I’m answering your domestic dilemmas – these are my top tips to solve your real life cleaning queries

Content creator Lucy Kalice is one of Ideal Home's new Open House contributors, sharing her thoughts on cleaning, home decor and making the most of small spaces. See the rest of her articles here.

My shower head and tap is always covered in thick limescale, how do I get it off?

Oh limescale - our dear friend who just won’t go away! Don’t worry I think a lot of people can relate to this (myself included)! Limescale build up is so gradual and before you know it the white coating has built up making it a sight for sore eyes. Now if you’re reading this and are confused why someone has limescale on their shower, its all about how hard your water is. If you have soft water then you will be lucky enough to not suffer with limescale…and I’m a little jealous I can’t lie!

If you live in an area with hard water then unfortunately limescale is going to be your unwanted friend.

Now the good news is that it’s actually very easy to get it off. There’s two ways I like to do it; the first is with white vinegar. Spray the white vinegar onto the shower head and tap, then let it sit for around 15 minutes. Then use a sponge and soapy water to wash it off. If the limescale build up is really bad, you can leave the white vinegar to sit for longer.

The second method I like to use is with a product called Viakal. It works in the same way as white vinegar, so you spray it on the limescale, let it sit and then wash it off with a sponge and soapy water. It’s really that easy!

I’ve just moved from a 1 bed flat into a 4 bed house and I’m struggling to keep on top of the housework! Any tips?

First of all congratulations on your new home! Moving house is so stressful so give yourself some time and grace to adjust.

Now yes, a bigger house does mean more cleaning and tidying, but it doesn’t need to be overwhelming!

My biggest tip would be to have a cleaning schedule. Don’t try and deep clean the whole house on one day each week because very quickly you will start to resent house cleaning day – trust me I’ve been there and I used to dread it every week.

Then I realised that I don’t get an award for doing it all in one day so I started breaking the cleaning into small more manageable jobs across the week and now I don’t dread cleaning the house.

Start by dividing up the house into tasks or rooms. Maybe on Monday you vacuum the whole house. Tuesday you change the bed sheets. Wednesday you deep clean the bathrooms. Thursday you dust and vacuum the bedrooms. Friday is your day for odd jobs and then you have the weekend off.

Or if you’d prefer you could have Monday as the day to clean the bathrooms. Tuesday you clean your bedroom. Wednesday you clean the other 3 bedrooms. Thursday you clean the kitchen. Friday you clean the lounge/living area.

It might be trial and error but you will find what works for you! That way you can do little and often and it won’t feel like you’re clocking in for a 12 hour shift cleaning your house.

Should you dust first and then vacuum or vacuum then dust? I need to settle a debate with my husband!

Ha! I love this because I don’t know who's saying what…

Always always always dust first and then vacuum after! The dust will fall to the ground when you’re dusting and then you can vacuum it up afterwards.

If you do it the other way round then the dust will just sit on the floor unless you vacuum, dust, then vacuum again.

Hope that settles that household debate!