If you’re ready to serve food and forgotten to heat the plates, stick them (but not any with metal parts) in the microwave on a medium setting for 30 seconds. Works a treat!

Sweep your front path or porch as part of your regular cleaning routine – trailing in leaves and mud on shoes will only create extra work.

When you apply a cleaning spray, leave it a few minutes while you clean something else – during that time the spray will have started to work and marks will wipe off more easily.

Do a little each day – even 10 minutes extra every morning or evening means you’ll have more chance to keep on top of things and will free up more time at the weekends.

When washing walls, start at the bottom and work upwards so that any dirty trickles will get absorbed by the already wet surface.

If you have a household tip that you would like to share with Aggie’s followers – send it to us for publication – go to https://aggiestips.com/do-you-have-a-tip-to-share-with-aggie/

Layer up around half a dozen sheets of cooking foil and cut through a few times with the scissors – they’ll soon perk up

Commonly known as woolly bears, they’re quite common in spring. They look like maggots with brown hairs (hence the name). As they hatch they munch through their surroundings, leaving holes in the way clothes moths do.

Check for damage to clothes in wardrobes and chests of drawers, carpets and rugs. Wash or dry clean affected items and vacuum carpets thoroughly (empty the bag straight away).

Buy Rentokil Insectrol Dust for Carpet Beetle from hardware shops. Once you’re rid of them, make sure you clean well, removing fluff and dust from under and behind furniture, and vacuum carpets thoroughly.

If you have a household tip that you would like to share with Aggie’s followers – send it to us for publication – go to https://aggiestips.com/do-you-have-a-tip-to-share-with-aggie/

– some loo cleaners can damage permanently.

And if it gets colour spots or the wood becomes bleached, there’s no easy remedy.

Clean the seat with plain water and a microfibre cloth (pop in the washing machine afterwards).

Ivory needs to be exposed to daylight so it can bleach naturally and stay creamy, so best to use daily.

Hand-wash in soapy water and dry immediately as water can seep into the joints and soften the glue that attaches the handles.

Grubs are the culprits as they tunnel through the wood while they feed, then as adults they fly away, leaving behind pinhole exit marks.

If you think your furniture might be affected, treat as quickly as possible with a specialist solution from hardware shops – you don’t want any structural wood in your home to be attacked.

If you have a household tip that you would like to share with Aggie’s followers – send it to us for publication – go to https://aggiestips.com/do-you-have-a-tip-to-share-with-aggie/

Fast Fix Hook and Loop Tape is brilliant for securing plants, as well as for household jobs.

Similar to Velcro, there’s no need for knots; cut to length and overlap to fix. £2.99 from www.creativeproducts.ltd.uk.

If the grouting in your bathroom is covered in mould, but you don’t want to use chemical sprays on it, douse in vodka instead.

Leave to soak for a good 15 minutes and then scrub off – you should be left mould-free.

If you have a household tip that you would like to share with Aggie’s followers – send it to us for publication – go to https://aggiestips.com/do-you-have-a-tip-to-share-with-aggie/

My cashmere cardi bargain from a while back was covered in bobbles. Of course I could pick them off one by one, but they were like a rash!

Then I came across the wonderful battery-operated Lint Shaver from Russel that removes pills and fuzz effortlessly;

£4.49 from Robert Dyas.