Ten top cleaning tips...

...nicked borrowed from the Victorians. Yes, it seems that the old ways really can be the best ways. The modern supermarket carries such a vast array of cleaning materials for every conceivable task that it’s easy to forget that a century ago, the average housewife managed to keep things clean with little more than ingenuity and a great deal of elbow grease.

In her research into domestic service and traditional housekeeping, Lucy Lethbridge was amazed by how resourceful and knowledgeable our ancestors were. And now she's condensed that wisdom into ten top cleaning tips from more than a hundred years ago. 

1. Tomato ketchup brings up a lovely shine on brass - it’s full of acetic acid, which is the main ingredient of commercial brass cleaners.

2. Copper saucepans are great for cooking in as they have such a high heat conductivity – but they can be difficult to clean. Dip half a lemon in salt and rub over the inside of the pan to get off grease or food residue. Rinse in warm water and dry immediately.

3. For wine or fruit stains on clothes, stretch the stained fabric over a bowl and pour boiling water over the stain until it disappears.

4. Borax (available here as a borax substitute) makes a great freshener for white fabric that is looking a bit grey. Just dissolve a tablespoon of borax in hot water as a pre-wash soak.

5. Apparently, cockroaches are deterred by cucumber. Leave cucumber peelings around the floor at night and the roaches will disappear or be ‘stupefied” which makes them easy to stamp on.

6. Add a teaspoon of kitchen salt to a vase of cut flowers to keep them fresh.

7. Victorians used to clean patent leather with milk and water. Just wipe over leather and buff off with a cloth. They sometimes finished with a slick of Vaseline for a high shine.

8. For a scratch on antique furniture, take half a walnut kernel and rub it gently over the scratch.

9. Bicarbonate of soda removes smells effectively. Sprinkle bicarb and lavender oil over a smelly carpet, leave overnight and vacuum up the next day.

10. A cup of (white) vinegar in your final rinse will keep your towels and woollens soft.

Lucy adds, "I’ve tried nearly all of them (only the cockroaches defeated me as I couldn’t find any: I’d love to know from any gransnetters if cucumber really works) and they work a treat."

You can find more tips from Lucy in her book, Spit & Polish, published by Bloomsbury.

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Images: Shutterstock