There's no magic wand for getting the housework done, but Shannon Lush reckons her speedy routine for kitchens and bathrooms will make you more efficient. Heck, you might even have fun!

When I say 'speed-clean' your kitchen and bathroom, I'm not referring to the quick wiping of surfaces you should do on a daily basis – such as your cooktop at the end of a meal. Instead, I'm talking about that once-a-week, top-to-tail blitz that maintains the room in sparkling condition. (Remember, the more you do day-to-day, the less you'll need to do on blitz day.) This is how I approach my own weekly speed-clean program:

Kitchen speed-clean

1 Tidy Place things that don't 'live' in the kitchen in a large bucket ('clutter bucket') – take them out of the room. Next, put away kitchen items that don't belong on the bench and assess your fridge's contents, throw out anything that's past its use-by date.

2 Clean I always start with the major appliances – the rangehood and exhaust fans, stove, fridge and dishwasher.

3 Soak Fill the kitchen sink with hot water and add a cup of white vinegar. Remove the filters from the rangehood and put them in the water, along with the shelves from the oven and any other removable pieces from the cooktop, such as element rings. Use a dish brush and a rolled-up pair of pantihose to rub any sticky build-up off these pieces. Leave them to drip dry.

4 Sprinkle Fill a small bucket with hot water. Sprinkle your cooktop with bicarb soda, then with white vinegar. While the mixture fizzes, rub with a rolled-up pair of pantihose then use the same technique to clean the outside of the rangehood and the inside and outside of your oven. Wring out a clean pair of pantihose in the hot water and wipe any residual bicarb soda and vinegar from the surfaces. Dry surfaces with paper towel. This ensures you don't have to polish them to achieve a high shine. Replace the shelves and filter. The same process will work for your fridge and dishwasher.

5 Sweep Take a kitchen broom and stuff the head of it down one leg of a pair of pantihose. Sweep the ceiling, light fittings, tops of cupboards and walls. Clean benches and surfaces with an appropriate cleaner and a rolled-up pair of pantihose. I mix one teaspoon of lavender oil, one tablespoon of white vinegar and one litre of water in a spray bottle, which is suitable for all surfaces.

6 Wiggle Fill a bucket with the appropriate cleaning solution for your floor. My floor is timber, so I use one cup of black tea and half a cup of white vinegar in hot water. Stand on an old towel in bare feet and dip your pantihose-covered broom into the cleaning solution. As you sweep the solution ahead of you, wiggle forward on your towel. By the time you've wiggled your way around the room, your kitchen floor is clean, dry and polished.

Bathroom speed-clean

1 Tidy Strip the room for action. Grab your clutter bucket, fill it with all your bathroom accessories and loose items such as towels, toilet paper, toothpaste and shampoo.

2 Clean You might be surprised but most of the surfaces in bathrooms are glass. This includes the glaze on tiles, on porcelain toilets, on sinks and on baths. The most effective way to clean these surfaces is with white vinegar.

3 From the top Again, take a broom and stuff the head of it down the leg of a pair of pantihose. Spray the head of your broom with a little white vinegar and sweep the ceiling. Work your way down the walls, shower screen and bath with the broom. If any of those surfaces is particularly grotty, give it a light dusting with bicarb soda before sweeping over it with the vinegar-covered broom.

4 Taps and toots Sprinkle your sink with a little bicarb soda, followed by a spray of white vinegar, and rub the surface with a rolled-up pair of pantihose. Do the same for the toilet. Rinse your broom in clean water and sweep over the surfaces again to remove any excess bicarb and vinegar. Cleaning off soap scum from taps, plugholes, and soap holders is easy – all you need is a pair of damp pantihose. They can be wadded-up into a ball and rubbed over the surface. This method cuts through the grime in one wipe and leaves everything sparkling. For taps, wrap the legs around the tap and see-saw backwards and forwards to get muck out of hard-to-clean nooks. I like to wipe over bathroom surfaces with a lavender-oil solution (combine one teaspoon of lavender oil with a litre of water in a spray bottle) for its fresh fragrance and antibacterial properties.

5 On the tiles To clean a tiled floor, use the bicarb-and-vinegar method again. Sprinkle the floor with bicarb soda, then with white vinegar, and sweep with your pantihose-covered broom. Stand on a towel and shimmy around, with the broom in front of you, in the same manner as in the kitchen, to clean and dry the floor at once. Wipe down the mirror with a paper towel and a small amount of white vinegar.

Stain solution

Bathroom sinks made from polycarbonate or fibreglass are lightweight, durable and inexpensive but they do stain. To minimise these stains prepare a mixture of glycerine and talcum powder in equal parts. Apply the mixture to the stains, leaving it on for about an hour and a half, then polish off with a rolled-up pair of pantihose. Depending on the stain you may have to repeat the process.

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