NOW CLOSED: Cleaning - Love it or Loathe it: talk to Ecover - you could win a £200 John Lewis voucher!

[AnnMumsnet]

Ecover would like to know about your top cleaning tips - whether you use tried and tested advice passed down from generation to generation, or you have recently stumbled across a magic remedy. What is your best eco friendly cleaning tip?

Also, Ecover are interested in how cleaning makes you feel. Do you see it as a therapeutic Sunday afternoon activity that you look forward to or do you do anything and everything else to put off the chore? Perhaps you multi task and combine cleaning with an energetic, calorie-burning routine, or maybe you encourage your DCs to give a helping hand? Or does your DH/DP do it all?

Are you so house-proud you spend an hour cleaning before letting anyone through the front door or do guests get to see it how it is - whatever state that may be?

All those who do add their tips or comments to this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £200 John Lewis voucher.

Your comments and tips may be used anonymously on Ecover's website and possibly elsewhere.


Thanks and good luck with the prize draw

[AnnMumsnet]

Thanks for all the tips and comments - am pleased to say foxeeroxee wins the £200 John Lewis voucher...well done!

[kate234]

I hate chemicals over all the surfaces. I squirt a bit of eco friendly all purpose cleaner into an old ecover spray bottle, fill with water and voila, spray away over hob, sinks and cupboards and surfaces. Use a glass cleaner cloth, buff with a tea towel and it sparkles. The lemon in the cleaner cuts right through grease better than anything else. No need for harsh chemicals. Oven window kept really clean with a thick paste of bicarb of soda, leave to dry, bit of elbow grease. Really just a bit of elbow grease needed, not loads.

[glenthebattleostrich]

I hate cleaning, there is so much more to life than a clean oven!!

Saying that I'm yet to meet the dirt that bicarb, lemon juice and vinegar can't shift, they are better than any cleaning product I've found.

I have a cleaning rota and do 2 rooms a day, with a big clean once per month.

My best tip though, hire a good cleaner!!!

[ProbablyJustGas]

The vinegar trick really does work. Neat white vinegar on a rag or sponge has helped me clean the grease off my cooker hood. Mixing it with water and lemon juice has done a fine job of cleaning up gunk that the green caddy left behind (ew). Deodorized it too (sort of ... still smells like vinegar, but better than old food).

Using Cif cream on the oven door got it clean in hurry, no need for harsher Mr Muscle chemicals.

I hate cleaning, but prefer to live in a clean house. When it gets to tip-like state, we spend a Saturday or Sunday doing jobs here and there. My husband and I split it up, mainly along the lines of who can be bothered with what.

I do spruce up before guests come over. It makes them more comfortable, I think. My mother in law is also very critical and does not think it inappropriate to scold; this is mainly avoidable if I wipe down the counters, get the dishes done and perhaps hoover before she comes over. She thinks I am tidy on a regular basis. Ha.

[Size6feet]

I love cleaning and find it very satisfying.

I sometimes clean to music.
I dont see it as a chore I just think of the calories I'm burning and giving my auld body a workout as I'm not a sedate cleaner! (I may have a bit of OCD.)
e cloths are ok up to a point but I still believe you cant beat cotton towelling for picking up the dirt and holding on to it. (and they're organic and degradeable).

Everything has a place and this makes it easier to find things and keep the house running smoothly.

Its no show home - just my home.

I dont have time to waste looking for stuff. I go out to work, so my time is precious. I dont know why people put this activity down. It has so many benefits going for it. Satisfaction in a job done well.

Tip: spray or wipe on then give it a few seconds to sink in. Marks come off more easily.

Tip:I use a wooden cocktail stick to get into little crevices on appliances.

[FannyPriceless]

I love it when the house is clean! Especially on a sunny spring morning with the french doors open to the garden, and everything just right. (Obviously the kids are out of the house in this fantasy sequence.)

Hate cleaning though. No, don't hate cleaning. I just hate the time it takes. I am convinced I do a better job than anyone else, which may explain why it takes so long...

My only tips is to keep some cleaning wipes and loo cleaner in the bathroom cupboard, so you can do a frantic wipe of the most important bits if someone is dropping by.

[Athlebad]

Tips:

1. talcum powder is amazing for removing oil/fat stains from fabric (even old stains that have been there for a while). Just pile it on to the stained area (when the fabric is dry), rub it in a bit and leave it. Wash as normal the next day. If it doesn't all come out the first time, repeat. (If the stain is on upholstery, put the talc on it, leave overnight then vaccuum it off).
   
2. Put tissue or kitchen roll soaked in vinegar around taps and leave for a while (an hour or so) to dissolve limescale build-up.
   
   I HATE cleaning!

[3BoysAndBusy]

My top tips are:

1. Just do 5 minutes if you can't face any longer - it gets me started and usually I will keep going for longer.
   
2. Tell everyone that you are fine with them leaving their special belongings all over the house. It's not a problem - I will happily tidy them into the garage and will do so in 5 minutes. That usually gets people tidying up quickly.
   
3. Apply the same rule to the children's floors - I automatically assume anything on the floor is rubbish and bin it. The children's floors are so much cleaner these days!
   
4. Keep the hall floor completely clear (apart from when I am lining up bags for the following morning). It looks so much better now.
   
5. Bin anything that is left unwanted in a pile... Definitely don't ask - just bin it. Otherwise the children (and the husband) keep everything. And I really do mean everything.
   
   I echo the general theme of little and often. It's taken me years and years to get the hang of a reasonably tidy house. Although it's gone to pot recently with the arrival of a baby.

[pennwood]

A toothbrush will go round taps & plug holes quickly & easily. A blusher brush will dust intricate ornaments, & fancy light fittings. Wipe the oven out while it is warm every time & you never get to it being a mammoth task or costing for a professional clean. Same with the microwave, just a quick wipe after use. Little and often is my motto with cleaning, but a home is for living in, not looking like a magazine feature, and the chores will still be there when the children have grown up and gone!

[Tolalola]

Ugh, I hate, hate, hate cleaning.

I try to keep on top of it my doing an hour or so of tidying/cleaning a day so that it never gets dreadful.

I do try to clean/tidy before people come over as well. I have small children, 2 big dogs and a muddy garden, so it can get pretty dirty pretty fast.

Big vats of vinegar work a treat on lots of cleaning ishoooes ime.

[SiameseIfYouPlease]

When it's time to change the hand towel in the bathroom, I wipe it round the sink to shine it, then 'dust' the skirting and floor with it. Very Eco- its going to be washed anyway!

[GladysLeap]

Cleaning was always DH's job. All of a sudden it's mine (he hasn't died or anything, just seems to have decided he doesn't have to do anything), and after 28 years I don't actually know how to do it . Not only that I don't have time and I hate it. You can spend hours getting the house to look visitor-friendly then within 10 mins of the rest of the family getting up/ coming home it looks like you didn't bother.

[TaffsGotADirtySecret]

I love a clean house I just hate cleaning. My greatest pleasure going back to work has been employing a cleaner. I love her on a par with dh. Bicarb in a shallow dish in fridge good for neutralising smells.

[StellaAndFries]

I don't enjoy cleaning but I enjoy the satisfaction I get from having a clean house, my top tip is I live in a hard water area and use white vinegar to prevent the limescale build up, I remove all of the water from the toilet and fill it past the waterline with the white vinegar then add a kettle of hot water and the limescale disappears, if taps are limescaled I soak kitchen roll in white vinegar and wrap it around the taps and in the morning the limescale has gone.

[BenderBendingRodriguez]

on hot sunny days, i have been known to strip to my underwear and scrub the floors while listening to mambo music. loud angry rock is a better soundtrack for jobs you hate, e.g. cleaning the fucking oven.

[Frontpaw]

No. Vinegar and brown paper is for fixing cracked crowns.

[TheScottishPlayer]

My mum swears by vinegar/water and newspaper for cleaning windows window, but I tend to just use kitchen roll and window cleaner. I really would like to use less chemicals in cleaning, but I never quite get round to it. I use quite a few ecover products and avoid using bleach as a nod to the environment.

I'm not a huge fan of cleaning, although occasionally I find myself in the mood for a blitz. I try and keep on top of things in a 'little and often' approach which helps. I'm a fan of the iphone 'home routines app'.

DS is only 3 so doesn't do much around the house, although his job is to tidy his toys away and he likes to make the beds which I then re-do

If we've got visitors I definitely like to have a cleaning blitz. Friends and family would say that we've got a lovely clean house - if only they knew!

[trice]

I like method cleaning products. They are pretty colours and they smell nice (deeply shallow emoticon). Ecover laundry liquid is lovely for sheets though - makes them smell fabulous and doesn't aggravate itchy skin.

I like flushable bathroom wipes. I know they will destroy the environment and block my drains (they do usually go in the bin) but I like to flush the grimness down the loo. I also use disposable gloves.

Not that often though. I stay environmentally friendly by living in a grubby tip.

[bibbityisaporker]

I hate cleaning and am the world's untidiest person, but I also hate dirt ... and this is why I always say if it was a choice between my husband and my cleaner well, I'd miss my husband but he could visit occasionally and I wouldn't stop the children from seeing him .

Top tips:

Stop using bleach. It stinks, is environmentally disastrous and there is nothing you can do with bleach that can't be done another way.

Stains on white clothes will almost completely disappear, or at least fade quite dramatically, if you peg them out in bright sunlight.

Boiling water is a great cleaner. If I have a cup of coffee or tea and know that I am not going to have another one soon, I pour what's left in the kettle over my dishcloth and sponge to keep the bacteria at bay. Also use boiling water and a little squirt of washing up liquid to clean the food waste caddy in the kitchen.

Washing up brushes can be washed in the dishwasher.

(Not just saying this, I really mean it) Ecover multi action spray in the squirty bottle is the best general kitchen cleaner ever!

[KatieMiddleton]

Cold water. Not food water...

[KatieMiddleton]

I also add a scoop of soda crystals to the wash to use less detergent. I also use it on pans and dishes that I dh has burnt stuff onto. I make it into a paste and leave it on to break down the yuk then just rinse off with boiling water. I also use hot water to wash floors because it dries quicker.

A kettle of boiling water down the plug holes and in the soap powder drawer of the washing machine is a quick lazy way of keeping on top of things. Especially in the washing machine where in hard water areas detergent can cling to the drawer a bit.

Oh, and I'm a big fan of Milton liquid. The food water stuff. I chuck all ds's plastic tat in the bath and add cold water and Milton liquid. Then leave it for a couple of hours and then let the water out and let it dry. The odd thing might need a wipe but generally if you tip all the water out you can let it drip dry.

I have trained DS to do the laundry. He is 2yo.

[toomuchmonthatendofthemoney]

Hate it. Takes away from my MN, cake and coffee time.

My top tip when ds was little - go out. Less time in the house = less time to make mess. My top tip now would be, don't get a dog. I did and my floors and sofa have taken a hammering.

Try to be Eco aware. Use ecover multi purpose spray, microfiber cloths and enjo floor cleaning mop thingy, all very good. Open windows every day, loathe the fake chemically smell of air freshners.

Would love either a cleaner or a husband who will respond to the repeated attempts to train him to put his stuff away, neither seems within reach now or in the future. Will do my best with ds for sake of future partner.

[Frontpaw]

I am of the Quentin Crisp school of dusting. Once it gets to be an inch thick, it won't get any worse.

[Petrean]

I actually enjoy it for the most part (hate ironing but that's a whole other topic). My tip.. Well stay on top of it and have a mass clear out and clean three times a year. I'm taking annual leave to have a mass clear out and clean on Thursday. Treat it like a project, plan it so you know exactly what needs doing in each room and how long you have to do it and that way you can't get sidetracked.