Scrubber

Nothing new about vinegar and bicarb soda, I know, but I picked up this dinky scrubber from the two-dollar-shop. Instead of filling it with dishwashing liquid – mine is too concentrated and would suds up like crazy – I filled it with vinegar. Bonza! Throw a bit of bicarb about then scrub with the scourer on a stick. Press the little button for vinegar release, perfectly contained instead of my usual throwing half a litre of vinegar around. The bath is about to get a vinegar once over. No wonder J thinks the house smells like salt and vinegar chips.

Tea Towel Heaven

Tea towels are my little secret. OK, not that big a secret because there is a great stack of them in my kitchen. But I love folding clean tea towels straight off the washing line and making a neat pile. My real secret though is buying old, linen tea towels from eBay. Maybe eBay is actually my little secret… scouring the listings, bidding, paying online, collecting the little package from the post office, unwrapping my find and popping them in the cupboard. There is a probably a little flaw there… the enjoyment is in the acquisition and not in the use. Mmmm… have to think about that one.

Here's my latest acquisition. Pristine linen, still shiny with finishing. Just lovely.

Clean Up

I realise two cleaning posts is a little much for a non-cleaner but I have fallen in love with vinegar and bicarb soda. I was a little sceptical that it could do the job. Surely any cleaning product needs to burn through skin and rake the lining from your throat? After reading the queen of clean’s book, I gave it a whirl. The fizz of the vinegar hitting the soda gives me a little thrill and the slight abrasion does of course help to clean. I’ve also taken to polishing my kitchen sink so, if nothing else in my house, I have a shiny pit to deposit the rest of the detritus. The rest of the place is a still a hovel but I think I’ll just move house, to a cleaner one.

Shiny Stove

I find something intrinsically satisfying about a clean stove. I am no neat-freak but love to shine my stove. Luckily it cleans up pretty easily even with baked-on, caked-on gunge. It was a great day when I discovered that the knobs came off for easy cleaning. Alas, I have never attempted to clean inside the oven. I think, one day, I will enlist the services of a professional cleaner.

Today I bought two shiny new canisters. I adore the pale-pale, duck-egg-blue, and the contrasting shiny-shiny deep red. The little measuring cups were a bargain at a favourite two-dollar-shop, a little posed in this picture, I know. But I love lining them up like three little ducks. And they measure accurately – I checked! So what have they to do with my shiny stove? Nothing really – I rested my camera on the stove to take the photo.