Old housekeeping tips that aren't Zoflora...

[ForestSchoolFlask]

Anyone got any?

My granny always swore by Zoflora, and I can't smell it without thinking of net curtains and cherry bakewells. Then years ago on Mumsnet you'd see it recommended, then Mrs Hinch jumped on it and made a fortune.

What else is there?

Soda crystals to get bad smells out of carpets....
That stuff that was good on ovens... It wasn't Viz but was something like that...

I think a lot of the old fashioned stuff is better than the cherry scented Flash gel nonsense, to be honest

Vim? I still use it sometimes but I prefer barkeepers friend

Vinegar to shine taps and clean windows

Bicarbonate of soda to get rid of smells (or mixed with lavender and sprinkled on carpet/vacuumed to get a fresh smell

Lavender on cotton wool in your vacuum cylinder

Vim...I still use it as its brilliant stuff

Methylated spirits for cleaning windows, taps, glass, chrome etc - use one of those lint free cloths and it's amazing!

Eucalyptus oil in warm water instead of fabric conditioner to rinse woollens - moths hate eucalyptus.

Brasso. Just great for sorting out grody chrome and stainless steel. I just cleaned a backsplash with it after trying everything else. It's the best.

Old newspapers and vinegar for windows and mirrors. Squeezed lemon halves infused in hot water to freshen a sink, or they can be stored in a jar with coarse salt for scrubbing. To get rid of greasy stickiness on kitchen cupboards, mix vegetable oil with bicarbonate of soda and a drop of lavender oil if you like and this will remove it. White spirit to remove sticky labels on jars etc.

White vinegar and bicarbonate of soda mixed into a paste removes all stains from white clothes. Dab on and soak in cold water wash as normal. Also denture cleaning tablets bring nets up white. And coke left in toilet overnight descales it

Shampoo used on collars and cuffs gets rid of greasy marks.
My best tip is carbolic soap. Fantastic stuff that can be used for so many things, antibacterial, disinfectant, skin problems, too many to list so google it.
I use it to get all types of stains out of clothes and as it’s antibacterial/mild disinfectant I used it to scrub my hands with when doing the garden.

I'll second Brasso or silvero or whatever the silver version is. Astoundingly good for anything made off metal.

Warm water and vinegar are great for reviving carpet colour. You wet a rag with that and scrub carpet. It's hard work though. Good for getting smell out too.
Soda crystals and vinegar for sink declogging and smell coming out. Pour crystals, pour vinegar, leave for a few hours and then pour boiling water.
Rubing your fingers with lemon gets rid of to tobacco yellowish tinge if you're a smoker.

Boiling water, washing up liquid, steam - gets most things clean. Salt makes a good scourer, lemons a good deodoriser. In our cleaning cupboard we have a bottle of wooden floor cleaner, a bottle of Ecover multi purpose spray, windowlene and some loo cleaner (Supermarket own brand pine scented). Oh and a can of Mr Sheen. That's all we seem to need.