Welcome to the Clean As A Whistle (London & Herts) Ltd blog.

Over the coming months, I will be publishing all sorts of items of interest. First of all, I thought that it would be a good idea to share with you some useful cleaning tips. If you have any tips of your own, please feel free to share them with us.

1. Roasting pans
If your roasting pan is covered in burnt-on food, sprinkle on some biological washing powder, add some boiling water and simmer on the hob for 10 minutes. All that mess will come off really easily.

2. Stainless steel
Stainless steel-fronted appliances are very fashionable, but they do tend to get covered in greasy marks. The best way of getting them off is to use microfibre cloths. They're widely available in shops such as John Lewis.

3. Pets
Make sure you never let cats and other animals walk around on your kitchen work surfaces. Their feet can tread bacteria around that could be harmful.

4. Scuffmarks on vinyl floors
If you have a vinyl floor, you'll know that it can collect a lot of black scuffmarks. They might seem stubborn if you try to scrub at them, but they're actually simple to remove if you use a plain old pencil eraser.

5. Cleaning the microwave
If you've overheated and exploded a curry in your microwave and the inside now looks like it's had a case of diarrhoea, you can remove the mess with ease by microwaving a shallow dish filled with slices of lemon and hot water for five minutes. The steam will soften the dried food and the lemon will leave it smelling fresh.

6. Dirty dishclothes
In warm, humid weather, bacteria can really multiply in your dishcloth. To help keep it clean, you can simply stick it in your dishwasher (if you have one) at the end of the day with the rest of the load, or just leave it in the sink overnight with a little washing up liquid and bleach. Quick and easy.

7. Drains
Drains do tend to get smelly, especially in warm weather. Fortunately, it's not so hard to get them smelling sweet again. By pouring down some washing soda crystals and boiling water you should be able to clear the offending blockages of grease and grime.

8. Kettle limescale
To remove limescale from your kettle, pour in a mixture of half vinegar and half water, boil it up and leave overnight. In the morning, all that limescale should just fall away.

9. Fishy smells
Frying fish can leave a fishy smell for a long time. To get your kitchen smelling fresh again, simply simmer some orange peel, cloves and water for 10 minutes.

10. Washing chicken
A lot of people do it, but you should never wash chicken. All those splashes could be laden with harmful salmonella bacteria, spreading it around the kitchen without you realising.