Get into your spring cleaning with these fantastic tips.

What is it about spring that makes you want to freshen the whole house and make it spic and span?

Maybe it is the brightness of the days and the warmth that starts to permeate everything.

Cold winter houses seem to undergo a metamorphosis overnight as the days get longer, inviting you to get more active and reinvigorate mind, body, soul and house.

So what better time to trawl our savings partner website www.simplesavings.com.au for clever spring cleaning ideas?

Here is one of their best ever and most popular general purpose cleaning formulas. We are happy to say we have tried and tested it and it is a sure-fire winner for all manner of cleaning tasks – oily stove tops, ovens and range hoods, kitchen benches, pantries and cupboards, skirting boards, wall marks, toilets, showers and vanities, hard floors and grimy windows, even grubby flyscreens! You can use it for dirty hands and smelly vases, and it even removes old wallpaper and baked-on food on cookware.  Just don’t use it on polished wood surfaces.

Once you start using it, you won’t want to stop cleaning. It cuts through grease like magic and best of all, is non-toxic and cheap.

Household Cleaner

1 litre water
200ml white vinegar
40ml liquid washing up detergent
30ml eucalyptus oil
2 dessertspoons of washing soda (from cleaning aisle of the supermarket – crystals or powder)

Mix all ingredients together, and it's ready to use. Use 60ml of solution in half a bucket of warm water to wash your floors. Fill a spray bottle and use it to clean your table, benches and bathroom.

For a cheap dusting oil, try a 50/50 solution of vinegar and olive oil. It works a treat. If you want, you can add a drop or two of clove oil, or lavender or lemon oil for a nice smell.

For window and mirror cleaner use 1 part methylated spirit o to 3 parts water, place in spray bottle. and squirt on window. Clean with paper towel. Another alternative is straight white vinegar.

To clean a mouldy shower recess, spray with diluted bleach (or paint the bleach on with a cheap old paintbrush). Rinse after five minutes.

For shower recesses, keep a glass scraper in the shower and after each shower, quickly scrape the glass shower screen and floor down, so the water runs into the drain. You will be surprised how effective this is in keeping your shower clean and free from scum and mould.

Another tip is to dry yourself IN the shower – this means you won’t have stinky wet bath mats to dry out or wash all the time.

For toilet cleaning, use half a cup of bleach straight in the bowl. Leave for a short while before brushing.

You can steam clean your microwave easily if you place a jug of water in the microwave and set it to high for six minutes, then let the boiled water sit for 15 minutes in the microwave. The steam build-up will loosen all the grime, allowing you to simply wipe it away. No chemicals required!

A cheap tip for cleaning all stainless steel kitchen appliances is to use baby oil – it works really well! Just wipe items over with a little bit of generic baby oil on a tissue or paper towel; it not only restores a beautiful shine, but it also stops rust spots appearing. A bottle of baby oil is cheap and lasts well over 12 months – much cheaper than most cleaners!

For washing woollens, use a mix of 4 cups soap flakes (Lux), 1 cup methylated spirits and 50mls eucalyptus oil. This home-made mixture is thick, like mashed potato. Use about 2 tablespoons to a bowl of warm water and DO NOT RINSE.

Another Simple Savings member has this advice: To save on cleaning, first, really lower your standards. If you clean the house once a week, go to once a fortnight. If you are already cleaning fortnightly, go to monthly. Don't feel bad about it either!

Don't be as fussy – there will be dust under the bed long after you are dead and gone!

Do not wash bath towels and face washers every day – amazingly many people do. This is a big waste of time, power, cleaning products and, more importantly, our precious water! Have two sets of towels and face washers for each family member. Mark with their name and assign one set to last for at least a fortnight. Make everyone responsible for hanging their own towels on the line, every day, to dry. Also, have at least one set of towels marked 'guest'.

In winter, change and wash the sheets/pillowcases on the beds monthly, in summer you might like to do it fortnightly – but weekly is definitely too often, unless special circumstances are involved.

Learn to iron only the real essentials, that is, the clothes that show. This saves on power, distilled water and ironing sprays. Never iron items like underwear, socks, pyjamas, sheets, pillowcases, bath towels, or tea-towels. Only iron tablecloths for special occasions.

Only wash the dishes once a day, or every second day if you have enough dishes. Learn to rack and stack 'em either on the sink or in the dishwasher.

Wash the car less often. Once every three or six months say, and when you do, use buckets of water collected from the washing machine cycles. Don't buy expensive car washing detergent; dish washing liquid will do. And remember to park the car on the lawn and rinse quickly and sparingly with the hose or leave it in the rain to rinse.

Clean the wheelie bin once or twice a year. Save up the dregs of cleaning products, add recycled water and tip into the bin; use an old broom to scrub out. Turn it upside down to drain.