A cleaning cupboard hiding in the pantry

There is a particular pleasure in the dead weeks of January, when the almanac offers little but frost and short afternoons, in turning out the cupboard under the sink and realising you already own most of what you need. Bicarbonate of soda, white vinegar and a couple of lemons will handle a surprising amount of the work that bottles and sprays currently do — and they do it without filling the kitchen with the smell of a swimming pool. Country households have leaned on these three for generations, not out of piety but because they were what the grocer stocked and they worked. What follows is practical, tested, and written for anyone with a sink, a kettle and a stubborn hob.

The three workhorses, and the one rule to remember

Bicarbonate of soda is a mild alkali and a gentle abrasive. It lifts grease, neutralises smells and, when made into a paste, scrubs without scratching enamel or stainless steel. White vinegar is a dilute acid that dissolves limescale, cuts through soap scum and leaves glass streak-free. Lemon brings citric acid plus a scent that does the morale a world of good in February.

The rule that matters: bicarbonate of soda and vinegar cancel each other out. Mix them and you get fizz, water and a salt — good theatre, poor cleaning. Use one or the other, not both, unless you want the fizz for a specific job. Keep them in separate bottles and you will get far better results.

Everyday jobs, room by room

• Kettle and limescale: half fill with equal parts water and white vinegar, bring to the boil, leave for twenty minutes, rinse twice and boil fresh water before use. In hard-water areas, do this monthly.
• Hob and oven: a paste of three parts bicarbonate of soda to one part water, spread over cooled surfaces and left overnight, lifts baked-on grease with a warm cloth and a plastic scraper. Avoid the element itself.
• Sink and draining board: sprinkle bicarbonate of soda, add a drop of washing-up liquid, scrub with a damp cloth, rinse. For the plug hole, half a mug of bicarbonate followed by a mug of vinegar shifts the sludge; chase it with a kettle of hot water.
• Windows and mirrors: one part white vinegar to four parts water in a spray bottle, buffed with a microfibre cloth. Work in shade, not direct sun, or you will chase streaks.
• Chopping boards: rub a cut lemon half over the board with a pinch of coarse salt, leave ten minutes, rinse and dry thoroughly. Do not soak wooden boards.
• Laundry: half a mug of white vinegar in the rinse compartment softens without scent; a couple of tablespoons of bicarbonate in the drum lifts stale smells from towels and gym kit.

Three mixtures worth writing on the jar

All-purpose spray: 100ml white vinegar, 300ml water, optional ten drops of essential oil. Label it with the date. Use on tiles, worktops (not stone), bins and door handles.

Scouring paste: bicarbonate of soda and enough water to make a thick cream. Keeps a fortnight in a lidded jar; stir before use.

Citrus vinegar: fill a jar with lemon peel, cover with white vinegar, lid on, leave a fortnight in a cool cupboard, then strain. Dilute as above. This is the one that makes the kitchen smell like a sunny afternoon in the middle of a wet week.

Where these old friends will let you down

They are not universal, and knowing the limits saves a great deal of regret. Never mix vinegar with bleach — the resulting gas is genuinely dangerous — and never seal bicarbonate and vinegar in a closed container. Keep vinegar away from natural stone such as marble, limestone and travertine, from aluminium, from cast iron, and from any screen with an anti-glare coating, all of which it will etch or dull. Cement-based grout dislikes repeated acid, so use bicarbonate paste there instead. Lemon juice can bleach fabric and make skin sun-sensitive, so wear gloves outdoors afterwards. And bicarbonate is abrasive: test on a hidden corner first.

Buying well, and a rhythm for the year

Bulk is the point. A large bag of bicarbonate of soda and a five-litre container of white vinegar cost very little, arrive with almost no packaging, and last most of a year in a cool, dark cupboard. Decant into glass jars, keep a spray bottle or two from previous lives, and label everything with contents and date. Then let the seasons guide you: a thorough vinegar-and-bicarbonate spring clean as the days lengthen, a limescale descent on the kettle in autumn as the water hardens, and a fortnightly wipe of window frames and tile in winter when condensation and mould creep in. It is quiet, thrifty work — rather in the spirit of the almanac itself.