1. Grate the soap with a kitchen whizz or hand grater
2. Pour the grated soap and washing soda in to the bowl of the kitchen whizz
3. Using the knife blades mix until you have a powder consistency.
4. Pour into a clean dry container and use 1-2 tablespoons per wash load.

This makes enough for up to 10 loads of washing.

Also works well if your home is for sale and you want to have a pleasant aroma wafting through the door to greet potential buyers.

There are marks on the inside of my glass oven door (between the two).  How can I get them clean without dis-mantling the whole door?

Judy suggested that:

1. If this is a relatively new oven, contact the manufacturer because I think this may be a problem with the seals around the two layers of glass.
2. If this is an older oven, then maybe phone call to a small appliance repairer would be useful before you try to dismantle the oven door.

Cam writes about his recent experience and gives instructions for dismantling the oven door.

“I recently had the same problem – turned out one of the seals had been turned in when the door had been put back together last time.  Often these rubber seals can degrade.  I was able to reseat the seal once I had cleaned the interior.

Unfortunately, the only solution I could find was to dismantle the door.
Most doors can be removed from the over by simply opening them and lifting the hinges up so they can be slid out of the oven chassis.  This may be a 2 person job due to the with of some doors.

Lay to door on the kitchen floor on an old sheet.  The outer can usually be removed from the door frame by unscrewing screws somewhere around the perimeter of the door.  Simply slide the outer off the inner to gain access to the inside of the door.  Make note of the way the door is put together.  Check all seals and clean the interior and make sure you repeat in reverse the disassembly instructions.  Refit the door by sliding the hinges back into the chassis.”

But – white vinegar came to the rescue.

Use a half and half solution of vinegar and water, say half a cup of each. You need to make sure the  element is covered.

Boil the vinegar/water for a few minutes, then empty and rinse the kettle well.

Boil the kettle again with plain water and empty that water before you try to make a cup of tea.

I did this with my kettle about three months ago and it still looks very clean adn there is no limescale. (But we haven’t been on bore water yet this summer!!)

If you haven’t cleaned your copper vases and ornaments for a while, they will probably need the salt and vinegar treatment.

Make a paste of salt and vinegar, rub it on the ornament with a cloth and keep rubbing till the ornament is bright and shiny.

If the staining is really bad you may have to use a pot scrub for the bits that are hardest to shift.

Rinse and dry the ornament or vase and put back on display.  You’ll love how bright and shiny it is

Put 1 tablespoon methylated spirits into a 750 ml spray bottle and fill with water.  Spray the solution on to the glass and wipe over the glass surface with a soft cloth.  Polish with another soft cloth or paper towels. (Cut up old pyjamas, sheets and towels to make useful sized cleaning cloths).

Then wash the jeans with soap powder as usual and hang them inside out to dry.

Dissolve ¼ cup baking soda and  ½ c vinegar in 1 litre water in a bucket.. Wash windows with this mixture on a squeeze mop or squeegee. Rinse windows well.  Hose down weekly to prevent build up and every few months use the baking soda and vinegar mixture again.

Or you can simply use a hose and long handled scrubbing brush to stop the salt residue build up.

There are a number of products that can be purchased including:

• a preparation used to wash houses down before painting available from paint retailers
• a boat wash
• special window cleaning products that will deal to the salt available from glass suppliers or glaziers
• a permanent non-stick coating that claims to reduce maintenance considerably

• keep mould out of your refrigerator when it is not in use
• remove wine stains from a carpet with salt
• clean hard to get at windows with a microfibre cloth
• find a leak in an LPG bottle.

Put 1 tablespoon  meths into a 750 ml spray bottle and fill with water.  Spray the solution on to the window and wipe it over the whole surface with a soft cloth.

It can be frustrating and time consuming working out where the smudges are. 

One way to deal with this is to wipe the window up and down on the outside and across on the inside.  You can tell which side the smudges are on by the direction of the streaks.