OK - you've finished work, done the housework, fed the husband/kids/pets feel knackered, retire to bed and oh no it's too hot to sleep. Go get your hot water bottle (yes I am serious) and fill it with COLD water. Cool off your feet/legs, whatever - it is delicious. Lateral thinking my dear Watson!!

Grotty Grills:

If you own one of those fat reducing electric grills or sandwich grill and have a family like mine that never bothers to clean it after use, leaving grease and burnt bits to cool and cling, here's a good tip for getting the burnt bits off. Simply switch it onto full power for 1 minute and then clean it with a damp sponge, taking care of course not to burn your fingers. You'll find that the grease and burnt bits come off very easily.

Get rid of fridge smells with a large juicy lemon... simply cut in half - soften in microwave for 15 secs to release the essential oils, allow to cool and them put in fridge - it will absorb smells for ages and ages.

Angela

Cleaning glasses, vases etc...

How do you clean crystal glasses and vases, glass and the like to the shine they get in an antiques shop?... well I will let you in on a tip - denture cleaning tablets - yes really.

Fill a bowl with warm water (not hot) at first and gradually raise the temperature - that way fragile glass will not break - pop in your budget denture cleaning tablets and allow to fizz over night - in the morning just rinse and you will have sparkling glass wear...

And for those Vases you just dont seem to be able to get clean - carefully fill with water - inceasing the temperature steadily until it gets hot (but not boiling) then add the denture cleaning tablets...

This is very useful for all those details which never seem to get clean.

Angela

To give your windows a really quick, smear free clean just use baby wipes - they smelly lovely and do the job brilliantly

If the hot weather is making it difficult for you to get off to sleep then just wrap a frozen ice block (the ones you use in a cooler box) in a towel and place in your bed half an hour before bedtime - bravo ...a nice cool place to sleep

A spot of washing up kliquid on grease spots and then straight into the wash means no expensive pre soaks or ruined unwearable clothes. I wouldn't recommend trying this on very delicate or precious fabrics.

A spot of washing up liquid on grease spots and then straight into the wash means no expensive pre soaks or ruined unwearable clothes. I wouldn't recommend trying this on very delicate or precious fabrics.

best thing to get marks off walls painted or wall paper
Baby wipes sounds silly but it works
steve

Having problems with flies and wasps in the house during this hot spell?
Attach a plastic funnel to the vacuum tube and scoop them up. It's both fun and effective.Also works on creepie-crawlies but don't try it on mice - they get stuck in the funnel.

When decorating a room, to protect the wall fittings,such as lights from paint splatters, cover with a plastic bag secured with string, remembering to remove the light bulb first.
To save the expense of buying buying a pasting table spread a plastic sheet over a kitchen table. Make sure that the sheet is held taut by taping it securely at each corner to the table legs.

To protect the base of a door from damage by children or pets, attach spare carpet tiles to the base of the door with spray adhesive to make a kicker board. These could match either the paintwork or the floor carpet.

If you own one of the George Forman healthy grills
to clean it down after use buy a car wash sponge and cut it in half you won't burn your fingers. I use one all the time and of course they last for quite a while.

Dont throw away old tin takeaway containers. Cut simple leaf shapes from them and with a ball point pen, push gently to make little dots around the edge of the leaves. I glued them to the doors of a small cupboard which I had previously given a blue wood wash. I used a silver marker pen to make swirly shapes for the stems. I looks like beaten tin but without the expence.

To clean a cheese grater, rub a hard crust of bread over it.

To keep your house cooler in hot weather, open your loft hatch and the hot air will escape

EHLENBILL
AFTER A BARBECUE WHEN EVERYTHING HAS COOLED PUT THE GRILL IN TO ROUGH SAND AND RUB ALL OVER IT WILL COME UP AS NEW

Baby wipes, particularly Pampers which I use, are excellent for getting food stains out of carpets and soft furnishings. I have beige carpets and black sofas and they seem to show up every stain between them but I find baby wipes get out most of the food mess my toddler leaves behind, especially strawberry stains out of the carpet. They also work on getting crayons and felt-tip pens off wooden or painted furniture, plus of course keeping her face, hands and bottom spotless!

For those of you who still use real ink in ink bottles, this tip really works! If you spill the ink on any material, pour milk on the stain, and it will just disappear. I actually did this when I was about 10, and my mum never knew!! (Except for the strange milky smell of course!!)

If you are about to re-decorate a wall/walls,before you add new wallpaper,using a felt pen ,draw a huge number onto the old wall paper to remind you how many layers you are wall papering on top of.Handy to know in the future when you want to strip all the paper off,and start from scratch!

To brighten a plain room and to add a bit of colour, paint one wall (feature wall) a different colour; like red for a dining room, then using a basic shape like a circle or square, stencil a border around the remaing walls in the same colur used for the feature wall.

Thanks for the tip Kristie - I shall open my loft hatch when I get home - as upstairs is so much warmer than down...

Angela

To remove heavy stains from a leather sofa, tip it up with a bowl of steaming hot water directly under the stain, the steam weakens it and is able to be wiped away, lux flakes are great for cleaning leather.
Having three children I have often used this technique and even found it to work on felt tip pen.

To make life easier when putting on fresh duvet covers...turn the cover inside out, put your hands into the inside of the cover, grab the corners of the actual duvet whilst holding the cover and then gently shake the cover back over the duvet itself and hey presto! You'll never be crawling into duvet covers again trying to get those corners in place!

To keep your house warmer during cold months put tin foil behind your radiators. This will trap the heat in and make your home lovely and warm.