the queen

AMERICA's Queen of Clean is heading for the UK in a few days' time with the aim of showing us all how to make light work of our spring cleaning.

Linda Cobb, whose book "Talking Dirty with the Queen of Clean" has sold more than 1,000,000 copies, is a household name in the states and she looks set to become the same here, with a string of TV and radio programmes lined up.

Linda has a background of 20 years of cleaning, including being the owner of a large cleaning and disaster restoration company before she made her name on American TV.

Working on the principle that there are better things to do than being a slave to house work, Linda focuses on fast, cheap ways of cleaning, often using surprising products - tea, lemon juice, vinegar, baking soda and petroleum jelly.

Some of her advice is invaluable, such as :

Unblock a drain with salt and bicarb, followed with a kettle of boiling water.

Polish a dry, stainless steel sink with dry flour, followed by rinsing and drying.

Make furniture polish with 50 mls of white vinegar and 250 mls of olive oil. Shake before use, apply with soft cloth, wipe off, buff with another cloth.

Keep ants at bay by sprinkling dried mint or red pepper where they are entering the house, and in cupboards. Pour boiling water on ant hills.

Clean wooden floors with a cloth rung out in cool tea.

In addition to a mountain of general cleaning tips, Linda's book contains a lot of advice on specific cleaning problems such as removing rust, gum and mildew. She prides herself on the fact that there is no stain she can't remove.

Her book, published by Pocket Books on May 5, costs £6 99p.