Aggie MacKenzie was born in 1955 in Rothiemurchus, Aviemore in the Cairngorms mountain region and went to school at Kingussie High School.

She learnt her domestic, cooking and cleaning skills from her mother who knew many remedies for removing stains.

Aggie MacKenzie attended further education at Aberdeen where she attained a bilingual secretarial qualification which earned her first job at the Foreign Office. After signing the official secrets act she worked for MI6. She worked in the security organisation for two years and then took a post at the press office of the National Union of Students. From here she worked at many women's magazines and then took the position of Associate Editor in Charge of the Good Housekeeping Magazine. Part of her responsibilities here was to review cleaning products and gadgets and write about household appliances and create new recipes.

how clean is your house

In 2002 Aggie was asked to take a screen test for a new show that would later earn her the nicknames of The Nation’s Dream Cleaning Team, the Grime Busters and Dirt Detectives. She met a lady called Kim Woodburn and passed the screen test and the chemistry of Kim and Aggie was born. Aggie gives a down to earth approach with her lovely Scots no nonsense voice as she and Kim educate people to keep themselves and their houses clean, hygienic and tidy - and she looks a bonnie fearsome sight in those rubber gloves! Their reactions to some of the houses they visit and the conditions that people keep themselves and their surroundings in are just hilarious.

Aggie McKenzie and Kim Woodburn have produced books, games and DVDs from their shows and their popularity is such that there is even a How Clean is your House Board Game. For more information, see pictures or to buy these items at discounted prices and with free delivery for each book, DVD or game available go to Amazon.

Television Appearances Of Kim Woodburn and Aggie MacKenzie

Dancing on Ice

It is rumoured that Aggie McKenzie will take part in the fourth series of Dancing on Ice on ITV on Sunday 13 January 2007.

This was confirmed on Monday 7 January by Philip Schofield and Fern Britain on the This Morning TV programme when the new Dancing on Ice line up was officially launched. As well as Aggie McKenzie the other skaters for series 3 of Dancing on Ice are: singer and actress Samantha Mumba, Pop Idol singer Gareth Gates, tennis player Greg Rusedski, Blue Peter presenters Sarah Greene and Tim Vincent, model and actress Linda Lusardi, actress, Zaraah Abrahams, Olympic athlete Steve Backley, actor Chris Fountain, sports presenter Natalie Pinkham, Hear'say singer and actress Suzanne Shaw and GMTV presenter Michael Underwood. Please note though that not all these famous celebrities and stars are definite - I only caught the tail end of the television programme!

We also run the www.findextrawork.co.uk website where there is information about earning more money from a range of part time and full time jobs which can be done at home or out and about. Visit for more information.

British skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean will be training the Dancing on Ice skaters again for series three. The judging panel for Skating on Ice is called The Ice Panel and for series 3 of Dancing on Ice the judges will be Karen Barber, Jason Gardiner, Nicky Slater, Robin Cousins and new judge stage actress and singer Ruthie Henshall.

The theme tune of Dancing on Ice was composed by Paul Farrer.

The ice skating and dancing partner of Aggie MacKenzie in Dancing on Ice: The Skate Off is Russian Imperial Ice Star Sergey Malyshev.

The first episode of series three of Dancing on Ice and Dancing on Ice: The Skate Off was broadcast on ITV on Sunday 13 January 2008 at 5:50 pm until 7:50pm and then at 8:50pm until 9:20pm. You can watch clips of Dancing on Ice at the official website at www.itv.com

Aggie MacKenzie worn a beautiful fresh buttercup yellow outfit and was introduced as the oldest contestant ever on Dancing on Ice star celebrity. So how old is Aggie MacKenzie? Well she was born in the year 1955 so this year she celebrates her 52nd birthday and looks lovely for it! Poor Aggie though fell down several times on the ice during her first training session with Sergey Malyshev and hit her head really hard. Aggie bravely continued her ice skating training and then sustained another injury during the Dancing on Ice studio rehearsal. She hit her hip then pulled her hamstring tendon.

Fortunately she recovered enough to skate and dance in episode one of Dancing on Ice. Sergey Malyshev and Aggie MacKenzie skated to the music and song of Built Me Up Buttercup. During their skate dance routine Aggie and Sergey performed a wrap around, roll up, stay cary, supported lifts and teapot moves. The votes cast by the Ice Panel for Aggie MacKenzie and Sergey Malyshev were: Karen Barber 2.5, Nick Slater 2, Jason Gardiner 1, Ruthie Henshall 2.5 and Robin Cousins 2.5 giving Sergey and Aggie a total score of 10.5. Celebrity supporters of Aggie MacKenzie included Kim Woodburn and Anneka Rice.

Jason Gardiner gave a comment to Aggie MacKenzie which got booed by the studio audience. Jason said:

Aggie has taken more blows to the head than Homer Simpson. It looks like Sergy is flinging about an OAP!

Aggie is enjoying the hard work of training and the thrill of performing. She is able to eat more chocolate because of the huge amount of calories she has burnt off!

After each contestant at Dancing on Ice had performed their dance routine the phone lines were opened - so vote for Aggie and Sergey! There was a break for Heartbeat and then Dancing on Ice: The Skate Off returned. Voters voted for Samantha Mumba and her dance partner Pavel Aubrecht along with Sarah Green and her skating partner Fred Palascak to take part in the Skate Off. They would be judged solely by the Ice Panel and the celebrity with the least votes would be voted off Dancing on Ice show. Sam Mumba had a clean sweep with 5 votes from the Ice Panel.

Sarah Greene was the first celebrity to be voted off series 3 of Dancing on Ice.

Kim and Sergey

The second episode of series 3 of Dancing on Ice and Dancing on Ice: The Skate Off was broadcast on ITV on Sunday 20 January 2008 at 5:50 pm until 7:50pm and then at 8:50pm until 9:20pm. Clips are now available to watch on YouTube. Aggie and Sergey had to perform a lunge into spiral, a difficult skating move for a novice like Aggie. Though she proved again what a star she is as she lent into the edge of her skate and lifted herself off before standing into the spiral. Other skating moves by Aggie and Sergey include threading the needle and the scoop lift.

This week Aggie McKenzie wore a pretty peach skating dress with a pink feathered ruffle round the bottom. It looked a bit like the fancy washing up gloves that Kim Woodburn of How Clean Is Your House wears! Aggie finished off her lovely dress with some elegant light brown tights. She bravely skating on this week despite another injury. This was a dreadful pain in her ribs after a fall in the studio rehearsal for which she has had intensive physiotherapy.

Kim and Sergey skate danced to the song I'm A Woman. Aggie role played the seductive older woman to Sergey the toyboy! The audience at Dancing on Ice got their ticket worth and loved the performance, especially the Scotland crowd who proudly waved the banner: Scotland OAP a fingers up to Jason's comments last week!

During the Ice Panel judging Aggie MacKenzie managed to slip in a lovely old Scots word for guts and determination. This was when Philip Schofield told the audience and viewers that Aggie had wanted to quit Dancing on Ice that morning but had decided not to give up and show some thrawn which Aggie translated for non Scottish people as meaning dogged determination, though AboutAberdeen think it also means to be stubborn! Not that Aggie is being stubborn, she is certainly showing spirit.

The Ice Panel judges gave Aggie and Sergey the following points:
Karen 2.5, Nicky 2, Jason 1.5, Ruthie 2 and Robin 2.0 to give Aggie and Sergey a grand total of ten out of thirty. Jason added another rude comment when she described the performance of Aggie McKenzie and Sergey Malyshev as being not as catatonic to watch!

Though Aggie and Sergey got the lowest points from the Ice Panel they were saved from the Skate Off by the telephone votes. Entertainer Natalie Pinkham and actor Tim Vincent took part in the Skate Off which saw the Ice Panel vote off TV and radio presenter Natalie Pinkham and her dance partner.

Dancing on Ice Make Me a Star

During episode 2 of Dancing on Ice it was revealed that a new TV spin off show would be shown on ITV1 called Dancing On Ice: Make Me A Star. This will be hosted by Holly Willoughby. The first episode of Dancing On Ice: Make Me A Star will be broadcast on Saturday night of 26 January 2008. Viewers will be treated to scenes of Aggie McKenzie training along with her co-stars and also the search for ordinary members of the public who can become a new ice skating star and will perform on the Dancing on Ice 2008 final. Torvil and Dean will host the search for the new Dancing On Ice: Make Me A Star skating stars.

The first episode of Dancing on Ice: Make Me A Star was on Saturday 26 January at 8:30pm. Dancing on Ice: Make Me A Star promises to bring ITV viewers UKs most entertaining ice stars. Those who want to apply to Dancing on Ice: Make Me A Star can apply online at the website itv.com/makemeaster where they will find an application form and more information. The winner of Dancing on Ice: Make Me A Star will win a chance to perform in the final of Dancing on Ice. Auditions for Dancing on Ice: Make Me A Star will take place with Torvill and Dean. During the first episode of Dancing on Ice: Make Me A Star Torvill and Dean skated to the new Westlife single Us Against The World. Then viewers were given the rare treat of a behind the scenes tour of the Dancing on Ice HQ. This included footage of Michael Underwood and his stumble on the ice which led to his broken ankle Sadly this meant that Michael Underwood had to pull out of Dancing on Ice. His replacement was Zaraah Abrahams the actress from ITV soap Coronation Street. Zaraah Abrahams plays Joanna Jackson who works at the factory. Joanna Jackson has been a stand in replacement since November so has been practicing ice skating and dancing and her skating partner is Fred Palascak. He had been the dance and skate partner of Sarah Greene.

Skate Off

The third episode of Dancing on Ice was broadcast on Sunday 27 January 2008. Aggie Mackenzie and Sergey Malyshev wore watching outfits of a silver gold pattern. Aggie and Sergey danced to Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler. Aggie was really confident on the ice in this episode and her lovely smile showed how much she was enjoying dancing and skating with Sergie. Aggie and Sergie performed a pair spin, tea pot and a rotational knee slide, though Aggie had a wee stumble during this manoeuvre. Even the Ice Panel thawed out a bit more to their performance with scores from Karen 2.5, Nicky 2, Jason 2, Ruthie 3.5 and Robin 2.5 giving Aggy and Sergie a total score of 12.5.

At the skate off voting Aggy and Sergie won a place in the next round. The skate off was performed by Samantha Mumba and Pavel Aubrecht dancing to You Can't Hurry Love and Steve Backley and Frankie Poultney. Samantha Mumba and Pavel Aubrecht were voted off when Steve Backley were saved with a clean sweep vote from the Ice Panel.

In the fourth episode of Dancing on Ice Aggie and Sergey wore matching pink outfits with Aggie MacKenzie wearing a short pink dress. Aggie and Sergey skated to the song I Feel Pretty. Unfortunately Aggie had a stumble during the step sequence when she caught her toe pick.

In Dancing on Ice: The Skate Off Aggie and Sergey came bottom of the public vote along with javelin champion Steve Backley and his skate dancing partner Susie Lipanova. Sadly the Ice Panel gave Steve and Susie a clean sweep and voted to keep them and vote off Sergey and Aggie. Though Ice Panel member Jason Gardiner did say I wish we could get rid of both of them. Aggie and Sergey gave a beautiful lap of honour and I think a good friendship has been made during Dancing on Ice. Well done Aggie!

Episode four of Dancing on Ice marked the first time that Jayne Torvill skated without Christopher Dean because Chris had had an operation to his knee cartilage earlier in the week.

aggie mackenzie

The double act of Kim and Aggie are rarely seen apart and together they have appeared on the following TV shows and Programmes:

How Clean Is Your House - several TV Series
Too Posh To Wash - several TV Series
The F Word with Gordon Ramsey - they beat Gordon Ramsey at the Recipe Challenge with their trifle pudding
V Graham Norton Show
Hell's Kitchen
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
EastEnders Christmas Party
Children in Need 2003
This Morning
National Television Awards Party of the Year 2004
Hogmanay Live 2003
Richard and Judy
The Paul O'Grady Show
Breakfast
Today with Des and Mel
This Morning
The Terry and Gaby Show
Come Dine With Me
BBC Children in Need 2006 with Status Quo
When Kim And Aggie Went To Hospital

How Clean Is Your House?

The 2007 series of How Clean Is Your House? with Kim and Aggie started on Thursday 17 May 2007 at 8pm. The first How Clean is Your House? programme was from Penzance in Cornwall and featured Angela May who loves cutter and enjoys buying things from charity shops. Unfortunately she does not clean her collections nor her home and is had got very dirty - so much so that she moved out and went to live with her mum! She claims not to have cleaned her cottage with its bric-a-brac for 28 years! Her husband David, a builder, refused to help clean their house, he considers cleaning to be women's work! That comment went down a treat with Kim and Aggie!

Episode two saw a widow and her two children need the help of dirt busting by Kim and Aggie. Ingrid Doggert lost her husband, Nigel, suddenly four months earlier and her four children Eleanor, Charlotte, Laura and Mikey caused a great mess. Still raw with grief, Ingrid from Basildon, was helped by Kim Woodburn and Aggie MacKenzie to clean the children's rooms. The downstairs rooms like the lounge were immaculate, but the kids rooms were messy with piles of toys, used food, unmade beds, clutter, general untidiness and empty drawers.

The children soon got stuck in with Kim and Aggie and called themselves the dust bunnies. They were given laundry tips (wash colours and whites separately, zip up clothes before washing them and turn darks likes jeans inside out to protect the fabric, shown how to remove lipstick from a door (hairspray and then washed off with hot water), cleaning a teddy bear (rubbing a bar of soap onto a clean slightly damp white cloth and then gently rubbing the cuddly toy) and other ways to clean easy.

Kim and Aggie then went to the children's school to see what other children do to help their mum's with the cleaning. Before they left Ingrid and her children they devised a cleaning rota to help them continue cleaning the family home. A really moving episode sensitively undertaken by Kim and Aggie.

The third How Clean Is Your House? programme, sponsored by Kleeneze was a special. Kim and Aggie were asked by residents of the Tower Hamlets in London to help them clean up the area and give them advise on dealing with vermin. It was broadcast on Thursday 31 May 2007 at 8pm.

Kim and Aggie took up this mission to clean up Britain and started with Tower Hamlet Council in East London and started their campaign against rats. Part of their problem with rats is caused by the debris and dropped food from over 2300 hot food take aways and restaurants, a densely populated area and living near the Thames. Kim and Aggie showed us how to rat proof your home and how to trap a rat by harnessing the power of Kim and Aggie. Rats are the biggest British pest and there has been a 37% increase in the rat population in the last 7 years. A female rat can have up to 60 baby rats in one year.

Rat catching was a challenging task for Kim and Aggie because in previous episodes of How Clean Is Your House? they have always jumped a mile and screamed when they find dead rodents such as mice in dirty homes. The biggest screamer of the two is Aggie McKenzie. They tried to get over this by going to a rat lab to be desensitized. They entered a large cage full of tame rats wearing their welly boots and white lab suit overalls, though Aggie had to leave!

They then met Tower Hamlets Council pest control team. Viewers may have recognised the pest controller Tim from a previous TV documentary which may have been a Life of Grime on BBC1 and BBC 2. He showed Kim and Aggie where to trap the rats and facts and figures about rats such as one doner kebab feeding 20 rats in one day, 33% increase in rubbish since the 1980s and that it is the law to report rats on your land to the Council. Rat catching tips included covering manhole covers so that rats cannot access or leave drains and sewers and repair drain defects and remove debris. Tim then showed Kim and Aggie various rat traps such as the electric rat trap that electrocutes a caught rat. They placed the traps in corners and the sides of buildings where rats like to run. They then went to a local school at Tower Hamlets and educated children where they showed them a tame rat called Mr Tomner who then walked a drawn route to demonstrate the spread of diseases by rats.

Kim and Aggie then started an advertising campaign with a towed advert around London and gave out leaflets on the street with their campaign logo Kim and Aggie says clean up your act don't be a rats best friend. They then knocked on doors and showed home owners how to rat proof a house by putting tight draft excluders onto the bottom of a door so that rats would not crawl underneath. They then put mesh grating over drains and removed old pipes that rats can use to climb and picked up fallen bird feeders and bird food so that rats would not eat this easy source of food. They also advised putting a cooked chicken carcass into a bag and freezing it until bin collection day to avoid attracting rats.

How clean is your house? request your dirty pictures for the channel 4 website where you can win a competition prize.

Episode four of How Clean is Your House with Kim Woodburn and Aggie McKenzie featured Charmaine who was about to get married. She wanted Kim and Aggie to help clean up her Bristol home and teach her father to clean the home rather than spend the time polishing his motorbike. Although Charmaine no longer stayed at home she wanted to keep the tradition of getting dressed at her parents home with her bridesmaids and leaving for church from the family home. With all the piles of dead flies, over flowing cat litter tray, piles of dog hair on the carpets, piles of dirty clothes and the encrusted cooker and work surfaces and years of general dirt she did not want her white wedding dress getting dirty before she even got to the church.

So Kim and Aggie came to the rescue and set to work on Bristol dad Steve Jones, an engineer at Rolls Royce and a keen biker. His nickname from his fellow bikers is chuckles and Kim and Aggie found little to chuckle about though naughty Kim Woodburn did enjoy a flirt with his friends and had a bit of a twinkle in her eye for Steve Jones!

One Kim and Aggie cleaning tip to remove grease and cooking debris from a cooker is to fill a squirty bottle with 20 squirts of the jelly used to remove engine oil that mechanics use and add a litre of water and squirt this onto the cooker and give it a good scrub to remove the muck more easily and bring up a shine. Other cleaning tips by Kim and Aggie during this episode of How Clean Is Your House? included using shaving foam on dirty tiles and the surrounding grouting. Kim spread the shaving foam around with a cloth (wearing her trademark fluffy gloves!) then used a nail brush to get into the grouting and small areas. Then she wiped the foam off and used a cloth and hot water and the tiling came up lovely and shiny. The alcohol and the soap in the can of shaving foam had worked its cleaning magic really easily.

Another cleaning tip from House Clean Is Your House was to put mayonnaise onto stickers and labels on a drawer or door and work it into the area with a finger. After 20 minutes use a bowl of hot water and a soft plastic spatula to gently lift off the sticky label. The plastic spatula will not scratch the surfaces. Aggie MacKenzie even had a cleaning tip for Steve's motorbike. She suggested cleaning the headlamp with a small amount of vegetable oil and buffing it up but leaving a small trace of the vegetable oil. This would then stop dirt and dead flies sticking to the lights and they would still be bright at night.

Back in the house Kim showed Steve Jones how to get rid of the smell in his fridge by placing BBQ charcoal on a tray. The charcoals would absorb the smells. We saw the soft sensitive side of Steve when Kim and Aggie took him to a wedding boutique and his daughter Charmaine wore a white wedding dress. Kim and Aggie showed him photos of his dirty house compared to the beautiful white dress and he started to cry as did Kim and Aggie! Cuddles for chuckles all round!

The fifth episode of How Clean Is Your House featured radio DJ Vicky Richardson of Radio Regen whose dirty kitchen had attracted mice. Her house became increasingly dirty and messy since her mother died. So the Kim and Aggie cleaning academy came to visit her at the radio station where she presented her shows. The Queen of Cleans took her keys and visited her home and Aggie once more started screaming!

This time her screams were caused by finding loads of mouse droppings in the kitchen and breadbin. There was even a gnawed mouse hole from the bread bin through to the wall. When Kim MacKenzie and Aggie Woodburn went into Vicky Richardson's toilet they were met with the sight of the most disgusting loo brush and holder they had ever seen. So whilst the Kim and Aggie cleaning team and Vicky's friends started to clean her home Kim took her to the local supermarket to buy cleaning products like bleach, furniture polish, vinegar for removing limescale and cleaning windows, and household rubber gloves. One cleaning tip from Kim about rubber gloves is to buy the size larger than you need because then when you put your hands into hot water the gloves do not cling to your fingers and cause each finger or thumb to dimple.

Pest control technician Mike Dawes was called in to deal with the mouse infestation and explain the types of diseases mice spread in a family home.

Kim used triple distilled vodka and water to show Vicky Richardson of RadioRegen how to clean her thousands of vinyl albums and singles by using a shaving brush to clean the records in a round motion following the groove of the LP and then using a non static cloth to dry them. Another How Clean Is Your House cleaning tip from Kim Woodburn was to get a cotton wool ball and drop several drops of lavender oil onto it and place it in the vacuum cleaner bag or the collecting tube (I think it is called the bin assembly) if using a Dyson or similar bagless vacuum cleaner.

Episode six of How Clean Is Your House saw the Adams family from the Isle of Wight who rather than keeping their home clean and tidy spent their time dressing as cowboys and saloon girls. These enthusiasts loved cowboy and Wild West re-enactments as much as their pets. They have 5 dogs, chickens, rats, a tarantula spider, a bearded dragon and chinchillas. The pet cages were cleaner than the house! Though the chinchillas threw out their dirt from the cage and the youngest dog was not toilet trained though was not a puppy and would urinate around the house. The smell of the home hit Kim and Aggie as soon as they opened the front door and they had to take a step back. Kim Woodburn suggested the family stop their cowboy fantasy life and face up to reality.

The worst thing they had was a freezer full of food that had been left to rot because the freezer stopped working two and a half years ago. The freezer was sealed by the health and safety team and Aggie McKenzie used an endoscope machine with a camera to show the Adams family and the viewers the rotting food inside the freezer and the dangers they have been risking. She took swabs round the house to show that this had been causing family health problems which could even have caused gangrene from the toxic gas given off. Other results from the swabs showed E coli and Klebsiella next to the chinchilla which were caused by it kicking out its mess.

After the adverts we were treated to the creepy music of the Addams family television programme! Then the dogs were taken to dog trainer Cathy Humphries to house train the border collie dog. She suggested rubbing a urine soaked cloth onto a piece of newspaper and moving this gradually to the back door then to the garden to encourage the dog to smell its own scent and urinate outside. She also suggested walking it where other dogs had urinated so that it would associate the urine scents with outdoors.

A Don't Try This At Home warning sign flashed on the screen when Kim remembered a tip for getting her teeth gleaming from her childhood was to put her toothbrush up her chimney and cake it in soot and then brush her teeth. Modern viewers may prefer to use toothpaste!

A safer tip which viewers could use was to clean net curtains with denture tablets in a bowl of water and to add the nets folded to save ironing them later on. Once cleaned Kim put each net curtain onto a large towel of the same colour and roll the nets into it and then place it on the floor and stand on the towel to dry out the net curtains. Kim called this her dance of joy.

Another cleaning tip was to use one teaspoon of sugar soap to a bowl of hot water to clean off years of dust, dirt and grime off woodwork and door frames. Safety advice when doing this was to open windows for ventilation and wear a face mask because of the fumes.

Episode seven featured Daniel Westley from Somerset who loved his rockets more than cleaning. He was recommended by his 7 year old nephew, Eli Cather, and his sister who made a video appeal to Kim and Aggie because they wanted to visit a cleaner house. They inserted hidden cameras into his home so they could see his slothenly ways. When they met, Kim and Aggie gave Daniel a rocket of a telling off when they looked round his filthy home with a dirt caked toilet, rubbish everywhere and the worst computer keyboard that Aggie McKenzie had ever seen. The most disgusting sight was Kim Woodburn sticking her ungloved fingers down his toilet and coming out with poo on her fingers. Aggie started screaming and then Kim gagged over a mould covered meal in the fridge!

A cleaning tip from Kim and Aggie to remove mildew was to either use a bleach solution on plastic surfaces or a homemade cleaner solution of tea tree oil in a water solution and spray it onto the surface and then wipe off with a clean cloth.

A Kim and Aggie cleaning tip to get rid of dust mites, especially for anyone suffering from asthma is to vacuum clean a mattress once a week

Kim Woodburn gave a tip to clean a mirror or window by using 2 capfuls of white vinegar with a small amount of liquid hand soap and mixing this with water in a spray container. This can then be used to clean mirrors and windows and then buffed up with scrunched up newspapers. The soap cleans whilst the vinegar leaves no streaks.

Swab taken around the flat of Daniel Westley revealed the presence of bugs and bacteria like Bacillus in the fridge, mattress and the toilet brush holder. There was also staphylococcus on the PC keyboard.

A toilet cleaning tip was to use 3 parts of Borax and 1 part pure lemon juice. Then remove the water at the bottom of the toilet bowl and coat the borax and lemon solution throughout the bowl. Leave this for 15 minutes and then use moistened fine sandpaper to rub off any ingrained muck off the toilet.

Episode eight of How Clean Is Your House featured Marylyn Springham from Gravesend who was asthmatic and her condition was made worse by her unclean house. Despite the filth she lived in she kept a spotless cupboard where she kept all the tins in line with the labels facing the same direction. The rest of her home was so unclean that no member of her family had been allowed in the house for years.

Kim and Aggie hid a camera in her lounge to show her slovenly ways and showed this to her daughter, Sarah. When Kim and Aggie went into Marylyn's house they found rubbish bags in the lounge, years of old food on the cooker, black water in the kitchen sink, a bedroom carpet that had not be vacuumed for two years and was covered in dog hair and even a cleaning rota buried under a mountain of rubbish. So along came the skip and removals team. Before they set to work Sarah came to see her mum's house for the first time in five years and was a little shocked!

Because Marylyn Springham suffers from asthma Kim Woodburn showed her how to make a non chemical multi purpose cleaner from 2 dessert spoons of bicarbonate of soda, 15 drops of lavender essential oil with one pint of hot water.

Aggie McKenzie took some swabs and an air sample to demonstrate the dangers an unclean house is to asthma sufferers. These were sent for analyse at the laboratory. The Kim and Aggie cleaning team set to work cleaning the house in a non chemical way so as not to cause any problems with Marylyn Springham's asthma which included using a steamer machine and clean cloth to clean wall tiles and lemonade in the toilet because this contains citric acid.

Other cleaning tips for asthmatics included using a mixture of a cup of camomile tea, six squirts of hand and face liquid soap and a quarter of a bottle of white vinegar to a bucket of hot water to mop the floors. Aggie showed Marylyn Springham how to clean tea stains off mugs by rubbing table salt onto the mug and rubbing with hot water on a cloth and then rinsing thoroughly.

Aggie Mckenzie then gave Marylyn the results of the swabs and air samples which showed that her house was riddled with mould that would cause her asthma problems and may be why she needs to use her inhaler through the night. One swab test revealed the pathogen salmonella whilst another swab revealed campero bacti.

Kim's last cleaning tip was how to make a non chemical air freshner from 10 parts of vodka and one part of bergamot essential aromatherapy oil and mixing it in a puffer spray. Other oils can be used and vodka is better to use than water because the mixture will keep for longer.

Episode nine of How Clean Is Your House? was set in Anglesey in Wales and featured Barney Brooks an avid model and vintage car collector. He lived in a 200 year old Welsh cottage whilst his partner, Debbie, lived in a spotless house nearby. Barney did not keep his lovely Welsh cottage clean - his idea of cleaning the floor was to put some porridge on it and get the dogs to lick it clean!

His unclean ways had to change because Debbie was pregnant and needed his house to be child friendly. At the time of Kim and Aggie's visit he treated it as a workshop and scrap yard. He even had an 80 year old car garaged in the dining room! The rooms were not dusted and generally unclean, though the living room was spotless. So Kim Woodburn and Aggie Mackenzie helped Barney Brooks mend his ways rather than mend his cars. Cleaning tips by Kim and Aggie included vacuuming cleaning the cooling system of his fridge freezer with the brush attachment of the vacuum to make it run more efficiently and look cleaner and cleaning the seal of his refrigerator with tooth whitening paste and a toothbrush.

Another cleaning tip from Kim and Aggie was to use 500mls of water to 1 teaspoon of baby sterilising liquid to clean and sterilise kitchen surfaces. To remove grime and to reduce scrubbing Kim added some salt to give gentle abrasion to the surfaces without damaging them. Another cleaning tip from How Clean Is Your House was to use cola to clean brass, either by dipping in for ten minutes or brushing gently with a toothbrush soaked in cola and then wiping or dipping in warm water to remove the stickiness.

In the tenth episode of How Clean Is Your House? Kim and Aggie, the dirt detectives, helped Dorset civil servant Dave Foot from Wareham. He was divorced in the 1990s and his house has fallen into an unclean state. So much so that it is full of flies. Kim and Aggie found a black bag full of cigarette butts, maggots crawling in a saucepan full of old food and mould covered food in the fridge. The Grime Investigators shut off the house with their yellow Grime Investigation tape and light a special candle to get rid of the insects. They have to seal the doors and leave the house for four hours whilst it works its magic.

When they return their first clean house tip from the How Clean Is Your House cleaning bible of Kim and Aggie to clean a dirt ingrained linoleum floor was to use borax powder straight onto the lino and brush with warm water. Do use a face mask because it will give off noxious fumes and open a window. Then wipe off with a bucket of warm water which has washing up liquid added.

To make a homemade cleaning liquid Aggie McKenzie added 2 dishwasher tablets to hot water. These tablets contain a degreasing agent and a detergent so work effectively against most grease and grime.

Now that Dave’s house was cleaned and he was looking for love Kim and Aggie set about to give him some dating tips. They placed Cupid and took him to the sea front to meet ladies - by asking them cleaning tips.

Kim Woodburn’s last cleaning tip was for a fish tank to get rid of algae and much. She used a kettle descaler liquid added to a water spray. She advised wearing a mask and then spraying onto the glass and wiping off.

The eleventh episode of How Clean Is Your House with Kim and Aggie was broadcast on 26 July 2007 at 8pm on channel4. Kim and Aggie were asked by the daughter of Kerry and Jason McCrory to help clean the family house. Since her little brother, Max, came along four years ago the home had not been cleaned. There were piles of rubbish and clothes in every room except their daughter's bedroom which was lovely and tidy. The parents bedroom had black mould on the ceiling and even a Christmas tree though it was the summer. Despite the extreme clutter her mum still continued to hoard and buy junk from the charity chop.

With the help of her sister Candice and older brothers Ashley and Adam the house was soon tidied up. Kim and Aggie cleaning tips included mixing bicarbonate of soda with washing up liquid to form a paste that can be applied to non self cleaning ovens to easily wipe of grime and grease.

Cleaning went on so fast with so much help from the family that Kim and Aggie took a break to meet the neighbours and give them How Clean Is Your House cleaning tips ranging from using saddle soap to clean a leather sofa, a wet rubber glove to clean up cat hair, how to remove shoe polish from a cream carpet and how to remove chewing gum from a carpet.

Back in the house Kim showed the teenage boys how to iron a shirt and Aggie showed the parents how to remove black mould from the ceiling. She used half bleach and half water into a spray, wore a mask because of the spores and fumes and scrubbed off the black mould. Aggie then advised painting the area with paint treated with fungicide.

The twelfth episode of the How Clean Is Your House TV show revisited farmers Adam and Ann Massingham from Appledore North Devon where they kept a smallholding and a dirty house. Kim and Aggie wore wellies with Kim Woodburn having rather fetching pink wellingtons with pearls. Viewers were reminded of their filthy home that had moss on the windows, dung in the carpets and even cobwebs and layers of dust on shoes. Cleaning tips from Kim and Aggie included using a ceramic scraper on floor tiles to take off muck without scratching the tiles. To bring them really clean and shiny Kim and Aggie then used biological washing powder and a soft scrubbing brush with hot water. Aggie McKenzie then used citronella on a cloth to wash the farmhouse walls to stop insects like spiders because they have their taste buds in their feet and do not like the taste of citronella. A cleaning tip to restore the colour of dark furniture was to use instant coffee granules mixed in warm water and then worked into the wood with a damp cloth.

Since appearing for the first time on How Clean Is Your House Ann and Adam Massingham have become local celebrities and have appeared at the local fete giving out prizes. However they had let their bad habits return and the house became untidy so Kim Woodburn taught Adam Massingham her How Clean Is Your House 5 minute cleaning technique.

The Narrator of How Clean Is Your House?

The narrator of How Clean Is Your House? is Paul Copley whose North Yorkshire voice and accent may be familiar to viewers of Hornblower as the sailor Mathews, Jerry (Egg's father) in This Life, Ian in Roughnecks and the Pathologist in Cracker. He has also been a guest actor in many TV programmes such as Shameless, Coronation Street, Secret Army, Juliet Bravo, Clocking Off, The Worst Witch, Peak Practice, Silent Witness, Born and Bred, Doctors, No Angels, Life on Mars, Waking The Dead and The Bill.

Kleeneze and How Clean Is Your House

In 2007 the Kleeneze cleaning products company are the sponsors of How Clean Is Your House with Kim and Aggie. The cleaning team use the Kleeneze cleaning products.

£1 million was spent on this brand awareness sponsorship.
We at aboutaberdeen work for Kleeneze and are seeking people to join our team throughout the UK and Aberdeenshire. Earnings can be from £50 - £500 per week and the work can be done in hours to suit either part or full time. For more information visit our other website www.findextrawork.co.uk

Books By Aggie MacKenzie

Kim MacKenzie and Kim Woodburn have written many books about cleaning and personal hygiene which include:

The Cleaning Bible: Kim and Aggie's Complete Guide to Modern Household Management
Too Posh to Wash: The Complete Guide to Cleaning Up Your Life
How Clean Is Your House?: Hundreds of Handy Tips to Make Your Home Sparkle
How Clean Is Your House? 8-Copy Counter Display
How Clean Is Your House?

When Kim And Aggie Went To Hospital

On the 30 August 2006 Kim Woodburn and Aggie Mackenzie donned stern looking matron uniforms for a TV special called When Kim And Aggie Went To Hospital. They took to the wards of Ealing Hospital in West London to examine hospital's levels of hygiene.

Cleaning Tips

On the 31 December 2006 Aggie McKenzie saw in the new year by appearing in the Hogmanay Live Show where she helped viewers with cleaning tips to help with the New Year Custom of cleaning the home from top to bottom before the hogmanay bells ring.

Come Dine With Me

In July 2006 Aggie MacKenzie appeared as a guest and a celebrity chef on series 3 of Channel 4 Come Dine With Me celebrity special. Her other guests and chefs were Anneka Rice (TV host and Challenge Anneka star), actress Linda Robson (Birds of a Feather), Roland Riveron (comedian and DJ), Toby Young (food critic and author). Each star took it in turns to plan a menu, cook and hold a dinner party for each other. Aggie came joint second place with Roland Riveron. The winner was Toby Young (and his wife!) who won £1000 to donate to a charity of his choice.
Aggie's dishes for Come Dine With Me were:

Starter of fried aubergine with mint and garlic
An eight dish Middle Eastern feast as the main course
Homemade rhubarb ripple ice cream served on a shortbread

Her only mishap was the ice cream machine overheating and refusing to work. I particularly liked Aggie's method for setting aside to cool her food as she was preparing it - she put it on the patio! Whilst she was finishing off cooking her meal Roland and Anneka, donned the famous rubber gloves and went looking round her house to see how clean it was... and found dust on the bathroom window sill!

In 2008 series four of Come Dine With Me was filmed in Aberdeen. Read the AboutAberdeen episode guide on the Come Dine With Me Aberdeen page.

The 2006 series of How Clean Is Your House? featured some particularly disgusting houses and people which included:

A man who kept thousands of used tissues in plastic bags in different rooms in his home.
A woman who kept her full fridge unplugged for over 6 months and the door closed. It still contained meat and chicken.
Helping a blind man clean his cottage.
A request from a young boy to help his untidy mum.
A cat owner who lets her cat pee on her carpets.

Hells Kitchen

On Saturday 16 September 2007 Aggie McKenzie appeared on Hell's Kitchen on ITV as a celebrity diner. This series of Hell's Kitchen featured famous chef Marco Pierre White and Aggie commented on how delicious the lemon meringue cake was which was made by Hells kitchen celebrity cook Brian Dowling.

Aggie MacKenzie now lives in London. Her husband is Matthew who is an architect. They have two sons called Rory and Ewan - two fine Scots names!

Aggie generously donates fees for some interviews to Ukuthasa, a charity that supports people who live in townships in South Africa. The money raised by Ukuthasa helps the villagers with healthcare, education and housing.

Ugly Sisters Kim and Aggie

Ugly Sisters

During the Christmas period of 2007 Kim and Aggie appeared as the Ugly Sisters in the panto Cinderella at the Theatre Royal in Brighton.

The Friday Night Christmas Project

On the 28 December 2007 Kim and Aggie presented a prize of a holiday to the contestant of The Friday Night Christmas Project with Davina McCall.

Read the biography of Kim Woodburn.

More famous Aberdonians.