Now that it’s getting cold and the windows are closed any bad smells that your house may have are being trapped inside. Here’s a few spring cleaning tips on how to remove those nasty smells. Feel free to let us know of any methods you have tried that worked for you in the comments below.

The first tip is to place a bowl of boiling water with a piece of charcoal in it inside any smelly cupboards you may have. The charcoal in the bowl will naturally absorb the odours.

The second tip is to place use coffee grounds in any place that smells. You could try placing the used coffee grounds in a tub at the back of a fridge, or perhaps in a bowl by the front door. This will mask any bad smells coming from smelly shoes but also be a nice gentle welcome when you come home.

The third tip is a quick way to remove odours from the air. Put vinegar in a spray bottle with 50% white vinegar and 50% water and spray around the room. This is a natural air freshener when sprayed in a room and will quickly remove any bad smells for those last minute freshen ups.

These tips not only work well butare natural tips so are far healthier than spraying aerosols or other chemical alternatives.

Accidents and spillages happen on your carpet and upholstery but they don’t have to become permanent stains. If you deal with a spill as soon as it happens you’ll be in the best position to remove the dirt with ease.

Here’s a simple guide to remove spots and spill on your carpeting.

1. Clean them immediately. Catching the spill whilst it’s still fresh gives you a good chance of removing it totally
2. Use a dry towel to blot the spill before applying the cleaning solution, removing as much as the spill as possible.
3. Test the cleaning solution on a hidden area of your carpet or sofa to check for discolouration. Simply apply a small amount of solution to the fabric and leave for 30 seconds, and then use a white paper towel to soak up the product and check for colour transfer.
4. Apply the spot cleaner, working from the outside of the mark towards the inside. This prevents the mark from spreading further. Do not over apply the solution, a little can go a long way.
5. Blot up all the moisture with a dry towel. Do not rub the spill as this could spread the mark or damage the fibres.

Not all stains are permanent. If you can’t completely remove a spill it may be you’re using the wrong product, or perhaps don’t have equipment strong enough. It may be worth getting a professional carpet cleaner in to assess the mark, or looking online for a better product to try.

Limescale in Electric Kettle

Like most people in the UK I use an electric kettle to boil water for tea and coffee. The trouble with this is the kettle will quickly end up with a large build up of lime scale. If dealt with regularly it wont actually do any damage to the kettle, however after an extended period of time lime scale can build up and start to make the kettle look yucky (have a look at the first picture of my kettle), so I like to use this simple, low cost and natural way to clean my kettle from all traces of lime scale and calcium.

To naturally remove lime scale in kettles all you need is white vinegar and water; no toxic chemicals are required just white vinegar (must not be malt vinegar) which can be bought for less then £1 from you local supermarket and will clear your kettle 2/3 times so a very low cost method!

How to Remove Lime scale from a Kettle

I simply fill the kettle with water until all the affected areas are covered and set the kettle to boil. Once it’s finished I’ll add white vinegar (1/4 of the water in the kettle) and watch as the scale fizzes away in front of my eyes. I then simply let the kettle sit for around an hour and the lime scale will be completely dissolved. Have a look at image 2 to see a live example of my kettle.

Kettle De-scaled

I do this every couple of months so it doesn’t require much time to remove all the limescale. If it’s been a while since you last de scaled your kettle it may be worth trying a stronger mix of white vinegar and leaving it over night or perhaps repeating this process a couple of times. Be sure to re-boil the kettle with fresh water a couple of times before use.

This is the easiest, cheapest and safest way to completely remove lime scale from your kettle so well worth a try. If you give it a go I’d love to see before and after pictures of some heavily built up kettles so we can show how effective this natural cleaning method is.

This eco cleaning solution can also be used to clear lime scale from pots and pans and any other item that has a build up of lime scale. Do you have any items you use this method on? Let me know in the comments below.

You can buy White Vinegar for just 99p from our Natural Products online store.

Carpets are a great addition to any house, adding aesthetic appeal to any room. They can instantly make a cold house into a warm home enhancing furniture and decorations.

Keeping your carpets clean is the best way to ensure they keep their new welcoming appearance and also lengthens their lifespan. A lot of home owners will get a professional carpet cleaner in to clean their carpets when dirty but don’t realise there is ways to keep their carpets clean, but which is best?

The first step is to take your shoes off at the door to stop brining in all the nasty dirt from the outside. On paper this is a good idea however it’s easy to forget especially if you have kids this can be a problem keeping watch that they take them off when the enter the room.

If you have pets you can restrict their access to some rooms. A good idea can be to put something to prevent the pets from going upstairs. This way they walk on the heavy traffic areas which are typically already the dirtiest in a house, keeping the upstairs carpets fresh.

You can restrict the dirt from getting onto your carpets but it’s not possible to prevent it altogether so they will frequently need a little extra care to remove small particles, dirt, dust, microbes, pet dander, dust mites, and pollen. The best way to do this as a home owner is to regularly vacuum and vacuum correctly.

Depending on the heavily walked on the carpets are, vacuum once a week should be enough, though some people may like to vacuum twice a week or even daily for traffic lanes such as hallways and entrance areas.

Frequent vacuuming keeps carpets healthy and clean, removing loose soils, pet hair and loads of other nasties that naturally build up over time. Although it is difficult to completely rid of home allergens, vacuuming carpets regularly would significantly help in reducing them.

The Best Way to Vacuum

Before you vacuum, it’s best to remove any objects that get stuck in your vacuum such as large pieces of paper. If you’ve got an upright vacuum you should check the height of your carpet and adjust your beater bar to get optimum results. One area often forgotten is the vacuum bag. Check this at least every few weeks and replace it when it is full. Just remember that the dust that’s built up inside the bag has sat there for weeks. Although the particles may get caught if you’ve got a good HEPA filter, you may get some horrible smells being pushed around your nice and clean home.

Whilst you vacuum it is best to go slow and to overlap the strokes to make sure that you get as much dirt and hair off of your carpet. Slow strokes help lift the dirt and overlapping means you wont miss an area as any particles that are clinging on will now be loosened and ready to be vacuumed away

Use vacuum attachments to help you reach even the carpet’s edges and hard to reach places. This will help remove the black edges (also known as draught marks) though it wont completely remove them.

The final step to ensuring you have the freshest, cleanest, nicest carpets possible it to get them cleaned by a professional carpet cleaner. The frequency will depend on traffic but it’s advisable that you get them cleaned every 6 months if possible. If money is tight a good idea is to have the traffic lanes cleaned every 6 months, and the bedrooms cleaned once a year.

I hope you find this article helpful and you will be be able to use some of the tips to keep your carpets that little bit cleaner. If you have any ideas or unique ways to cleaning I’d love to hear them in the comments below.