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Keep your Laundry smelling great

by Laundry

Do you want your laundry to smell fresh and clean after every wash? Well I certainly do, I love nothing more than to give my clean dry fresh laundry a good old sniff.  There is something so satisfying  about fresh smelling clothes.

A good mix of laundry products will be key in keeping your washing smelling good but if your clothes are going into a dirty washing machine this will have an impact on your washing too.  It’s so important to take care of your washing machine if you want clean clothes and fresh smelling cloths.

A few simple tips from me will help you to keep your laundry smelling fresh again!

Don’t delay drying your washing

Don’t leave clean washing in the machine after the load has finished washing especially not overnight. Get it our straight away the nice warm, dark environment like a closed washing machine is where bacteria and mold will thrive causing washing to lose its fresh smell.

Damp clothes

Never put damp clothes and towels in the laundry basket. You may have been swimming and emptied your wet things straight into the washing basket. This is not a good move/  Instead come home and put these wet items in the washing machine straight away.  The same rule applies to wet and damp bathroom towels and face flannels.

Make sure items are really dry before you add them to you Ironing basket or put away

Thick towels and heavy clothing such as jeans take longer to dry these items may need a little longer on the washing line or in the tumble dryer.  Around the pockets on jeans can still be slightly damp so make sure this area is bone dry before transferring to the ironing.  A slight damp patch will cause bacteria to grow and again will take away that freshly washed smell.

Dry outside

I love seeing my washing drying outside on the line, for me its one of life’s real pleasures. Freshly aired cloths, towels and bedding is such a fabulous feeling.  The sun is also a bleaching an agent so any whites with stains will really benefit from hanging outside in the sun. Before I hang my washing I always wipe the line over with a kitchen towel or antibacterial wipe.  My pegs are soaked weekly in warm soapy water and are kept insure when not in use.

Choose the right products

I am a big fan of using washing detergent rather than powder or tablets I do find from experience that the detergent helps the washing to smell fresh for longer.  Use fabric conditioner wisely and never use too much as this can really clog up your machine as its such a thick liquid and can cause a build up of gunk. Work with different brands and combinations until you find a fresh smell that you and your family enjoy. Scent boosters are great as they are directly thrown into the drum of the machine and release smells directly on the washing.  Have you read my review of Scent Boosters?

Stains

Pre-treat stains by soaking garments in a mixture of water and white wine vinegar over night. There are plenty of other methods to remove stubborn stains and I always find natural is best Stain removal tips

Hot wash

If  you’re washing smelling football kits or sweaty gym clothes always opt for a hot wash

Tumble dry

The heat from tumble driers can climate the fresh smell of washing so always use tumble dryer sheets or make your own using my method of cut up square sponge cloths, soak them in fabric conditioner, store in a plastic sealed tub and then add one to your drier when you use.  I have tested a few tumble drier sheets and the Asda ones are really good and keep a long-lasting smell.

Look after your washing machine

Finally look after your washing machine. If you don’t clean your washing machine on a regular basis it will start to smell and it will not clean your clothes probably.

As always thank you for reading
Lynsey Queen of Clean xoxo

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Fridge Cleaning

by Cleaning Tips

When it comes to keeping the kitchen clean and organised at the top of most people’s list is the surfaces and cupboards But don’t forget one of the most used areas in your kitchen and that is fridge, so many people forget to clean and organise the fridge and just load foods in weekly without having a good sort through and clean.  Fridges can really smell if they are not looked after and a dirty fridge can lead to cross contamination and make us ill. . 

42% of UK people clean their fridge once a month, and a shocking 18% clean it only once a year. 

Keep on top of your Fridge with these very simple tips

Deep clean your fridge weekly

You are probably thinking to yourself why on earth is she suggesting this does she not realise I run a busy household and work full-time!  But this really doesn’t take that long at all.  By the day your food shopping arrives your fridge should be nearly empty so this task is automatically easier. Take everything that is left in out and clean shelf by shelf as you go.  Decide if the food you have left is still edible and then throw away the rest.

Wipe Shelves

Take the shelves out and simply wash them with warm soapy water. Dry and put back straight away.  If you have any sticky patches use a cold scrub daddy.

Check food dates

When cleaning use this time to check through any food that are left and check sell by dates. If you can’t remember how old something is then to be of the safe side I would chuck it out.  If sell by dates aren’t easily visible stick a sticky label on the jar/packet with the month and date clearly written.

Leftovers

Keep leftovers in small plastic containers labelled. I find the containers you get after having a Chinese or Indian are really handy and a great size too.  Also label the portion size and the date you put it in the fridge.

Wipe down the shelves with warm soapy water and dry. No matter how careful you are, invariably food can drizzle out or spill down the side of a container onto a refrigerator shelf. Clean it all up so you’re ready to reload.food zones. It might seem silly to have zones in your refrigerator, but this is helps me not only remember where things belong, but it’s helpful to other family members and guests who are helping out in the kitchen. You can even use actual labels for the shelves so everyone should know where things go! There are some cute repositionable ones that can make it look nicer toon too. Take note of the height of your items that will go back in so that you can group like items adjust shelf heights if necessary. Another idea is to use bins or plastic baskets to organize items by group. For example, you can keep your entire sandwich making condiments in a bin and when it’s time to make sandwiches, you can pull it out and have everything handy for all preferences without having to open the refrigerator several times.

Food Zones

It’s very important to keep your food in the correct area to avoid food contamination and e-coli.

Dairy products and juices should be placed in the side where cold air blows, this area is cool but not too cold.

Meats and fish should be on the mid-tier shelf

Cheeses and cold meats should be placed in a fridge drawer.

Salad and vegetables can be in one of the drawers, still cool but not too cold so they do not freeze. One of these drawers usually has a humidity control.

Eggs and butter should be placed in a compartment protected by a cover so that they do not get too cold (eggs) or too hard (butter).

If you fridge doesn’t have many compartments use these handy fridge storage baskets and fridge fresh will eliminate bad odours.

Exterior

The exterior of your fridge can get pretty dirty from constant use. Any good general purpose cleaning product should work, and a spray bottle is essential. If you have a stainless steel refrigerator, make sure you read the cautions before you buy a cleaner, so that you can be certain it won’t damage the finish. For a simple cleaning solution, use a mixture of white vinegar and water in a spray bottle. Buff dry using a Stainless Steel e-cloth

Schedule your fridge clean in your cleaning schedule. I like to clean out my refrigerator weekly, before rubbish collection day and before the shopping is delivered.

Want more cleaning tips then grab a copy of one of my books and I will show you how to clean your house and tidy up your life

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Cleaning your home with Lemons

by Cleaning Tips

When life gives you lemons clean with them.

I love having a bowl full of lemons in my house, not only do they help brighten up my kitchen but they can be really handy and help out with the cleaning with their sweet scent and antiseptic properties.

Making changes to your home cleaning and cleaning with lemons uses less toxins is so good for you and the environment plus you will spend money.

 Lemons leave your house sparkling and spotless.

Wooden Chopping Board

You can clean your wooden cutting board with half a lemon and a little coarse salt. All you have to do is cut a lemon in half and sprinkle the salt over the chopping board. Then with the lemon facing downwards simply scour the surface of the chopping board, squeezing slightly to release the lemon juice as you go. Let sit for about 15 minutes to give the lemon and salt some time to work. Then scrap away any lemon bits and rinse with warm water and a clean sponge or cloth.

Limescale

Lemon is great at tackling limescale. For limescale that is on your taps, very simply cut your lemon in half and run the lemon all over the tap where the limescale is present. Leave the lemon on the tap for a while so that it can get to work and then rinse away. You may need to repeat this process.

For your kettle just pop a few used lemon halves into the kettle, fill with water and boil. Leave 30 minutes and boil again before emptying.

Give it a quick rinse to remove any bits.

Microwave

Put a few lemon halves in a bowl of clean cold water in the microwave and then put the microwave on full power for 5 minutes.  

The lemon will release the grease which will make it really easy to wipe off with a cloth.

Rust

To remove rust mix lemon with salt and make a paste, apply this paste to the rust and scrub. Leave for a few minutes and rinse with warm water.

Hard water marks

Hard water marks can be a real pain but simply rubbing the mark with a half a lemon and some added bicarbonate of soda they can be easily removed.

Position onto the end of your taps to remove limescale.

Fridge Odours 

Soak a clean sponge in lemon juice, put it on a saucer or in an open tub and leave in the fridge. By the morning your fridge will smell lovely and zesty fresh.

Dishwasher

Pour lemon juice into the sealed tablet section and then run on a rinse cycle.

A few more ideas for cleaning with lemons:

  • Polish up chrome
  • Help keep insects at bay
  • Tackle grease stains
  • Remove perspiration marks
  • Restore grout
  • Degrease pans
  • Remove plastic container stains

Want to learn more cleaning tips then grab a copy of one of my books and I will show you how to clean your house and tidy up your life

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Washing Machine care

by Laundry

It’s so important to keep your washing machine nice and clean as detergent alone isn’t enough to keep your clothes smelling nice and fresh.

Washing machines gain horrible smells from the build up of odours caused by the dirt they remove from your clothes and the hard water. Dirt sticks to the drum and builds up hence the reason we need to keep our machines nice and clean.

Tips to keep your washing machine clean

When your machine is not is use try to leave the tray open slightly just so this gets some air and dries out.  This little tray is on and off being wet and never really gets the chance to dry out. Once a week take your tray out and soak it in warm soapy water and then dry it well before you pop it back in.  Also clean the space it comes from putting your arm right in and giving it a good clean and dry.

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When your machine has finished a cycle try to take your clothes out immediately don’t leave them in for too long as this can cause damp smells.

If you use your machine a lot a once a week give it a good deep clean is good.  Just run the machine on an empty wash along with a washing machine cleaner, a do-lap of white wine vinegar or a cap full of bleach. Follow the instructions of the brought washing machine cleaner but for the bleach or white wine vinegar option put this into the detergent tray or straight into the drum.

This will help keep your machine smelling nice and fresh.

Then wipe inside the machine all around the drum with a nice clean soapy cloth.

Also weekly try to give the rubber seal a good wipe, you can use your detergent for this or mix some bicarbonate of soda with some white wine vinegar into a paste and use a small brush to get right into the rubber.  The rubber seal picks up all sorts of dirt from your clothes and will also pick up minerals and hard water.

The filter at the bottom of the machine will need to be emptied regularly, try to do this at least once a month. Plus if you can access the back of your machine easily check the water supply pipe for any build up of dirt.

My recommended brought washing machine cleaner is the Dr Beckmann there products never fail to let me down. I have found a really good offer for you too just CLICK HERE

I also recommend you buy your white wine vinegar in a bigger bottle online to save you money. I have picked a great 5l bottle for you too. Just CLICK HERE

There are so many ways you can use natural cleaning products around the home like white wine vinegar and bicarbonate of soda, I have put together some great ideas which will help you save money and clean naturally HERE

As always thank you for reading my post
Lynsey Queen of Clean xoxox

this post contains affiliate links 

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How to clean your Microwave

by Cleaning Tips

The Microwave is one of those kitchen appliances many of us put off cleaning.  Its one of those items that is out of sight out of mind and as long as the outside of the appliance is clean the inside can wait.

Inside the microwave there can be food splatters and food spillages and often a nasty unclean smell.

The microwave can also be an awkward appliances to clean that you need to get the plate out and get your arm right in to reach the sides and the ceiling of the appliance.  Food can often be stuck so after a little wiping many people will just give up.

But there is such a simple easy effective way to clean the microwave and here is how.

1 – Fill a microwave safe bowl with warm water and grab a lemon from the fruit bowl and cut this into 4 quarters.

2 – Pop the lemons in to the bowl of warm water and put the bowl into the microwave.

3 – Set the microwave to 5 minutes and start.

4 – The water should boil.

5 – Once the 5 minutes cycle has finished leave as it is for another 5 minutes and let the steam from the bowl along with the lemon do its job of dissolving the grease, spilled food and grim.

6 – Remove the bowl and dispose of the water and lemons. Take out the plate if you have one and wash this is warm soapy water and then with a clean damp cloth wipe the inside of the microwave and see the dirt and grim come away really easily.

7 – If you have some really tough old food stain add a little white wine vinegar to a cloth and then rub and this should then come away easily.

8 – Dry the plate and pop this back and you will have a very fresh clean smelling microwave the looks like new.

I hope this simple tip has helped you.

Thank you for reading.
Queen of Clean xoxoxo

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How Often Should you Change your Bedding

by Cleaning Tips


Recently I surveyed local people in my community on how often they changes they bedding. 80% of the people I surveyed said they only change their bedding once a month.  Someone admitted that they hadn’t changed there sheets in the past 6 months and others where on average once a week or once every two weeks.

I than run a similar survey with the people that follow me on my social media platforms and was very pleased to see that many people are like me and change their bedding on a regular basis from twice a week to once a week.  When people are suffering with a cold or a bug they then change the sheets and this is exactly what I do.  You don’t need any further germs to take up nesting in your bed.  I also discovered that many people like to air their bed before making it.  You can’t beat a cold icey aired bed.

Personally I change my bedding once a week, there was a point where I was doing this every other day.  But time was against me and I was forever washing sheets and ironing them.  In my opinion no point in washing them if you aren’t going to iron them.  Having the freshly ironed lines on the bed is just a must for me its like seeing the lines on a freshly mowed lawn.

Now I just stick to #cleansheetssunday

My method

I hoover the mattress and I always do this with a clear cylinder so I can see what comes out, I then very lightly steam and finally spray with a Dettol spray. I will then leave the mattress to dry off and air before I put on the freshly ironed sheets. Monthly I also use my Vorwerk mattress cleaning system.

Its good to use a good pillow protector, and a good mattress protector as these will prolong the life of your pillows and mattress and give you some extra comfort.

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For those that don’t do this you are creating a nest of germs.

We are not alone in our beds

Dirt and dust can quickly build up in our beds and unfortunately we’re not alone in our beds, our beds are full of dust mites.

But dust mites aren’t the only hidden surprises lurking in our sheets, and we only ourselves to blame for their presence. Every night we shed a million skin cells, accompanied by oil and sweat. If you don’t wash your bedding regularly, this adds to your bed’s attraction for mites and their breading.

Bedbugs are small blood-sucking insects that live in cracks and crevices in and around our beds. They crawl out at night and bite exposed skin to feed on blood. Disgusting!

bedbugs

Though Bed bugs and mites aren’t known to transmit disease or pose any serious medical risk, the stubborn parasites can leave itchy and unsightly bites. However, bedbugs don’t always leave marks. The best way to tell if you have a bedbug infestation is to see the live, apple-seed-size critters for yourself. Unfortunately, once bedbugs take up residence in your bed they can be difficult to exterminate without professional help.

Bed bugs are flat, round and reddish brown and about the size of an apple seed. They don’t have wings and can’t fly or jump.

Keep bed bugs and mites away and make changing your sheets a regular part of your cleaning routine.

Thanks for reading
Lynsey Queen of Clean xoxox