Tips for the weekend clean up

FINALLY, we’ve been able to switch off the radiators and clean out the fire grate — we hope, for the last time.

We have sunshine to warm our backs and our stuffy homes can now breathe deeply through open windows for the first time since what seems like the eternal winter, began.

But the welcome bright sunlight has the disadvantage of illuminating dusty spots and showing up previously unseen cobwebs nodding to make their presence felt from high corners. And who hasn’t noticed the once gleaming white paint work now yellowed by central heating and open fires going at full speed during the months of darkness. They all signal the time’s arrived for a spring clean.