Mrs Hinch, otherwise known as Sophie Hinchliffe, is the UK’s most loved cleaning sensation since Kelly Woodburn. The ‘cleanfuencer’ entertains and educates her 3.9 million followers with easy tricks and useful hacks on how to keep your home clean and tidy. It seems only right that we digest all her advice and give you our Top 8 cleaning tips for living in a houseshare.
Cleaning Tips #1 – Store your fresh bedding in the matching pillowcase
To avoid having a draw or cupboard wildly filled with mix-match towels and bedsheets, use Mrs Hinch’s top tip. “I store the whole fresh bed set into the matching pillow case!”
Mindblowingly simple, Mrs Hinch folds the duvet cover and pillow cases and then pops them all in one of the pillowcases. Easy to store and everything is kept together.
Cleaning Tips #2 – Clean your shutters or blinds with a dryer sheet, or a sock!
A monthly task made easy. Sophie Hinch revealed on Instagram that she uses scented tumble dryer sheets to dust and clean her blinds and shutters. “They’re anti-static so they pick up all the dust. You don’t need to wet them or do anything.”
If you don’t have a dryer sheet, you can always use a trust sock and then pop it straight in the wash after. Finish off with a wipe of Zoflora and you’re done.
Cleaning Tips #3 – Wipe down your indoor plant leaves
Indoor plants bring a lot of joy into our lives and are great for improving your mood and oxygenating the air. With the growth of companies such as Patch Plants and Bloombox, our houses are becoming more and more like greenhouses.
But do you keep your plant clean as well as watered? Mrs Hinch uses the same trick, use a tumble dryer sheet or a sock to wipe up any dust to keep your plants looking and smelling fresh.
Cleaning Tips #4 – Store your pan lids upside down to make more space in your cupboards
Pan cupboards are stress inducing, especially in rentals. In an effort to keep them tidy and give you more room, Mrs Hinch revealed on her Instagram this handy trick. “Turn your saucepan lids upside down and then sit the pans on top of each other”. Genius.
Cleaning Tips #5 – Remove mattress stains with bicarbonate of soda
Bicarbonate of soda has super powers and is one of our Top 10 cleaning tools. Mrs Hinch loves it too, and suggests using it to get out any mattress stains. All you have to do is sprinkle it on the stain, work it into the stain and leave it for an hour or so. Then, vacuum it off and you should be stain and odour free. You can also do this every 6 months to freshen up your mattress.
Cleaning Tips #6 – Use Zoflora to keep your bins (and everything else) fresh
Another one of our Top 10 cleaning products, Zoflora is an antibacterial concentrate that smells like daisies on a summer day back in 2019 before Covid decided to ruin our plans.
This budget liquid is Mrs Hinch’s go-to product for most of her household chores, including deep cleaning her sink and dish clothes most evenings. Mrs Hinch recommends diluting 2 capfuls of Zoflora in water in the sink and to leave your dishcloths to soak. One of our favourite tips? Soak some kitchen roll with it and put it at the bottom of your bin to keep it smelling fresh.
You can pick up bottles of Zoflora for as little as £1 from Wilkinsons, Amazon and all major supermarkets.
Cleaning Tips #7 – Declog plug holes in minutes with this 79p product
Another common problem in rental homes – the blocked plug. Follow the Hinch way and you’ll be unblocked in an instant. Pick up some soda crystals from your local supermarket for as little as 79p.
First, pour 3/4 a cup of soda crystals down the plug and leave for two to three minutes.
Then, pour down a cupful of white vinegar (this will fizz up – the best part!) and leave for ten minutes.
Next, pour a cap of Zoflora down and leave it for one minute. Finally, pour a full kettle of boiling water down the plug and you should be running clear.
Cleaning Tips #8 – Clean your oven with The Pink Stuff
Mrs Hinch introduced many of us to The Pink Stuff which is a cheap yet effective house cleaning product. Sophie recommends using it to clean your oven with a strong scrubber (such as a Scrub Daddy cloth) to remove tough baked-on stains.
Soak and then scrub your oven shelves with the cream product. You can always finish these off in the dishwasher too.
If you’re eager to start cleaning and want to know what to add to the shopping list. Read our Top 10 Cleaning Products article. It includes some DIY hacks that replace expensive cleaning products.