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You might recognise Lynsey Crombie from Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners, where she decluttered and cleansed overflowing homes across the UK. Or from her regular slot on ITV’s This Morning, where she demonstrates her expert methods and tries viral TikTok cleaning hacks to see if they actually work.

Crombie has also joined our panel of professional cleaners and tested 21 multi-surface sprays to see which were most effective on dust, dirt and grease. Her favourite formulas came from M&S, Aldi, Neat and Ecover, but she’s also a big believer in lemon juice, white vinegar and a bit of elbow grease.

But we wanted Crombie’s help with other cleaning dilemmas too. So, I interviewed her for our Readers Ask series, where industry specialists answer questions from our Telegraph Recommended community. From the one cleaning product she can’t live without to the daily habits that make up her cleaning routine, Crombie has advice for everything.

What is the one cleaning product you can’t live without? Brian, London

Good old fashioned washing up liquid. It literally cleans everything in your home, even your toilet.

What cleaning tools do you find essential when doing housework? Evan, London

I love my handheld steam cleaner. Steam is fantastic for cleaning so much. It cleans 99.9 per cent of dirt and bacteria, saving you from having loads of bottles and using loads of chemicals around the house.

Do eco cleaners do a decent job? Stephen, Republic of Ireland

Eco-friendly cleaners can do a really good job, but you have to do your research and make sure you find the right one for you. There is a great choice in the supermarket these days, which is amazing.

I’ve tested loads of brands over the years. A few of my favourites are Method, Miniml, Neat and Ecover, but there are some really expensive ones on the market that I just don’t rate.

What are the best eco swaps you can make at home? Bishan, West Midlands

I’m a massive fan of using what’s already in your cleaning cupboards at home, rather than always running to the supermarket to buy the latest cleaning product.

A juicy lemon and a bit of bicarbonate of soda makes a fabulous scrubber for the oven, for stainless steel and some of those really grimy jobs. White vinegar is absolutely amazing at banishing hard water marks and limescale. Soda crystals, which you may already have in your laundry cupboard, are a really good degreaser.

What are your top daily cleaning habits that people can stick to without feeling burnt out? Elliot, London

Always air and make your bed every day. If you make your bed, it literally transforms your bedroom and it sets you up for the day.

Never go to work with a pile of dirty dishes in your sink. Nobody wants to walk home from work exhausted at 5pm to a pile of breakfast dishes. And always run the vacuum around those high traffic areas, so it feels like your home is really clean.

What’s the first thing you should do if you spill something tricky to remove, like red wine? TJ, London

Spillages happen all the time. If you spill the dreaded red wine, don’t panic and don’t grab a bottle of white wine and pour it over the top. It doesn’t actually work.

You need to grab yourself some cold water. Always think when removing stains that heat will set the stain and cold water will help release it.

You want a cold soapy cloth and you want some salt that you pop on your dinner. Apply the salt to the stain, put the wet cloth over the top and gently bang using your hand so you start to lift the stain out of your carpet. A couple of attempts and the red wine will disappear.

How do you get rid of stubborn odours in the home? Half, London

Stubborn odours in the home can be a real pain, especially if you’ve got pets. Those pet smells can really linger. My top tip is to constantly clean. I’m not talking everyday, but just keep on top of the pet beds, pet bedding, pet throws, and those sorts of things. Throw open the windows and let the fresh air do the work for you.

Use a good fabric refresher. You can make your own using essential oils or water, or a favourite of mine is from Marks and Spencer. They really do help.

When it comes to cooking smells that can really linger, you can cut an onion in half and place it somewhere in the kitchen and the onion will absorb the odours. What will happen is the onion will start to shrink, so you know that it’s really taking them in.

Alternatively, pop a pan on the hob with some white vinegar. You don’t need much, just cover the bottom. Leave it on a gentle simmer for about 15 minutes and let the white vinegar absorb those horrible kitchen smells.

My nice white tops have yellow stains from suncream and deodorant. Any tips to get them sparkling white again? Clarissa, South East

I love wearing white, but one thing that can be a pain is yellow stains from either sun cream or from sweating. The best solution for this if you’ve got sweat stains on a white T-shirt is to get your hair shampoo. This is a great pre-stain treatment. It will get those stains out straight away.

For the sun cream stains, you need to use good old white vinegar. Spray it liberally on the stain. Leave it overnight ideally and then just wash as normal tomorrow.

Finally, if you get some sun cream on your top when you’re out and about, hand sanitiser is a perfect quick fix.

I hate cleaning. Any tips on how to help me get through? Ali, South West

Now I am in the minority and I absolutely love cleaning. I love to see those before and after results. But when you hate it, it’s really hard to get motivated.

I designed the 15-Minute Clean method a few years ago and it works fantastically. Set your timer to five, 10 or 15 minutes. Choose a room and do as much as you can. Working against a timer is a great way to motivate you. You can use your oven as a timer, your phone, or you can just use a couple of your favourite songs. Music really helps get you motivated as well.

And what I would say is, don’t ever put pressure on yourself to do too much. If you live with other people, make sure you do delegate cleaning tasks, especially the ones that you hate.

What’s the best way to clean windows? Louise, Yorkshire

Don’t do it on a sunny day. If you’re cleaning your windows with a beautiful blue sky and the sun is beaming down, as soon as the product hits, you’re going to create streaks, because the sun dries the products automatically.

Choose to go outside on a dull, overcast day. Use a bowl of warm, soapy water with a dash of white vinegar and a good thick microfibre cloth for the first application. Then, when you dry, you want a lint-free microfibre cloth, so it doesn’t leave behind any of those pesky fibres.

Another tip is always to work in an S-shaped pattern and that will give you that perfect streak-free finish.

Any tips on dealing with limescale? Marc, East of England

My go-to product for limescale is white vinegar.

If you’ve got limescale on the end of a tap, drench a piece of kitchen roll in vinegar, wrap it around the bottom, and leave it for about 20 to 25 minutes. Then remove the kitchen roll and your limescale should have vanished.

Use white vinegar mixed with washing up liquid to keep your shower screen limescale-free.

How do you keep a house dust-free? Anna, South East

Keeping a house dust-free, especially if it’s a busy household, is actually quite difficult. Dust falls like snow, so every day you dust, it’s going to come back the next day.

When vacuuming, just make sure that your vacuum is cleaned and the HEPA filter is dust-free, so it’s not pushing out dust as you are vacuuming. That can be the main culprit of extra dust landing in your house.

Use a damp microfibre cloth for general daily dusting and try not to use too much product, which actually encourages the dust to sit in it, further causing you more dust in the long run.

Unfortunately, we are always going to have dust. Nobody lives in a completely dust free home.

How can you keep spiders at bay? Anna, South East

The old fashioned wives’ tale is to go to the woods with your children and collect a load of conkers, and personally, I think that does work. But I know that not everybody agrees.

Spiders hate mint and eucalyptus, so I like using those sorts of scents. Dilute the essential oils into a spray bottle. Spray them around your home entrances and this should keep them out of sight.

How can I shift burnt-on fat and oil marks on baking trays? Nick, West Midlands

Burnt marks on baking trays can look unsightly, and we don’t want to be cooking on those. So, to make sure they are extra clean, you can grab yourself an oven scraper – you can get these from most places – and scrape off as much as you can. Then for the residue that’s left over, use soda crystals and hot water and do an overnight soak.

How can I clear smears and smudges off my induction hob? Ian, North West

An induction hob is normally quite a focal point in the kitchen, and if it looks smeary, it tends to make the rest of the kitchen look untidy as well. Keep this streak-free by just cleaning it with a glass cleaner.

What’s the most effective way to keep sinks from clogging up? Judith, South West

The best way to keep your sinks from clogging is to invest in a few of those little stoppers. They’re normally a couple of pounds and they stop the food and, if you’ve got it, longer hair from going down.

If you find you get a blockage in the bathroom, the most satisfying thing you can do is get yourself a drain snake; pop it down and just pull out all the gunk. The water will really start to flow.

In the kitchen, I always recommend doing a weekly bicarb flush. A scoop of bicarbonate of soda followed by hot water will just keep it all clean and prevent any blockages from building up.

What’s the best mould remover? Elizabeth, East of England

White vinegar is great for banishing mould. If you don’t have any luck with this, you can also try white toothpaste. Not the blue one, it has to be the white one.

Rub it into the affected areas. You can leave toothpaste overnight because it’s not abrasive. Come back to it in the morning, wipe it away and the mould should be gone.

What’s the best way to remove water stains? Louise, West Midlands

Water stains can be a real pain, but the best way to remove them is just to use a solution of warm, soapy water with a dash of white vinegar and to work with the fabric.

So, don’t move in a circular motion. I would go up and down on a cushion cover. That way, you’re not going to be left with any of those water marks that can appear just from using the solution.

How often should I be cleaning my shower? Lisa, South East

Showers should be cleaned, in my opinion, every time you’ve used them. Now, I’m not talking about a deep clean, where you get all the sprays out and give it a really good scrub. But, as soon as you come out of the shower, grab yourself a squeegee and remove the excess water off the door.

This is just going to remove any soap scum that may have come from washing your hair and that build-up of water. By doing this, you’re going to keep the limescale at bay.

What is the best way to clean an oven? John, East of England

I absolutely love cleaning my oven and it’s one of my favourite cleaning tasks. The best way to clean it is to get into the habit of cleaning it after every use. And again, I’m not saying a deep clean. A warm soapy cloth while the oven is still a little bit warm will get all that grease and grime off the bottom and around the shelves.

If you don’t have time to do that and you want to give it a deep clean, grab a lemon and some bicarbonate of soda. Pop the bicarb on top of the lemon and give it a squeeze. You’ll get this really nice chemical reaction, which gives amazing cleaning power. Then just use that as a scrubber.

Once you’ve applied the product, close the oven door. Go and do some shopping, go and read a book. Come back to it in a few hours and just rinse off with water and a microfibre cloth. The results will be amazing and it will smell so good.