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)

[mercibucket]

buy a steam cleaner, sit back and watch everyone fight to use it! kids love it

[NomDeClavier]

Old baby muslins make wonderfully soft dusters for china and so on and dry glassware beautifully

[CrayolaLola]

Keep a small box of tissues in the kitchen - I still get through a ridiculous amount of kitchen roll but tissues are handy for really little jobs like drying washed fruit or a quick wipe of the work top when you've made a coffee etc.

Wet wipes are great for cleaning the sofa, tiled floors and venetian blinds as well as getting the smears off of chrome stuff in the kitchen.

Bathroom shelves/tiles are much easier to clean when the room is all steamy.

Now & then, I also remove and soak the soap powder compartment of the washing machine in a mixture of anti-bac spray and soap powder - makes it lovely and clean and gets rid of that black mould that can sometimes build up.

Cleaning and wiping the radiators with diluted fabric softener keeps them looking good and they also smell lovely when the heating comes on.

Non bio soap powder combined with anti-bac spray is brilliant at cleaning stubborn stains from carpets - especially vomit... as I discovered in desperation when the dc's had norovirus last winter!

[WafflyVersatile]

I'm sure Mr Muscle used to do a kitchen cleaner with orange oil but it doesn't seem to exist any longer. So my pearl of wisdom would be reinstate it or start doing one because that is the feature I look for when choosing one.

[troutchicken]

cif or any non-brand on alternative is fab for spring cleaning / deep cleaning

use sparingly on damp cloth to remove dirty marks off emulsioned walls (great in kitchen near the bin!) and on PVC window frames!

[desertbaby]

Since having two children I've discovered that almost anything can be cleaned with a baby wipe inbetween the re work!

[littlemonkeychops]

I've made DD's bathtime the time to clean the bathroom. Seeing as i have to be close at hand anyway it makes good use of the time. I clean the shower/loo/sink quickly whild she plays, then give the bath a wipe over as soon as she gets out. We sing songs etc, makes a chore easy to tick off the list!

[Jammybean]

My motto is little and often. I hoover our wooden floors every day mop once a week. I like multi use anti bac products that i can use throughout the house. The bathrooms are done a every couple of days. And I try to do the ironing after each load. There's nothing worse than 3hrs of ironing on an afternoon!

[swallowedAfly]

get an old antibacterial squirt bottle. put in water, a good splosh of vinegar, some lemon juice and a spoon of honey. shake vigorously and you have a fantastic window, screen and mirror cleaner. really does work.

[primroseyellow]

I second the orange oil cleaner.

[orangepudding]

Put your house on the market, it will ensure you do a deep clean and de-clutter!

[timidviper]

I also try to do the little and often. A shower or sink wiped over each day after use will not need a deep clean as it never gets filthy. I have put the Mr Muscle Touch Up Cleaner in the bathroom for this and will feed back progress on the other thread soon.

E-cloths are great for areas like kitchens with different surfaces such as wood, granite, stainless steel

I use baby wipes on leather (it's all skin whether it's on a baby or a sofa)

Run a hot wash with a cup of soda crystals once a fortnight to stop washer smelling

[Madamecastafiore]

Keep on top of the day to day stuff.

Employ someone to do the rest.

[camtt]

clean when you're alone - less shouting and no-one messes it up straight away

don't let it all build up, keep doing a little at a time so that it doesn't get to the stage of feeling like an impossible task

if there's something you really hate doing, see if someone else can agree to take on that one thing, or outsource!

[Lazycoon]

Antibacterial hand gel for everything Before my son was born I ordered a big bottle with pump (the one they have in hospitals). It meant to be for hands only. I ended up using it everywhere. Even cleaning my phone screen. Just need to apply it on something like kitchen towel or cotton pad.

[MakeTeaNotWar]

Wipe as you go, get children to put one toy back for each new one they take out and out washing up brushes in the dishwasher to keep them clean

[GetKnitted]

Only clean to music that makes you happy

[TheIndisputableRuth]

Every year pils buy us a bottle of undrinkable drink -e.g. Cointreau which we have found brilliant for removing wax crayon marks on any type of wall surface and getting sweat out of underarm bit of shirts.

[swallowedAfly]

OH MY GOD!!!!

you use cointreau to clean? are you mad?

bloody heathen.

[swallowedAfly]

dear god! cointreau being used to clean crayon marks? hideous waste. tumbler, lots of ice, cointreau, heaven.

[swallowedAfly]

that is going to bother me for years.

[ILoveAFullFridge]

Tell you what, Ruth, I'll swap you my vodka for your Cointreau.

Cleaning with Cointreau...I dunno...what is the world coming to.

BTW, whoever it was shocked AT&T splashing vodka down the loo: I don't. Bleach goes down the loo. Vodka goes in a spray bottle for glass and taps, or added to soapy water for general cleaning, or neat as spot treatemt in laundry.

[swallowedAfly]

vodka is one thing but cointreau ffs. i think this is the most horrified i've ever been by a post on mn.

aibu to feed my 6mo mars bars? aibu to kill my neighbours cat because it did a poo in my veggie patch? i've seen some things but calling cointreau undrinkable and using it as a cleaning product is beyond the pale i tell you.

[K8Middleton]

OMG. What do you rub the Cointreau on with Ruth? Cashmere sweaters?!

[swallowedAfly]

criminal. tbh MNHQ should track her IP address and allow us to go liberate that cointreau. it is inhumane for it to be in the care of such a heathen.