There's a reason Sophie Hinchliffe, aka Mrs Hinch, has built up a fanbase of over 4.7million cleaning obsessives on Instagram. The 33-year-old shot to fame in 2018 after showing off her immaculate home online.
Since then her 'Hinch Army' have relied on her cleaning product recommendations, as well as her nifty hacks on how to use them. She now has an ever-increasing list of must-have products, and loyal Hinchers trust her judgement.
I decided to take a leaf out of their books and clean every room in my home like Mrs Hinch herself, to see whether she really is the ultimate cleaning Queen.
I nipped to Mrs Hinch-favourite Home Bargains to buy all the products she recommends, and was pleased to see that apart from a few pricier items, most of them were very reasonable – including 99p for Stardrops 4-in-1 Disinfectant Spray and £1.49 for Bloo Foam Aroma powder. You can find Mrs Hinch's full shopping list here.
Scrubbing my flat is definitely a chore for me, but luckily Mrs Hinch has shared a number of helpful tips and tricks to make the whole thing easier. Here's how it went after I restocked my 'Narnia' – Mrs Hinch's name for her cleaning cupboard.
Kitchen
The kitchen is one of the most challenging aspects of cleaning for me, especially that pesky oven, but Mrs Hinch always manages to get hers spotless.
First I tackled the sink, which was in need of a good shine. Following the cleaning guru's four-step method, I first poured 3/4 of a cups of soda crystals down the plug, left it for a few minutes before following it with a cup of white vinegar.
I was waiting for that satisfying "fizz" the cleaning sensation speaks of, but it didn't really happen, which was disappointing. I just assumed most of the action was happening inside the plughole.
After leaving it for 10 minutes to work its magic, I followed with a cap full of Mrs Hinch's favourite product Zoflora – a disinfectant known for its amazing range of scents. After rinsing it all with a kettle full of boiling water, there's no mistaking the kitchen smelled delightful – and the plug looked visibly cleaner.
Keep in mind that the Zoflora has said the results of mixing Zoflora with boiling water "have not been tested," so you should do some research if you want to try this out yourself, as it's a disinfectant and not meant to just be inhaled.
Next I used another Mrs Hinch classic – the Pink Stuff – which the savvy cleaner and her fans hail as a "miracle" product for almost any problem. After scrubbing it around the sink using a Minky M cloth, which Mrs Hinch lovingly just calls Minky, it removed almost all the dirt, but my sink does have some scuff marks that are going nowhere. A warning to those using this product – it is abrasive so always test on an area first.
I followed up by using Stardrops 4-in-1 Disinfectant Spray, which smells of pine – a classic, very strong Mrs Hinch scent. At this point the sink was very clean, but still looked streaky from the spray. To finish it off, I used the Cif Stainless Steal Spray, which left it looking spotless.
I've never used so many products to clean my sink at once before, but there's no denying it looks shinier than ever.
The toaster is an often-forgotten appliance when it comes to cleaning, so I was happy to have an excuse to tackle it. I opened the 'hidden compartments' people forget about and emptied the contents into the bin, before cleaning the outside with Elbow Grease All Purpose Degreaser. I did the same with the kettle, and the product managed to get rid of all the smudge marks, leaving it nice and sparkly.
While Mrs Hinch uses a small hand-held hoover to vacuum the crumbs of the worktop, I opted for the simple method of using my hands to shove them onto a piece of kitchen paper, simply because I don't have the Shark product which she lovingly calls Shelley.
I then continued following her advice by wiping everything with diluted Zoflora in a spray bottle and a Minky extra thick super absorbent sponge wipe, which Mrs Hinch adoringly calls Pinky. This disinfects the surfaces and always smells lovely. It also works out cheaper than buying a new spray each time, as you can keep topping it up.
For the hob, I applied Pink Stuff with a damp cloth and left it for a few minutes, before rubbing it in with circular motions to get rid of any dirt and grime, using the Minky cloth. Channeling my inner Mrs Hinch, I also removed the knobs on the hob, which I admit I've never done before. I then wiped it all off with a clean microfibre cloth.
Although there were still a couple of scuff marks that never seem to come off, it did remove most of the burnt-on grime, and I was super impressed.
Whenever I use the Pink Stuff it seems like there's always residue left, so I tried out the Cif Power and Shine Spray on the hob and backsplash – and it worked wonders. I managed to get all the grease off, and it was left looking amazing.
Next I tackled the oven, which was the most time-consuming task of the kitchen. There wasn't actually too much visible dirt, but it hadn't been cleaned properly for a few months.
Following the cleaning advice, I let the racks from inside the oven soak in the sink in warm water and washing up liquid.
I don't have a big square tray like Mrs Hinch, so because my racks were only halfway in the water, I made sure to flip them over every 10 minutes or so. I have to admit I was sceptical at how effective washing up liquid would be on my racks, which have seen better days.
While that was left to soak, I took out the trusty Pink Stuff again and applied it using a Minky Flower Scourer and warm water, in circular motions. If Sophie is doing a deep clean she'll take the glass off, but as it was just a "quick Hinch," I let it be.
While the Pink Stuff was working its magic for about five minutes, I took the rubber seal off the oven and put it in the hot water – something I would never have thought to have done previously.
I then wiped all the Pink Stuff off using clean, hot water – and again I was shocked at how much it managed to get off with minimal scrubbing. Almost all the burnt on grease disappeared when I wiped it off.
I wiped the inside with a kitchen roll, and then wiped the outside with the Stardrops spray. For good measure, I used a white vinegar spray and the green glass and window Minky cloth, which Mrs Hinch calls Kermit, to make sure there were no streaks – and that's exactly what happened.
Finally I returned to the sink to see if the washing up liquid had done its job – and again I was left impressed. I tried scrubbing with a Minky sponge and to my surprise most of it was coming off.
However, to speed things up I used Pink Stuff, which worked wonders to get the rest of the stubborn bits off.
The oven clean did take me an hour – but it was worth it because it's never looked so shiny before.
Bathroom
Mrs Hinch apparently uses tumble dryer sheets to pick up dust because they are "anti-static" – so I used them on the towel rack, but this is the first time I was left underwhelmed.
The dust didn't even stick to the Lenor Tumble Dryer Sheet, it just fell straight on the floor – but as with many of Mrs Hinch's favourite products – it's all about the smell. A normal duster would have done a better job.
Next I sprayed a microfibre cloth with Stainless Steel Cif and wiped the rail down. This product is truly amazing, and all leftover dust and fingerprints came off.
As there were still some streaks left by the product, I decided to use the Dettol Antibacterial All-In-One Disinfectant spray, before buffing with the green Minky cloth, aka Kermit. It honestly looked good as new.
I then opened the Pledge fluffy duster starter kit, which Sophie calls Dave, to remove dust from all the surfaces – it even helped me get all the dust off my perfumes that are on display. I also used it on the skirting boards, but they needed an extra wipe with Dettol.
And then came the toilet, which I used Harpic bleach for, making sure I for the nozzle right into the rim of the seat.
I then wiped the whole toilet, starting with the lid, moving on to the body and then the seat, with Cif Power and Shine wipes.
I noticed that there was some limescale stuck on the toilet rim that had been bothering me for ages, so I used the trust Pink Stuff to scrub it – and was actually amazed that it managed to get it all off – but it did take quite a bit of elbow grease.
After cleaning out the bleach with a toilet brush, I added a cap full of Bloo Aroma to see it is would get the remaining dirt out from the bottom of the bowl. The fizz was very satisfying, and also left a wonderful smell in the room.
Moving onto the sink, I used Flash Bathroom coupled with the Minky cloth, another lovely-smelling product which worked a charm. On the mirror I used Astonish Window and Glass cleaner, which made it sparkle like never before.
I used Flash Bathroom on the bathtub and shower walls too. Mrs Hinch's tip is to fill the bath with a bit of water, put the plug in, add the product, and then use that to clean the bath. Simple, get genius.
After scrubbing the tub, walls and rinsing it off, I went over the taps and shower head with Viakal, which gets rid of the toughest watermarks. This will be a staple on my shopping list now too.
I then attempted to get rid of most of the water from the walls and shower glass using a squeegee.
To finish things off, I used the Astonish spray on the shower glass, and buffed with the green Kermit cloth.
Living room
In the living room I dusted all the surfaces, including bookshelf, drawers, TV and tables with Dave the duster, and then used Mr Sheen Multi-Surface Polish with a microfibre cloth.
Another job I have to admit I never do is cleaning all the door handles, so I sprayed them all with the Dettol spray.
My Mirror was shined using the green Kermit cloth, and I used Febreze on the sofa to make it smell amazing.
To make the cushions smell divine, Mrs Hinch normally put tumble dryer sheets in them. I gave it a go, and it does smell really nice but it's not something I would have the patience to keep up with.
After vacuuming the floors, I finished off with Vileda 1-2 spray mop, which Mrs Hinch calls Vera, and diluted Zoflora.
Bedroom
After vacuuming the carpet, I sprayed it with 1001 carpet fresh. A word of warning, this will go everywhere – walls, bedside tables, blinds. But the good news is that it soon disappears.
This didn't clean my carpets, but it doesn't need to be hoovered up, and leaves everything smelling great for a few hours.
I also gave the bed a good spray with Febreze, and wiped down all the mirrors using Astonish spray.
As with the living room, I gave everything a good dusting with Dave, wiped surfaces with diluted Zoflora and polished with Mr Sheen.
The verdict
Mrs Hinch has some amazing products on her weekly shopping list, and some of them, including The Pink Stuff, Cif Stainless Steel Spray, Detoll All-In-One and Viakal – I will definitely be buying again. I also see the appeal in the Minky cloth collection.
I've never taken the time to clean all the nooks and crannies, and I have to admit, it did take a long time to clean like Mrs Hinch. I spread it out over a week, but it still took me over an hour a day – and I have a very small flat.
One thing I have learned is the benefit of letting a product work before wiping it off.
I have to say, I actually enjoyed seeing how clean things could get with a few different products and some extra time.
That being said, if you're going to pick up all the products on Mrs Hinch's list, it's not going to be cheap – and a few of them, for example Febreze and the tumble dryer sheets – are only for the smell, and don't actually clean anything, so they aren't necessities.
I won't be picking up those sorts of products again, but I have to admit, my home has never smelt so good.
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