We girls here at Sarah Kenny love a good tidy up and clean out every now and again. As it is the new year, we are all feeling that it’s time for a good clean to start the year afresh, and our friend Emma Saxon of Saxon Cleaning has provided us with some insider tips!
• If you have a plastic detachable shower-head that is particularly orange/black (limescaled/mouldy), then remove it from the shower flex (making sure you retain the rubber washer inside the flex) and soak it overnight in a jug of white vinegar making sure it is full immersed. In the morning, take it out and give it a rinse with warm water. You may need to agitate it a little with a white non-scratch scourer or an old toothbrush but all of the gunk should come off and out of the spray holes. Re-attach it to the flex making sure the washer is back in place (or it will leak) and then run warm water through it for a couple of minutes. If the shower-head is chrome coloured just fill a shallow bowl with white vinegar and immerse only the part that the water comes out of in case you damage the chrome finish. In this instance I use a cat bowl and fill one side with vinegar and place it in like putting an old style phone on a receiver!
• If your oven shelves have burnt on residue then use Oven Pride. Make sure you use the Oven Pride blue gloves ONLY (not general rubber gloves) and wear long sleeves as it will burn you if it touches your skin. At about dinner time, put the oven shelves in the bag provided and follow the instructions on the box BUT pour in the whole bottle. Leave this flat in the bottom of your bath/shower tray, making sure the area is completely dry before you do so. Before you go to bed give the bag a good shake and turn it over, leaving it in the bath/shower tray. In the morning, carefully remove the shelves from the bag by following the instructions on the box. You should then be able to rinse the oven shelves with warm water and the burnt residue should just come off. If it is particularly bad you may need to do this twice and for any stubborn bits use a metal scourer.
• If the sealant around your bath or shower is mouldy but intact, cover it in thick bleach, use cotton wool to help hold the bleach in place over the sealant and leave it overnight. In the morning, wearing rubber gloves, remove the cotton wool and rinse the sealant with warm water to remove any trace of bleach. You may also need to use a cloth to help remove excess bleach. Then dry the sealant with an old towel or kitchen roll to help avoid re-growth or mould.
Hope you find these useful, Happy Cleaning!