Share you’re spring DIY household tips and WIN 1 of 5 FrogTape bundles. To find out how to enter, scroll down to the bottom.
This competition is now closed. Congratulations to our winners, Ian, Paul, Gwen, Carol And Diane who have all been notified.
Spring has truly sprung and for most of us that means – chocolate, bunnies and of course decorating.
As the Easter bank holiday approaches it’s the perfect time to give your home a little revamp and what better way than slipping on those old overalls and dusting off the paint brushes.
You will win a FrogTape bundle which will have 1 Multi Surface and 1 Delicate Surface inside. Each prize set is worth around £15 from www.frogtape.co.uk
About FrogTape’s Product
Painting is not just the most cost effective way of making a huge change to your room but it is also the quickest – especially if you take time at the beginning of the project. FrogTape’s innovative Multi Surface and Delicate Surface masking tape will ensure a professional look every time.
Using PaintBlock Technology which reacts with the moisture in paint to create a block preventing the paint from seeping under the masking tape, FrogTape keeps paint out and helps create crisp, straight edges everytime – Phew no more squint patterns for us!
Multi-surface (green roll) is perfect for use on: Emulsion walls, wood trim, glass and metal. While Delicate Surface (yellow roll) is ideal for use on: Wallpaper, freshly painted surfaces, newly plastered walls, treated wood, veneer, laminate, vinyl and more.
With the vibrant tape (so that you don’t miss it!) you can create professional stripes and mosaic – if you are brave enough to try? Plus the tape can be applied to a surface 21 days before you paint – talk about time saving!
FrogTape retails from just £7.59 and is available from Homebase, B&Q and all good DIY outlets.
How to enter to Win 1 0f 5 sets
1. Comment in our box below & share your Spring DIY household tips.
2. For an extra entry, Tweet, Like or Share on Google Plus.
The competition will end on 1st May 2014. Winners will be notified the following day. Good Luck!!
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very useful
Put tape on a tile when drilling, it will stop it cracking.
Put vinegar and baking soda down the plug holes of your sinks and then put a kettle of boiling water down for sparkling drains
You can only cut once, so measure at least twice
use bicarbonate of soda and white vinegar to clean up discoloured grout
A new paint brush for cleaning is your friend. There is nowhere you cant dust.
Take all your knick knacks off the shelves and dust thoroughly, then think one third returns to the shelves, one third goes to a charity shop and one third goes back to the place they were until you moved them!!! It makes a difference – I do the same with my clothes once a year, getting rid of those I will lose the weight and fit into these
a can of Coca Cola poured into the toilet overnight removes limescale
Get someone else to do it!
Pick out those small weeds now, before they turn into monsters.
Keep old toothbrushes for getting between tiles and into those awkward corners
Never put it off.
To clean silver, immerse in an Aluminium foil lined bowl of water and bicarbonate of soda.
Amazing results without the hard work.
Lemon is useful for cleaning :- As it cuts through grease, whilst it smells fresh.
preparation , preparation ,preparation
The hoe is your friend, 15 minutes of hoeing saves hours of weeding.
Hoe your emerging annual weeds now and leave in the sun for free green manure.
To get the pull cord on your blinds clean, wrap cord in cling film filled with bleach, scrunch up, leave overnight, rinse well, nice bright white!
When cleaning kitchen cupboards put cling film on the shelves to save you cleaning next time. Just
remove the old cling film and replace.
The jobs you’re putting off probably don’t take as long as you think! Try giving yourself permisssion to stop after 10 minutes – by then you’ll probably have got into it and be happy to keep going, but if not then you’re 10 minutes further on than you were and you can come back to it tomorrow 🙂
Lemon juice for limescale is a godsend. We live in a very hard water area so our sinks, bath and taps get coated in limescale very quickly. Just spray on, leave for 5-10 mins and it just wipes right off, smells great too.
Use white vinegar and cold water to clean windows and mirrors 50/50 solution – sparkling windows and mirrors really fast.
preparation , preparation ,preparation
When drilling in to tiles, put a bit of frog tape where the hole is to be drilled. Then make a mark on the tape with a pencil where you want the hole to be. The tape will stop the drill from slipping and protects the surface of the tile.
Buy a steam cleaner, it has changed my life!
If you’ve got kids or pets use white vinegar as an alternative to weedkiller
Just about to paint my stairs, so this will be perfect xx
Don’t rush
To remove the mould in bathrooms use lemon juice as a natural bleach agent. One part lemon juice & one part baking powder, apply paste, leave 2 hours & rinse off. Use lemon juice in a spray bottle for everyday lime scale remover on appliances, handles etc.
Take one room at a time and give a real blitz because it can be overwhelming doing a wee bit here and there
When u buy an oven,or clean your old one, mix some bicarbonate of soda and water to a paste and paint it on with a pastry brush. Next time you spill something, it just wipes off without chemicals. Repaint with bicarb paste each time. Saves lots of elbow grease.
When painting use maskin tape to get a clean sharp line for all your borders etc
After washing glasses in hard water areas, dip glasses in a very mild mix of warm water and vinegar to stop limescale marks forming on the rim.
Always use frog tape when cutting in paint. It makes me hopping mad when I get paint on the ceiling!!
Think carefully before you decorate! It’s heartbreaking to do a great job but find you really don’t like the colour!! In our case I normally go at least one shade lighter then my eye tells me too and normally love the results – but I’ve made some duff choices in the past.
use old toothbrushes for cleaning the fidly bits behind taps and around toilets
Double check measurements before buying supplies and starting the work.
White vinegar gets rid of nasty pet smells
Use tape on tiles to stop the drill bit slipping and to stop the tile cracking
Put a little dishwasher rinse aid into a bowl or bucket of warm water and use this to wash your windows. They will gleam and be streak free and they seem to stay cleaner for longer.
Straightforward, relatively cheap sugar soap really is the quickest way to give woodwork a thorough clean.
Just do one room at a time, and then you will see your results more quickly
Take your time when doing DIY jobs so you don’t mistakes.
let the shower run warm for a few minutes before cleaning the bathroom – the steam helps shift grime.
If you need to move heavy furniture to clean underneath, on wooden or vinyl flooring like chests or wardrobes, place a clean folded towel under either side and it will slide easily. If it is on carpet place some clean heavy duty polythene underneath in the same way and it is easier to move.
Remove rust spots from your kitchen knives by soaking them in lemon juice
Be ruthless when clearing out. Not touched it since last year? Do you actually need it then?
Walk around each room at a time and write down every thing that needs doing. Then tackle each job one at a time. It is less stressful than trying to tackle everything at once.
it’s just the tip that gets dull on a utility knife blade. When it does, snap off the tip with pliers and you’re in business again!!
When doing diy research is key for me to look for tips esp if its a task you have never done before, plenty of fantastic information, the skill is weeding out the rubbish though
When you have a paint pot, tie a piece of string around the tin and use this to wipe off the excess paint. This stops it from getting on the rim and makes the paint easier to open next time 🙂
Measure twice, cut once
get someone else to do it for you
A bit of company always helps – my Mum and Dad come to stay for a DIY weekend and we blitz everything in a day
Make sure you look after your paint brushes and they will always provide a good finish
White Vinegar gets rid of limescale, stains and kills weeds.
Measure twice, cut once
Paint ceiling before wallls to prevent spray on newly paintedwalls.
Buy a goat hair radiator brush – it cleans downs inside the radiators so well, especially after you have been redecorating
Place the shower head in a Sandwich bag of White Vinegar, it really does remove all the muck. One of those jobs that looks worse than it is.
Always wear the right safety equipment (mask etc.)/use a circuit breaker etc.
Make sure you have enough materials to finish the job or work from highly visible areas to less visible areas – different batches can have slight colour variations.
Adopt a ‘little and often’ approach to DIY – otherwise it will all get too much!
Emulsion and paint luckily have improved over the years. I would recommend considering those which haven’t got a strong smell. As I believe they are easier to work with, though still ensure ventilation is available. Whilst they may also be kinder (gentler) on the respiratory and immune system etc.
Also I prefer to make use of emulsion and paint for condensation and dampness. These seem especially good for kitchen and bathroom. As well as woodwork around glass windows etc.
If you immerse old copper coins (especially pre-decimal) in vinegar and leave them to soak for a while, it brings them up almost sparkling new
Fill a sandwich bag with white vinegar & wrap it round your showerhead/tabs to remove limescale.
put together a mood board first to get all your ideas in one place before buying
will come in very useful for some of the jobs i have got lined up for hubby to do at home 😉
Invest in some 00 gauge steel wool – tough enough to remove grime and stains but not so rough as to cause scratches – great for cleaning the glass in wood burning stoves and removing baked on fat from oven/ barbeque racks.
BUY EVERYTHING YOU NEED BEFORE YOU START.
Take time to think through and plan before you start anything. Make sure you have everything to hand to ensure you don’t have to stop to look for something. Oh, and measure twice, cut once!
Not trying to think no one will notice it if you can see it then they may will
Keep hold of your old toothbrushes. Works wonders for cleaning around those difficult areas around water taps. Also very useful for cleaning around the Knobs on your oven and edges of gas burning rings
To clean the top of a hob where food has spilt or burnt in, use Bicarbonate of Soda & water. It cleans quickly & effectively.
Wrap your used paintbrushes in cling film if you are going to use them the next day that way they won’t dry out or go hard
sweep with wet broom on carpets before hoovering will pick up pet hairs quickly
Prize would be very useful for my multi paned kitchen door where I always get paint on the glass. Its going to get a new coat of paint as soon as the weather allows.
Plan ahead, and have everything ready that you might need.
Invest in a steam mop, couldn’t live without mine, no hassle and much cleaner, I clean my floors more often now as it is so easy!
most cleaning jobs can be done without chemicals, vinegar and lemon juice are brilliant and can save you a fortune
To keep your washing machine limescale-free, pour a bottle of white vinegar into the drum and start the cycle. It will do the job cheaply.
white vinegar and newspapers to clean the windows
microfibre cloths when cleaning mirrors or windows
Work slowly and use masking tape even if you’re sure you won’t paint over the edges!
If you’ve not quite finished a painting job and want to carry on another day, don’t worry about washing out the brushes, roller and paint tray, just wrap the whole lot up in a bin bag and this will stop everything drying out so you can pick up right where you left off and save yourself a whole load of hassle.
Old toothbrushes should be saved and used for fiddly bits eg behind taps
Cheap baby wipes for quick cleaning of small stains
when washing windows add a little bit of vinegar to rinsing water , this will make glass sparkling clean and as added bonus will stop the windows from steaming
Diet Coke is great for cutting through stubborn grease, i use it to soak grill racks and it works a treat x
Score the wallpaper and spray with a stripping solution, it should come off a lot easier
ive just converted the understairs space, to a bunny house
use white vinegar with water and a few drops of washing up liquid to clean the windows and polish off with newspaper for a sparkling and streak free finish
Every house needs a great dust brush: Look for one made with a natural fiber—over time it will build up an electrostatic charge that collects dust easily. The hairs should be dense, flexible, and soft, and if you clean it with baby shampoo it’ll last forever.
always useful
Don’t be tempted to start decorating wearing anything that you’re not prepared to have ruined. Spending five minutes changing out of your favourite jeans and into your old baggy jogging bottoms will save you much heartache when you find yourself splattered in paint.
if in doubt for cleaning, try vinegar
Use a comb to hold nails in place when hammering, rather than risking your fingers!
Paint in the spring/summer when you can have all the windows open.
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measure twice cut once
prepare in advance as much as possible as it makes things easier later.
Use newspapers to clean windows.
You can only cut once, so measure at least twice.
Before you start a job make sure you’ve got everything you need to finish it.
declutter for just 15 minutes a day throughout spring and your junk room / garage etc. will be like new!
preparation really does make all the difference!
It’s easier to get a professional in most of the time.
Wipe some essential oils on light bulbs for instant airfreshener when the lights are on
To remove limescale from tap spouts put descaler on a cotton wool pad, wrap around the tap and leave overnight. Very stubborn limescale may need a bit of persuasion with an old toothbrush in the morning. (But remember to warn your husband in case it’s the same night he decides to have a drink in the middle of the night without switching the light on.)
when getting ready to do DIY make sure you have everything you need for a particular job..e.g. nothing worse than realising you have no white spirit at the end of a painting job!
use ducktape to hold a bag under your drill when drilling it saves a lot of mess.
Remember to remove masking tape before paint dries.
When you have finished painting for the day put the rollers & trays in a sealed carrier bag & they will be ready to use again tomorrow.
Use vinegar and bicarb to take off sticky residue
wrap paint brushes in cling film to use thr next day without cleaning them
Dry paintbrushes by hanging upside down
Don’t paint the same day as sanding – you’ll get bits/dust on your new paintwork!
Use good quality equipment (brushes, masking tape etc); it’s worth it.
Hire a cleaner??
A regular lick of paint does wonders for keeping the house looking fresh and bright. Also, always check your eaves and guttering as a clean exterior of the house gives a positive impression to the outside world.
Measure twice, cut once
Always make sure you have the right tool for the job you are going to be doing