If you have a lot of foot traffic in your home and like the carpets to be kept clean, fresh and clear of stains, an electric carpet washer is very easy to use and move around. Rotating brushes lift dirt and stains, and powered jets pump the cleaning solution deep into the pile to remove any trapped dirt, odours and allergens. It’s also good for stairs, upholstery and car seats.

If you use your open fire often over the cooler months, you should have it cleaned every year. In theory you could do it yourself, but you risk damaging the lining, particularly in an older house.

Contact The National Association of Chimney Sweeps (www.nacs.org.uk) for recommendations. Once it’s been swept, you might want to try a maintenance product such as a Chimney Cleaning Log. Although it doesn’t cancel out the need to sweep, it softens and removes tar deposits and reduces the risk of a chimney fire.

Another tip for reducing tar build-up: burn well-seasoned wood and/or smokeless fuel.

Isn’t it annoying when the straps on your bra start to slip more? What I do is adjust straps to the perfect setting, then put a few stitches in to keep everything in place forever!

Next time you put washed towels in the tumble dryer, add a small cloth sprinkled with a good few drops of your favourite essential oil.

You can enjoy the scent every time you dry yourself!

I used to have one and I quite liked the scratches (shows some action is taking place!), but if you’re less keen, a good remedy is T-Cut, which is used to eradicate scratches on car surfaces.

Carefully and gently take a used razor along the surface, as if you were shaving your legs, and the bobbles will come away immediately.

Then put some sticky tape over the bits and hey presto a smooth surface again!

Heat the wok over the hob until very hot, then remove from the heat.

Add a tablespoon of salt, then about a teaspoon of vegetable oil.

Using a scrunched up piece of kitchen towel, give the surface a good scrub (careful not to burn yourself) until it feels as if most of the gummy residue has come off the pan and onto the towel.

Rinse under the hot tap.

A great way round this is to burn a Price’s Chef’s Candle. It gives off wonderful wafts of basil, patchouli and geranium and sorted the smell very quickly.

When you’re ironing your pillowcases and sheets, spray everything with a little water infused with a touch of lavender oil.

It smells divine and research shows that it can help you sleep!

If they’re dry clean only, the cleaner will deal with the spores but probably not the stains.

However, what you can try at home is to gather them up and take outside (so the unhealthy spores don’t spread around the room), wipe down with a solution of warm water and Ariel, then rinse with a cloth wrung out in clear vinegar.

The less time the mould has had to form, the easier it’ll be to get rid of the stains.