HOME & GARDEN: Stress-free Spring cleaning tips

Store Your Winter Wardrobe

As the weather starts to pick up, consumers should think about storing their winter wardrobe and taking spring and summery clothes out of hibernation. As most people will probably have a few laundry loads to get through, it might be a nice idea to throw a Colour Catcher in with each wash. These chemical-free sheets will catch any excess clothes dyes and allow consumers to wash mixed white and colour loads together while saving time, energy and water by reducing the number of cycles.  Be sure to leave out a few jumpers before storing winter clothes – we all know what British spring can be like – warm one day, cold the next.

MOT the Toilet with a Step-by-Step Regime 

The toilet can be one of the grubbiest parts of the home and is prone to attracting an immense build-up of bacteria. Make sure your toilet remains sparkling and germ-free with a ‘Regime Clean’ approach. 

Rebecca Bland, Senior Brand Manager for Bloo, the UK’s no1 toilet hygiene brand. 

“It goes without saying the toilet can be one of the dirtiest parts of the house and is prone to attracting a build-up of bacteria and gems. Make sure your toilet remains sparkling and germ-free with a ‘Regime Clean’ approach. This includes the daily use of Bloo’s new Fragrance Switch rim block which will ensure a hygienically clean and fresh toilet. It provides two different scents between flushes to invigorate the senses by releasing a long-lasting fragrance in the bathroom.”

Follow this with the use of a toilet cleaning gel to tackle any limescale build up in your basin. Ideally this should be used twice a week for deep cleaning and the ultimate shine. 

Doing this simple task regularly will mean less of deep clean but a permanent clean.

Tackle the bath and shower 

While in the bathroom, use leftover elbow grease to give the bath and shower a good scrub. Turn attention to any black mould that may have spread thanks to those long, hot showers over the winter months. There are plenty of good de-moulding sprays that can help, or if you’d prefer to go au naturel, why not try a home remedy? Mix a quarter teaspoon of baking soda with two cups of water, then use a spray bottle to spread it over the unsightly mould. Let it soak for a while and then use a thick cloth to remove it. 

After de-moulding, cleaning the rest of the bath or shower will be a breeze. You can find loads of great and competitively priced bathroom disinfectants in your local supermarket. 

Tackle The Bed  

Did you know that you should be cleaning your mattress every season? When doing laundry for the bedsheets, open your windows and let the sunlight and fresh air penetrate the mattress. Avoid cleaning your mattress with liquid detergent or soap. Instead, vacuum the top and sides of the mattress to get rid of any dead skin cells, food crumbs and debris. Then, sprinkle one cup of baking soda to neutralise odours and leave it for a few hours before vacuuming it again. 

Dust… dust everywhere! 

You’ve hopefully kept up with dusting over the winter months, but as the glorious spring sunshine starts shining through windows, all the dusty places missed in the darker months will be revealed. Windowsills, light fixtures, power outlets, keyboards and games controllers can get particularly dusty and grimy, so have a hunt for all those nooks and crannies that you may have skipped over before. 

With so much dusting to be done, you might like to try saving a few pennies by using a natural home remedy. 1 cup of water, ¼ cup white vinegar, 2 tsp olive oil and 10-15 drops of essential oil (like lemon, orange, or bergamot – whatever takes your fancy) mixed together and poured into an old, cleaned-out spray bottle will work wonders! 

Update Your Colours of Soft Furnishings – Easily

Nasim Bagherian, Colour Expert at DYLON Dyes:  

“If you’re thinking of updating your interiors for spring and summer, instead of buying new homeware , you can transform old and faded bed sheets, pillowcases, curtains, towels, table napkins, cushion covers and sofa covers by using DYLON Dyes Machine Pods, which are 100% recyclable.   

One machine pod can dye up to 600g of fabric. We recommend dying fabrics such as: cotton, linen and viscose for the best results. It’s important that the item doesn’t have any fabric treatment like a fire retardant or water protection coating as this could prevent it from being dyed. Additionally, synthetic fabrics such as acrylic, nylon or polyester materials cannot be dyed.  

Prepare The Patio 

The patio is an important part of the home, and acts as an extension of your living space particularly during the warmer months, so it should be given the same amount of attention as the interior. After you’ve cleared away the clutter, use a specialist outdoor cleaning product such as Jeyes Fluid, which can be used on a multitude of surfaces such as patios, paths, driveways, decking areas, to name some. It can also be used to help clean drains, limescale and rust on outdoor tables, killing up to 99.9% of germs. Use every couple of months when the dirt and algae start to build up again.  

A report into garden hygiene by Dr Lisa Ackerly found a garden table has as many germs as a bin lid! To combat the threat of your garden table becoming a breeding ground for bacteria, make sure you clean your garden table before and after use. Bring your hardwood garden furniture to life by using a stiff bristle brush to remove all the excess dirt that has accumulated. Plastic furniture can be washed down with a sponge or cloth, and a bucket of warm, soapy water. 

Say Goodbye To Limescale  

Did you know that limescale build up starts from the very first time you use your appliance? One way to restore household items is by descaling them every three months. Products like Oust All Purpose Descaler help to restore and refresh household appliances like kettles, iron and showerheads to their best in just 10 minutes – removing up to 100% of limescale!  

Not only will banishing limescale make your appliances last longer, but it will ensure maximum efficiency too. It’s easy to use, just pop it in or on the appliance and let it do the hard work for you, while you continue with the rest of your chores, and return to find some pretty incredible results.