WHEN you think about "cleanfluencers", who springs to mind? Chances are, it's Mrs Hinch, Lynsey Queen of Clean or maybe even organisation guru Marie Kondo.
But before the days of Instagram, How Clean is Your House?'s Aggie MacKenzie, 65, was our go-to expert whenever we were faced with a stubborn stain or accidental spillage.
Speaking exclusively to Fabulous, Aggie admitted she finds it frustrating watching influencers dish out advice to their huge audiences - especially when their tips can be potentially dangerous.
Earlier this year, Zoflora had to issue a warning urging cleaning fans NOT to mix their disinfectant with boiling water after noticing people picked up the tip on social media.
"Not only are they talking nonsense but they’re also potentially doing people harm," Aggie said. "The worrying thing is that a lot of these people have hundreds of thousands of followers - and to them, they’re like gods and goddesses."
Here Aggie - who is now a qualified yoga teacher - shared the most common cleaning mistakes people are making that could be damaging their homes.
Never scrub a stain
When you drop something on your clean carpet, it's only natural to want to start scrubbing furiously at it - but Aggie says this the worst thing you could possibly do.
She said: "The best thing to use first is just water. Warm water and a clean cloth. The minute you start using soap or upholstery cleaner, the temptation is to always put on loads. You think, ‘the more I put on, the more effective this will be.’
"But that’s not true. All of a sudden, you can’t get rid of all the soap because you’ve put so much on. What you’re left with is a residue of soap which attracts dirt and dust so you end up with a different type of stain - but in the same place.
"If you’re trying to get a mark out of a carpet and you’re really scrubbing at it hard, you can damage the pile so it’s always best to work from the outside in and go really gentle.
"Take the time to do it properly and gently. Act as quickly as possible after you’ve made the stain and then patiently stay with it."
Strip cleaning can make rugs, cushions and sofas smell REALLY bad
Strip cleaning sofas, rugs and cushions are a huge trend on TikTok right now - but if the upholstery doesn't dry quickly, it can make them stink.
Aggie explained: "If something takes too long to dry, then it can get a bit smelly. This is particularly true when it comes to cushions and pillows - which you’re supposed to wash once or twice a year.
"If they stay wet too long, the smell is absolutely disgusting and you will not get rid of it. So don't leave them on the clothes hanger for days on end.
"You put pillows in the dryer because you want them to dry as quickly as possible. Then you can put tennis balls in there too to help redistribute the filling of the pillow."
What's more, damp furnishings can be a breeding ground for mildew if you're not careful.
Fabric softener in the toilet
We all love the smell of fabric softener on our clothes - but in recent years, cleaning fans have started putting in their LOOS to make them smell good with every flush.
Aggie said: "People who do these things just don’t know what they’re doing and it could cost you a fortune in plumbers bills. It's surely not good for the pipes.
"If you want you loo to smell nice, soak a piece of cotton wool in your favourite essential oil (if could be lavender or tea tree) and then run it along the radiator or on the light bulb.
"So when the heat comes on, you get the nice smell going into the room."
Your cleaning cloths need to be washed EVERY DAY
- Microfibre Cleaning Cloths, £14 for 24 from Amazon - buy now
We're all guilty of quickly wiping down your kitchen counter with whatever cloth is nearby - but during the pandemic, Aggie says it's more important than ever to wash them every day.
She said: "If you’re using a cloth to wipe your surfaces down, put it to your nose and see if it smells of anything. If it’s even slightly odorous, it means it’s got a lot of bacteria.
"So when you’re using that cloth, all you’re doing is spreading that bacteria. What I do every night is fill a bowl with boiling water, stick a few squirts of bleach in and then put the washing up cloths in there and leave them overnight.
"And then in the morning, you just take the cloth out, rinse it under the tap and you’ve got s fresh cloth for the day. And you’ll also see all the dirt left behind which is very satisfying."
As well as wiping down her surfaces with clean cloths, Aggie also uses a Fogfan in her home for for 15 minutes everyday to kill any harmful bacteria - and it's also been proven to kill coronavirus.
A recent study by Fogfan found that 62 per cent of Brits won't use products that effectively kill coronavirus during the festive season - while almost half said they've been cleaning more in 2020 than they ever used to.
"The Fogfan gives an extra level of reassurance that you’ve done everything you possibly can and you don’t need to be anxious," she added. "You’ll know all your surfaces are clean and you know that no one is going to catch anything at your house.
"Nobody wants to get this flaming virus so there’s no disadvantage to it. It releases an unobtrusive mist that’s more or less invisible."
Aggie's Must-Have Products:
Aggie said: "You don’t need half the products that you think you need. It’s all marketing and getting you to spend money."
Fairy Liquid - "It’s great for all-round cleaning and it’s good if you’ve got a grease stain on a t-shirt. Before you put it in the washing machine, stick it under the tap, put a little squirt of Fairy liquid on, run fabric-to-fabric, rinse it out and then stick it in the machine and chances are, the stain will have come out."
Microfibre cloths - "They’re just brilliant as every square inch has thousands of tiny fibres which lift the dirt off the surface and onto the cloth - that’s how they work. So they don’t actually need products with them. If you buy good quality ones, you can wash them hundreds of times in the washing machine."
Pumice stone - "There are all these limescale removers on the market- they work but they’re expensive and they’re NOT friendly for the environment. They can be pretty toxic too - you don’t want to be sniffing any of this stuff. You can easily get rid of limescale by using clear vinegar. Or if you have in your loo, you can get rid of it using a pumice stone.
"Get a thick rubber glove on, get a pumice stone - get down there and rub it quite hard against the edge of the loo bowl. It’s hard enough to deal with the limescale but soft enough not to damage the surface of your loo. And how long have pumice stones been around for? Hundreds of years."
Magic Eraser - "They’re absolutely great on a plain white painted wall that’s got a bit of scuffing on it - particularly near the front door where people are coming in and out. A cloth might not get rid of them.
"But magic erasers are made from melamine resin. And in this form, they act like a very very fine sandpaper. So you need to remember to be careful when you’re using them and just take that superficial mark off."
Forget Febreeze and scatter some bicarbonate of soda and essential oils over your mattress instead - "Bicarbonate of soda is really good at extracting odours and it’s a good cleaning medium. Essential oils are all natural and lavender is a particularly good thing to use on a mattress because it helps you to sleep. Leave it a few hours and then vacuum it off."
Never mix products
Earlier this year, this bored mum went viral when she created a "rainbow" toilet bowl by mixing products - but Aggie says this can be extremely dangerous.
She added: "If it’s the same product with the same ingredients but it’s just different colours, that’s fine.
"But you must never, ever mix different products like bleach or limescale remover. It’s just asking for trouble. These products are really powerful - mixing them could damage your home and cause you problems too.
"You have to be careful with cleaning products as they are manufactured in a way to be used in a certain way and not mixed."
Feather dusters are 'pointless'
Granted, a feather duster won't damage your floors - but they cause dirt to built up in hard-to-reach places.
"A feather duster does NOTHING apart from redistributing the dust," Aggie said. "The thing about dusting is that you should always use a damp duster otherwise you’re just flicking dust around the room in order for it to land in a different place.
"But if you use a slightly damp duster, then the dust just sticks to the cloth.
"And then you just stick that in the washing machine and you always have a clean one."
Aggie's festive cleaning tips
1. If a glass gets broken, first sweep the debris into a dustpan (never use your hands; tiny pieces can get welded to your skin), wrap in newspaper, and put into the bin. Then get the vacuum out and give the whole area a good going over to suck up any unseen shards. If there is any weeny bits on a worksurface, dampen a couple of sheets of kitchen roll, wipe over and throw away.
2. There is always someone who will put down a cup on the wooden surface without using a coaster, and it’s left a ring mark. There are several things you can do. Take a shelled Brazil nut (minus chocolate coating!) and rub along the grain of the wood. Or use Brasso with a soft duster, again going with the grain. Or if there is a smoker around, a little ash on a dampened soft cloth will sort it.
3. If you get a splatter of fat on a suede shoe or carpet, sprinkle with corn flour and leave overnight before brushing off.
4. Spilled candlewax…If it is on a hard surface, remove with a hard plastic scraper, then take a hairdryer and paper towel to nail the last bits. For a tablecloth, pick off what you can then cover the stain with kitchen paper and, using an iron on medium heat, rub back and forth, moving the paper round until all the wax is off the fabric and on to the paper.
5. At this time of year, it is a given that the effects of overloaded tummies will be evident. Here is an old remedy, but it works every time: keep a box of matches in the loo (high up away from little, inquisitive fingers); once the match is struck, the sulphur given off completely kills the offensive odours. Safe for others to enter now…
Aggie MacKenzie for Fogfan
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