Skål International met in Torremolinos, Spain, for their annual mid-year meeting while also celebrating official Skål Day accompanied by several local officials and mayors.

World Spa Awards – the global initiative to recognise and reward excellence in the spa and wellness sector – has opened voting for its 8th annual programme. Voting runs for 12 weeks and closes 25 July. Industry professionals, the media and spa consumers are invited to vote for the brands they consider the very best in spa and wellness.

Our dishwashers get a lot of action, and we often assume this hard-working kitchen appliance will look after itself. Sadly, that’s not usually the case, so knowing how to clean a dishwasher is essential.

These faithful machines will collect food debris and soap residue over time. Did you know, for example, that each month, 1kg of greasy residue passes through a dishwasher?

Giving it a monthly service with the best cleaning products will keep things working properly, preventing odours and cutlery and dishes that just don’t feel 100% clean.

How to clean a dishwasher

You’ll need to clean each area of your dishwasher meticulously to ensure that it continues to run efficiently. ‘Cleaning the filter in your dishwasher’s base regularly is crucial,’ comments Smeg‘s home economist, Clare Edwards.

‘This collects food particles and residue and can not only produce an odour if not cleaned but will also reduce the dishwasher’s performance.’ Clare also recommends removing the spray arms now and then to clean these separately. This will allow you to remove any fruit pips or small food particles that may have got caught in the jets during the cycle.

‘To give the dishwasher a thorough clean, you can purchase a dishwasher cleaner which removes both grease and odours. However, a few wedges of lemon added to the cutlery basket or tray will help to freshen it up.’

What you’ll need

• Sheets of old newspaper
• White vinegar
• Hot, soapy water or a vinegar-water solution
• A pointed implement, such as a skewer, toothpick or tweezers
• Old toothbrush
• Microfibre cloth

Step-by-step

1. Run a hot wash with a cup of white vinegar

First, remove any dirty dishes. Fill one cup with white vinegar and place it in the dishwasher, and then run a hot wash cycle.

When it’s finished, open the dishwasher door fully. Lay down some old pieces of newspaper on the floor around the dishwasher to avoid drips.

2. Remove racks, filter and utensil holder

Remove the racks, all parts of the filter and the utensil holder. Leave them to soak in hot soapy water.

3. Clear out food debris

Put on some rubber gloves and have a good look inside your dishwasher for any food or other debris that could be hiding, says Mark Smithson, CEO of Marks Electrical. Scoop it out into the bin. Next, check the dishwasher filter and inside the small holes where the water sprays out from.

If there is anything stuck in these crevices, use a toothbrush to dislodge it. Then, use a clean microfibre cloth, available at Amazon, to give the spray arms and side walls a wipe down.

4. Use baking soda

As an extra step, measure out a separate cup of baking soda and sprinkle it over the bottom of the machine. Once this is done, you can run the dishwasher again, but on a shorter cycle. Baking soda is great for removing stubborn residue left over by food waste.

5. Wipe the dishwasher door and around the seal

Clean around the rubber seal all the way around the door, and wipe away any fingerprints on the door’s exterior. Combine soap and white vinegar with warm water to make a gentle solution that will be safe for any dishwasher surface.

Use a microfibre cloth to wipe the solution over the surface of the door, the control panel and handles, then dry it with a separate cloth to avoid any streaks.

6. The final step

Place the clean removable racks back inside the dishwasher and pour a cupful of dishwasher salt into the filter and run it on a rinse cycle to finish the deep clean.

‘Despite the hot water and detergent that runs through it, dishwashers will stop functioning as effectively and become a breeding ground for germs and bacteria in your home if neglected,’ says Mark Smithson from Marks Electrical. ‘To avoid any nasty smells and keep your plates sparkling, a routine clean every month will help to prevent food debris, soap scum and grease from building up inside the machine, and ultimately, extend the lifespan of this expensive appliance.’

How to clean a dishwasher drain

• Pull out the bottom rack and look at the dishwasher floor, especially the drain, and remove any build-up.
• Using a toothbrush and a multipurpose cleaner, scrub the drain well, then rinse.

If you aren’t putting the machine on immediately, rinse crockery before loading so that food doesn’t dry onto it. Cleaning expert Lynsey Crombie recommends giving the dishwasher a spray with vinegar when it’s empty.

Alternatively, pour a cup of vinegar into the bottom and run on a normal cycle every so often to clean out any food particles that have built up.

Best dishwasher cleaners

If donning a pair of marigolds isn’t up your street, these brilliant products will do the hard work for you. If your washing machine is also in need of some TLC, learn how to clean a washing machine so you can approach the task with confidence.

How to change the dishwasher salt – and why

Are your dishes not coming out as sparkling as you’d expect? The solution could be to add more dishwasher salt to the machine. Dishwasher salt softens the water running your machine and stops limescale – the cause of those pesky marks – from building up.

Even soft water contains calcium and magnesium, which can lead to limescale if allowed to build up, warns cleaning expert Kelly @mrs.ds.cleaning.reviews. Your machine may well have a light that comes on when your salt needs to be topped up, so look out for this.

Where do I put dishwasher salt?

Dishwasher salt can be added into the softener compartment. This is usually located next to the drain in the base of your dishwasher (rather than the door). It’s often accessed via a screw cap.

How to clean a dishwasher filter

Remove the cylindrical part of the filter and the flat metal surround and remove any larger pieces of food debris. Then soak in hot soapy water.

Use a toothbrush and/or toothpick to remove any food that has got stuck in the holes. Make sure it’s totally dry before putting it back in the dishwasher.

How much dishwasher salt do you need?

Some machines come with a special piece of paper that you can use to test the hardness of your water. From the results of that test, your instruction manual will recommend how much salt to add each time.

If not, simply add the right amount of salt as recommended on the salt packaging. Use a funnel to make the job easier.

Before your next wash, run a pre-wash to get rid of any salt that may have escaped the softener compartment. Now you’re ready to go!

How to change the dishwasher rinse aid – and why

While salt shifts limescale, rinse aid basically makes sure no water is left behind on your dishes and glassware. Any leftover water can leave marks, but rinse aid prevents this by stopping water droplets from ‘sticking’ to your crockery.

Where do I put dishwasher rinse aid?

You’ll usually find the compartment for rinse aid in the door of the machine, near to where you add your tablets. Slowly pour in the rinse aid until the compartment is full. And that’s it. Your machine will do the rest of the work, controlling how much rinse aid it adds to the wash depending on the cycle.

Sure, it takes some elbow grease, but put a little effort in and you’ll be rewarded with a dishwasher that will run efficiently for longer.

The post How to clean a dishwasher – expert tips for sparkling dishes appeared first on Ideal Home.

Buying a second home to rent out can be a great way to earn some extra income, but if you need to borrow to make the purchase, and are looking for the best mortgage rates, you will need a specific buy-to-let mortgage rather than a standard residential one you may have on your main home.

More than 770,000 families in England own a second home, with some owning multiple additional properties. That’s according to the English Housing Survey 2018-19, the most recent year for which official statistics are available

Of these, almost 40 per cent use their second property as a holiday home for themselves, friends or to let out to holiday makers.

Buy-to-lets can be an excellent investment, generating both a regular income and long term gains should the value of the property increase. The income could help you cover the cost of a mortgage on the property, while leaving you free to enjoy it at other times. Depending on its location and charm, you can earn thousands of pounds each year.

Holiday lets have become more attractive over the last few years too, as a result of the pandemic. With foreign travel difficult, if not impossible, it meant far more holidaymakers have seen the benefits that come from a domestic break. And that increased demand from travellers is in turn prompting more people to look into the potential of buying a holiday home.

What is a buy-to-let mortgage?

If you want to rent out a property, then you need to have a specific buy-to-let mortgage; you can’t rent out a property that has a regular residential mortgage against it.

Buy-to-let mortgages work in much the same way as regular mortgage products, in that you take them out for a specified term ‒ say 25 years ‒ and make monthly repayments. However, there are some important differences to be aware of.

The first is that buy-to-let mortgages are often taken out on an interest-only basis. As the name suggests, this means that the monthly repayments only go towards the interest charged on the mortgage debt, rather than the actual debt itself. While this means lower monthly repayments, it does also mean you need to have a plan in place to repay the rest of the money owed at the end of the mortgage term.

What are the pitfalls of a buy-to-let mortgage?

Interest rates on buy-to-let mortgages also tend to be higher than those charged on regular residential home loans. For example, at the time of writing the lowest rate available on a five-year fixed rate buy-to-let mortgage for a borrower with a 40 per cent deposit is 2.15 per cent. By contrast the lowest rate on the same sort of product for a residential buyer is currently 1.87 per cent, according to data from Moneyfacts.

Buy-to-let mortgages also tend to require higher deposits. While a residential borrower may be able to get onto the housing ladder with a deposit of as little as 5 per cent of the purchase price, landlords often need upwards of 15 per cent in order to secure the funds they need.

How much could I borrow with a buy-to-let mortgage?

The amount that you can borrow is calculated in a different way with a buy-to-let mortgage. With a regular mortgage, a lender will look primarily at your income and expenditure to work out what you can afford to repay. However, with a buy-to-let mortgage that calculation relies far more on what sort of rent the investment property is likely to generate than your own individual income.

Is a buy-to-let mortgage different from a holiday let mortgage?

Lastly, it’s worth noting that there are distinctions between regular buy-to-let mortgages and holiday let mortgages.

A normal buy-to-let mortgage is designed for those who are looking to rent a property out for a long period to a single tenant, while holiday lets are designed for those who rent out a property to a host of different short-stay tenants.

Lenders employ different affordability tests here, to determine what they are willing to lend, based on the typical rents you may enjoy not only in ‘high’ season when the property may be more in demand but also in low season when it’s less likely to be full.

How to make the most of your buy-to-let property

If you fancy making money from your countryside bolthole or city pied- à-terre, here are some helpful tips to get you started.

Choosing your property and location

When it comes to holiday lets, you can’t really go wrong with picturesque destinations which appeal to holidaymakers all year round. Good examples here are the Peak and Lake Districts, as well as the Cotswolds. According to Luxurycottages.com, North Wales and the Welsh Borders are also sought-after locations.

An important consideration will be how easy it is to get to your property using different transport links as well as the property’s proximity to attractions or the coast.

For example, you can charge more ‒ and will likely see higher demand ‒ if the property is located near a beach or within easy walking distance to tourist hotspots.

Personal touches and premium customers

If you want to charge higher rents and attract quality guests, then you may need to go the extra mile. Get it right and you can enjoy much higher revenues; holiday homes positioned as premium getaways can generate up to 2.5 times the income of a standard property.

A personal touch can make all the difference here. Little extras like a hamper of local produce or a bottle of wine can really help set the tone for a holiday.

If you want to take things a step further, then think about the added luxuries that most people won’t have at home, such as a hot tub, sauna or log burner. These all add to the appeal of the property, and boost your chances of attracting higher-paying guests.

Setting your rates

It’s a good idea to speak to local letting agents to find out the going rate for properties like yours. Ask how long the booking season lasts and what rates you can charge in high and low seasons. How much you can charge, however, will partly depend on the quality of your online reviews.

During your first year, before you have any reviews, you may want to offer your property at a discount so you can attract holiday makers and build up positive feedback.

Your property may not always be let, especially outside the holiday season. So if you have a mortgage on the home that you’re expecting to repay from the income from lettings, factor some empty periods into your calculations.

Harry Robert, managing director of My Favourite Cottages, says that with the cost of purchasing property in the most highly sought after holiday towns rising sharply, you need to “get creative” to find ways to justify increased rent or booking rates.

‘This may mean investing in desirable features, such as hot tubs and pools, or simply making your property child and pet friendly to widen your target market.

‘Doing things like partnering with local businesses to gift your customers discounted offers on restaurants and activities is a nice touch that can help wow guests and encourage them to return. Plus, they’re much more likely to leave you a good review or spread the word about your rental to their friends and family.’

Advertising your holiday home

Airbnb is one of the most popular platforms used by holiday homeowners. You pay around per cent per booking to use the website. You have to manage your own bookings and respond to guest queries. Similar websites include Booking.com, Cottages.com and VRBO.com, formerly known as HomeAway.

An alternative is to pay a property agent to market your property, manage guest admin and maximise lettings for you. Agents tend to charge between 15% and 20% of every booking.

‘To secure bookings and get your property maximum exposure, you need to advertise your property the right way. While you can market your property on your own, building website visibility and maintaining social media channels can be costly, take time and require additional skillsets that you might not have,’ adds Harry from My Favourite Cottages.

Tax treatment

Income you earn from letting out your holiday home is taxable. You will need to declare it on your annual tax return. You’ll then pay income tax at 20 per cent, 40 per cent or 45 per cent, depending on whether you’re a basic-, higher- or additional-rate taxpayer.

More happily, you can qualify for a host of tax perks on your holiday home if it meets the Furnished Holiday Let rules. The main rules to remember are that it must be available to let for at least 210 days a year and let to paying guests for 105 days a year.
If you meet the requirements, you can deduct expenses from your earnings before tax such as:

• Mortgage interest costs
• Advertising or property management fees
• Cleaning and maintenance
• Utility bills
• Welcome pack items
• Insurance premiums

You’re also entitled to tax relief on items such as furniture, fittings and equipment bought to enhance the value of your holiday home.

Setting up your holiday home in the first year can be expensive. Don’t worry though, you can carry any losses forward into the next tax year for tax purposes.
Here’s some more tax advantages:

1. Small business rates relief – holiday let owners must register for business rates rather than council tax. However, you may be entitled to small business rates relief which means you pay nothing at all. Call your local council to find out if you’re exempt.
2. Wear & Tear Allowance – you can claim tax relief on domestic items you’ve replaced because they’re no longer usable.
3. Pension contributions – profits you earn from your holiday home are eligible for a tax top up from the government when paid into your pension pot.
4. Capital Gains Tax – when you sell your property you may be eligible for entrepreneur’s relief, rollover relief or hold-over relief.

It’s advisable to speak to an accountant for tax advice.

With thanks to Emma Lunn and John Fitzsimons for their contributions to this article.

The post Buy-to-let mortgages: everything you need to know for rentals and holiday homes appeared first on Ideal Home.