Latest news with #cleaning
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Selling your home? Don't forget to stage your GARDEN: From a neat trick with paint to whether metal or wood is better, how to add value for less
If you're poised to put your home on the market, you're likely to have given it a declutter and deep clean, as well as refreshed any tired paintwork. But you may not have given the garden as much attention as you should –which experts say is a big mistake.
The Sun
18 hours ago
- General
- The Sun
I'm a cleaning pro and hate when clients have this feature in their kitchens – it never looks clean even after scrubbing
IT'S no secret that certain items in your home need cleaning more often, but one cleaner has revealed the kitchen features she hates the most. Taking to social media, cleaning whizz Kate from @cleanlikeapro_ explained why your kitchen backsplash matters more than you might think. 2 2 Although it might be tempting to go with the design and material you like the look of most, that's not always the best option, Kate explained. In a viral video, the pro explained that a glass backsplash can be more of a pain to clean than most people realise. Although it's a better option than having lots of tiny tiles and grout to scrub, it's not the best option either. "And when cleaning them you do have to clean them well, wiping over multiple times to ensure no streaks." Not only that, but according to the pro every single streak and wipe from cleaning will still be visible in certain lights, making it an annoying choice for any cleaner or homeowner. So, what should you opt for instead? Although small tiles are even worse than glass, the cleaning whizz said the best option are large tiles. They're not reflective like glass, so won't show up every little mark and there's not as much grout to scrub like smaller tiles have. More items to avoid in your home In a clip shared to TikTok (@ the cleaning whizz revealed the worst offending items that she dreads coming across on her daily job - starting with silicone toilet brushes. I tried Zoflora's new carpet cleaner - it works in just 30 seconds and leaves your home smelling super fresh (1) The cleaner explained that while they're more hygienic, she said that you can't clean with them. Instead, she pointed out that it's best to use bristle toilet brushes only. Next up, the cleaning guru urged homeowners to avoid jumping on the black tap trend. "Builds a ridiculous amount of limescale, marks easily - just a no from me," she warned. And for anyone looking to give their kitchen a glow up any time soon, then you may just want to listen up…because there's a specific colour cupboard she advised steering clear of at all costs. The cleaning whizz explained that while she loves the look of black cupboards, it's best to avoid them "unless you want to spend the rest of your life wiping them 24/7." 5 cleaning hacks Say goodbye to ironing Don't have time to smooth out the wrinkles of a shirt with an iron? Lenor 's Crease Releaser makes wrinkles vanish - simply hang up creased items, give them a quick spritz and smooth against a hard surface. Teabags for trainers When trainers smell a little squiffy, pop a used (and still moist) tea bag inside and leave for about an hour. The tannins will seep into the sole of the shoe to fight nasty-smelling odours. Remove limescale without scrubbing When bathroom taps start looking a little grimy with limescale, slice a lemon in half and sprinkle on baking soda. Rub the fruit over the taps and with a gentle clean they will come up sparkling. Use a toothbrush to get in all the nooks and crannies. Streak-free mirrors and windows White vinegar is a handy secret weapon when it comes to keeping mirrors and windows streak-free. Mix one part white vinegar with four parts water in a spray bottle. Squirt then wipe with a microfibre cloth and voilà, clean glass in an instant. Make your home smell amazing For dust-free skirting boards, pour some fabric softener onto a cloth and give them a quick wipe. It will stop dirt collecting so quickly and, as an added bonus, make your home smell amazing.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- General
- Daily Mail
You're cleaning your bathroom wrong! Expert reveals the proper way to scrub your shower and toilet - and why you should NEVER mix products
It's one of the worst chores to get landed with. But experts have now warned that – aside from the yuck factor – there are hidden dangers linked to cleaning your bathroom. Common household cleaning errors could be damaging expensive fixtures and putting family health at risk, they said. And the most frequent mistake is mixing cleaning products together. John Horner, Managing Director at luxury bathroom company 34 St John, said most homeowners unknowingly use harsh cleaning methods that strip finishes from high-end fixtures. They also create harmful chemical cocktails in their bathrooms. 'The most frequent mistake we see is mixing cleaning products together to create a 'super cleaner' which people believe will tackle stubborn stains better,' he said. 'This actually creates toxic fumes that can cause serious respiratory issues and damage delicate finishes on premium fittings.' This dangerous practice typically happens when bleach products combine with either vinegar-based cleaners or ammonia products, he explained. The chemical reaction produces chlorine gas, which irritates the respiratory system and can cause serious health problems. Guidance from the UK Health Security Agency echoes this concern, stating: 'Avoid mixing cleaning products together as this can create toxic fumes.' Poor ventilation can exacerbate the issue, Mr Horner explained, as chemical vapours from cleaning products concentrate in small bathroom spaces. 'Always open windows and run exhaust fans during and after cleaning,' he said. 'This removes chemical fumes and prevents excessive moisture that leads to mould growth behind fixtures.' Other mistakes include using abrasive cleaners on specialty finishes, he said. 'Many luxury taps and fittings feature special coatings like brushed nickel or oil-rubbed bronze,' he explained. 'Harsh cleaning powders scratch these surfaces permanently. 'For most premium finishes, warm water with mild soap applied with a soft cloth offers effective cleaning without damage.' Another mistake involves neglecting frequently-touched surfaces during routine cleaning. Door handles, light switches and tap handles harbour more bacteria than most bathroom surfaces, yet often receive less cleaning attention, he warned. 'People focus on visibly dirty areas like toilets while overlooking touch points that transfer germs most readily,' Mr Horner pointed out. 'Standard protocol should include wiping these areas daily with appropriate cleaners.' The fifth mistake involves improper storage of cleaning products in bathroom environments. 'Many homeowners keep cleaning supplies under the sink, which seems logical but actually creates multiple problems,' Mr Horner said. He explained that warm, humid bathroom conditions degrade product effectiveness while proximity to water sources increases accident risks. Another piece of advice is that people should always use protective gloves for cleaning tasks, as repeated exposure to chemicals causes skin irritation. And, finally, daily light cleaning is preferable to a 'deep clean' once every fortnight, as it can prevent build-up that later requires harsh treatment.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Can shaving foam remove the stubborn stains that have been on your carpet for years? This ‘cleanfluencer' says yes
For sale: a three-bedroom flat in South London. Features include a one-year-old's Weetabix wall art, a five-year-old's splodges on the carpet, created with Mummy's eyeshadow, and an oven that hasn't been cleaned since 2019, thanks to two weary working parents. I realise my new-to-the-market home doesn't come with the most compelling pitch. While it's not dirty, it's certainly not show-home spotless. With two young children and a full-time job, I have an hour or so 'free time' each evening in between the kids falling asleep and flopping into bed myself, during which my husband and I whizz around like mad people doing laundry, filling lunchboxes and conducting a surface-level wipe. It's enough to make our home look presentable, but ignores the deep-clean jobs such as tackling the fridge and the shower grouting. I am too time (and energy) poor to do much more, but could a spring-cleaning session with Anna Louisa, a 'cleanfluencer' with over 4.2 million Instagram followers, change all that? Anna's USP is speed – her tips are designed to be fast and effective, hence the title of her recently published book: The 5 Minute Clean Routine. When the day of Anna's visit arrives, I feel nervous. Will she think I'm a slovenly mother, raising my children in a pigsty? I scoot around with the vacuum cleaner before she's due, keen not to measure up poorly against her high standards. All my fears disappear, however, when I answer the door and Anna, 35, immediately tells me my flat looks beautiful. It's clear she understands the pressure to present a picture-perfect home when having people over, as well as my predicament in trying to fit cleaning around work and kids. Anna was a primary-school teacher when she started growing her social-media following, initially posting interiors content. But when she had her son Oliver, now three, 'it was harder to run around Dunelm doing shopping posts', says Anna, who pivoted towards cleaning content she could film at home. She started sharing hacks (such as quick ways to change the duvet cover and clean the shower screen), and saw a huge response from her followers. When she reached 200,000 followers, Anna posted a video that perfectly typifies her content – the 12-second clip sees her sprinkling a mattress with bicarb and essential oils, using a cloth tied to a pan lid to scrub the stairs and adding soda crystals to towels before washing them. It went viral, gaining her an extra three million followers. Snappy cleaning tips might be her forte, but Anna spends a lot of time researching and testing her hacks, based on follower requests (she says she spends four hours a week cleaning her own house, which looks immaculate in videos). Testing is necessary because when Anna posts a tip, she wants to know it works, and that's led to some ingenious solutions, as I witness in my own home. First up, there's the microwave. Before Anna arrived, I placed my phone, facing upwards, inside and took a photo to send her, then nearly had a heart attack when I saw the layer of grime clinging to its 'ceiling'. Have I seriously been putting my kids' food in that? 'I've seen worse,' says Anna, and sets to work, slicing a lemon and putting the pieces in a bowl of water, before squeezing them to release the juice. She pops this in the microwave for three minutes on full power, telling me that the steam combined with the citric acid inside will cut through the grease. This is then left to stand for five minutes and voilà – wiping the muck off the microwave's innards becomes easy. Next is the oven. How often do you clean yours? There's a funny Mumsnet thread where people confess it's 'once every year or two' or 'only when it stinks', and admittedly I'm the same. A major part of the issue is I don't actually know how to clean an oven, but Anna whips up a paste using bicarbonate of soda and washing-up liquid, which she smears on to the surfaces and leaves for half an hour. Again, this makes it much easier to scrub off all the grease from the oven walls. Anna also uses a tool that looks like a tiny ice scraper to tackle stubborn grit, telling me, 'This was really cheap on Amazon, it's useful for induction hobs, too.' Indeed, a lesson I learn repeatedly during Anna's three-hour cleaning session is that you don't need to spend a fortune on expensive branded lotions and potions to clean. Instead, stick to simple products along with a few clever tools, such as the electric scrubber she uses to polish limescale off my shower grouting. My children both have eczema, so Anna opts for natural products, including a simple paste made from water and bicarbonate of soda to remove marks from the sofa (I could've sworn I banned the family from eating and drinking on it. Sigh). As for her number-one cleaning product? 'You can clean almost anything in your house with washing-up liquid,' she says. 'You do not need to spend a lot of money.' I'm keen to know if there is any part of the house you simply must clean every day. 'The worst place for bacteria is the kitchen sink,' says Anna. Most of us regularly wipe this down with a cloth, but the crucial step is then disinfecting the cloth every night, rather than wiping the same dirty rag around the bowl for days. 'Run a shallow layer of water at the bottom of the sink, put your disinfectant in there and then add the cloth,' advises Anna. Cloths should then be washed regularly at 60 degrees, so save them up to go with other items such as towels and bedding that need to be washed at a high temperature. Anna is full of brilliant tips – she tells me to put a white plastic high chair outside in the sun to bleach off orange stains, throw ice cubes into a hot nonstick pan to lift off the grease, and take my make-up sponge into the shower with me to clean it without making a mess. I am quite frankly amazed when she squirts a blob of Gillette shaving foam on to the eyeshadow stains on my bedroom carpet, only to wipe it off after a couple of minutes to reveal they've completely disappeared (those marks have been there for at least six months). When she posts about visiting my flat a couple of days later, Anna says that she 'almost cried recording this voiceover' because it 'hit home... how motherhood can be a lot to juggle sometimes'. I certainly needn't have worried about being judged. Anna quit her job in 2023 to become a full-time influencer – she now makes the majority of her money through brand partnerships with the likes of Air Wick and B&M. However, in some ways she feels as if she hasn't fully left her former career in education. 'I'm still a teacher, just in a new classroom,' she explains. That new classroom is Instagram, where a whole host of time-poor individuals are gratefully lapping up her lessons, one squirt of washing-up liquid at a time. The 5 Minute Clean Routine by Anna Louisa is published by Century, £18.99. To order a copy for £16.14 until 15 June, go to or call 020 3176 2937. Free UK P&P on orders over £25. ANNA LOUISA'S TOP TOOLS Koohoro Electric Cleaning Brush £23.99 Shop Comes with various attachments to help you clean sinks, shower screens, tiles, baths, hobs, ovens and floors. Vileda Rinseclean Spin Mop System £49.99 Shop Features special tech to separate the clean and dirty water, so you're never wiping sludge around the floor. Leaves surfaces, including windows, mirrors, shower screens, hobs, worktops, and tiles, dry and streak free. Sonicscrubber Electric Scrubbing Brush £22.95 Shop This tool – which looks like a giant electric toothbrush – has various attachments to help clean grout, taps, shower heads and hard-to-reach places in appliances such as the washing machine and dishwasher.
BBC News
a day ago
- Business
- BBC News
The team who clean drug dens, crime scenes and hoarders' houses
The owner of a specialist cleaning company says he has seen an increase in houses left in a "terrible" condition by squatters, drug users and N Bright Cleaning Services is a Doncaster-based business that works with individuals, councils and the NHS to clean crime scenes, biohazards and Wayne Barlow says he is is getting "more and more calls to these types of jobs" since the end of the Covid adds: "Sometimes it is drug-related, sometimes it's mental health. We've done jobs where people have been taken advantage of because they're vulnerable." His company is contracted to tackle "difficult" clearance and decontamination jobs."We've been employed sometimes by the NHS, so the person can get back into their home and live there safely."The increase in mental health issues has also led to this problem. We're finding more people are beginning to hoard and collect things and they don't know what to do – that's when we get the call." Mr Barlow is speaking to the BBC at a property in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, which has become vacant after a drug user was removed by N Bright has been contracted by Bassetlaw Council, who expect to receive a bill of £10,000 for disposal of the waste skip loads of rubbish were being taken away, and the landlord of the rented house will be told to cover the Barlow adds: "It's not just our price, it's the price of getting rid of the waste. This is a lot of money to fork out for a property like this."We're probably going to do about six days, two people for six days; it's quite a lot of work for a little house."There are around 80 tonnes of waste in the two-bedroom terraced property. He is taking on the job with his employee, Ilana Ungureanu - who has gone from cleaning offices to more challenging work."Coming here was so different. But I enjoyed it because there were different things to do," she says."You get to see loads of other things and you get to see the person who used to live here's backstory. It's very satisfying to see the end result."Their presence is welcomed by a neighbour on the street, Mariusz Luszcynski, who describes the former drug den as an "eyesore" that attracted crime."We were scared because the drug dealers would come to buy or sell and he (the tenant) would take off the radiators and copper. There was stolen bikes, flowers, he was shoplifting as well. We were scared of fire. We were very afraid."I slept with one eye closed, one eye open."The cleaning team are perfect, I respect them. The rubbish was up to the ceiling. It's much better, it's quiet now." Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
