Queen of Clean, Lynsey Crombie shares her tips on getting organised for back to school.
Get organised
Prepare yourself a back-to-school checklist and tick off as you buy, including school uniforms, PE Kits, stationary, etc. Get out and get most of this at the start of the holidays as there is nothing worse than heading into town a week before they go back, and a lot of the stock is gone, and limited sizes left.
Sort Uniform
For school uniform that no longer fits and is in good condition, donate or sell them using local selling sites or take it to the school’s seconds uniform shop if your school has one. People really appreciate school uniforms as children grow so quickly. Even if items are slightly worn people may still be keen as many parents like a few spares as younger children have a habit of losing uniforms.
Refresh Uniforms
When washing school shirts and white school socks, add a heaped tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda to the washing machine drum and then wash as normal, I like to wash at 30 degrees or less these days, but if they are looking a little grubby wash at 40 degrees.
For the collar rub in some hair shampoo, massage into the stain, leave 15 minutes then wash as normal, and for any sun cream stains cover the stain in eucalyptus oil and then wash as normal.
Washing School bags
School bags are often left on classroom and corridor floors picking up lots of dirt, our children then come home and transfer this dirt into our homes which is not always pleasant. Most backpacks can be machine washed, make sure you take everything out, give it a shake over the bin to get out any pencil shavings or small bits of rubbish, and then pop it on a 30-degree wash with a low spin. Hang to dry.
If they have any stains from biro pens and felt tips add a little stain remover to the wash too. After a machine wash, they always come out like new so this will save you from having to buy a new one. If your bag can’t be machine washed you can hand wash it using warm water and either washing up liquid or liquid laundry detergent, scrub the outside and the inside with a soft bristle brush over the sink, and then hand to dry, treat any ink stains with a stain remover.
Cleaning Water Bottles
If the water bottles are looking a little cloudy and off colour or have mold spots in them, you can bring this back to life by using a few simple tips. For mould spots fill half with rice, add white vinegar and really shake it, leave overnight, pour out and rinse and the mould spots will be gone. For cloudy-looking water bottles and to banish any odours pop in an Alka seltzer or a denture tablet, fill with water and leave overnight.
Lynsey Crombie is the UK’s No1 homecare expert, best-selling author, and successful clean-fluencer
