Tips
Fold a cloth in four and you are holding eight clean faces.
Why
Use one face until it is dirty, then refold to the next. The cloth cleans better for longer, and you stop grinding collected dirt back over the surface.
Colour-code your cloths: white for glass, green for kitchen, yellow for bathroom, red for the toilet.
Why
One colour per zone stops yesterday’s toilet cloth from wiping today’s worktop. Light colours (white, light blue) for glass and gloss; green or blue for kitchen and general surfaces; yellow or orange for the bathroom; red or dark for the toilet and oily jobs.
Test anything new somewhere it will not be seen.
Why
The inside of a cupboard door, the back corner of a worktop, a hem. Thirty seconds now against a surface you cannot replace.
Baking soda absorbs odours; it does not mask them.
Limescale needs an acid, not effort.
Why
Warm white vinegar or a citric-acid solution dissolves limescale in minutes with no scrubbing. Scrubbing a mineral deposit mostly polishes it.
Wash microfibre cloths on their own, and never with fabric softener.
Why
Microfibre works by static attraction through millions of split fibres. Softener coats those fibres with a waxy film, which is exactly the property you were paying for, removed. Cotton lint from a mixed wash clogs them the same way.
Air-dry your cloths, or tumble on the lowest heat and stop early.
Why
High heat hardens synthetic fibres over time. Take cloths out while slightly damp and let the residual warmth finish the job.
Keep furniture polish and cockpit spray away from microfibre.
Why
They contain silicones and oils meant to stay behind as a shine — which is precisely the film that clogs a microfibre cloth. Use a disposable cloth for polish, and if it does happen, wash that cloth separately.
Descalers work on the surface — never spray acid onto your cloth.
Why
Spray the descaler on the taps or tiles, let it do the work, then wipe with the bathroom cloth. Prolonged direct acid contact degrades the fibres; the soak time is also what does the actual descaling.
Spray the cleaner on the cloth, never on the glass.
Why
Sprayed on the glass, cleaner runs into frames and seals, dries there and streaks. On the cloth, you control exactly where it goes and how much.