Household tips and tricks for 2010

We are now a few weeks into 2010. Perhaps like us, you are probably coming to the end of you seasonal celebrations and are looking forward to a productive year ahead. With a view to this, we thought we would put together some of the best tips and tricks to get you started with any home improvement ventures you are looking to embark on:

Clever decorating tricks:

• To make a room brighter, hang a mirror on a wall opposite a window to reflect the light
• When painting skirting boards, hold a thin piece of board against the edge to avoid getting paint on the floor.
• Mask off light switches and plug sockets to keep them clean when painting.
• Old bathroom or kitchen tiles can be given a new lease of life by painting over with special tile paint.
• When using gloss paint, use a special gloss roller to avoid drips.
• · To make radiators less visible, you can buy radiator coloured radiator paints to match your walls.
• · When hanging pictures in groups use similar frames to synchronise the look-. This gives a really great art-deco symmetrical look!
• Use a small amount of brown shoe polish to age gold frames.

House work:

• Add a few drops of essential oil to a water spray and spray onto clothes before ironing as an alternative to expensive ironing waters.
• Use scrunched up balls of tin foil when you run out of scouring pads.
• Brown sauce is apparently good for cleaning up old brass.
• Some of you may already know this, to remove stubborn stains from your vases, simply pour in a small amount of white vinegar and a handful of rice, swish around for a bit then rinse well and your glass should look brand new again.
• For cleaning very delicate surfaces try using baby wipes, they are much gentler than more household detergents. Nevertheless, no matter how tempting it may be avoid scrubbing delicate surfaces.
• Use 2 drops of lemon juice when rinsing glassware to add sparkle and shine.
• Nevertheless, vinegar is the best non detergent in order to remove lime scale.
• “Cif” cleaning liquid is great to clean marks off stone fireplaces.
• Use an old pillow cases to use for machine washing delicates.
• Go that extra mile for your guests without over spending. Collect all those free toiletry samples from magazines and put them in guest rooms/bathrooms.

Gardening:

• After the rain has stopped (fingers crossed it will be very soon) use a window cleaner to polish glass table tops and make them fit for the summer BBQ’s.
• Remember to dust/clean outside light bulbs as dirty ones can lose up to 30% of its light.
• This is our favourite trick: Rub scrunched up newspaper over window for a smeary free shine.
• In order to remove marks left on carpets by heavy furniture and sofas, place an ice cube over the dent, as the ice cube melts the moisture will soak into the fibres causing them to plump up again! That would be just amazing when reorganising furniture… must give that a go!

Final thoughts:

• Make a new year’s resolution and tidy away before you go to bed every night…start your day off well by waking up to a clean and tidy household!