24 Hour Spring Clean Challenge

Spring cleaning is a task I love and loathe in equal measure.  I love it because it is a sign of new beginnings, a clean and tidy house ready for the start of the spring season after the cold and dark winter months. A fresh start with a new uncluttered outlook and shiny, new disposition. But I also hate it, simply because of the enormity of the challenge.  Where do you even begin?  Where do you find the motivation to get up and start the monumental task?

This year, I have been challenged to take on the 24 hour Spring Clean Challenge.  The gauntlet has been laid to see if I can clean my house from top to bottom in just one day.  I love a good challenge, so this is exactly the motivation I need to get on my rubber gloves and blitz every room from my bedroom to the bathroom. They sent me the cleaning products I'd need, plus some wine to celebrate once the job was done.

Spring cleaning has a great hidden benefit too.  It burns calories!  So not only does my house get a good deep clean - I get a good work-out! Plus, if you get a good mood boosting playlist together, you can have some fun and get some moves a-busting while you do the dusting!  I blasted out a bit of Meatloaf's Bat Out of Hell to get me in the mood for some hardcore cleaning action.


The Spring Cleaning Schedule

9.00 - Get prepared with a good breakfast to give you all the energy you need for the challenge ahead.

ROOM 1 - The Kitchen

9.30 - For many people, the oven is the most dreaded and the messiest household chore, but you can make light work of it by using a specialist oven cleaning product such as Oven Pride.  You simply place the shelves and trays into the bags provided with the product and then spread the remaining product around the inside of the oven. (Making sure you wear protective gloves!)  This is then left until the next morning.

When it comes to oven cleaning, I actually feel a little bit smug!  As vegetarians, we don't get any dripping animal fat or meat spatter and so my oven stays pretty clean, glass door and all...so this job isn't the worst task for me at all.

10.00 - Start the surface deep clean. Using an antibacterial spray wipe over all the surfaces and under all the appliances.  Making all the work surfaces germ-free clean helps keep the family safe from a whole range of nasty bacteria.

10.15 - Spray the sink, taps and draining board with antibacterial spray and Limelite, being sure to clean all the crevices.  Finish by pouring some bleach down the drain for a hygienically clean sink. Don't forget to clean the draining rack, they get really mucky!

10.30 - Using Erase Away magic erasers, erase all those dirty finger marks and smudges from the cupboard doors and appliances.  They work remarkably well and I even managed to shift some stubborn marks from the hob!

11.00 - It's time for a coffee and a healthy snack to restore energy levels.

11.15 - Now it's time to tackle the cupboards.  Chuck out long forgotten items that have been lurking in the depths of the cupboards. Make sure the items with the shortest dates are most accessible. Move the smallest things to the front. Donate any unwanted tins and packets to the local food bank.  Clean the shelves as you go, using anti-bacterial spray. It's so nice to have well organised, easily managed cupboards in the kitchen. Using plastic containers to store all the fiddly, little bits and bobs makes it easier to manage the contents!

ROOM 2  - The Bathroom

11.45 - Get ready to don those rubber gloves!  Spray the shower, bath, sink and plug with Limelite spray to remove limescale and prevent future build up.  Use antibacterial spray on all the other surfaces and finish with a good squirt of bleach around the toilet bowl. Throw out and recycle all those empty bottles of shower gel and cans of hairspray and check your make-up bag for any cosmetics that you've not used for months.  Make-up harbours germs and shouldn't be kept for too long.

The Limelite Active Gel and the spray clean incredibly well.  I was very impressed that the gel shifted the build up from around the taps and the plug.  I used the spray on my glass shower door and also on the shower head and both came up really clean.

12.15 - Time for a well deserved lunch break!

ROOM 3 - The Living Room

1.15 - You're half way there  - but now it's time to tackle what's under the sofa.  I once found half a slightly fossilised crumpet under mine, along with various pieces of LEGO, toy cars and some rogue Smarties!  I use a long handled broom to reach right under the couch.

I have a leather sofa and have found that baby wipes do an excellent job of cleaning it. If you have a fabric sofa, you can hoover it and plump up the cushions. Give the TV stand and the DVD player, Sky+ Box, games consoles etc a good dusting. They attract so much dust!

The Hallway

1.45 - Get the kids involved by challenging them to remove marks from the walls using an Erase Away eraser. They love to help, and if pointed in the right direction can be pretty useful for the task in hand.

ROOM 4 - The Bedroom

2.00 - The biggest challenge in  my bedroom is my wardrobe.  It's stuffed with clothing in sizes 12 through to 18, with some items that haven't seen the light of day since before the millennium!  Spring cleaning is a great opportunity for a brutal clear out.  If you haven't worn in it 12 months, you are unlikely to ever wear it!  So chuck it out...and donate it to the local charity shop.  They benefit from your generous donation and your wardrobe no longer resembles the entrance to Narnia!

3.00 - Take a break...it's almost over!

3.15 - Vacuum all carpets and floorspace.  Shift the furniture to get underneath and eliminate all those dust bunnies that have been gathering.  Use the vacuum cleaner hose in the corners of the ceiling to get rid of any lurking cobwebs. You can't keep making the excuse that you are nurturing them for next Halloween!

3.45 - Dust the remaining furniture and freshen up any non-wood surfaces with anti-bacterial spray. Give the light switches and door handles a quick clean too, they can get so mucky!

4.15 -  With your house looking clean and tidy, you can pat yourself on the back for a job well done. You will have burned an estimated 800 calories so why not treat yourself to a glass of wine and a takeaway (after all your oven is out of action until you finish cleaning it by wiping away the Oven Pride and rinsing the shelves at 9.00 in the morning, completing the 24 hour spring clean challenge!)

Make Household Chores Less of a Nightmare this Spring

Spring is the perfect time of year to sort out those household niggles and give your home a thorough deep clean. But if the idea of donning your rubber gloves fills you with dread, you are not alone.

A recent survey by Oven Pride, the number one oven cleaning brand, found that a staggering 316 million ‘little household jobs’ currently need attention in Britain’s homes.  According to the survey, these are the top ten most disliked and often avoided jobs around the home.

TOP 10 MOST DISLIKED CHORES

1.    Cleaning the oven

2.    Cleaning the windows

3.    Hoovering the stairs

4.    Cleaning the toilet

5.    Dusting

6.    Scrubbing the roasting tin

7.    Removing hair from plug

8.    Defrosting the freezer

9.    Ironing shirts

10. Unblocking the sink or plug hole

In fact, these jobs are so dreaded that 45 per cent of people admitted to being kept awake at night over a job that they haven’t been able to cross off their to-do list. A tenth of people have a job at home that they’ve put off doing for over five years, with three in ten putting one off for at least 12 months.

The survey revealed that almost half of us currently have dirty ovens waiting to be cleaned. With so many of us shutting the door on this nightmare task, it is perhaps no surprise that it has been named as the number one most hated household chore by more than 55% of those asked.

Oven Pride provides an all-in-one solution that can be used on the whole of your oven, making oven cleaning less of a nightmare this spring.  Oven Pride’s powerful, fume-free and easy-to-use formula transforms racks and grills, making excessive scrubbing and scouring a thing of the past. Simply apply the formula to the areas that need to be cleaned and leave it to soak for a minimum of 4 hours or ideally overnight. Then simply remove the residue with a sponge or cloth and rinse the inside of the oven and racks with plenty of hot soapy water.

We were sent a sample of Oven Pride and used it to clean my son's oven.  It wasn't a pleasant task with baked on grease and spatters of burnt food to contend with.  However the Oven Pride came with rubber gloves which made the task a bit less grim.  The gel-like solution was applied to the surfaces of the oven and after a few hours was wiped away bringing the yucky, brown grease with it.  The racks fit into sealable bags allowing them to be immersed in the cleaner easily and safely, which is a very clever way of cleaning them. We left them overnight and forgot about them until morning when they just needed rinsing with hot, soapy water.  The Oven Pride definitely shifted a lot of the burnt on grease from the surfaces and the racks, making the oven look a lot cleaner.  It's never going to be a pleasant job, but for mucky ovens Oven Pride definitely makes it an easier job.

That is one chore that can now be crossed off the to-do list when it comes to spring cleaning!

Oven Pride retails at £3.99 and is available from all major supermarkets.

This post is brought to you in conjunction with Oven Pride.

Karcher Steam Cleaner Review

The Kärcher range of Steam Cleaners for the home, provide an environmentally friendly, quick and convenient way of deep cleaning hard surfaces in the home.  They can be used practically anywhere, making it possible to clean hard floor surfaces, fittings and much more with little effort and without the need for  harsh chemicals, making them safe for all the family and kinder on the planet. The tried and tested Kärcher quality of these machines ensures that  floors, tiles and windows will be thoroughly cleaned and shiny after use.

Kärcher sent me a Steam Cleaner (model SC 2.500 C) to try out.  The cylinder steam cleaner is designed with two tanks, including a removable and refillable tank, for non-stop steam so you can finish jobs faster.  It is very easy and intuitive to use.  It comes with attachments for different jobs and we were keen to experiment with them all to see which household chores could be tackled.  It came with the following accessories:

Steam hose with gun (2 m)

Detail nozzle

Hand tool

Round brush

Terry cloth cover for hand tool

Terry floor cloth

Floor tool

I was very impressed with how quickly the water heated up.  In just 6 minutes we were ready to go.  Pulling the trigger on the handle released a puff of steam which cut through grease and grime with ease.  It worked wonders on the laminate and tiled floors, cleanly deeply and hygienically with the floor tool and terry cloth cover.  It picked up dirt from the grout and left the floor really clean.  The floor dried quickly afterwards.  It was excellent for the bathrooms where the small attachment allowed us to clean right up to the awkwardly shaped toilet bowls. It cleaned the tiling with ease. The skirting boards were also treated to a deep clean and it cleaned some marks that I thought couldn't be removed.  Very impressive.

We used the steam cleaner to clean the tiled shower unit and it was excellent at blasting away the build up in the shower door.  It also washed away a lot of the soap scum from the grout.  It is great knowing our shower is hygienically clean without resorting to chemical cleaners.  I also gave my sink a clean around the taps and down the overflow.  These hard to clean areas were tackled with ease using a jet of steam.  I really got carried away with the versatility and efficiency of the Kärcher Steam Cleaner, which worked so well on so many jobs around the home.  

I took a chance to see if the steam cleaner was suitable for cleaning some stubborn stains from the upstairs carpets.  I have tried upholstery spray but it didn't touch them, so I had nothing to lose.  I was delighted that the steam lifted the stain from the pile and, once dried, the carpet was stainless for the first time in months!

Ian is usually the only one to get excited about household gadgets, but we both loved this one.  It is a versatile steam cleaner engineered for hygienic, environmentally-friendly, deep cleaning without the need for chemicals. It is a natural and environmentally-friendly solution that provides a family-friendly alternative from chemical cleaners that aggravate allergies and are harmful to children.  According to an independent study conducted by Allergy UK it also has been proven to remove:

• 99.99% of House dust mites 
• 99.83% of Cat allergens 
• 99.01% of Dog allergens 
• 99.37% of Pollen allergens 
• 100% of Fungal spores 

It did so many jobs around the house, powering through the dirt on laminate, floor tiles, bathroom tiles, sinks, shower units, glass and paintwork.  It even cleaned away my carpet stain.  We went to town testing this steam cleaner and only had to refill the tank once so it is long lasting and efficient too.

It all fits back into the box after use for storage, ready to use to deep clean the house next time.  I seriously cannot praise this item enough, and anything that gets me this excited about housework really must be exceptionally good!  I love knowing that my house is hygienically clean and safe for my family.  It is now as much of a must have item for housework as my vacuum cleaner.

The Kärcher Steam Cleaners start at £129.99.  (The model we received is £219.99 RRP).  Other accessories are available to purchase separately.

Find out more and shop online for Kärcher UK Home and Garden products at www.karcher.co.uk

Top Tips For Housework (a.k.a. Domestic Chores Made Easy!!)

The job of a stay at home parent can become a never ending cycle of household duties. As soon as kids come on the scene, domestic bliss can become replaced by domestic drudgery.  From the ever growing washing pile that sometimes threatens to consume the entire house, to the dust that taunts you by returning to your surfaces almost immediately after you have dusted, housework is quite simply a chore of monumental proportions.

Over the years I have learned tips, hints and short cuts to make my life easier and my house cleaner.  Any technique to reduce the hours spent on housework means I can free up hours to do my own thing!  This blog doesn't write itself you know!!

Here are my top ten tips for easy, breezy cleaning and happy housework!

1: Top To Bottom...In any room that you are cleaning, work from the top down.  Tackle cobwebs first (unless it's Halloween when you can pass them off as 'au naturel' room decorations).  Then lamp shades before dusting your blinds or curtain rails, polishing surfaces and finally vaccuuming the floor.  Otherwise you will be showering yourself and your previously cleaned furniture in dirt.  Don't make more work for yourself!

2: Washing-Up...My biggest tip is to put all your cutlery dirty end down into a jug of soapy water.  By the time you have finished washing up, your knives, forks and spoons will be sparkling clean with minimum effort, plus you won't be chasing them around the bottom of the sink!  None of that fiddly cutlery cleaning.

3:  Oven Cleaning...Avoidance is Better than Cleaning!  Simple rules like not overfilling pans or casseroles, covering things with foil to avoid greasy splashes and using a baking sheet underneath the shelf that you are using, will avoid the burnt on messes that are so difficult to clean!  Simple.

4:  Cleaning Windows or Mirrors...Forget using fluffy cloths which make this job so frustrating, use a scrumpled up  piece of newspaper to polish up your glass.  It is much easier and less messy to get a good shine.

5:  Toddler Spills...Your baby has spat a mouthful of juice onto the laminate.  Fear not!!  This is why God invented socks!!  Whip off your shoe and mop up the spill in an instant...no one will ever know ;)

6:  Delegate!  Write out a list of little jobs and get the kids involved.  Even the tiniest tot will enjoy being armed with a duster or a dustpan and brush.  When they've completed their chores reward them with a film night or a trip to the park.  It works everytime with the younger kids!  Older ones get more cynical and refer to this as slave labour!

7:  De-Clutter...if you haven't used it for six months, if it isn't precious or beautiful and if it serves no purpose, get rid of it!!  Charity Shops are crying out for good quality items to sell.  You get a tidy house, you get to help others and you get to feel good about yourself in the bargain! Win, win, win!

8:   Ironing...Don't Do It!!  Tell everyone that you are boycotting it from an environmental standpoint to reduce your carbon footprint.  Instead of looking at you as a scruffy and dishevelled individual, they will see you as an eco-warrior on a one woman mission to save the planet!

9:  Crayon on Your Paintwork??  WD-40 will do the trick.  It is also useful for removing stickers, chewing gum, chair marks, glue and felt tip.  Keep a can handy...it is a secret weapon against a multitude of messes!

10:  Leather Sofas:  For sprucing up your leather sofa use a baby wipe.  They bring it up clean and also smell good!  Baby wipes are definitely for more than just babies' bottoms!  They are also great for toilet seats (don't flush them though!!), cleaning car dash boards, polishing the leaves of a rubber plant and for cleaning gloss paintwork.  They also wipe away grubby fingerprints on window sills, door frames and light switches.  In fact, in our house it is an unwritten rule that any baby wipe used for a minor hand or mouth wipe goes on to clean down at least one surface on the way to the bin!

I'm sure some people will see my lack of domestic prowess as lazy...but I just see it as creative housewifery, freeing up time for the better things in life, like spending time with my precious family.  Why would I want to spend hours making my house pristine, when I could be having a tea party with my toddler?  I want a happy, lived in, comfortable, welcoming, clean-enough home...not a show home where children fear to tread!  Time is precious, use it well!

*This is my entry into the Morphy Richards Innovators competition with Tots 100.*

Make Your Home Sparkle With A Clean, Green Conscience

A  new eco-friendly cleaning range Naturally Powered has been launched which  allows you to clean with exceptional results while caring for the environment.  With cleaning, laundry and washing up products available, they make every household task greener.  Plant-based cleaning ingredients such as coconut, potato, corn and wheat are used instead of using chemicals derived from fossil fuels. Combination technology mixes small quantities of different ingredients to work together in a highly effective way.  The manufacture of the products supports the cultivation and production of ecological GreenPalm certified palm oil and encourages sustainability.

The range aims to create as little waste as possible, coming in lightweight, 100% recycled bottles.  Laundry detergents have been developed to be used at low temperatures and the range is made with a concentrated dosage to reduce the environmental impact. However, there has been no compromise on the quality of the products.  In tests they have scored on a par or better than the leading brands.  This means your house will be as clean as your environmental conscience by choosing Naturally Powered products!

I was sent a selection of the products to try and have been testing their effectiveness in my household chores.

Antibacterial Multi-Surface Spray 500ml (RRP: £1.80)  This colourless spray kills 99.9% of nasty bacteria and leaves surfaces taint free.  It gives peace of mind, keeping surfaces germ-freee and clean. It is perfect to spray onto Freddy's potty to keep it hygienically clean.

All-in-One Citrus Toilet Gel 750ml (RRP: £1.50)  This lemon scented gel cleans, disinfects, freshens and removes limescale from the toilet.  The consistency is good and leaves the toilet looking spotless with a quick scrub.  It kills 99.9% of bacteria which is very important with a toddler who is toilet training.

Concentrated Lemon Washing-Up Liquid 500ml (RRP: £1.25)  This is the product I used the most, with the plates, cups, cutlery and pans from feeding a family of five to wash up!  The lemon scented, thick liquid goes a long way.  It foams up well and shifts grease with ease.  It was every bit as good as my usual brand.

Concentrated Non-Bio Laundry Powder 800g (RRP £3.50) This is a powerful cleaning detergent and works well at low temperatures.  It contains enough for 13 washes.  You don't need a lot of the concentrated powder to wash a load of laundry.

Fabric Conditioner Morning Breeze 750ml (RRP: £1.50) This leaves clothes super soft, fragranced and fresh.  It is also kind to the skin so suitable for my little ones' clothing.  Again, it performed as well as my usual leading brand.

All the products were good, nothing negative to report at all. They perform so well you wouldn't guess they were eco!  The pricing is very good and you are not paying a huge premium to do your bit for the environment.  They are a unique, innovative and ecological essential for every home.  It feels good knowing they are kind on the planet, allowing each of us to easily make one small change for the sake of the environment.

The products are available on their website naturally-powered.com or from Tesco stores nationwide.

*I received some samples to test but received no compensation for this post.*

Spring Cleaning the Natural & Clean Way

Natural & Clean are cleaning specialists who offer a wide range of innovative and environmentally friendly travel, pet and household cleaning products, to make our homes fresh, clean and odour free.

With Spring Cleaning season fast approaching, and with us about to put our house on the market, I was very pleased to be sent a selection of these products to test out.  The company ethos is to create, distribute and sell the finest quality cleaning products that respect the Earth.  The products do not contain any animal based products and are not tested on animals.  Made without harsh chemicals, they are also kind to those of us who live in the house being cleaned, which is really important when you have children.

The Natural & Clean range includes carpet and upholstery cleaning products.  I was particularly pleased to receive these as our beige stairway and hall carpet is looking slightly worse for wear and would benefit from a good clean.

The Dry Carpet Cleaner is a really innovative product.  Millions of tiny sponge like granules absorb dirt when agitated into the carpet.  The pack comes with a brush to work it into the pile.  The granules absorb dirt from the carpet fibres and change colour.  They can then be simply vacuumed away.  It is very easy to use and leaves the carpet smelling fresh and looking cleaner.  Knowing there is nothing unnatural in the product is very reassuring with a toddler in the house.  The cleaner looks a lot like damp sand, which goes to work straight away.  After about 10 minutes you can hoover it up.  The carpet definitely looks better for the treatment and looks less aged.  It currently costs £5.19 for a 500g pouch.

The Spot Remover Spray targets tough spots and spills directly.  Made with high quality natural ingredients means it is free from solvents, bleach or phosphates.  To use, you spray onto an absorbent cloth and rub over the spill.  It is even suitable on wool.  The  discolouration is lifted from the carpet.  It is an effective and safe way to tackle stains.  I tried it on a muddy print on my stair carpet and it lifted a lot of the discolouration very quickly and easily.  I'll be targeting more of my carpet with this later, and hopefully make it look much cleaner for any prospective buyers!  There are also Spot Remover Wipes for extra convenience. They are effective on coffee, tea, food grease, pet accidents, soft drinks etc and can be used on most fabrics. With messy kids, these are a must have!  The wipes foam up when you use them, but quickly dry to a powder meaning there is no sticky residue.  Each wipe goes a long way so one would tackle a spill effectively.  Both the spray and 25 pack of wipes each cost £3.43.

The Bin Deodoriser is a powerful formulation which attacks the cause of unwanted odours, neutralising and removing them.  You simply spray it onto offending areas such as the kitchen bin, wheelie bins, cat litter trays, nappy bins or waste disposal units.  You can also spray the internal surfaces of bins after each bag change to keep them smelling fresh.  Powerful active microbes neutralise the pong instantly.  I was really impressed by this product.  It didn't mask the stink with an artificial fragrance, it made the smell disappear.  It is safe for pets and people so you don't have to worry about harsh chemicals in your home.  It is just £3.39 for a 300ml trigger spray bottle.  It is perfect for freshening up every bin in the house.  I wish I'd had this when Fred was still in nappies because they made the bin reek! 

All the products have performed really effectively.  The packaging has good information and clear instructions for each product's use.  I love that they are environmentally friendly, not tested on animals and safe.  I was impressed to find a brand that does not compromise on its company ethos or the quality of its products!  I'd recommend taking a look online for the full range of pet, baby, travel and household cleaning products.

You can purchase directly from the Natural and Clean website and orders over £50 are free.

*I received samples to test but no compensation was received.*

Elias Super Wipes...First Aid for Clothes

Ever since I received my pack of Elias Super Wipes to review, I've been waiting to have a spill on my clothes in order to test them out!   Finally today the moment I had been waiting for arrived!  A sizeable splodge of chocolate ice cream found its way onto my top.  Without wasting a moment I was there with an Elias Super Wipe in my hand.  The wipe was a really good size and really moist.  I set to work rubbing over my brown stain with a circular motion and was amazed to see it immediately lighten.  It really was disappearing before my eyes!  It says on the packet to allow 10 minutes for the best result. It really did effectively deal with my mishap, and my top went into the laundry to emerge as good as new. Chocolate ice cream was the ultimate test, that stuff stains anything it touches, but thanks to Elias, my top lives to be worn another day!

Elias Super Wipes are handy wipes which remove food stains from clothes and deal with unexpected spills.  It's like First Aid for your clothes!  Perfect for popping in your handbag when out and about.  No more dabbing at dribbled dinner mess with napkins or washing off wine spills in the Ladies' then contorting yourself to get dried under the hand drier!  The value of Elias Super Wipes with children is huge...my messy little puppy is constantly covered in his meals.  Next time some spaghetti sauce goes down his front I'll be ready thanks to Elias.

The wipes can be used on a wide range of fabrics but not if they say "do not bleach" on their care label.  They are effective on food and drink stains when dealt with immediately.  Elias Super Wipes are not for personal hygiene use and are not edible.  So exercise caution around little ones.

Priced at £2.49 for a pack of 5 (plus 99p p&p) from Elias, they can save you money on professional cleaning costs or form replacing stained garments.  If you live in London they are available to purchase at Elias Cleaners stores.  They will be stocked in major UK retailers in the near future!

Check out this video for further information on Elias Super Wipes.

Follow Elias on Twitter  for up to date news...don't forget to tell them you heard about Elias from Inside the Wendy House!