Let Mrs Hinch give your boudoir a clean sheet - Tech

Mrs Hinch — real name Sophie Hinchliffe — started posting about her cleaning routines on social media after discovering that setting to with mop and bucket or cloths and disinfectant helped calm her anxiety

She’s the former Essex hairdresser whose infectious enthusiasm for cleaning and down-to-earth personality have made her an Instagram — and publishing — star.

But people loved her tips — as well as her habit of giving nicknames to her tools and products — so much so that she now has 3.2 million Instagram followers, called ‘Hinchers’.

Her bestselling books have sold almost a million copies.

Married to Jamie Hinchliffe, and now mum to baby Ronnie, Sophie, 30, is also a doting owner to cocker spaniel Henry.

But whether you’re concerned about keeping coronavirus at bay or are having to do without a weekly cleaner while we’re under government orders to stay safe at home, there has never been a better time for a spring clean.

So far, Mrs Hinch has helped make your kitchen sparkle and your living room gleam.

Today, she shows you how to get an airy and well-organised bedroom — and her secret to cracking the cleaning in just 30 minutes.

Bed Fit For A King and Queen

When the house has been Hinched and my wax melts are filling the home with my favourite smells, there’s no better feeling for me. I relax and switch off and it’s almost like a mini therapy session.

Each day the beds are made and sprayed with Febreze — I love Febreze — and I change the sheets once a week, but it’s recommended you turn your mattress once a month and refresh it every three to six months. And here’s how to do it!

1. Completely strip your bed down to its naked self!

2. Vacuum your mattress to within an inch of its life; you’ll get rid of all the dead skin cells and dust.

3. Using a flour sieve, shake bicarbonate of soda evenly all over the mattress — remember this incredible stuff is an odour eater. You can also add a few drops of essential oil to the bicarb to leave a residual smell. Lavender is amazing to use on a mattress because it’s calming and soothing at bedtime.

4. Leave for a few hours at least and then vacuum it off — it will lift out any nasty whiffs. Especially if you have kids that have had an accident in the bed! Urine smell — see ya later!

When the house has been Hinched and my wax melts are filling the home with my favourite smells, there’s no better feeling for me

My pre-bed ritual

It may seem weird doing all of this but it makes me feel so much calmer.

If I know that when I get up the house is going to be clean and tidy, I sleep better. Strange but true.

I wake up feeling more together and refreshed when I’ve done my wind-down routine.

I like to spray down my kitchen surfaces with my Zoflora mixture [Zoflora disinfectant diluted with water, never use on polished wood] and then wipe them over with Pinkeh [Moppet-type sponge].
I give any cloths and sponges I’ve used that day a bath by putting them in the sink — aka putting the sink to bed. I push the plug down and add a capful of Zoflora and a kettle full of boiling water so they can have a nice soak overnight. It will also make your kitchen smell lovely.
I make sure my TCS — tea, coffee and sugar, always in that order — canisters are all lined up straight (it’s the little things).n I put a wax melt in my burner ready to put on the following morning.
I put my Little Book Of Lists notebook on the table so it’s waiting for me.n I put my sofa to sleep by giving it a Febreze spritz, making sure the blankets are put away and the cushions are karate-chopped!
I squeeze toilet cleaner down the loos. Not every night, though. Sometimes I’ll pour in Bloo Foam Aroma Ocean Mist Toilet Powder instead! All you do is pour a capful down the toilet and your loo will fizz up and smell amazing. Simple. It’s best left overnight to work its magic!

Hinch half-hour

I do think it’s really good to have a goal with cleaning, and one of my favourite things to do is a Hinch half-hour.

I’ll write a list of what I would ideally like to get done, set a timer on my phone and I’m good to go.

I’ll tick things off as I go and it definitely motivates me to keep going.

There is nothing quite like that feeling when you can cross something off your list.

I’m like a whirlwind and I keep going back to my list and checking it regularly. I’ll also make a note if I’m running out of anything so I can stock up when I go shopping and do a Hinch haul.

As one of my followers put it, going shopping for cleaning products is my equivalent of a kid going toy shopping. It brings me so much happiness.

If I check my timer and I’ve still got some time left to do more jobs, I’ll add a couple of cheeky things to my list just to give myself that extra spring in my step.

And if I get to the end of those jobs and still have a few seconds to spare? I’m a happy lady.

Duvets are a breeze with Mrs Hinch

Let’s face it, we all hate changing duvet covers. Well, I certainly do! I think the quickest way to change your duvet is to turn the quilt cover inside out, pop your hands into the inside corners, grab the duvet on the corners and then tip the duvet cover back on to it.

Shake them together until the quilt cover has fallen over the whole duvet and you’re done!

It works so well and it’s quick, and that’s what we all want with this nightmare job.

Once the fresh sheets are on, the bed has been made and the cushions have been karate-chopped, give the whole bed a quick spritz with a spray bottle full of your fave fabric freshener, such as Febreze. It smells LUSH!

Also, remember, once you’ve washed your bedding, to store your duvet cover, sheet and pillowcases inside one of the pillowcases belonging to the set.

That way you’ll keep the whole collection neatly together and you won’t be hunting around your linen storage on duvet-changing day trying to find any missing pieces!

Brilliant Bicarb

Bicarbonate of soda is such a magic product and so cheap to buy.

Try it as a mild abrasive on shiny materials, as it can clean without scratching. It is suitable for use on aluminium, chrome, jewellery, plastic, porcelain, silver, stainless steel and tin.

Bicarbonate of soda is also a fab deodoriser and can be used in the refrigerator, on carpets, upholstery, vinyl and in bins and drains.

Bicarbonate of soda is such a magic product and so cheap to buy

Secrets of a Well-Organised Wardrobe

There aren’t many things that are as upsetting as a messy wardrobe. I looked in mine one day and I thought, ‘That’s got to be revamped.’

My clothes were all on mismatched hangers, some had fallen on the floor, the door was struggling to close, and it certainly didn’t look organised.

I found some lovely grey felt hangers on eBay that were so reasonably priced. I find they are the best for keeping clothes in the right place. Now the hangers are all the same it looks much neater.

I clear my wardrobe out at the end of summer and winter because then I can pack away all the clothes I know I won’t wear for another six months or so. They’ll go under the bed in storage bags or into the garage until I need them again.

I think the best things to use for storing clothes are vacuum bags. I take out any clothes I haven’t worn for a while, fold them and whack them in. Mate, they are a life-changer.

The first time I used them I was shocked that they actually worked but now I’m obsessed.

I would honestly happily pack more clothes away just so I could go through the process of attaching the Hoover, sucking all the air out and watching as my clothes shrink to the size of a toddler’s.

I found some lovely grey felt hangers on eBay that were so reasonably priced. I find they are the best for keeping clothes in the right place. Now the hangers are all the same it looks much neater

I’m not going to lie; the clothes can be pretty creased when you get them out to wear again, but I think that’s a small price to pay for the utter joy of it all.

Top tip

Don ’t forget to pack away your seasonal shoes or boots.

People often forget to put shoes away and they take up so much room in your wardrobe.

I wasn’t quite so joyful when I asked my husband Jamie to put my vacuum-packed clothes into storage for me and he took them to the clothes bank. True story. I had to ask him to go back and get them for me. Lucky for him, they were still there!

I stay on top of my wardrobe by using the same technique as my end-of-year clear-out.

If I haven’t worn something for a year, it goes. I also look at what kind of condition something is in. Even if you love it, if it looks faded, old or bobbly you’re not going to feel good in it.

If I love something, I will wear it quite a lot, and I don’t believe in chucking something out just because everyone’s seen me in it before. I think that’s crazy.

I preserve my clothes by not necessarily washing every item each time I wear it because you don’t always need to.

Some people over-wash their clothes. If you wash them too often they’ll potentially lose their colour or go out of shape.

Don’t Forget About Your Make-Up

My make-up drawer used to be a beauty fail until a Hincher recommended drawer dividers to me and they changed everything.

Now I’ve sectioned all of my make-up using drawer dividers and organisers and it looks beautiful. I am easily pleased.

Remember to clean your brushes, too. Think about it, these go on your face every day. Every day! Who knows what’s living in them?

They’re every bit as important as our Barry bristle scrubbing brushes.

My make-up drawer used to be a beauty fail until a Hincher recommended drawer dividers to me and they changed everything

Wet the bristles with lukewarm water and place a drop of make-up-brush cleanser of your choice (or liquid soap) on to a make-up cleansing mat.

I would strongly recommend investing in one of these beauties because they get into all of those annoying nooks and crannies.

If you don’t have a cleansing mat, you can also use a Scrub Daddy for this purpose. They work really well!

Gently massage and rotate the tips of the bristles on the cleansing mat/Scrub Daddy and enjoy watching the built-up product run free.
Repeat until the brush runs clear.
Little tip: Make sure you keep the brushes face down at all times so the water doesn’t run into the metal section or the handle. That’s where the glue is and it holds the hairs together.
Smooth the brushes into shape and allow them to dry.

Hinch away stains

Stains. Who likes them? No one!

Let’s be honest, does everyone else just stand there looking at a stain thinking, ‘What the hell do I do?’ So here’s how to Hinch the most common household stains.

Flower Pollen

Lilies are the worst for this. If you catch it early, the best thing to do is to use Sellotape to lift the pollen off the fabric.

But if the stain has settled, apply a small amount of undiluted detergent to the stain and massage gently with a cloth. Then pop this in the washing machine on a cool rinse setting.

Red Wine

Lift as much as you can with a dry paper towel and then cover the entire stain with salt.

Leave the salt to soak in — it will absorb the wine and help to lift the stain. Once dry, simply vacuum everything up.

Lift as much as you can with a dry paper towel and then cover the entire stain with salt

Blood

Soak in cold water immediately. As with wine, cover the stain in a thick layer of salt to pull the bloodstain out of the fabric. For any residual staining, use either a stain remover like Vanish or a simple bar of soap and massage gently until the stain is Hinched away. Removing dried bloodstains can be a bit trickier; for this you’ll need to soak the stain in cold water and a mild detergent overnight.

Grass

Jamie’s football kit is always covered in grass stains — nightmare! For me the one and only way to remove these stains is to use my good old Dr Beckmann stain remover. He never lets me down!

Sweat

Soak the item in a mixture of cold water and white vinegar for up to 30 minutes, then wash the clothing in the machine as normal.

Wax

Take a brown paper bag, lay it across the wax stain and simply iron over the top. The brown paper bag will absorb the wax and your carpet or rug will look brand new!

Ink

I always advise a patch test for this one. Spray the problem area directly with hairspray and wait for up to 30 seconds before simply wiping the ink away with a clean, damp cloth.

Chewing Gum

Put the item in the freezer for a few hours until the gum hardens. Once the gum is frozen solid, peel it away — but remember to be gentle. If the item in question doesn’t fit in the freezer, simply apply an ice cube instead and use this to peel away the gum.

Extracted from Hinch Yourself Happy: All The Best Cleaning Tips To Shine Your Sink And Soothe Your Soul, published in hardback by Michael Joseph, priced £12.99.

Mrs Hinch: T he Little Book Of Lists is out now, published by Michael Joseph, priced £12.99.