associated with asthma, bronchitis, red itchy eyes, sneezing, coughing, headaches, depression and a lot more allergic reactions.
A bed can have between 100,000 and 10 million microscopic mites living in the fabrics. Mattresses also contain:
Sweat and body fats – in one night a person can lose up to a pint of sweat and body fats
Bacteria and viruses
Skin – the average family will shed up to 1.5 kilos of skin in a year. Up to 10% of the weight of an old pillow is probably dead skin.
Keep your dust mite population down by airing your bedroom frequently. Low temperatures discourage breeding. Vacuum clean often to remove mite excrement and debris.
If you have children put their soft toys in the freezer for 24 hours every now and then – the cold will kill dust mites.
If you have asthma or breathing difficulties, only vacuum with a ‘Hepa filtered’ vacuum cleaner and many people recommend keeping carpet instead of laying hardwood floors. Carpets trap and hold allergens that you can vacuum up, but they do not settle on a hard floor and tend to stay in the air causing more stress to allergy sufferers.
I know this is not one of the more pleasant posts we have done, but as you have read about the ‘invasions’ in New York they do exist & can be a very unpleasant visitor!
If you really have to do this job, I always advise calling in an expert. Out of all the cleaning jobs in the home, this is one of the worst. If you have to do the job yourself, apply a strong paste made up with water and bicarbonate of soda to the oven walls and shelving. Heat the oven for 20 minutes and allow to cool. Finish by washing the oven out with soap and water.
For safety, always unplug a microwave from the mains before cleaning. Avoid spray cleaners as the liquid can seep through gaps to electrical parts. Abrasives and wire wool can seriously damage the coated surfaces of a microwave.
White vinegar is the magic ingredient that will keep your dishwasher ‘squeaky clean’ and free from lime scale. Pour a cup of white vinegar in to the bottom of an empty dishwasher and run through the wash and rinse cycles.
Solutions for Common Home Cleaning Problems
Over the years, professional cleaners have learned short cuts, tips and tricks that save time and money.
Here are a few of the common cleaning problems and their solutions:
Most people will clean a hard wood or tiled floor with some sort of wet cleaner that includes soap or detergent.
The problem is when the cleaning solution dries out, the soap or detergent is left as a sticky residue on the surface. As soon as someone walks across the floor, they transfer the residue to the nearest carpet where the stickiness acts like a dirt magnet.
In a perfect world, floors are vacuumed every day to cut down the amount of dirt and grit in carpets and on hard floors. The trouble is few us live in a perfect world and have to rush the vacuum round once a week or so.
Cheap vacuums generally have less powerful motors that give less suction and poorer filtering systems than the more expensive models.
This can mean that they blow out ‘dirty’ air laden with pollen, hair, dirt and house mites as exhaust, making rooms dusty again.
Most of the dirt in a carpet is trapped, dry soil. Hanging the carpet outside for a good beating is the best way to clear the pile of dirt.
Unfortunately, this isn’t possible with a fitted carpet, so vacuuming is the next best cleaning method, but won’t remove all the dirt and grime. Lots of people try a wet cleaning system – like hiring a machine from the local DIY – but this makes the dirt muddy and difficult to clean up. Beware. These machines are not necessarily good for every carpet because some shrink if they become too wet. Even professional cleaning firms sometimes have to call in experts who have the special equipment to do certain jobs effectively – like carpet and oven cleaning.
The best time to wash the outside of your windows is on an overcast day. Sunshine makes them dry too quickly and leaves streaks.
Add a couple of teaspoons of white vinegar to a gallon of cool water. Wash the windows with horizontal, side to side, strokes on the outside and vertical, up and down, strokes on the inside. This way you can tell which side any streaks are on.
Here’s an insider tip most professional cleaners would rather you didn’t know – washing all the doors, including your front door gives the illusion of a bright, clean and friendly home.
Cleaning Your Home In Seven Easy Steps
Good cleaning requires a systematic approach and organisation, so you don’t have to keep going over the same place twice and exert minimum effort for maximum results.
1. Cleaning top to bottom
The phrase came about for a reason. Starting at the top and working down means any dust or dirt you dislodge does not fall on somewhere you have already cleaned.
Apply the same rule to every room – start at the top, dusting the cobwebs out of the ceiling corners and work down to the floor. If you live in a house, start with the room at the top and work down the stairs floor by floor.
2. Getting in the zone
Break home cleaning down in to smallertasks – zoning your house and spending an hour each day in a different zone is a great idea if you are pushed for time.
3. Cut the clutter
Those ornaments, books and magazines just get in the way and gather dust. Make sure everything has a place and everyone puts away what he or she uses.
4. Keep your cleaning caddy close by
Having your cleaning kit to hand cuts down running up and down the stairs every few minutes and speeds up the job.
5. Sweet smell of success
Make your home smell fresh as well as looking clean and tidy. Leave some bicarbonate of soda in the bin. You can also sprinkle dry bicarbonate of soda on carpets overnight to absorb musty smells. Vacuum the powder away the following morning.
6. Don’t move – extend
Plug your vacuum cleaner in to a six metre extension cord so the cable trails all round your home rather than having to keep unplugging and plugging in.
7. Letting the dust settle
Tackle the dry jobs first in a room – like dusting. Then move on to the wet jobs like cleaning glass and polishing so the dust has settled and does not cling to any wet surfaces.
Your weapons in the war to keep your house clean
Fighting dirt is an endless war where you must aim to win every battle.
You must have the tools at your disposal to deal effectively with everything thrown at you.
First, you need a cleaning ‘caddy’ or basket – one of those plastic trays with a handle – to keep all your cleaning materials together.
Next, you need to gather your basic day-to-day cleaning materials:
Liquid Cleaners:
Anti bacterial spray surface cleaner
Glass cleaner
Furniture Polish
Powder scourer, like soda crystals
Cloths:
Duster
A ‘greenie’ scrubber (thats the one with the sponge & one green side)
Small, stiff bristled brush, a toothbrush will work well
Small, soft paintbrush for delicate items
Micro fibre cloths – these are great for gathering dust & are washable
Lots of paper kitchen towels
Clean rags for applying polish & cleaning creams
Different coloured multipurpose cloths for kitchen & bathroom areas
Bin Bags for collecting rubbish & used paper towels.
Dishing the Dirt on Cleaning Secrets
If you are desperate over dirt and sad about stains that make you too ashamed to invite guests, friends, relatives and neighbours over to your home, this page will help put the sparkle back in to your life.
To make life a little easier, I’ll show you how a few cheap ingredients, some practical hints and how brushing up on your cleaning skills can make your home healthier as well as looking, feeling and smelling better!
Lastly, I will list my top stain busters for those horrible hard to shift horrors.
Best Regards,
Three must have home cleaning products
I read this short article recently in the August 2010 edition of Which Magazine.
This is an extract from the article ‘Three must have home cleaning products’ see go.which.co.uk/homeclean
Fairy Liquid Original has topped the Which tests since 1965 It proved to be the best value in 2009. It was best at removing grease & just a 2ml squirt can wash an impressive 48 plates – thats almost 11000 per bottle.
Cif Multi-Purpose Actifiz is the Which Best Buy Multi-surface cleaner, It was the only cleaner in the Which test that cut brilliantly through both tea & soap stains – plus its great at removing grease so it can handle any everyday cleaning task.
Lidl’s Formil washing powder does a great job of cleaning stains, keeping whites white & colours bright. Formil Bio is a great Value Best Buy, costing just 10p a wash – half the price of other Best Buys.
To see results from other tests on household products from sink unblockers and dishwasher detergent to energy saving light bulbs go to go.which.co.uk/homeclean
Its 10am on a Saturday morning, you’ve just got out of bed, you walk into your living room and groan…the couch, the coffee table are all in need of help! Is this another Saturday morning that you have to spend time cleaning and tidying? You wonder will this ever end?
Well heres a quick 15 minute clean that you can do, its not quiet as good as having a cleaner come in each week but its a quick fix !
1. Grab you basket with all your cleaning supplies
This always saves time ensuring you never have to look for dusters or cleaning sprays.
2. Have a large container
Remember this is a quick fix, you don’t have time to place everything back in its place around the house but you do need to get your living area presentable. So put all the out of place items in the container.
3. Take on the Coffee Table
Home Cleaning can be quick so just remove the unnecessary items, dust the surface, apply the polish and move on.
4. The Couch
Usually if your couch looks good the rest of the room looks good, so again remove any of the unwanted items, lift and fluff up the cushions, sweep off any old crumbs etc to the floor, rearrange the cushions and hey presto your nearly there!
5. Recycle magazines & books
As you are out and about all week you will have picked up newspapers, magazines & freesheets pop in your letter box so just drop them into the recycling bin and make room for all those bulky Sunday papers..!
6. The Floor
Now a quick vacuum or sweep and your nearly there.
7. Replace your basket
See Home Cleaning isn’t so bad after all!
Now you are prepared for any unexpected visitors!
