Make your bank balance sparkle with a spritz of vinegar

With any luck, the sun will be out this bank holiday weekend, which means summer clothes, lunch in the garden — and washing my duvet.

Yes, it’s at this time of the year that i congratulate myself on saving a tonne of money on drycleaning bills by spring cleaning my duvet and pillows at home.

A duvet can go in the washing machine — even if it’s a feather one — with a small amount of powder or liquid, set at a low temperature and on a relatively short wash. Don’t panic when you take it out. it will look like a limp, bedraggled, lumpy mess.

But when you dry it on a washing line or outdoor rotary airer, making sure to shake it regularly. it will fluff up better than before — all for the cost of a washing machine cycle and a bit of detergent.

When i was growing up we had one of those monster rotary washing lines in the garden that nearly took your fingers off when you put it up, but i only have a patio now, so i don’t have room for one like that.

thankfully, Brabantia makes a sturdy, wall-fixed, outdoor airer for people like me. Vileda, meanwhile, is offering 20 per cent off its rotary airer on its website, and Wilko does a well-priced, free-standing one that you can have indoors or outdoors for just £30. Whatever you do, though, don’t dry your duvet in a tumble dryer. it will ruin it.

You should clean your washing machine drum before you start and do so once a month. i wish i had. i’ve been neglecting mine and, last week, it got clogged up. turns out the small ‘eco-friendly’ washable make-up removing pads i swear by were gumming up the pipes.

i had to fork out for an engineer to get it working again. happily, he cleaned it, too. Still, it was £180 (including parts) that i wouldn’t have had to spend if i’d been cleaning it regularly. Many swear by Calgon, £6 for a box of 15 tablets at tesco. But you can also clean the drum with vinegar and baking soda. the website, top cleaninggb.co.uk, advises spraying white vinegar (5 litres for £ 8.49 at onbuy.com) around the inside of the drum, including the rubber door seal, then pouring 500ml of white vinegar into the detergent drawer and setting to a hot wash.

it then suggests running a wash again with about 60-70g of baking soda (500g for £1.25 at supamart.co.uk). From my experience, it’s a good idea to wash ‘smalls’, hankies and, yes, makeup remover pads in a net washing bag (£9.99 for four at Lakeland) to keep them out of the washing machine pipes!

Another appliance that needs maintenance is a vacuum cleaner. Use an old toothbrush to clean inside the cylinder and if you can remove the filter, do so and rinse it under a running cold tap.

Use scissors to cut through any trapped hair snarled around the brushes.

if your shower has slowed to a dismal trickle because it’s blocked with limescale, the Good housekeeping institute recommends unscrewing the head and soaking it in a solution of half white vinegar and half water, all for less than £1.

YOU can dislodge limescale in the loo, too, by pouring a bucket of warm water ( not boiling) followed by a cup of citric acid (£2.30 for 250g at ocado) into the toilet bowl overnight.

For tricky corners in the microwave, get a glass bowl and put in two tablespoons of baking soda with 250 ml of water, set on full power and leave it for five minutes. the steam dislodges dirt so you can wipe it clean away.

For the main oven, mix baking soda and water until you have a thick, paste-like consistency. Smear the paste across the metal and glass and then leave it for 20 minutes.

For the racks, place them in the sink with hot water and a few dishwasher tablets. Leave for as long as possible then wipe the grease and grime off.

Failing that, get a professional oven clean for £39.99 — down from £ 69.99 — at Wowcher right now.

Descaling the kettle helps to cut down the energy cost of boiling water. i rather like those evil- smelling sachets you can put into a kettle that fizz and crackle until the limescale has gone. But they are full of rather nasty chemicals, so it’s better to get one like Ecozone descaler, £2.88, at spiritofnature.co.uk.

or you can do it with your own mix of half white vinegar and half water. Boil the kettle and pour the water away immediately. then refill the kettle and boil again with water only. this will cost less than 50p.

if you’re feeling energetic, you could clean the carpets. it cost me £75 to get mine done (and i have a small flat), so a carpet washer is a good investment.

this week, VAX is offering £50 off its new Smart Wash Vax Platinum carpet washer (down from £299.99 to £249.99 with the offer), with free stain and protect carpet wash solution worth £40 at vax.co.uk.

So if you were planning on buying your own carpet cleaner, this week is a good time.