Appliances

To clean your coffee grinder and sharpen your blades, place a cup of rice into your grinder and grind up the rice.

Cleaning your dishwasher using white vinegar and baking soda

Completely empty your dishwasher.

1. Make up a cleaning solution using white vinegar water.  Half fill up your sink with with warm water and then add 1 to 2 cups of white vinegar.
2. Using the solution you have made wipe down your dishwasher racks and utensil holder and all parts that you can remove from the dishwasher, not forgetting to get into all the nooks and crannies!!.
3. Using the same solution above with a damp cloth and/or toothbrush wipe down inside and edges of the dishwasher door.  If you are having trouble removing some stubborn gunk, dip your toothbrush into baking soda paste.
4. Reassemble and replace all parts.
5. Add 2 cups of white vinegar to the bottom of the dishwasher and turn it on to Energy or Low Wash. Stop the machine in mid-wash, so the vinegar can set on the bottom and work. Let it stand for about 20 minutes or over night, then turn on to finish cycle.   When done, wipe out the inside with dry paper towels.
6. Don’t forget to wipe down the outside while you’re at it. Depending on the type of dishwasher you have, spray the front of your dishwasher with a mild spray cleaner or stainless steel cleaner.

Keeping your fridge and freezer clean is important to hygiene levels of food and your loved one’s health. In addition, poultry juices and meat dripping are very unattractive and are potentially harmful vectors for the spread of salmonella and E-coli. Even though bacteria struggle to live in cold places it can still grow and is not killed off by the cool temperatures of your fridge. Be sure to wash your racks thoroughly to prevent the spread of diseases and place raw meat on the bottom shelf of the fridge to stop it dripping onto other foods and contaminating it.

Cleaning your Fridge - 10 minutes each day

Do you dread the chore of a thorough fridge clean? Well we have an easy way to avoid this task by breaking the job down into 10 minutes a day.  The first thing you need to do is to divide the fridge into 7 sections:

The inside door

Shelf (each counts as one section)

Salad Drawer

Outside

Each day clean one section. By keeping the sections to 7 or less, your appliance is thoroughly scrubbed each and every week - with minimal effort each day.

Each day clean one section.

By keeping the sections to 7 or less, your appliance is thoroughly scrubbed each and every week - with minimal effort each day.

Clean your Fridge in 30 Minutes

Cleaning the fridge takes 30 minutes, so there is no need to worry about food getting cold.

Clean one shelf at a time so food placed on other shelves remain chilled and cool for longer.

Shelves need to be sprayed thoroughly with disinfecting all-purpose cleaner or a spray of white vinegar will cut through grease.

Dry the shelf with a clean tea towel and repeat this over for the rest of the racks.

To clean the drawers remove them from the fridge and place them in the sink, filling them with warm water and fairy liquid. Wait 10 minutes allowing them to soak.

Drain the water from the drawers and rinse with fresh water from the tap. Dry with a clean tea towel also.

Dusting

To clean under your fridge/freezer put an old sock over the head of a flyswatter. The sock will pick up the dust and anything else that is under there. Genius idea!

Greasy stains

Remove greasy stains using baby oil

Not only is it great for stainless steel; baby oil removes greasy stains from your hob and other appliances too. After wiping off spilt sauces etc, there will still be greasy stains left and you will frequently have fingerprints. So what better way to get rid of oil than with a different kind of oil?

Once stains have been roughly wiped off, just grab a bit of kitchen roll, put a drop or two of baby oil on it and rub it over the stained area – this will remove most of the ‘obvious’ greasy bits.

Then, take a clean sheet of kitchen roll, put another drop on and rub down the whole appliance (well, the steel bits anyway) evenly so that no smudges are left on it – Done!

Since baby oil has the ability to ‘integrate’ other oils, wiping the whole appliance down with it will remove any smudges, fingerprints and whatnot and will (unless you have gone completely OTT on the baby oil!) leave the surface sparkling clean and shiny, just as new!

Warning: Salt can corrode stainless steel surfaces, and some oils used in cooking can contain added salts, so don’t even think about using those instead of baby oil! The reason why it’s ‘baby’ oil it because it’s mild and doesn’t contain an awful amount of additives, so stick with Johnson’s!

Once you have finished cooking on your grill, place a paper towel soaked in water on each of the cooking surfaces. Unplug the appliance, allow it to sit for 5-30 minutes whilst you eat, then use the paper towels to wipe out the grease and food particles.

Having dirty filters in your hoover will make your hoover less-efficient.

Different hoovers have different filtering systems whereas some are washable and other will need replacing when used.   Please double-check your model's instructions on your filters.

Some hoovers have several filters, depending on whether it uses bags.

Foam filters can be found on the exhaust and can often be rinsed under a tap to clean them, but please ensure you allow them to fully dry before replacing them.

Plastic filters can be dusted with a soft brush or cloth, ideally outside or over the bin.

Using vinegar

Mix ½ cup white distilled vinegar and ½ cup salt in a small saucepan and place put it on the hob at a low heat.

Once warmed up, remove the saucepan from the hob. Do not let the mixture overheat.

Then rub the mixture into the iron place with a nonabrasive cloth.

Then, rinse with a damp clean cloth. The burn marks should disappear.

Using baking soda

Make a paste by mixing ½ a cup of baking soda into ½ a cup of cold water.

Wipe the iron hotplate with the baking soda solution. Then leave to stand for two minutes allowing solution to soak in.

Then rinse with a damp, clean cloth. The burn marks should disappear.

Cleaning your microwave with lemon

To soften baked-on food inside your microwave, half fill a bowl with water and a quarter of lemon then microwave on high until the water starts boiling. The steam will loosen any baked-on food so you can easily wipe it way.

Microwave odours

Place a cup of baking soda in the microwave between uses to keep your rice from smelling like kippers or other unusual combinations!

Oven

Clean your oven with ‘Oven Pride’

In my opinion, this is the best oven cleaner you can get. Out of only one box, I can clean my oven 3 times.

The product comes with a solution and bag. I can get three racks and two glass windows in the bag.

Put your racks and glass windows into the bag

Pour just under one third of the solution into the bag

Turn the bag over and over a period of 24 hours. If the racks and glass are considerably bad then I would recommend 48 hours.

Then, pour some of the solution onto the floor of your oven and spread it round the floor of the oven with a cloth. Leave this for 24 hours.

Remember, if your oven is self-cleaning then do not put any of the solution on the self-cleaning part (normally the oven sides). Please check your oven manual for further information.

You now have two options:

One of our cleaners can clean your racks, windows and oven floor

Or:

Put the racks and glass into your dishwasher and put it on a hot wash. They will come out sparkling. Depending on how dirty your oven floor is, it will take you 5 to 20 minutes to clean (or, again, get one of our cleaners to do this job!)

Cleaning stainless steel with baby oil

When cleaning any stainless steel appliances in the kitchen, wipe them down as normal with a damp cloth

Then use a piece of kitchen towel with a little baby oil and wipe down the surface.

You can also use baby wipes, but this way is more expensive.

As we live in a hard water area, this is a top tip to know. It brings your stainless steel up lovely.

This tip was given to me by my client Trina Kapur. I must say, I tried and it works, I couldn’t believe it! I now have nice, shiny stainless steel.

Descaling a steam generator iron

Empty your iron of any water and make sure it’s turned off

Mix 2 tablespoons of baking soda with 1 tablespoon of distilled water. Stir the mixture together until it becomes a paste

Apply the paste to the iron’s plate

Then, with a damp clean cloth (using distilled water), wipe the paste off of the plate

Next, wet a cotton bud with distilled water and dab it into the steam vents.

Now pour ¾ cup of distilled water and ¼ cup of white vinegar into the iron’s reservoir

Turn your iron on and put it onto the highest steam setting. Place a clean cloth on a flat surface and steam clean it with the iron for a few minutes.

Turn off and unplug the iron and pour away the water and vinegar mix

Pour clean distilled water into the iron’s reservoir and steam clean a clean cloth for a few minutes.

Turn off your iron and pour away the remaining water.

Cleaning your tumble dryer will not only prolong it’s life, but can also save you money.

Cleaning the lint filter

Clean the lint filter every time you use your tumble dryer. This helps to increase the airflow, which will shorten your drying time.

Cleaning the tumble dryer heat exchanger

The heat exchanger turns the steam extracted from the drum of a condenser tumble dryer back into water.

By regularly removing and cleaning the heat exchanger, you will keep away the built-up dirt and hair.

To clean the heat exchanger simply run it under a tap.

Cleaning the sensor

If your tumble dryer has a sensor, then just wipe the drum with white vinegar or a stainless steel cleaner every couple of months to keep it clean.

Emptying the water reservoir

Condenser tumble dryers have a reservoir. If you remove and empty this after each load, you will be able to run a drying cycle with a full load without having to stop halfway through to empty the tank.

Cleaning the drum

Add to cups of bleach to the powder draw.

Put your machine on a hot empty wash

Cleaning the Powder Draw / Seals

Soak your powder draw for 20 minutes in the sink in hot water with one cup of bleach.

Using a clean damp cloth together with an old toothbrush (from the bleach water) wipe / scrub the inside of your machine where the powder dispenser is.

You can whilst your at it also wipe the door seal and the door area and seal

Deodorising your machine

Add two cups of white vinegar to the powder drawer

Put your machine on a 40 degree wash