1927 days ago

Maintaining your Curtains after Cleaning

Robert Anderson from Curtain Clean Hamilton

Keep your newly revived curtains looking fresher for as long as possible with our tips!

Minimise the food sources that encourage mould growth
• Clean soft furnishings regularly according to the manufacturer's instructions. This usually involves a regular light vacuum, with less frequent dry cleaning or laundering.
• Regularly clean windows and wipe down window surrounds and venetian blinds or shutters with a mild detergent in warm water.
• Consider selecting window coverings manufactured from man-made materials, particularly in damp areas such as the bathroom, kitchen and on south facing windows.

Minimise moisture in your home
• Use lids on pots and pans when cooking.
• Never hang clothes to dry inside and vent your clothes drier to the outside.
• Keep your roof, cladding and guttering in good repair.
• Check that stormwater is being discharged to an appropriate outlet.
• Check plumbing for leaks.
• Replace any unflued gas heaters with flued gas or electric heaters.
• Avoid bringing wet clothes or shoes into your home.

Ventilate your home to reduce moisture build-up in the air
• Open north facing doors and windows when you are home during the day, even during the colder months.
• Use exhaust fans in areas where water vapour is created (e.g. the kitchen and bathroom).
• If all else fails, consider a heat recovery ventilation system to replace stale damp air with fresh air.

Maintain an even inside temperature throughout your home to prevent moist air from condensing onto cold areas like windows
• Insulate ceilings, floors and, where possible, walls.
• Improve the insulative properties of your windows by closing your curtains/blinds as soon as the sun goes down each day.
• Replace any thin or unlined window coverings with quality thermal or lined curtains or roman blinds.
• Fit your curtains or blinds as close to the wall as possible to trap air against the window and take your curtains all the way to the floor to prevent air circulating out from under the curtain
• If you are planning any home renovations, consider upgrading joinery to double glazing or installing a retrofitted secondary glazing.

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More messages from your neighbours
4 hours ago

Some Choice News!

Kia pai from Sharing the Good Stuff

DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.

Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.

For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.

Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?

We hope this brings a smile!

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18 hours ago

Share your favourite main crop potato recipe and win a copy of our mag!

William Hansby Reporter from NZ Gardener & Get Growing

Love potatoes? We will give away free copies of the May 2026 issue to readers whose potato recipes are used in our magazine. To be in the running, make sure you email your family's favourite way to enjoy potatoes: mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, by March 1, 2026.

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20 days ago

Have you got New Zealand's best shed? Show us and win!

Mei Leng Wong Reporter from NZ Gardener & Get Growing

Once again, Resene and NZ Gardener are on the hunt for New Zealand’s best shed! Send in the photos and the stories behind your man caves, she sheds, clever upcycled spaces, potty potting sheds and colourful chicken coops. The Resene Shed of the Year 2026 winner receives $1000 Resene ColorShop voucher, a $908 large Vegepod Starter Pack and a one-year subscription to NZ Gardener. To enter, tell us in writing (no more than 500 words) why your garden shed is New Zealand’s best, and send up to five high-quality photos by email to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz. Entries close February 23, 2026.

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