How many times have we told our children to clean up their rooms and found they have simply pushed everything under the bed and pulled up the duvet? Australian stain-removal queen Shannon Lush and her daughter Erin have written a book called Kids Can Clean, which sets out to give kids basic information on how to keep things clean and tidy. Here are some tips from the book on how to speed clean a room and clean the bathroom and toilet, which you and your children might find useful for the New Year:

• Organise a cleaning kit, collecting up all the things you need to tidy the room, for example a vacuum cleaner, broom, pair of pantyhose, a one-litre spray bottle of water with one teaspoon of lavender oil added, a clutter bucket and a rubbish bin. Fill your clutter bucket with anything that doesn’t belong in the room and put it outside the door.
• Collect up any trash or unwanted bits and pieces in the rubbish bin and then dispose of them in the big bins outside.
• Get dusting. Roll a pair of pantyhose into a ball and spray a little lavender oil and water on them. Dust everything you can reach, including the furniture. When the pantyhose get dirty, rinse them out, give them a good shake to get the extra water out, then roll them up and you are ready to go again.
• Clean the floor. You can vacuum any sort of floor – whether the surface is carpet, wood, lino or chipboard. A good vacuum cleaner picks up all the dust and dirt. If you have a hard floor, spray a little lavender and water mix on the broom when you sweep for a nice, clean sheen. Now it’s time for the frou-frou. This is called “doing the frills” and includes things like putting tissues in the room, arranging flowers and generally making things look extra pretty.
• Once the room is clean, pick up the clutter bucket and carry it from room to room, putting things away in their right places.
• Put away your cleaning kit and you’re all finished!

Bright, sparkling bathrooms

• The bathroom and toilet are often the main areas people don’t want to clean, but guess what? They’re fun! Sprinkle  a little baking soda in the sink and then spray with some white vinegar in a spray bottle. Use a cloth or pantyhose to rub it while it’s fizzing. This takes all the dirt off and tickles your fingers. Easy!
• It may sound a bit nutty, but Kids Can Clean says there is another way to clean your bathroom, particularly the shower. Keep a couple of slugs. Yes, that’s right, slugs! Apparently these little creatures love to eat mould and soap scum and they sleep during the day so if you create a little house for them, you won’t step on one when you’re showering.
• When I learned that scuba divers keep their goggles clear by spitting into them, I tested it on the bathroom mirror – and it works. Just spit on a tissue and wipe it over the mirror. If you don’t like spitting, you can use a cake of soap and scribble on the mirror with it, then rub really hard with a paper towel.
• If your rubber ducky is all black and spotty with furry bits on the inside, it’s got mould. Fill up a bucket with warm water and add 3 cups cooking salt and 1/4 tsp of oil of cloves. Put your ducky in  the water. Squeeze the water in and out until all the black stuff is gone.
• When cleaning the toilet, always wear rubber gloves and use the toilet brush so you don’t have to touch anything yucky. Sprinkle toilet with baking soda, then spray with a little white vinegar and rub with the toilet brush while it’s still fizzing. To stop the toilet getting dirty so easily, spray it with some lavender water (same mixture as above). This stops skid marks clinging to the bowl and smells nice too.