Cleaning and Polishing Guide

Before buying expensive household cleaners, use the following:White VinegarAll purpose household cleaner, use with lemon and hot water to clean dishes and surfaces from stone floors and benchtops, to toilet bowls and basins. I recommend 25% vinegar to 70% water and 5% lemon. If you like vinegar then put as more as you like. However, vinegar is an acid so don't use it on your silverware or any expensive cutlery that you will be very sorry to ruin. Don't use it with jewellery. Pearls shrink and lose their nacre if you leave it in vinegar. LemonsIf vinegar is too strong use FRESH lemons instead, not the lemons in containers you buy at the supermarket. Mix with hot water to freshen up smells. Put a slice of lemon in a glass of water and place it in the fridge/windowsill to get rid of odours. I have seen jeweller shops put this in their window fronts.Lavender OilPut 2 or 3 drops of this on your bed sheets for that lovely smell. You don't want too much as it will reek. Instead of buying expensive drawer liners, again place a drop or two of lavender oil and your drawers will smell nicely.Olive OilUse as a lip balm, getting rid of dry skin, drinking a tablespoon to get rid of incessant coughing, smoothing hair (not too much you don't want it too oily!) and generally a good moisturiser.Cleaning a Leather JacketI inherited an old leather brown jacket and I was looking online to find ways to clean it without buying expensive "for leather jackets only" cleaners with the ingredients I had available. I experimented with the following: 4/5 olive oil, 1/5 white vinegar and a couple of drops of lavender oil enough to overpower the smell of the vinegar. And it worked magnificently! Basically sponge the mixture on to the jacket, wipe the liquid excess and polish with a cloth. I only experimented this on the outside and not the inside. The cracks of the leather managed to soften. I'm not sure if this will work on new leather jackets but I had nothing to lose with my old leather one. If you think something is wrong, stop immediately. Trust your instincts.

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Orignal From: Cleaning and Polishing Guide