If you are using a window cleaning company to have your home or office cleaned regularly, you are probably thinking that since this is something that the cleaning company will be doing anyway, there’s no need for you to bother about this. Please don’t jump to conclusions and read on.
Blinds reflect the condition of your home or office both internally and externally. A person looking at your windows from outside and seeing dirty blinds will jump to conclusions about the state of the interior and a person seeing dirty blinds inside will focus on that and not on the rest of the room, no matter how clean it may be.
The problem with blinds, especially in a place like London, is that open windows and pollution often wreak havoc upon them. It may at times be necessary to clean the blinds before the visit of a London cleaning company is due.
Here are a few tips on how to go about it with the minimum of effort. These apply to all blind materials Ð wood, vinyl, fabric or aluminum.
Start by vacuuming the blinds using a brush attachment. If need be wash the brush before use so it does not leave more dirt than it removes. Always move the vacuum cleaner nozzle in an up to down movement because doing it upwards could cause the blinds to un- hooked at the top.
Once the vacuuming is done, use a clean lamb’s wool or feather duster on the slats, once again using an up to down movement. If after this you see some stains or spots on the slats, use an all purpose cleaner to remove them. Never spray or apply the cleaning product directly to the slats. Dampen a cloth and rub the stain the remove it. If the stain does not come off, leave it alone and either wait for the cleaning company next visit or get a professional blind cleaning service to do the job for you. Many London window cleaning companies will offer blinds cleaning as a part of their services portfolio.
Please note that blinds should never be soaked as this will lead to the loss of the fire retardant and grime repellant chemicals they are coated with. Fabric blinds may also shrink. Also never wipe blinds with hot water as this may cause fabric colours to run.
For fabric and vinyl blinds use a dry sponge to scrub away stubborn dust and grime. Be careful not to rub too hard or you could damage the surface finish of the slats.
The TV has, for along time, been one of the centre points of a home. And now there are few homes with only one TV most have at least 2 or more. But the main TV, the one which the family sits in front of as a unit, is usually the large LCD TV. Watching any TV through a film of dust and grime is no fun, especially so if it is an LCD TV with great high definition picture quality. Luckily cleaning the screen of an LCD TV is a simple job that you can do yourself as and when you need to without having to wait for your home cleaner to come and do it for you.
Before you begin make sure your TV is switched off and, as an added precaution, unplugged. Not only is this safer for you and the TV, its easier to see the dust and fingerprints on the screen if it is dark. Also check your owner’s manual for cleaning instructions and if anything there is contrary to what follows, go with the manufacturer’s recommendations.
Start by using a clean chamois cloth to wipe the dust from the screen. Remember never press too hard on the LCD screen or you may damage it. Next mix two cups of room temperature distilled water with two cups of ordinary vinegar. Use only distilled water as it will have no mineral deposits to stain the screen. Stir until the solution is completely mixed.
Dip a clean soft cloth in a general domestic cleaning solution and wring it out till it is just damp. Wipe the screen gently with the cloth making sure that you do not touch any part of the screen with your hands. Again remember not to press too hard. Wipe the screen first in a left to right movement and then in a top to down one. Let the screen air dry and look for any spots or stains that may remain. Wet the cloth again, wring it out and gently rub the stained areas to clean them. Once again let the screen air dry before turning the TV on.
Be careful that the cloth you use is only damp and no more. If any liquid should get on the screen and flow down, if may enter the electronics and damage the TV.
To clean the rest of the TV, use a gentle spray of cleaning product making sure that the spray does not enter any of the ventilation openings on the sides or rear of the TV.
One issue that many people have when it comes to cleaning and natural cleaning products is the issue of germs. Can you really sanitize toilets and food preparation surfaces (or, if you’re carpet cleaning, the place where the dog misbehaved) using natural cleaners? Actually, yes you can. A number of natural ingredients have been known as germ-killers for a very long time. Not all of them can be used for every single cleaning job, but you should find something that suits what you’re doing.
Boiling water: The simplest germ-killer of them all. Small items (heat proof, obviously!) can be dropped into a pot of boiling water. Alternatively, you can pour boiling water over larger items, assuming that (a) you’re not going to ruin it by getting it hot and wet, (b) you won’t scald yourself.
Boiling water is good for cleaning cutlery and crockery, especially if they have been used by someone who’s ill.
Bathroom disinfectant:
Use this for cleaning the bathroom or other damp areas that are prone to mould and mildew.
1 cup hot water
5 drops thyme essential oil
1/8 cup borax
Shake together in a spray bottle. You don’t have to allow it to cool before using. Alternatively, you can replace the thyme essential oil with the same amount of tea tree oil, or with four drops of pine essential oil and two drops of cedar oil.
Loo cleaner:
This can be used for cleaning toilets inside and out. Actually, contrary to what many people believe, it isn’t the bowl of the toilet that is favoured by germs. You flush fresh water through the bowl umpteen times a day (with or without a tank hippo), don’t you? However, the seat and (worse still) behind the seat is where they get.
4 cups water
½ cup soap gel, preferably made from castile soap
2 tablespoons tea tree essential oil
20 drops essential oil of peppermint, lavender, pine or eucalyptus
Shake together in a spray-top container and leave for a while to let the oils work thoroughly into the water and soap. Spray wherever you need it. An old toothbrush is great for cleaning lavatories around the hinges of the lid and other tricky places – so handy that old toothbrushes are often part of a professional cleaner’s toolkit.
Vinegar:
Vinegar is one of the non-poisonous germ killers, which is why it is used as a natural preservative in things like pickles. Vinegar can be used neat to clean up mould, as the acid breaks down the spores.
Salt:
Common salt is another edible germ-killer. Usually, salt is used more as an anti-bacterial mouthwash or for washing wounds (ouch!). But it can also be used as an antibacterial scouring powder, assuming that you have grains of salt that aren’t too large. A very strong solution of salt can be used to soak fabric items that have something revolting on them. Those living near the coast can use sea water.
Methylated spirits, surgical (rubbing) alcohol, vodka or whisky (etc):
Any strong alcohol is a disinfectant and can be sprayed or wiped onto most surfaces. It evaporates off easily without leaving any residue, so it is useful for cleaning windows or glass.
Some jobs can be left until the big “end of tenancy cleaning” or “moving house cleaning” (jobs such as dusting the tops of door frames and scrubbing the floor underneath the washing machine). Other jobs can’t be left semi-indefinitely, and cleaning the fridge is one of them. Here’s how:
1 Start by turning the power off at the wall or you will waste oodles of electricity and power as the fridge tries to keep cool with the door wide open for quarter of an hour.
2 Remove all the food and other bits from inside the fridge. Check all of them to make sure that they’re still in the land of the living. Items that are not can have a quick one-way trip into the compost heap.
3 Remove any trays, drawers or racks that can come out. Run a basin full of hot water and dishwashing detergent or soap and put them in to soak as best you can.
4 Arm yourself with your cleaning tools. It’s important to use natural cleaning products that have low toxicity as harsh chemicals can and will contaminate your food. For this reason, it’s also best to avoid using essential oils to clean the fridge, lovely and natural as they are. Few people like lavender-flavoured cheese (although fresh lavender could go quite nicely as a marinade or in a cheese sandwich, but that’s another story…). Baking soda is your best bet, as it doesn’t scratch and absorbs those smells. Use dilute white vinegar as a back-up if you need it. Also provide yourself with a small array of soft cloths, some dipped in fresh water and some left dry. An old toothbrush (not the one that you keep for cleaning the lavatory) will also come in handy.
5 Shake baking soda liberally around the fridge and don’t forget the door. Use one of your wet or damp cloths to scoop up some more baking soda – it will form a paste when wet – and start applying it to the sides and roof.
6 Rub vigorously at all surfaces, starting from the top and working downwards. If one of your cleaning rags starts looking an interesting colour, change it, or else have a handy basin of warm water nearby to rinse it out in.
7 Use a clean damp rag to remove the baking soda paste once you have scrubbed everything.
8 Have a good look around. If any food or other smears still remain, use the dilute vinegar and the old toothbrush to get them off.
9 Use a dry rag to dry everything off.
10 If you have one of those fridges with a drip pan underneath the cooling element, make sure that this is cleared out and that it can drain freely. Pour a little vinegar (full strength, not diluted) into this to deal with any mould. Yes, mould can grow inside a fridge, albeit more slowly than in a warmer spot.
11 Tackle the trays, drawers and racks. Wash these the way that you would wash the dishes, either in the sink or in the dishwasher (in the sink is probably quicker and easier, as the trays are a beast to fit in the dishwasher). Use vodka or some other strong alcohol to wipe down meat drawers or meat trays to kill any bacteria. Rinse and dry everything as normal.
12 Put everything back into the fridge. Start with the racks, etc. first, of course!
13 Keep the milk out and have a cup of tea as a reward for a job well done.
If you’ve had the slightest bit of interest in natural cleaning methods, you probably already know about the benefits of vinegar as a natural cleaning product. You can use it for cleaning glass, for cleaning taps, for cleaning metal and for removing mould – in fact, there’s very few things that you can’t clean with plain old ordinary white vinegar (pearls and marble are the most notable exceptions).
However, you don’t have to stick with ordinary white vinegar for your cleaning. You can enhance the disinfectant power of vinegar with essential oils, as making the experience of cleaning more enjoyable with pleasant smells – and without breathing in the rather dubious chemicals in artificially scented household cleaners that are often listed in the worst offenders in any list of household toxins.
Essential oils are the easiest ingredient for adding into vinegar to make your own household cleaners. All you need to do is add about 10 to 20 drops of the oil(s) of your choice to about 1 pint of vinegar and shake them together vigorously in a spray bottle and leaving them to sit for an hour or so before use. The result will be an excellent multi-purpose cleaning spray that not only will be great for cleaning windows and general flat surfaces but can also double as an air freshener in the toilet.
However, a scented vinegar made with essential oil cannot be used for cooking. For this, you need to steep herbs in the vinegar to extract the scent – and flavour. The end result will not be as strong as the product made with the essential oil, so you won’t be able to use it for cleaning the toilet, but you will be able to use them for cooking. The cold method that preserves the most delicate scents and flavours is to cram a jar full of the herb(s) of your choice (rosemary is the easiest one to start with for this method, with lavender coming in as a close second) and top the jar up with vinegar. Put it away in a dark cupboard and forget it for a week. Then strain the vinegar off and replace the old herbs with fresh ones. And put the jar away for a week again. Repeat once more before using.
However, you can speed the process up by making a sort of vinegar herbal tea. Simply heat up the vinegar in a saucepan or the microwave, then drop in the herbs of your choice. Cover and allow to cool. Strain and bottle.
Scented vinegars made following either method can also be used as a cosmetic – and what commercial cleaning product is able to claim this? Scented vinegar can be used as a deodorant, in the bath or as a toner before moisturizing.
If you want to make a scented vinegar that is suitable for cleaning the toilet, then choose one of the more disinfectant (antiseptic) essential oils such as tea tree oil, pine oil or lavender oil rather than a more floral one such as ylang ylang. However, most disinfectant essential oils smell scrumptious and smell pleasant.
If you’re at all interested in natural cleaning methods and sustainable living in general, you probably know lots of the usual uses of vinegar. You know – mixing it with salt to clean copper and brass, using vinegar to remove limescale from taps and kettles, unblocking drains and adding a bit of flavour to your fish and chips. But vinegar has some more unusual uses. Some of these you might never need to use, but you never know.
* Vinegar can work as a final rinse for animal’s coats after washing prior to shows. It is supposed to put a high gloss on the coat. Use a dilute solution (1 cup of vinegar to 1 litre of water). This is supposed to work with all mammals, although you’d have to use a massive amount to rinse down a show horse (especially one of the massive Shires).
* Urine in a mattress can be deodorised and have the germs removed by sponging the mattress with a 50/50 solution of vinegar and water. After this, either sprinkle on some baking soda to neutralise everything, followed by vacuuming off the residue, or else put the mattress in the sunshine to dry out properly. To prevent having to do this too often if you have a family member with a bedwetting problem, remember to use a rubber sheet topped with a thick towel underneath the bottom sheet.
* Put a small saucepan of neat vinegar on to simmer as a way of deterring flies from the kitchen. Apparently, flies hate the smell of vinegar fumes. Malt vinegar works the best, but it has the unfortunate side effect of also deterring certain members of my family who hate the smell of malt vinegar.
* You won’t need to use this one unless you go on holiday to the forest areas of Canada or the USA, but a 50/50 solution of vinegar and water removes the pong from skunk spray. Follow by a rinse in plain water. This is supposed to work for clothing and also for incautious dogs.
* You can make your own wood stain by mixing coloured water-based ink (try your local art store) with full-strength white vinegar. Make a careful note of the proportions of colour you use when you mix it up in case you want to make another batch (e.g. 2 T red, 1 T yellow, 1 T black in 2 litres of white vinegar).
* Cats hate vinegar, so splash it around where you don’t want them to go, such as children’s sandpits and your newly planted vegetable garden.
* Vinegar can be used to replace rinse aid in your dishwasher. Brilliant for putting a sparkle on your china, cutlery and glassware.
* Vinegar is an absolute must for making stock from beef, chicken or bacon bones (or any bones, for that matter), as the vinegar helps break the calcium in the bones down so it gets incorporated into the stock – and can get into your bones.
The most peculiar uses for vinegar this writer has ever come across relate to family planning. Absolutely no guarantees here, but one piece of folk wisdom suggests that a dilute vinegar douche before intercourse improves your chances of conceiving a girl. Of course, a woman trying this method also has to know she’s ovulating and capable of conceiving at all.
Baking soda was recommended for increasing the chance of a boy, and probably also the chance of a yeast infection as this would disrupt the naturally acidic balance of bacteria in the vagina. However, when you consider that the ancient Romans used a sponge soaked in neat vinegar as a contraceptive (with, supposedly, some success), whether this sex-selection method using vinegar actually works.
