Former housekeeper at Chatsworth reveals how to make YOUR place as pristine as a stately home… from plumping pillows with tennis balls to using toothpaste to banish scratches
- Christine Robinson worked on the Chatsworth Estate for nearly 40 years
- She has shared her top tips to ensure your house is in spotless condition
- Many tricks involve natural remedies, which are more environmentally friendly
A former head housekeeper at Chatsworth House has revealed her top tips – including using tennis balls in the tumble dryer to plump your pillows.
Christine Robinson has drawn from her 40 years’ worth of experience working on the Derbyshire estate to share her insider secrets, in order to help you get your house in spotless condition.
These include using ice to get rid of chewing gum, and using paracetamol tablets to get rid of any burn marks on your iron.
Many of Christine’s tricks involve natural remedies, which are more environmentally friendly than chemical products.
Here, the former housekeeper tells FEMAIL how she kept Chatsworth in top condition…
A former head housekeeper at Chatsworth House has revealed her top tips for ensuring that your home is in spotless condition
PLUMPING YOUR PILLOWS
Many people struggle to keep their pillows nice and plump in the bedroom.
And Christine says that if you’ve got feather pillows, you should try putting them in the tumble dryer to solve the problem – with a couple of tennis balls.
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‘Plump up feather pillows by putting them in the tumble dryer for half an hour with two tennis balls,’ she explains.
The balls help to fluff the pillows, and also stop the feathers inside the pillows from clumping together.
Christine Robinson suggested putting your feather pillows in the tumble dryer with a couple of tennis balls, to get them looking plump
GETTING RID OF WALLPAPER MARKS
Christine has a very unusual method for getting rid of dirty marks on your paper – involving stale bread.
‘To clean grubby wallpaper around light switches, use stale, but still slightly moist, white bread or bread dough and roll it over the dirty marks,’ she explained.
The trick was actually first used in the Victorian era, featuring from a passage in The Good Housekeeper.
REMOVING SCRATCHES ON YOUR GLASSWARE
If you have a scratch on one of your glasses, former housekeeper Christine advises trying to polish it using toothpaste
Once a glass is scratched, it is usually resigned to the back of the cupboard.
But Christine says the glass could still be restored simply by using a touch of toothpaste.
She advises: ‘Don’t throw away a scratched glass before polishing with a bit of toothpaste, which might remove the scratch.’
Christine Robinson (pictured) is a former head housekeeper at Chatsworth House, where she worked for nearly 40 years
If the scratch is not very deep, the toothpaste will grind away a very fine layer of glass to get rid of the scratch.
REMOVING CHEWING GUM
Chewing gum is famously difficult to get rid of, no matter how hard you try.
But Christine has a simple – yet effective – method, that doesn’t involve any chemicals.
‘Instead of using a can of aerosol chemical chewing gum remover, place a few ice cubes in a plastic bag and press on top of the chewing gum,’ she explains.
‘It will then harden and can be removed carefully using a knife.’
REMOVING BURN MARKS ON AN IRON
To get rid of burn marks on an iron, Christine suggests that you need to take action immediately – using paracetamol tablet.
‘If you have used an iron that proved too hot and something nasty is burned onto the sole plate of the iron, switch the iron off.
‘While it’s still warm, hold a paracetamol tablet in a pair of tweezers and rub it over the stain on the iron and the mess will then just wipe away with a soft cloth.’
Christine suggested taking immediate action if you burn something onto your iron, involving a pair of tweezers and a paracetamol tablet
CLEANING WINDOWS
Christine suggests a natural method to ensure your windows are sparkling clean.
‘Instead of using a can of glass spray, squeeze lemon juice into the washing water, and the windows will gleam beautifully,’ she explains.
‘To remove insect spots on windows, wipe them over with a cloth rinsed in cold tea.’
GETTING YOUR BATHROOM SPOTLESS
Christine also suggests using a lemon when it comes to making sure that you bathroom is gleaming, as well as using old tights to scrub the bath.
Christine recommends using half a lemon to scrub your bath tub when it comes to getting rid of any stubborn stains
‘Dripping bath taps can leave a stain – rub with half a lemon,’ she advises. ‘Clean a bath with a piece of old net curtain or tights – it’s mildly abrasive.’
The former housekeeper also has a natural remedy when it comes to unblocking a sink.
‘Try clearing a blocked sink by putting down two tablespoonsful of bicarbonate of soda, followed by a cup of vinegar,’ she says. ‘After two hours, pour a kettle of boiling water down and the sink should drain freely.’
Christine Robinson will be speaking at the Malvern Autumn Show, which runs from September 29 to 30.
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