Try these easy tips from The Art of Natural Cleaning

Orange all-round kitchen spray

Makes 400ml

This will clean and sterilise all surfaces – kitchen and bathroom – and leave everything smelling delicious. It’s also a fab way to use up the orange peels that often get discarded and wasted.

Peel from 4 oranges

200ml white vinegar

500ml glass jar

Recycled spray bottle

1 Tightly pack the orange peel into a glass jar and cover with the white vinegar. Put the lid on and then leave to stand for four weeks. Gently shake the jar occasionally during this period.

2 Strain the vinegar into a spray bottle and top up with an equal amount of water; shake briefly to combine.

3 Spray directly onto surfaces and wipe with a damp cloth. This will keep indefinitely.

Bathroom Cleaner

Makes 600ml

Streaky glass is a pain, just as much as cleaning the bathroom is. Keep this spray bottle to hand and every third day give your shower and bath tub a spray and rinse. Then you won’t have to scrub it every week. It will just stay clean.

500ml warm water

30g bicarbonate of soda

50ml white vinegar

Recycled spray bottle

1 Pour the warm water (not hot) into a bowl and then slowly pour in the bicarbonate of soda, stirring as you pour. Add the vinegar and stir to mix.

2 Pour into a recycled spray bottle, label and leave to cool. Store in a cool, dark place for up to three months.

3 Shake well before use and use as required. When using, spray onto the shower or bath surface, scrub if necessary, and then rinse with warm water to avoid streaks. It will streak or form white marks if not rinsed thoroughly. I keep a bottle of this in the shower so that every couple of days I can give everything a quick spray, wipe and rinse.

Rosemary, Sage & Lavender Air Freshener

Makes 500ml

This is an invigorating and floral air freshener – not sickly or fake-smelling, more like your nana’s garden in spring. Rosemary and lavender go together perfectly.

4 sprigs of rosemary

2 sprigs of sage

2 teaspoons dried lavender or 3 sprigs of fresh lavender

2 lemon slices

500ml water

4 drops each of rosemary and lavender essential oils (not a must but these will give more oomph to the spray)

500ml spray bottle (recycled is fine)

1 Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over a medium heat, then cover and leave the mix to simmer for a further five minutes.

2 Remove from the heat and leave to cool, then pour into a spray bottle – there’s no need to strain the ingredients as they will continue to infuse in the bottle (though you can strain them out if you prefer). If the sprigs are too tall for the bottle, just break them in half; you can also twist the lemon slices and add them at the end, fresh, if you prefer.

3 Refresh the herbs and lemon slices in the bottle regularly to keep the smell lively as it will dull over time. If they become mouldy, just remove and discard them. This will keep for up to a year and you can use it as often as needed.

Moth balls

Makes two

There is nothing more irritating than pulling out your favourite sweater at the beginning of winter to find it has holes in it, having been munched on by the moths. Shop-bought moth repellents can be full of nasties, such as camphor and dichlorobenzene, and often smell awful. These handmade ones are not nasty at all and will also make your clothes smell delightful. In short, the moths hate these smells and should stay well away from your cashmere.

An old pair of tights or stockings or some old thin muslin

2 cotton wool balls

Ribbon or twine

Choose from one of the following dried herb (and fruit/spice) mixtures:

½ handful of rosemary and ½ handful of peppermint or garden mint

½ handful of lavender and ½ handful of rosemary

1/3 handful each of dried citrus peel, broken-up cinnamon stick and lavender

Some dried rose petals for an extra appealing scent (optional)

A few drops of essential oils to match the scents of the herbs chosen above

1 Cut off the legs of your stockings or tights – you only need the foot part for this. Mix your chosen herbs together, adding some dried rose petals to the mix, if you like. Add the drops of essential oils to the cotton wool balls.

2 Fill each stocking/tight foot with a cotton wool ball and half of the herb mix, or use two squares of the muslin measuring about 15cm x 15cm. Tie a knot in the top of each, then finish with a piece of ribbon or twine.

3 Place in your drawer, give each sachet a scrunch and hey presto! Scrunch to release the oils every so often (about once a month) to keep the moths at bay. Replace every couple of months with a fresh sachet.

>> Odour Eaters

Smelly socks, smelly shoes, smelly rooms. Not all smells are created equal and not all smells are easily disguised with a room freshener or some perfume. Try to remove them first before refreshing the room. It works much better than trying to cover it up. These tips and tricks below will remove smells so you can then add the fragrance you want in the air.