WITH the cost of living crisis, saving money in small ways can make a huge difference.
To help, experts have revealed that a common £1.40 household item can leave your home looking brand new – instead of forking out on expensive cleaning products.
The item in question? Aluminium tin foil.
Indeed, the kitchen staple could save you a few pounds this year and you may be surprised what you can clean with a sheet of foil.
Experts at BunkBeds.co.uk have revealed that foil can be used for a variety of cleaning tasks in your home, not just to line the grill tray.
Adeel from BunkBeds.co.uk said: “Making our money stretch a little bit further is something that many of us need to do and if you are struggling to afford the price of some cleaning products in the shop then we wanted to find some alternatives that can do the job while saving you money.”
Here are some items in the home which you can clean with aluminium foil.
Shower door cleaning kits can cost upwards of £25 while window vacuums can cost over £80.
While they will do a good job cleaning your shower, aluminium foil can work just as well.
For hard water stains on glass shower doors, you can use a sheet of aluminium foil and dip it in white wine vinegar and then scrub your glass gently.
The foil helps to break down the mineral build up, leaving your shower doors sparkling clean. Using one sheet of foil could save you between £23 to £78.
If you have old silver cutlery that looks past its best you can give new life to it by lining a bowl with aluminium and putting a little bit of baking soda in the bowl.
Next, add hot water and your cutlery and the chemical reaction between the aluminium and the baking soda will lift the stains from your silver, leaving it looking shiny and new.
This helps to avoid splashing out on silverware cleaner, which can cost anywhere from £8 to over £37.
If you are reusing glass jars in your kitchen but can’t seem to remove the sticky labels from previous use then aluminium foil can help.
All you need to do to remove the stickiness is apply a mix of warm water and dish soap and then use the foil as a homemade scrubber.
The rough texture on the aluminium works better than using your fingers or a sponge using it will leave no residue leftover too.
Regardless of how well you look after your garden tools, they will often collect rust and dirt from outdoor use.
While there are expensive cleaning solutions that you can use, you can save some money by rolling your aluminium into a ball and scrubbing the tools with a little bit of water.
Aluminium will react with the rust on your tools and cause it to dissolve. Not only will your tools look brand new but it’s also an eco-friendly way rather than using harsh chemicals.
Straighteners or curling irons can accumulate residue over time left from your hair products or sprays. Hair tool cleaners can be expensive so a cheaper alternative is to use a small ball of aluminium and a little rubbing alcohol.
To fix it, all you need to do is lightly rub your straighteners or curling irons with a mixture of rubbing alcohol and a small ball of aluminium.
Washing up liquid can be expensive especially when you tend to use too much on tougher stains.
Instead of wasting your washing up liquid when using a sponge on your pots and pans, combine a small amount with a ball of foil.
Your homemade scrubber will now break down those stubborn stains while stopping you from wasting your washing-up liquid. Just don’t use them on non-stick pans as it could damage the protective surface.
Cleaning the oven is a job that most of us don’t want to do, and one of the toughest jobs is to clean any oven racks that food has spilt on.
Using aluminium foil with a little water is a cheap and safe option to get it sparkling.
The abrasiveness of the aluminium will allow you to remove the food stains without having to fork out £15 on a grill cleaner.
THE Apprentice’s first axed contestant has opened up on her early exit from the boardroom and has confessed she is “devastated” she fell at the first hurdle.
Emma Rothwell became the first face to be booted from the BBC contest by Lord Alan Sugar after she failed to impress either in the first task or when grilled by the business mogul in the boardroom.
In the opening episode of the brand new series, the candidates were sent to Austria in order to put on luxury tours for holidaygoers – but it came with some rather disastrous results.
With the teams comprising mixed sexes for the first time ever in an opening task, it was clear from the off that one team was seriously struggling.
And for Emma she was unable to make any sales during the task, something that did not sit well with Lord Sugar and his advisers.
When it came to the boardroom, Emma unsuccessfully argued her case of why she could remain which left Lord Sugar feeling flat about just how well she could progress in the contest.
It saw her face the first “you’re fired” of the series.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun after her exit, Emma admitted she cracked under the boardroom pressure and “messed up” as she wished she could go back to give a more impassioned final speech.
The axed candidate said: “So I should have fought more in that final board room when we were doing final speeches.
“I didn’t realise it was final speech time.
“It was just a last moment of distance because I went first and then he went to the other candidates and they gave this big speech.
“My brain was like, oh, you messed up.”
Acknowledging where she slipped up, Emma continued: “My negotiation with Jana [fellow contestant] was phenomenal.
“That alone should have been enough to keep me in, but I didn’t bring it up.
“Like it just didn’t come out my mouth, which is so silly.
“I prepared for most tasks because I knew like my strengths, what I roughly want to be PM on and all this, but I didn’t account enough for the fighting in the boardroom.”
Emma, who runs her own business Quirky Giraffe selling personalised mugs, felt unnerved by the pressures of the boardroom and the daunting presence of the camera’s, confessing: “You’ve got all these big personalities, like cameras everywhere.
“It’s just so much to take on at once, especially when I’ve done nothing like this in my entire life. Like this is completely all new to me.”
Despite being the first to be given the boot, Emma admitted she will still continue on with her business and revealed the show will still be a huge benefit to her despite losing out on the £250,000 cash injection.
Emma will be following her proposed business plan to continue to grow Quirky Giraffe to the level’s she’s have expected had she won the contest.
She acknowledged it would take some extra time with much less money but insisted she was determined to make it an even bigger success with or without Lord Sugar.
By Conor O’Brien
Since The Apprentice launched in 2005, Lord Alan Sugar has crowned several winners.
In 2011, the prize changed from a job working under Lord Sugar to a £250,000 investment partnership.
While some past winners work with Lord Sugar to this day, other collaborations have long ended.
Here is a look at some of the winners who have quit working with the business giant.
MANCHESTER UNITED and Tottenham’s Europa League fate has been determined.
United won away at FCSB while Spurs beat Swedish side IF Elfsborg at home to proceed to the knockout stages.
And both could play either Real Sociedad, Galatasaray, FC Midtjylland or AZ Alkmaar – who are in the play-offs.
The draw takes place tomorrow to determine the play-off fixtures – and who Spurs and United face playing in the last 16.
United saw off their Romanian rivals 2-0 thanks to goals from Diogo Dalot and Kobbie Mainoo.
Spurs ran riot in the last 20 minutes with Dane Scarlett, Oyindamola Ajayi and Mikey Moore getting on the score sheet.
Rangers also took an automatic top eight qualification spot after beating Belgium’s Royale Union Saint-Gilloise 2-1.
The Scottish side could now play either Anderlecht, Bodo/Glimt, Twente or Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce.
Nice, Braga, Hoffenheim, Besiktas and Dynamo Kyiv are some of the 12 clubs dumped out of Europe.
Elfsborg, Maccabi TA, Slavia, Malmo, RFS, Ludogorets and Qarabag make up the rest.
MORE TO FOLLOW
REPORTING from war zones is the best and worst job in the world.
I see horrific things and sometimes get scared witless.
But I get to tell amazing stories about ordinary people caught up in a conflict.
I won’t be stopped by the bully-boy threats from a sham Russian court in Kursk.
I have reported in these pages about innocent people maimed by cluster bombs.
We have given a voice to pensioners living in a Kharkiv bathroom because it is the only room without windows or outside walls that could be blown to bits by missiles.
We have told stories of babies born in bunkers.
Stories of parents who rescued stolen children from thousands of miles behind the front line.
Stories of civilians forced to wear uniforms to defend loved ones.
Stories of soldiers slain in blood-soaked trenches.
And I have interviewed captured Russian troops — some of them convicts press-ganged into Storm Z battalions.
In August I had the extraordinary chance to visit Kursk, captured in Ukraine’s surprise attack.
It was Russia’s worst loss on home soil since WW2.
Russia claims my trip was a crime. It’s absurd. The Leninsky District Court said I crossed the border illegally.
What did they expect? For me to stop at the border, as drones swarmed overhead, and get my passport stamped?
What Russia really wants is to bury proper journalism, to stop reporters shedding light on Putin’s war crimes.
It won’t work. We did our jobs. We did journalism. And journalism is not a crime.
