Pour a small amount of spirit of hartshorn (an aqueous solution of ammonia) into a container and leave it overnight in the switched-off oven.
Air the room in the morning, and then wash the oven. The dirt will come off easily. The smell will disappear shortly. Just make sure you have the windows open while you’re doing it, and wear rubber gloves the whole time.
Plastic Containers
Wipe the dirty part with lemon juice, allow to dry and then rinse.
This will get rid of both stains and smells.
Coffee grinder/spice mill
To clean these as well as get rid of the smell, just grind some rice in them and add one tablespoon of baking soda.
Limescale
To get rid of limescale covering the surface of taps, wipe them with a piece of lemon and after five minutes rinse with water.
Drainage
Pour half a cup of soda and half a cup of vinegar down the plug hole, one at a time.
Cover it and leave for 15 minutes. Wash down some warm water.
Bottles with narrow necks
Fill the bottle with hot water and add a little washing up liquid. Then add half a cup of white rice. Shake well.
The rice will rub against the sides of the bottle and clean all of the dirt. Wait for the deposits to break up, then shake again. Wash with warm water.
Deposits on crystal and glassware
Pour two glasses of warm vinegar into a tub (you can heat it up in the microwave for about two minutes to get it warm). Submerge the dishes in the vinegar so that they’re completely covered.
After a few minutes, rinse them and wipe dry.
The sink
Grapefruit and lemons can help clean surfaces wonderfully. Sprinkle some salt on either one of them, then use them to wipe down the sink. It’ll be as clean as crystal!
Deposits in the kettle
This is the easiest one of all. Pour in a spoonful of lemon juice mixed with water and boil it for five minutes.
Then pour out the water, and the kettle will be as new!
Burnt food in a frying pan
Fill the frying pan with a little water — only enough to cover the surface area. Then pour in a glass of vinegar. Boil thoroughly on a medium heat, then remove from the stove and add two tablespoons of baking soda. The burnt bits of food will come off with no trouble at all.
Animal fur/hair
Put on a pair of ordinary rubber gloves normally used for washing up, douse them in water and then run your hands along the surface of the furniture covered in animal hair/fur. Everything will stick to the gloves. To get rid of hair or fur on a rug, you can also try using a on ordinary scraper you would normally use for wiping windows clean. You’ll be amazed by the results!
Drying shoes
If your shoes are soaked through, fill them with pages of crumpled up newspaper, and they’ll dry much quicker.
Grease stains
Run a piece of white chalk over grease stains, leave it for a few minutes and then wipe with a damp cloth. This works just as well with stains on clothes as it does with those which have ended up on the walls. With clothes, leave for an hour and then simply blow the chalk away.
The microwave
Cut a couple of lemons in half and place them in a glass container with water. Put it in the microwave, heat it until the water boils, and leave it like that for a minute. The dirt on the inside should then be very easy to wipe off.
Silver
Take a large container and cover it with tin foil. Fill it with hot water and add half a cup of salt and half a cup of baking soda. Leave silver items to soak in this mixture for 30 minutes, then rinse them and wipe dry with a soft cloth. All the dark stains will disappear.
