What does the Selleys cleaning section cover, and where should you start?

This is the index page for Selleys' household cleaning guides. It groups the how-to articles that deal with dirt, grease, mould and general grime rather than with sealing, filling or gluing. If you have arrived here with a specific job in mind, the fastest route is to pick the guide that names it — the list below is the complete set.

The useful thing to understand before you choose a product is that Selleys' cleaning range splits along the lines of what you are removing, not what room you are in. Grease and grime call for a sugar soap or an oven cleaner. Living mould calls for a mould killer, because a cleaner will lift the stain off the surface without killing the colony underneath. Outdoor dirt on render, pavers and decking calls for a hose-on outdoor cleaner. Matching the chemistry to the soil is most of the job.

The guides in this section

• Ultimate spring cleaning guide — the overview article for a whole-house clean, inside and out.
• How to spring clean your backyard — alfresco areas, outdoor furniture, fences, the barbecue and exterior windows.
• How to get rid of mould in your home — answers to the common questions about bathroom and laundry mould, and what Rapid Mould Killer can and cannot be used on.
• Top 5 sugar soap hacks — uses for sugar soap beyond walls.
• Top 5 tips to refresh your place — decluttering plus the small repairs and cleans that lift a tired room.
• How to spruce up your courtyard — two small adhesive projects for a courtyard or studio space.
• How to clean your kitchen oven — which of the three Selleys oven products suits which level of build-up.

Choosing between the cleaning products

Sugar soap is the general-purpose grease and grime cleaner. Selleys Original Sugar Soap is a concentrate — for most jobs you dilute half a cup into half a bucket (5 litres) of water, and one 750mL bottle makes up to 30 litres of cleaning solution. Instant Sugar Soap is the same idea in a ready-to-use spray for spot cleaning, and Sugar Soap Wipes are the wipe format.

Mould is a different problem. Sugar soap will clean a mouldy-looking wall but it will not eliminate mould spores; that is what Selleys Rapid Mould Killer is for. It is not suitable for fabric, mirror tiles, metallic surfaces, or older baths and basins.

Ovens have their own range because baked-on carbon does not respond to a general cleaner. The oven guide explains the three-step ladder from wipes through to the heavy duty gel.

Outdoors, Selleys Outdoor Multi-surface Cleaner attaches to a garden hose and covers up to 175m². It is bleach free and non-acidic, and it suits weatherboards, render and concrete walls, sealed timber, pavers, pathways, decks and patios.

Two things worth knowing before you start any of these jobs

Test first on anything you cannot replace. Absorbent, porous and unsealed surfaces should be tested for staining in an inconspicuous area. That applies to sugar soap, to the outdoor cleaner and to the mould killer, which can have a bleaching effect on darker paint.

Sugar soap and bare metals do not mix. Both Original and Instant Sugar Soap may damage aluminium and brass. If either lands on those surfaces, wipe it off immediately rather than letting it dry.

Safety: the concentrate on this page is a Category 1 eye hazard

Cleaning products read as the benign end of the shelf. One of the products named above is not.

Selleys Original Sugar Soap is classified hazardous with the signal word Danger and carries one classification: H318, causes serious eye damage, Serious eye damage Category 1. Its own first aid states the product can cause corneal burns. There is no skin, inhalation or flammability classification — the eyes are the whole risk, and it is a serious one.

Category 1 is not a stronger sting. Category 2 irritation is expected to settle; Category 1 damage may not. The response is irrigation with copious water for a full 15 minutes with the eyelids held open, and then urgent medical attention — the label response statement is to call a poison centre or a doctor immediately. Fifteen minutes is far longer than anyone does instinctively, so it is worth knowing before you need it: find the tap you would use before you open the bottle.

What that means for the jobs in this section. The hazard is concentrated at the moments the guides send you to. Pouring half a cup of neat concentrate from a 750 mL bottle into a bucket at waist height is a splash risk. Working neat with a scouring sponge on in-ground marks is direct contact. And washing walls and ceilings means a loaded sponge held above your head, dripping down — that is the one geometry that puts a Category 1 eye-damage concentrate directly over your eyes. Wear eye and face protection for overhead work specifically, not just gloves.

Lower-hazard options are already in the range. Instant Sugar Soap is ready-to-use and a clear rung down: signal word Warning, with H319 (causes serious eye irritation) only. Sugar Soap Wipes are also Warning, with H315 and H319. For spot cleaning, a wipe-down or anything above head height, they do the job without the concentrate.

Store the concentrate away from foodstuffs, as its data sheet specifies, and out of reach of children. Poisons Information Centre — 131 126 in Australia, 0800 764 766 in New Zealand.