Rebecca Reads

A few weeks before Christmas, I was offered the chance to try out a new Beldray ironing board. I've heard of the Beldray brand before but never used any of their products.

My previous ironing boards have always been small, cheapish ones from discount stores so when I opened this up, at 126 x 45 cm, it looked absolutely massive compared to my dinky one. Any ironing board I've used has been pretty standard, the board to iron your clothing on plus a rest for your iron. The Beldray one is so much more.

The Beldray ironing board comes with a clothes rack underneath. I may be living under a rock, but this is the first ironing board I've seen with one of these on. It makes life so much easier as I can fold up my ironed clothes and keep them underneath until I can put them away or when ironing shirts and blouses, I can hook the hangers on so that they don't get creased.

It also comes with an iron holder and you can change the height to eight different positions, which is great for us as Chris is a little taller than me so he can change it with ease. The board folds away flat too and doesn't take up much space. The cover is removable, machine washable and simple to put back on.

I was happy enough with my previous board as that is all I knew but since giving the Beldray one a try, I will never look back! I never realised how much I needed one. I've gotten used to how much heavier it is compared to my old, tiny one!

The 'Mighty' Ironing Board with Clothes Rack and Iron Holder retails at £59.99 and you can find out more at the Beldray website.

(Disclaimer: I received this item for the purpose of this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)

ACE Gentle is one of the leading washing boosters and stain removers in the UK. Unlike its competitors, ACE is just as effective on delicates and baby clothes as it is on other items of clothing such as muddy sportswear. It is so gentle that you can pour it directly into your wash, allowing ACE's eight-point system get to work on eight different types of stains - grease, cosmetics, dirt, food, beverages, enzymatics, body soils and outdoor stains.

With a weaning baby and a toddler who is prone to a chocolate bar or two, I was eager to give it a try.

I had a few items of E's clothing that were particularly badly stained with orange purée so I bunged them in the washing machine, put my usual washing powder/fabric conditioner in the drawer and put a capful of ACE Gentle straight in the drum with the clothes - it's that gentle it can go straight in! The gentleness means that it can also be used on silk, wool and even cashmere.

When I took my items out and dried them, I saw that most of the orange stain had gone except for a little outline. I put them through again with another capful of ACE Gentle and the stains disappeared completely. I wasn't too bothered about having to do it twice because I knew that they were pretty stubborn stains. I usually can't find anything that will remove similar stains no matter how many times I try them.

Additionally, ACE Gentle helps to stop fabric colours bleeding which is great for me because C has this one white t-shirt with red sleeves and it drives me crazy trying to wash it as I worry that the red will run!

ACE Gentle has been great for removing everyday stains on the first go and I would definitely recommend it. The 1 litres goes a long way! For around £2 per bottle, it's a great price!

You can find a list of stockists at the ACE Gentle website. You can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter.