Home and Garden

Welcome to the House and Garden Channel.

Here you will find information on how to make your living environment a better, more enjoyable place to be.

Cowboy Gas Fitters – Know The Facts Learn how protect your family from deadly illegal gas work In the right hands gas is perfectly safe, but in the hands of an illegal gas fitter it can kill.  All gas fitters in Great Britain have to be Gas Safe registered by law. While the purse strings are tight, many of us may be tempted to get a friend who dabbles in DIY or odd job man to fix the boiler or put in a new gas fire. But you could be putting you and your family at serious risk. Click here... to watch a video The Home Show presenter George Clarke and Phill Brewster from the Gas Safe Register to learn how to protect your family from illegal gas workers. _________________________________ Reach for your Rake... but Save the StrainTop tips to get you back on track and gardening this summer, from Back Advice Web Site It’s important to remember that gardening can be just as challenging as any other exercise and, unless steps are taken to protect the body, different muscles and joints can be put under strain.  So before you reach for the rake, why not take a look at the handy health commandments that have been put together by www.backadvice.info to help you protect your back. Click here... for more _________________________________ The Magic Tablecloth A table set for a dinner party with a sparkling white tablecloth looks stunning.  That is until someone knocks over the red wine or drops gravy on it.  Usually, no amount of mopping and scrubbing will remove such stains, that often linger even after machine washing. The Magic Tablecloth, that repels liquids from its surface, sounded too good to be true so our testers at AMG put it to the test and found it lived up to its promise.  Click here... to read the full review _________________________________ Le Creuset For Ever and Ever The new middle classes that emerged in the UK in the 1970s started to aspire to the better things in life in terms of fashion, music and cookery. During that time one of the most iconic ‘must have' items was Le Creuset cookware and fondue sets. In fact no self-respecting 1970s wedding present list would be complete without Le Creuset items, in warm orange of course. You will, therefore, be pleased to learn that Le Creuset never went away and our old friend is still here, but bang up to date, in new, cool colours and materials. To find out more about the new colours and ranges click here...

Full steam ahead The Breville TECHnique 3000 Iron Review Our Editor has already found that a powerful steam generating iron can make much lighter work of her most hated chore. But she has been equally impressed by the new Breville TECHnique3000 which is much less cumbersome to use and a fraction of the price.  To read her review click here... _________________________________ Living Life to the Full co-operative Xest Making life easier for you and your loved ones co-operative Xest is a brand new web site and mail order service, launched by Southern co-operatives to bring together the very best in ‘aids for daily living’.  It's a one stop-shop for a whole range of products that could make life so much easier for you, or the person you care for. co-operative Xest introduced the service after extensive research showed that shopping for equipment to make life more independent and dignified can be a tough and negative experience. To find out more about this service, which is endorsed by This Morning Agony Aunt Denise Robertson, click here... _________________________________  The Breville Hot Cup Save time and money by boiling just what you need with this innovatory new kettle AMG members have a keen interest in products with an 'Eco' theme, so, the latest kettle from Breville is likely to appeal to many of you. Called the Hot Cup, this clever kettle boils one cup of water at a time in a matter of seconds. AMG has been testing this kettle and is very impressed with its performance. Not only does it  save time but it is extremely energy efficient. An added benefit that the testers liked is that, as it is always fresh cold water that is boiled, it brews a better cup of tea without a ‘flat’ taste. Click here... for more _________________________________ The E-cloth Car Cleaning Pack Review Peter Morrell of AMG discovers that car cleaning can be a breeze. Peter had not cleaned his car for five months and as it is parked every day at the AMG offices under a sap shower from a fir tree where a pigeon has set up home, the bonnet and roof were starting to resemble the bottom of a bird cage. So he was the obvious candidate to test the Car Cleaning Pack from E-cloth. Find out how the E-cloth Pack performed on the great challenge of his grime ladened car by clicking here... _________________________________ Happy Birthday Breville! Almost unbelievably it's thirty ago that Breville invented and brought to market the ubiquitous Sandwich Toaster. Breville invited AMG along to their thirty year celebration where Antony Worrall Thompson demonstrated some of the Breville appliances and to preview some exciting new products in the pipeline. Click here... to read the full report _________________________________ Screwpull Wine Accessories Enhance your wine drinking experience The pleasure of drinking wine can be frustrated by a some minor irritations. Firstly how to get the cork out of the bottle cleanly and easily, secondly getting your white to just the right temperature and finally how to stop your wine from spoiling if you do not finish the bottle. Well Screwpull, the wine accessory company has come up with a solution to all of these problems. Click here… to find out more.