Household Cleaning Tips My Granny Taught Me

I don't know if I speak for anyone else but my granny was an infinite source of hilarity, amazing stories and the most random tips for the household. She also was an amazing woman, who we kept discovering little secrets about until her very last year, mostly because she thought these things "weren't very interesting." During her youth, my granny played in her father's Big Band before singing once a week with an orchestra before 1,000 people before getting the bus home. She gave up the performing when she met my grandfather and raised 5 children, keeping a job and keeping their home as clean as she could for years.

She raised her children until they all left, then looked after herself and my grandfather until his death and then it was her and her cats until her death last August. Towards the later years of her life, she wasn't as mobile due to 2 hip replacements but she still kept things as neat and her joints would allow her.

When I would go visit her (not as much as I should have done - but don't we always say that?), every now and again, random pearls of wisdom regarding household cleaning would fall from her lips. When I was a teenager (and staunchly against cleaning!), these little hints were be met with an eye roll which my granny always humoured and ignored.

As I got older, and once I'd left home to attend university, I began to grow up and appreciate the stories she told and the advice she would give out. And so I listened a little more, and in then when I couldn't remember right, I made a few notes when I was there. The tips she gave me really did help me from spending fortunes at university on cleaning products and were just as good as the few cleaning things I did have. So I decided to share my wisdom with the world, in order to remember her.

The main thing I realised about the "cleaning products" was that she almost always mentioned the same things over and over again. The main products were:

• Bicarbonate of soda
• Lemons/Limes
• Glycerine
• Washing soda (more commonly known now as Sodium Carbonate)
• Warm water and
• White vinegar

With these few things, most of your house can be cleaned! How useful is that for life? And wildly cost effective too :) One tip she passed onto me that I've always tried to abide by is to reduce the clutter in the house. "5 kids and me and Barney and the cats meant I tripped over my own feet most of the time! All the crap of the day and plates and broken toys and papers and unused records to that mess of people and you couldn't breathe in our wee home," was what she used to say to me, and she was right! Even if you're in a home on your own, or sharing with 8 other people, reducing the clutter means reducing the dust that settles and the amount of things dust settles on!

The tips that I'm going to pass onto you are from my own experience and from my granny's experience. If you've been given any better tips, please let me know!

The kitchen is probably the worst area to clean, which we can plainly see from all the kitchen products that are advertised on television today! We're constantly being presented with all these items that are designed to make our kitchen lives easier but there are some really simple tips that will save you money from buying 10 different products just for the kitchen!

Now, pots and pans . We've all done it - we've burnt food onto our best saucepans and pots. My instinctive feeling is to sigh and bid farewell to the pan as it heads to the bin. But don't throw it out! I told my granny about my disasters in the kitchen at the first year at university and she gave me this great tip. Re-wet the burnt spots with water and throw a good handful of bicarbonate of soda over it. Let it soak overnight and you should be able to wipe/rub it clean the next day! Wonderful! It also works great for burnt food on the cooker as well :)

Cleaning the oven. No, don't run away! It's a horrible task and one we all put off. Especially using specialised oven cleaners. The smell that catches in the back of your throat and burns your eyes. It's a horrible sensation. My granny loved to cook, so once a month she would tangle with the oven. Her fail-safe tip was to mix up a paste of equal parts bicarbonate of soda and water and to coat it over the oven. Leave it to work it's magic overnight and then wipe clean with a damp cloth.

Chopping Boards. Chopping boards are fantastic inventions, they also save our counters from being hacked by knives. However, smells can cling to chopping boards despite scrubbing. Never fear! Just rub half a lemon over the board and then scrub. That will help with removing the harsh smells and disinfect the board for future use.

Speaking of strong smells, your kitchen can be a hub for strong smells. Just take put some bicarbonate of soda mixed with a generous splash of white vinegar or lemon juice into a few small bowls and place them around the room. The mixture helps absorb the smell and can be used in any room that needs freshening - not just your kitchen!

My granny's kitchen was filled of aluminum pans, which would dull with use. To make them shine again she would place two sticks of rhubarb and fill the pan with plenty of water. Simmer for about 30 minutes, rinse with cold water and dry! It brings the shine back again.

Multi-purpose cleaners are fantastic but in these tough economical times, spending money on these products can eat up your weekly budget. Before these were invented, my granny swore by mixing 3 tablespoons of washing soda into a bucket of warm water. You can put it in a spray bottle or you can use use it straight from the bucket by wiping the mixture on with a cloth and then wash clean with clear water.

The bathroom is one of the rooms of the house that really shows dirt up easily. My mum always told me that to see what a person's really like, look at how they keep their kitchen and their bathroom. I suppose her idea was that the cleanliness of these two most used rooms would show you how they treat their home and by extension, themselves.

However bathrooms are something we also seem to associate with germs. Probably because it is the place of the house where we go to rid ourselves of waste and dirt. And cleaning bathrooms is generally just above cleaning the oven on most people's lists of cleaning but it needn't be that hard! Here's a few tips to make your bathroom glorious, courtesy of granny :)

Scum rings around the bath? They're horrifying, aren't they? And they always seem to reappear after you wipe them away! Don't fret any more; rub some neat lemon juice along the marks, leave for a minute or two and then wipe away with a sponge et voila! A gleaming bath.

Want a natural disinfectant? Mix a teaspoon of tea tree oil to around a litre of water. It kills germs and gives the place a nice, fresh smell too!

Streaky mirrors or glass doors? Grab a spray bottle and mix equal parts white vinegar and water in it. Spray on and buff dry with crumpled up newspapers. Fantastic for easy cleaning and you'd be amazed at how well the windows come up!

The bathroom grouting looking a tad dingy and dirty? Not a problem, my granny told me, just drip an old toothbrush in some vinegar or lemon juice and scrub the mildew away :)

Drains blocked? Throw a cup of bicarbonate of soda down the drain, followed by half a cup of vinegar. But remember to put the plug in after you've done this! My granny said the reaction was like an eruption - much like a science fair volcano.

Make your toilet gleam! Spray the toilet with white vinegar and then sprinkle with bicarbonate of soda! Let it fizz and react for a minute before scrubbing with a brush and then flush the toilet to get rid of the residue.

There we have it! Just some of the amazing tips my granny left me with! The older I get, the more I appreciate the wisdom behind these cleaning tips and how much easier they've made my life. That's not to say that my arms didn't ache after scrubbing toilets or hobs but the thought of cleaning the house without applying tons of caustic chemicals made me really proud.

When I think of the constant hard work she used to put in, and she wasn't a big lady, I'm amazed at just how hard she worked. Cooking for 7 and keeping a job and a clean home with literally, whatever she had and was taught by her mother.

There really is no making women like they used to make granny!