Share your cleaning pearls of wisdom with Mr Muscle and you could win a £250 John Lewis voucher. NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

MNers have been testing the brand new Mr Muscle Touch-Up Cleaner. You can see what they thought of it here.

Here's what Mr Muscle say about the product: "Mr Muscle® Touch-Up Cleaner offers a fast and convenient solution to kill 99.99% of bacteria* and to clean the most frequently used surfaces in the home. The inventive new design makes it easy to clean surfaces and kill bacteria; simply push down on the pump to apply the formula onto a cleaning material such as a paper towel, cleaning cloth or sponge. Then, just wipe the surface clean."

As such, Mr Muscle would like to hear about Mumsnetters' top household cleaning tips and thoughts on alternative cleaning products.

So, what cleaning advice would you like to pass on to fellow MNers? Who takes responsibility for cleaning in your home? Do you have a secret to making taps shine like new? Or perhaps you have a fool-proof formula for streak free windows?

How do you/ your DP try to make cleaning more enjoyable/ less tiresome? Maybe you've developed an efficient time-saving routine? Do you take turns doing the most boring chores? Maybe you've even perfected some good tactics to avoid cleaning all together?

What features do you look for when buying a new cleaning product? Do you take into account how sustainable the product is?

Whatever your cleaning tips are, Mr Muscle would love to hear about them. Everyone who adds a comment to this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £250 John Lewis voucher.

Please note your comments may be used (anonymously of course) by Mr Muscle in PR and marketing materials, their website and possibly elsewhere so please only comment if you're happy with this.

Thanks and good luck,

MNHQ

(* When used as directed on the pack)

An old toothbrush is your friend for hard-to-reach places, like the bottoms of taps. Gets out all the scuzz very easily.

DH does all most of the cleaning in our house but I do find he neglects the little things, like limescale on taps. For these small jobs I find micro fibre cloths and wipes for the more stubborn stains work a treat and let me multitask by doing the cleaning while I'm having a shower or brushing my teeth.

I don't do complicated.

Share jobs with everyone in the household, little and often
Get everyone to take their own things back to their rooms to keep down on clutter
Washing machine on at least once a day to stop laundry piling up
use natural products if you have a septic tank (we do)
Wipe down shower with window wiper after use
Use window vac for windows, shower anywhere... Thought I wouldn't like it but actually window vac is brilliant!

I use white vinegar for removing limescale in the kitchen and bathroom
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For cleaning and removing limescale below the water line I pump a toilet brush in the water to force all of the water around the U bend and then top up over the limescale with bottles of white vinegar, sometimes I leave it overnight but usually I add a kettle full of hot water and it leaves the toilet sparkling clean.

Use biological washing powder to clean the sink.
Clean and tidy as you go.

Keep a Henry upstairs and downstairs.
Use the upstairs Henry (with the pointy attachment) to suck up mosquitos if they are keeping you awake at night.

Most cleaning jobs can be done with a bit of Stardrops and a microfibre cloth.

I'm also a big fan of white vinegar. It's brilliant at getting rid of water marks and I use it in laundry too.

Having said that, I am a bit addicted to anti-bacterial wipes. So convenient for quick clean ups!

When cleaning the loo- slosh as much water round the bend as you can, before putting bleach down. That way you can reach the normal water line to scrub it, and whatever product you're using is more concentrated. (Haven't read all the posts so I hope that's not been said)

DH and I tend to do each other's most hated household tasks. So he cleans floors more often and I do more laundry. Other stuff gets divided up as and when.

Pay people to clean! I don't have much spare money, we went without a holiday this year and last, I rarely buy clothes and when I do, mostly second hand, but I would live on cold beans before giving up my wonderful cleaner. Her three hours a week allows me to keeps things ticking over

Vodka as a cleaner?????
I can think of far better things to do with it than clean......like drink!
You must be rolling in dosh if you can afford to throw Vodka down the toilet(literally).

I second using white vinegar, always have several bottles in the house, great for cleaning windows, using newspaper to remain streak free. For the inside panes that don't get as dirty I just quickly wipe over the glass with the used newspaper from the outside panes.
I put a splash of vinegar in the washing machine one a month, it keeps it smelling fresh believe it or not, and prevents lime scale!

Cleaning.....well washing. Stick a load on and use delay timer to make it come on in morning so its finished when you get up. Do it every day or so and washing doesn't mount up.

If visitors coming dirty dishes in washing up bowl with liquid/hot water.
Toilet cleaner down pan, quick wipe over of sink/taps.
Quick hoover. Instantly makes things look better.

Lower your standards and keep trying!

For burnt on food fill the dish with a dishwasher tablet and boiling water, leave to soak (ideally overnight) and wipe clean.

If your sink, bath or shower is really blocked with hair, squeeze a tube of cheap hair removal cream down the plug hole and leave it to work.

Have a ticklist of daily, weekly and monthly jobs. This will avoid the sudden realisation that you've neglected something, like the spare room, for 6 months and have to spend hours doing it before your PILs arrive to stay for the weekend.

Baby wipes! Great for stainless steel. I always do the front of the cooker, microwave, toaster, fridge and kettle with them. They sparkle! Also great for removing the sticky residue left by shop stickers.

Also I will only buy things when they are on offer. I used to hang shirts to dry on clothes horse then fold when dry.DH puts them on hangers to dry and they need far less ironing.

Baby wipes are amazing for lots of things particularly getting muck off fabrics/upholstery. Ds1 had his first day at school yesterday and came home with lasagne down his tie - a baby wipe cleaned it off very successfully and he looks as smart this morning as he did yesterday morning without me having to wash his tie last night - result

My top tip for cleaning is to be tidy and clutter free. It takes no time at all to keep a house clean if it isn't covered in clutter. I try to keep my kitchen and bathroom surfaces as clutter free as possible - then it is really easy to wipe them down.

Windows - vinegar and newspaper.
Carpets & upholstery - really come up well with the steam cleaner
Limescale - citric acid crystals or vinegar

Little and often would be my other top tip. Much easier to keep on top of things than wait until it is a massive undertaking.

I use the paper you get for packing when you move house to clean windows. It is just like newspaper but with no ink! And also means it gets a reuse before recycling.
I try to only use eco products for cleaning as I don't want to use chemicals and perfumes constantly, but I do chuck some drain cleaner down the shower sometimes as it gets clogged up with hair (post natal fall out!) and that keeps the plughole draining freely.

I try to make cleaning more enjoyable by listening to some dance music, you forget your cleaning and it's great exercise too !

I always keep old toothbrushes as they are fantastic for cleaning around taps, window sills and other hard to reach places.

When I'm looking to buy cleaning products I like to buy something that smells pleasant and is really effective.

My top tip is to invite someone over as that is my best incentive to whip around cleaning the house before they arrive. Once a week is best : )

but I also use the window cleaner to dry off the shower walls and once a week I put bleach in all the loos when I leave the house in the morning (but you have to remember to flush them before the kids come home and use them!)

Although dh and I share the cleaning, I do more of the day to day stuff. I normally do a big clean on a Friday night, so then I can relax for the rest of the weekend.

Get a stair basket and use it.

Clean skirting boards with baby wipes. I don't know what's in those things but they clean everything. Even babies.

Ikea sell packs of 10 face flannels for £3: use them as cleaning cloths when they're too grey and sad for cleaning faces any more. They're particularly good for windows.

Get the kids interested in helping with the cleaning from an early age. When they are really small they think it's a game, but unfortunately this doesn't last, so you might need bribery then.

My Nana taught me to clean windows using newspaper and a little vinegar in the water instead of window cleaner. It works really well, with no marks or streaks.

Clean the bathroom after a hot shower when everything is steamy- helps soften any grime and saves half the time!

Or spray mr muscle everywhere before getting into the shower, then afterwards just rinse clean!