The Housewifes Handbook

Housewifery is a dying vocation, but generations of wifely wisdom must not be allowed to disappear.

We need to redefine what it means to be a housewife, for the sake of our homes and for the sake of our sanity. We have become dependent on those 5-in-1 chemical cleaners; we can't seem to wield a Hoover any more; doing the laundry takes days out of our week; we somehow end up stripping the varnish off the dining-room table every time we try to clean it.

We are too busy! We think housework is boring! We are at crisis point!

Determined to help us to regain control, Rachel Simhon has compiled this manual on everything we need to know about looking after the home. She reveals how to descale a kettle, polish silver, get scratches off glasses, minimise ironing, store food in the fridge, protect photographs from fading and fold a fitted sheet, and explains how to choose a tumble dryer, manage a room full of children's belongings, sort a week's worth of family laundry and even organise a stress-free spring clean. And she answers once and for all countless conundra such as what really gets red wine (and chewing gum and mud) out of a carpet, why mattresses become lumpy over time and how to put an end to bathroom mould.

Stylish with a retro-modern twist and with elegant illustrations, "The Housewife's Handbook" is the definitive guide to managing, cleaning and caring for the home in a way that gives us time for the things that we really want to focus on - as Rachel says, 'the whole chaotic, fascinating and rewarding business of living'.