The best way to clean your lighting at home...

This week we're continuing on the spring cleaning theme!

I'm going to be sharing with you how I clean all types of lighting, from lampshades to lamps and chandeliers.

As we come into Spring and Summer, we've got the most beautiful sunlight flooding our rooms, so we need to make sure that our lighting is clean and ready to catch those rays!

I love antique lighting. We bought the chandelier in our bedroom from a shop in London when we were re-doing the house.

I just love this chandelier. It's really pretty and it's not overpowering. It's feminine, it's elegant, but it does get dirty and it does need a jolly good clean from time to time.

Cleaning small chandeliers:

My chandelier is not a big one. It is manageable on my own and I've done it many times, but you do need to give thought to lighting. When you buy a light, think about how you're going to clean it or get somebody else to clean it for you. Just be mindful of really huge, difficult ones that are hard to reach, because at some point you might need to get some professionals in. I do this once a year.

Start by very carefully taking the chandelier down and place it very gently into a washing up bowl. I don't recommend washing your chandeliers in or over the sink - just in case any smaller bits decide to take a trip down the plughole!

Pop on your rubber gloves! Add some hot water and a squeeze of Fairy washing up liquid to the washing up bowl. Have a big, fluffy and dry towel by your side ready.

Using a soft (old is best!) scouring Spontex sponge, really gently wash the parts of the chandelier. You'll start to notice the dirt and dust come to the surface of the water as you agitate it all around slightly. Be very careful, and take your time - this doesn't take long but you don't want to rush it!

The good thing about using the Fairy liquid is that you don't need to rinse it off, so once it's looking clean carefully bring each piece out of the water and lay it on the towel to dry.

Give it a gentle rub with the towel. It's really important to get it dry before you hang it back up. Give the washing up bowl a swish around with your hand to make sure there aren't any rogue pieces of chandelier left in there.

Whilst the chandelier itself is drying, use the brush attachment of your hoover (I have a Miele Cat and Dog and I am utterly obsessed with it!) to get to work on clearing any dust or cobwebs away from the ceiling fixture of the light. Using the brush attachment of the hoover means instead of using a duster and flicking it everywhere, you remove the dust immediately.

Using a very slightly damp cloth, wipe over the fixture to remove any last traces of dust. Be super, super careful when using water around electricity! I make sure this cloth is wrung out to almost dry.

Once the whole chandelier is dry and gleaming, you can reattach the whole piece back onto the fixture, stand back and admire!

Lamps and lampshades:

You've guessed it, out comes the hoover brush again! You can use a hairdryer and blow the dust away from lampshades, but again I prefer to use the hoover brush attachment as it sucks up the dust and then it's less mess. It's also really delicate and gentle. Cleaning your lampshades just takes a couple of seconds, but it makes a real difference! Try to remember to include them in your cleaning routine because they do attract dust easily.

Once you've sucked up all the dust, use a damp cloth to wipe the base of the lamp. It's also a really good idea to wipe the table. Again it's terribly important to make sure that your cloth is just fractionally damp and not wet. You'll also find that you get quite a lot of dust that gathers on the lead, so it's good from time to time to give that a wipe too.

Lastly, give the table that your lamp is sitting on a final wipe to clean up any dust that you've knocked off during the process.

And that's it! Sparkling chandeliers and good looking lamps ready for the Spring and Summer nights.

Thank you so much for reading and I hope that you have found it helpful!

If you would like help and advice with your cleaning, don't forget my cleaning schedule is available on my website and is packed full of useful info to help you establish a good routine and system in your home, keep it clean and on top of everything.

Wishing you a fabulous, fabulous weekend and happy spring cleaning!

Love, Charlie x