General Chat

Jeanette, Lemon juice and vinegar are both mild acids so you could use either. Janice

hi i keep my house as clean as possible, with a dog that continually moults, and big footprints when its muddy and wet. my kitchen gets an overhaul every 2 months inside cupboards etc and bleached tops couple of times a week. bathromm is done everyday, can't wait till its gutted and the new suite is in their the tiles etc have seen better days. my family history corner is always a mess with papers and notes files etc, just bought the paint for the lounge this morning, so all the wall paper has to come off and walls sanded. hopefully will get it done this week, if the pain subsides. my 3 bedrooms were all decorated this year and gutted for the charity shop. so it leaves me the kitchen to paint and the dreaded hallway which i am dreading as its a huge drop.and its got a massive cobweb which i can't reach even with the hoover, the drop is from where the roof starts to the ground floor 2 stories but there's no landing to it as my stairs go straight up the side of the house and just a small oblong at the top to the bedrooms. i did use the advice on the programme for unblockin plug holes and pipes in the bathroom which wwas a couple of cups of bicarbonate soda and white vinegar, it worked. lol sandra

Maz Thanks for that. You've just answered the 2 questions I was going to ask. Need to wash my shower curtain but couldn't remember what cycle to do it on. And the taps badly need descaling but couldn't remember if it was lemon juice or vinegar. Cheers! Jeanette

Seem to remember they washed it in the machine on a 'wool' or 'delicate' cycle, I think with biological powder to kill any germs. Once a month was right I think. Have ordered the accompanying book from the library - for the tips really - so when it eventually comes I will post a few on here!. By the way I have used the one for a manky shower head - lemon juice in a food bag, fastened over the shower head with an elastic band and left for hours. Wow - what a result!! Not a spot of scale left!! My friend also tried the one for cleaning a saucepan/pot with burnt on food - a small amount of cola gently simmered in the offending pan - she was amazed how well and quickly it lifted the gunk off! Just be careful not to let it boil too fast or too long! Maz. XX

Thanks everyone, I am going to rub the curtain all over with lemon then hang it up ( at least the bathroom will smell nice for a short while!!)

I don't know how many times a day I vacuum the lounge (Dark green carpet 4 kids, white long haired dog) and it still looks a mess. I never seem to be at the end of the laundry, don't know why the tumble drier hasn't blew up yet!! I could never be accused of being houseproud but it is clean and comfy and my kids are healthy and happy. On the otherhand my friend is obsessive about cleaning. The smell of disinfectant is overpowering. Beds are changed EVERY day, I kid you not. And Woe betide her husband if he wants to go to the bathroom after she has just put bleach down it. They live in the bedroom and the lounge is purely for show. Guess what? Her wee boy catches every cold and bug that's going round. Obviously the sterile environment he lives in makes him more succeptible. Moral of the story "A spotless home makes you ill",... that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it Lol Christine

When I first got married, I used to wash my paintwork and clean everything every week without fail, then I was admitted to hospital. lost my baby and was fighting for my life, when I went home I looked round and thought this house hasn't been properly cleaned for 2 weeks and I couldn't tell the difference, from that time I have never put so much emphasis on housework, its the people inside the house that count.

It's suprising what you do when you know that visitors are coming. Out comes the duster & polish, the hoover, and then you make numerous visits to the local tip & charity shop. At least that's what I have done today, and it's only my sister -in- law and nephew coming for a few hours.

Philip, the last time I went to my brother's, they said we're just cleaning and put a cloth and spray bottle in my hand LOL (To be fair, we arrived just as they were preparing for a big family occasion and we'd offered to muck in and help). Mandy :)

Have any of you ever gone into someone's house when they are not expecting you to visit, and heard them say, " don't look at the state of the place. It's a bit of a mess". What do you then do? Have a good look around ! If only they hadn't said that.

they seem to have a use for vinegar all over the house!!! My house is clean but often very untidy! 3 kids and oodles of their clothes kinda makes it so!!! My mum however, was extremely houseproud! (obviously I didnt inherit that one!) and the standing joke with my kids is that every time i go thru the house tidying up.......grandma must be coming to visit! My room when I lived at home was always a pigsty and mum used to go on at me to tidy it up (ring any bells??)......I used to tell her that i wanted to live in a pig sty and that when I had a house of my own I would look after it well.....how those words have come back to haunt me! My rule is.....bathroom and kitchen tidy and clean for hygeine obviously.....and everything else???? take it as you find it..............unless of course Grandma is coming to visit!!!! Jill x

I find the programme totally addictive because I can hardly believe that people could live in such filth!! This isn't just a bit disorganised and untidy, this is real germ-laden muck! I've just looked in my good housekeeping tips book and can't find anything to do with lemons and shower curtains. Only thing it tells you is how to remove mildew .... shutting the gate after the horse has bolted so to speak! Mandy :)

Janet , Glad I'm not the only one to live in a clean(ish) tip. Janice, I have twin boys - 1 tidy and 1 untidy. Also a daughter who always moans about the mess but does not see that half of it is hers! Her room looks like WW 3 !! LOL Viv.

My then 21 year old daughter and her 3 year old son moved out of here in September 2002. They moved into temporary accommodation - one room & tiny kitchen & bathroom, so they left most of their stuff here. They were allocated a 2 bed house and moved in there in March 2004. Why then is my spare (ha ha!) bedroom filled to the brim with daughter & grandson's stuff? I can't even get to the window to draw the curtains! I keep threatening to chuck it all away, but daughter says (and she does have a point) the room wouldn't be used anyway apart from as a junk room! I would like to be able to hoover it occasionally and clean the windows though! The joke is, her house is spotless and tidy - we even have to take our shoes off before going in! Sue (in a junk filled house, but with a reasonably clean kitchen and bathroom!)

Think this is one area where boy/girl is irrelevant. I have two boys; one is tidy and the other isn't. Janice

I've only just noticed that my 13yr old daughter's carpet is brown ..... she tidied up this afternoon! Who is the worst, girls or boys? I have boys 6 & 15, and a girl that's 13.

I told my teenage son I wouldn't hoover his carpet if I couldn't see it!! Got me out of that job for years!!! LOL Janice

Viv, SNAP Janet

My house is a tip, fairly clean, but a tip!!!!! 3 teenagers and a husband make it so. My lot leave stuff everywhere. I've just had a moan and told them the skip arrives ......on Monday morning! They believe me as well! LOL Viv.

I must be honest, our house is clean even though it may be a bit untidy at times (wouldn't yours be if you had 3 kids & a dog)? The Bible says that we come from dust and we go to dust, and by the state of the floor under the the boys bunkbeds tonight, somebody is either coming or going.