Most of us do regular quick cleans round each room of our homes without paying too much attention to any particular room, however this is how hidden dirt and grime can really build up over time and often gets missed. In your bathroom it’s probably often full of moisture, from either the bath or shower and often filled with unpleasant smells too so a regular deep clean really is a must.

The bath/shower – these areas are absolute mould magnets so you may need to use quite strong cleaners contain bleach to get rid of the black mould that can sit between your tiles. For any stubborn areas soak cotton wool in bleach (always wear gloves!) and leave on the area over night. Ensure the room is well ventilated and that the bleach doesn’t come into contact with any fabric or delicate surfaces.

The toilet – a really good antiseptic cleaner is a must here and you should always keep a separate cloth for cleaning the toilet with to avoid spreading any harmful bacteria such as E.coli.

The sink – to cut through all that soap scum you will need a good degreaser, citrus fruits such as lemon provide a great natural cleanser and will leave your sink smelling lovely too!

There are times when you don’t have time to do a full house clean but need a quick freshener. Maybe you have friends popping round or you have 15 spare minutes before you need to leave for work. Here are some fast cleaning hacks that will maximise what you can do in a short space of time.

Plumping up your sofa cushions – this makes a massive difference to your living room making it instantly look tidier, you could give the cushions a spritz with a fabric freshener too, leaving the room smelling fresh and clean.

Make your bed – straightening out your bed sheets and scatter cushions on your bed make the room look neat and tidy in a matter of minutes and spraying on a bit of a crease releaser will tidy up your sheets making them look freshly ironed.

Tumble dryer sheets – you can use these on the mirrored surfaces in your home to give a lovely shine and the simply pop the sheets just behind the radiator. When the heating comes on a beautiful smell will fill your home.

Flip your reeds – If you love reed diffusers and have them dotted around the house you may not realise that it’s recommended that you turn the reeds over once a week. Doing this help to disperse the scent more evenly and will give your room a real burst of fragrance.

For lots of people, cleaning is just a job that has to be done and something that they don’t look forward to but for others, cleaning can actually be very therapeutic and calming. It may be that you like cleaning certain rooms of your home or that you find some cleaning jobs more enjoyable than others. It is easy to get distracted with the things we enjoy doing and keep putting off the jobs we don’t like. Creating a cleaning schedule will really help keep you on track and can ensure you get everything done that you need to.

Firstly, you need to decide who you are able to allocate jobs too. Even if you have children living in the home, you can often find small jobs that are age appropriate to them. This will not only help to share the load but will also help in teaching them life skills and lessons they can take forward with them as they get older. Make a list of all of the day-to-day jobs that need doping and then split them up in to who is able to do those. It may be that many of the jobs need to be done by the adults of the house, but these can be swapped around to ensure the same person isn’t always doing the same task.

Clean windows can make a huge different to the appearance of your home. Often, we don’t notice our windows until the sun hits them and we can then see all the dust, spider’s webs and grubby finger marks all over them.

The best way to clean outside windows is to get a bucket of soapy water and a car sponge. You may even want to use car shampoo or if not washing up liquid. You can then give the windows a really good rub with the sponge and also clean all the plastic trim around them too. If your water starts to get dirty, remember to change it often as there is no point in trying to clean glass with dirty water.

Invest in a window squeegee, as it will make the task of drying the windows so much easier. These squeegees can come in a number of different sizes and can often be picked up for as little as a pound from bargain homeware stores. As soon as you have washed the window, pour some clean water over and then immediately use the squeegee going vertically from top to bottom. This should leave a perfect streak free finish. If there are any water marks left, use a shammy or a piece of newspaper to clean them off.

If you have carpet in your home you will already know how grubby it can get. With dark or heavily patterned carpets you may not notice as much as with lighter carpets. Carpets get especially dirty over the winter months when you may unknowingly tread in dirt from outside. Hallway carpets and high traffic areas often get the worse, especially if you have to go through the house to get to the back. This means if you take your dog a walk, you have to walk them through the house before you can get them to a place that you can clean them off. Although many of us start off with the best intensions of removing shoes when you come in etc, this often gets forgotten over time.

Cleaning your carpets not only brings the colour back to them but can also give that fresh clean smell. It is a great way to add some life back in to a room. It is best to clean your carpets quite often as if you leave it for too long you may find that the marks are a lot harder to come out or will not come out at all.