By Howard Brady
When you are running a busy household, keeping on top of the cleaning can be a never-ending battle. Yet the alternative of paying for regular professional cleaning is likely to account for an unaffordably large chunk of your monthly budget.
The good news is, however, there are ways to improve the appearance of your home, all of which can be achieved in under an hour. And better still, you can expect the results to last for a lot longer…
1. Change the light bulbs
Dead light bulbs are not only unsightly but create shadows in the room. Stock up on energy-saving bulbs – they last eight times longer than standard bulbs and use 80 per cent less power – and replace each one. Don’t forget to check first if you require bayonet or screw-in.
2. Say goodbye to your clutter
When you see something every day it becomes easy not to notice – and clutter that builds up slowly is a good example. Be ruthless and get rid of things that you don’t need, either at the charity shop, on Freecycle.org or – if the items are in good condition – sell them on eBay.
3. Uncover floor space
Shoes, bags, coats and vacuum cleaners are all too often left lying around in the hallway, leaving a large chunk of carpet hidden away. Free up your floor space by storing the vacuum in a cupboard, fitting a rack to the wall for shoes and screwing in hooks for coats. The same area will suddenly appear twice the size.
4. Target your vacuuming
When time is in short supply, target the vacuuming to the three rooms you use the most. You might vacuum the hall every day for example, but the spare bedroom just once a fortnight.
5. Get grouting back to white
An old tooth brush, some bleach and a little elbow grease will remove the build up of dirt between tiles and can make your bathroom look as good as new.
6. Clean the windows – inside as well as out
You may have a window cleaner who visits every month – but when is the last time they came through the front door? Dirt, grease and finger marks build up on the inside of the windows so get this side cleaned too. Your rooms will suddenly seem a whole lot brighter.
7. Remove stains from the carpet
Stains on the carpet are inevitable, especially when you have a young family – but this doesn’t mean they need to be a permanent fixture. Invest in some carpet cleaner, such as 1001 Carpet Shampoo, and take charge of each stain. For such little effort, you’ll wonder why they’d been sticking around so long.
8. Cut the grass
A once-over in the garden with the lawnmower can make the world of difference to the first impressions of your home. If you have active children who play outside, put down grass seed containing rye as it will help protect the lawn.
9. Get rid of limescale build-up
In hard-water areas, the build-up of lime scale can be phenomenal. If you had been losing the battle, regain your ground with some heavy-duty limescale remover. Target areas around plug holes, the base of taps, the toilet pan and shower screens. Leave the substance to work for a few hours, come back and rinse off.
10. Polish brass
It may sound old fashioned but brass doorknobs and knockers, letter boxes and steps that have been cleaned so they shine look nothing short of grand. Invest in some specialist brass cleaner and get to work. You might even find it therapeutic.
