Basket case alert

[TheOddity]

Now I am trying to be a cleaner and tidier person and was cleaning out DS's bedroom this morning when I properly inspected one of the wicker baskets that held some of his toys. It was literally green with mouldy dust. Totally unhealthy, it had been festering under his bed (my fault, he's only 3).

So before I threw it out, I googled cleaning wicker baskets. To my surprise I have discovered you can fully immerse wicker in something like a bath and some washing up liquid and after a quick wash it has come up like new!

Now going to find all things wicker in the house. Current basket is trying outside.

Thought I would pass on this gem of wisdom in case you want a new cleaning project that is very quick and satisfying!

slightly off-topic, but green with mouldy dust suggests excessive humidity. If you are in the UK, try to open the windows more. The biggest cause of excess humidity, condensation and mould in UK homes is wet washing draped indoors. If you have no alternative, hang it in the bathroom with the extractor running, which will suck the water vapour out, and the door and window shut to prevent it blowing round your home.

Thanks PigletJohn. We live in Italy and it has been a boiling summer, plus in the winter that wall the basket was next to was damp because the apartment above had a leaky balcony so you are spot on there! Cleaned the wall once the leak was fixed and applied anti mould paint, just never got round to the stuff under the bed.

We have wall to wall sunshine here so luckily the washing is always outside and windows are always open! ;-)