How Clean is Your House?

Gerlinde at work.
If you listen very carefully, you can hear me
squeaking with excitement. 

We've talked before about my Monica from Friends tendencies...yes? In case you've forgotten, I'm a neat/clean freak. I don't know how it happened, it definitely crept up on me as I got older. And yes, dear reader, I am old. I digress....

A few years ago I had our sofa professionally cleaned and I was giddy as a goat when the cleaning guys turned up. I think they thought it charming. Or odd. Probably both.

So when the lovely people at 4Work asked me if I'd like them to come and demonstrate their super-powerful Kobold vacuum cleaner to me (50% more powerful than other vacuum cleaners, fact fans), I was all over it like dust on a Swiffer. 

If you haven't heard of Kobold then you must have been living under a (dusty) stone for the last 150 years (that's how long they've been around). Kobold already has a following of influential fans including UK property expert and TV presenter Sarah Beeny who says ‘it’s a joy to use’ and ‘is simply the best vacuum cleaner around.’ Who doesn't love the Beeny?!

Now, I'm not going to lie, there's a tiny element of hesitation when you invite someone into your home in this situation. Desperate as I was to see the product in action, the fact is, there's going to be some shame involved. We have a cleaner and our house is to the naked eye, spotless. But we also have one rotund and very hairy feline. This feline sheds hair like Kim Kardashian sheds clothes. Plus the dust in Dubai seems to find its way through the tiniest cracks and settle in the most bizarre of places. Plus, how often do you get your sofa and mattresses cleaned?

Thankfully the lovely Gerlinde, CEO of 4Work (the distributors for Vorwerk Kobold cleaners) has seen it all before and approached our home with vigour. The Kobold VK150 (even the name sounds effective) is a sleek piece of kit that comes in its own bag, with various attachments. We wasted no time and headed to the bedroom to test it out on our super-king mattress. As expected, it sucked out a pile of dust the size of a small mountain.

From there it was a whirl of activity, with the sofa and lounge rug being cleaned. The rug was the real horror story, with a pile of dust that could dwarf the Burj Khalifa. As I'm British I felt compelled to apologise for the state of the rug -I was simultaneously in cleaning heaven and hell! The thought of being able to do this myself, on a regular basis, without engaging outside help is just fantastic.

I jest about this a little because I'm a clean freak, but there's a very serious side to this too. I know countless people with asthma in Dubai, exacerbated by the heat, the constant AC and the omnipresent dust. This piece of kit is a literal life saver. If you have children, pets, allergies, or just want your home to be clean, you will fall in love with this product immediately. And the lovely people at 4Work will demonstrate the products to you, for free! What's not to love?

The technical stuff: The Kobold System Power Unit and its amazing attachments can:

• Deep clean carpets, rugs and mattresses 
• Catch 99.9% of allergy substances with its 3 in 1 integrated HEPA filter
• Vacuum and mop all hard floor surfaces including ceramic tiles and parquet at the same time
• Remove pet hair
• Clean windows without water (no, really!!)

For more info log onto their website and they will do the rest. 

I'd love to chat more but I'm too busy admiring my reflection in my sparkly clean floor! (I lie, my reflection could scare small children today. But the floor is tremendous!)

Mama's Gone to Blue Marlin

Great food, company and music. What's not to love?

Pre-baby I loved nothing more than kicking back at the beach with friends at the weekend. Not for us the notorious Dubai Brunches: we were too busy getting our tan, our chat and our celebrity gossip on. Fast-forward to the days of Baby Britney and regular weekly beach sessions are a thing of the past.

Fear not: with a bit of negotiation and planning these can be slotted in - and when they come, they bring me joy and a pleasure in abundance, perhaps because they are not as easy to come by as they used to be.

Our latest foray saw us head to Blue Marlin for an afternoon of great music and sunshine. It's the famous Ibiza brand exported to Dubai, and whilst there are some similarities, it's definitely not the same. 

Not that we cared one jot, as we were too busy scoffing the trays of food and ice-buckets of rose. The Saturday Brunch sees a lot of people taking children - personally that's not for me. Not just because it's loud but also, who can really, truly relax with a small one in tow. Best to leave them at home and let Mama get her groove on, I think.

Top Tips: Book a car to take you there and back as taxis are hard to come by. Take an arm load of magazines. Take your best friend. Repeat as often as possible.