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

[MakeTeaNotWar]

Loathe it I'm afraid and have a cleaner who comes once a week but the house seems a tip again the very next day. I will do a quick blitz with the vacuum cleaner and the duster if I'm expecting guests - tidy surfaces go a long way towards a "clean" looking house. Top tip is pledge down wooden tabletops for a lovely sheen. Top hate is air freshener!

[ChaosTrulyReigns]

Best tip I was ever given - clean the bathroom when it's hot and steamy - makes it unbeleivably easier.

Yay.

[legoballoon]

Not a big fan of cleaning, but like a tidy and fairly clean house. Top tips:

• Just get on with it. If you don't do it now, it'll still be there later.
  
• Use citric acid to descale kettles, dishwashers, washing machines etc. One sachet on an empty hot wash, once a month, or a sachet in a kettle full of water - boil, rinse out, good as new.
  
• Use soda crystals in your wash to soften the water, and use only half your washing powder / liquid.
  
• Don't bother hoovering or mopping floors until evening - at least they stay clean & tidy for 12 hours before the barbarian hoardes descend...

[MadameChinLegs]

I was inspired by this thread to spring clean my kitchen. It resulted in a shattered wine glass, a broken catfood bowl and a huffy husband after I made him go get the hoover.

I have learnt an important lesson though: nothing positive can come out of housework.

[CointreauVersial]

I loathe and detest cleaning, but I loathe and detest even more having a grubby house, especially if I am expecting someone over.

I tend to "binge-clean" - leave it until it really needs doing, then spend a day blitzing the house. I wish I could do "little and often" but it never quite happens.

I do most of it myself, although I sometimes press-gang DH and the DCs if the place is really messy, and it gets done so much quicker!

A couple of top tips......

Clean the shower naked before you shower in the morning, otherwise you end up soaked.

Windowlene/Windex spray is brilliant for many things apart from glass - I use it on granite, stainless steel, kitchen cabinets etc.

[shotinfoot]

I hate cleaning. My mother was very houseproud but I never lifted a finger. As a consequence I get very cross that my house is dirty but have no idea what to do about it.

I love the microwaving a bowl of water with lemon slices in it trick. Put it on full for about 4 minutes and the steam will loosen all the crap off the sides.

My Mum also used to put newspaper on tops of the kitchen cupboards so she just changed them instead of having to clean. Never quite get round to that though.

Then again, she also ironed tea towels!

[rosie17]

What is cleaning?

[aJumpedUpPantryBoy]

I hate cleaning, but I love having a clean house.

When we could afford a cleaner I used to love coming home to a gleaming house. Unfortunately I can never seem to achieve the 'whole house' clean thing.

I tend to do a room at a time - I try and keep ontop of the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom

I clean the bathroom while the bath is running - although this means the two bathrooms I never use rarely get cleaned.

Clutter is a huge problem, so I declutter as often as I can bear (am a natural hoarder) and once a week I try and make a real effort to put all the stray items away

[Solo]

I hate cleaning these days. However!
I do use a lot of vinegar; especially in the bathroom. I also use bicarb for kitchen cleaning and often combine the two for the sink drains and for cleaning out the washing machine and dishwasher.
Vinegar is great for windows and damp wiping, as it's also great for deoderising as is bi carb on spills etc.
No one else to really help out and I don't have people round.

[veryconfusedatthemoment]

I really recommend a water softner - it makes cleaning so much easier as the limescale is significantly reduced and you use a lot less product (even if it is a great product like Ecover!).

I like many others on this thread try to do little and often, but really dont always manage it.

I clean the shower just after using it - then it gets done! When DS is in the bath I clean the main bathroom whilst chatting to him so that works well for both of us.

I hate dusting - find it a waste of time as the dust seems to just resettle. But love hoovering - nothing better than a clean floor!

[CarpeJugulum]

My best tip is to do a little and often.

So everyday, after we're all up and dressed, I run a cloth round the bathroom and clean the loo - then any unexpected guests won't cause me heart failure. Same with the dusting/hoovering - I try to do a room a day; removing clutter from surfaces makes this much easier.

I don't mind cleaning if it's a little bit at a time - although sometimes a good clean is very cathartic.

Also, it's never too young to get children helping - my son is already a dab hand with a duster; provided you don't mind missed bits!

[inmysparetime]

I let the DCs set up their own in-house "cleaning company". They set the prices and do whatever cleaning they can around school. DD (age 7) does a really good job at polishing shoes for 15p a pair, and little hands are great for dusting odd little corners.

[MsNorbury]

cleaning makes me feel "sorted".
After each child everyone said " ooh let the house go" and that was really good advice but it ITCHED me that things were grimy.
I dont mind a mess at all but dirt ew

and as for cleaning the bathroom - swoon

of course my sons and husband clean - what a dumb question! its their house too.

Iam not a cleaner as i was born with a vagina

[EmLH]

I don't particularly like cleaning but do feel better once it's done. I try to do different rooms on different days rather than a whole house blitz and I think the thing that most makes it feel less like a chore is to have some really good music on whilst you're doing it.

I have also started using method products because they smell devine. The almond scented wooden floor cleaner is so yummy that I've started cleaning the floor a lot more often just to have the delicious smell wafting round the kitchen! Definitely a way for companies to attract me, and the less toxic and more Eco the better.

[Sockspence]

I'm ambivalent towards cleaning. I'm too proud to live in a dirty house but I can't seem to find any way of making the tasks particularly pleasurable.

Loud music seems to help with the old energy levels, along with picking a sunny day and opening all the windows.

My best tip? Don't clean while drunk.

[pantaloons]

My mil swears by vinegar for virtually all domestic chores.

I tend to swear by my mum, who comes round to give me a hand and helps me to keep on top of things!

[PlentyOfPubeGardens]

I've found cleaning a lot more tolerable since we've had a family rota -

Daily jobs:
washing up + laundry + cooking = 21 'slots' a week. Everybody signs up for an equal number of slots, first come first served. Cooks have to decide what they want to cook, check ingredients and add anything needed to the shopping list. They also get to choose the evening's TV.

Weekly jobs:
Everybody cleans one room (on a rota) plus their bedroom.

I still hate cleaning but don't resent it now everybody's pulling their weight.

My top eco cleaning tip is to use microfibre cloths. They're really effective with just water for loads of jobs.

Ecover washing up liquid is the best shampoo for oily hair I have ever found. I've been using it for over 10 years and my hair is always shiny and bouncy

[MustControlFistOfDeath]

Cleaning is a bit of a bore. Laundry and ironing aren't so bad, hoovering I don't mind (plus 16mo DS LOVES the hoover so it comes out every day).

I don't particularly like doing the bathrooms and windows but I do keep on top of them.

My oven should probably have ''police line do not cross'' tape around it I am planning on cleaning it this week been saying that for months

[zipzap]

I'm a loathe it when it comes to cleaning - just hate doing it, especially the bathroom. I also hate doing the washing up - when sis and I were little we used to have to do it but it seemed to always work that she washed (she hated drying) and I dried so that was lucky! Subsequently lived after college with bf and good friend - they both found it relaxing and were even known to argue about who wanted to do the wahsing up so I happily left them to it :O

ds1 on the other hand seems to love it - since he was 2 hoovering and mopping have been some of his favourite things to do - so if he is really good he is allowed to do them as a treat (talk about a win:win situation - he's now nearly 7 and he still loves to do it was much as ever!) He also enjoys dusting and has his own dustpan and brush, plus a couple of those big wriggly worm microfibre duster things he loves to use. My mum (known by ds as cleaning granny to distinguish her from granny boats who lives next to the river) loves cleaning too and always tuts at the state of the house when she comes over - one of their favourite granny/gs bonding things to do is get the spots out of the carpet Well it would be rude of me to do it when they enjoy it together so much! And ds was most put out recently when I spotted some duster slippers in the shops recently (designed for kids to have dusters on the bottom so as they run around the floor gets polished) as there weren't any in his size...

I guess my tip is to cross your fingers and hope that you end up with dc that think cleaning is a treat and do everything to encourage them!

[stickyLFDTfingers]

Soda crystals would be my tip, great for soaking very dirty/sweat ingrained clothes (eeeeuw!), great for cleaning the dishwasher/washing machine (and much cheaper than those packs you can buy), for whitening whites - fantastic stuff. And only 75p-£1 a bag.

And another one I got from here but will pass on - use an old spray bottle to put in already diluted general purpose cleaner (you can buy this at huge expense from e.g. Mr Muscle, but much cheaper to do your own), then it's always on hand for quick mopping up jobs etc.

[Bert2e]

I don't like cleaning but see it as a necessary evil as I can't stand a dirty house. Once I get going I'm normally OK but it's the getting going that's the problem so I generally do a little bit every day rather than one big session. After I've finished I feel very satisfied but that quickly turns to frustration as things get dirty again really quickly! My top tip would be vinegar as a cleaning solution, especially on chrome taps ad my stainless steel sink as it is really cheap and gets rid of all the lime scale and smears.

[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.

[Frontpaw]

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

[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.