FROM making a festive box to getting the ironing board out - Lynsey Crombie shares ten cleaning hacks that will keep your home spotless this Christmas.
And don't forget, a cuppa is your secret weapon.
I ALWAYS give each person in the house a basket for their gifts. It avoids the chaos of multiple piles and losing any presents in the discarded wrapping paper. A good way to keep the rubbish under control is to create a Christmas box.
Simply wrap an empty, open cardboard box in gift paper and get everyone to put their used wrapping paper in there once they have opened their presents.
Then you can take it straight outside for recycling afterwards.
GOT guests over? It can be intrusive to pull out a vacuum if you have accidentally dropped a glass and it has smashed all over the floor.
If this happens to you, grab a slice of bread to clean up with. Those little bits of glass will stick to it, then drop the bread into the bin. Voila!
It is also good to have lots of kitchen roll on hand to mop up spills. They are bound to happen when there are kids about.
MANY of us like to use special glasses and cutlery at Christmas, so of course you don’t want them to be covered in water marks.
The best way to clean them properly is to steam them using a solution of warm water and white vinegar. And don’t worry – they won’t smell of vinegar because the odour disappears really quickly.
Buff them up using a tea towel and get them on the table – they’ll be lovely and shiny.
DIRTY pots and pans will stack up on the side on Christmas Day . . . but who wants to spend the day scrubbing? Not me.
Get your dirty dish, fill it with warm water and throw in a tea bag. Tea is brilliant – it contains tannins, which have been used as cleaning products for many hundreds of years.
They cut through the grease and grime, which will float to the top.
Then all you have to do is rinse. No nasty chemicals are needed.
Christmas can mean all kinds of smells in your fridge from all the family’s favourite foods. All you need to do is pop some bicarbonate of soda into a small dish – or, even better, an egg cup – and leave it in the back of your fridge.
Ground coffee or porridge oats will work just as well – it will absorb all of those nasty smells. Similarly, use some leftover orange or lemon peel and place it in your bin to mask anything smelly that could be lurking in there.
SHAVING foam is one of the best carpet cleaners you will find – and you don’t need to splash out on a brand name.
The very cheapest one at the supermarket will do just fine to clean the carpet beautifully if you have spilt some gravy.
If you have no shaving foam to hand, mix some washing-up liquid with vinegar and cold water – NOT hot water, because that will set the stain – and dab it using a white cloth (white so you can see you are lifting the spill from the carpet).
WE all get caught up in the hustle and bustle of Christmas and forget to wrap a pressie or two.
If, like me, you’ve got a bad back, set up your ironing board for some last-minute gift wrapping at the perfect height.
I’m 42 – I can’t sit on the floor for too long these days!
And if you need to sharpen a pair of household scissors, just use them to cut through a piece of tin foil and they’ll be as good as new.
IT happens even to the best of us . . . but burning part of the dinner need not be a big drama.
Get rid of any lingering smoke smell in the kitchen by pouring a splash of white vinegar into a pan and putting it on a low heat on the hob.
Let it evaporate into the air and it will quickly break down the smoky tang for you.
ACCIDENTS happen. If you cut yourself while peeling the veg and get blood on your apron, here is how to clean it.
After tending to the wound, get some salt and lemon juice. It doesn’t have to be fresh juice – you can use the same stuff in your cupboard you use for baking.
Use the two products like an exfoliator and rub them into the stain, then leave it for half an hour.
After that, do a cold flush under the tap . . . then pop the apron in your washing machine ready for next time you do the laundry.
OUR ovens work overtime over Christmas, especially when cooking up a great big feast for all the family.
Once it has had time to cool in the evening, make it snow by sprinkling a little bicarbonate of soda inside, then spritz it with a white vinegar spray.
Close the door and leave it overnight. You will thank yourself in the morning, when all the grime will wipe away with ease.
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