If you have ever got biro on your leather sofa or leather jacket then you have probably started to panic. Most leather cleaners and other cleaning products just will not touch it and can even damage the lather around it, but I recently found out one way to remove pen marks off a sofa with little effort.

Hairspray – yes you heard me, hairspray contains certain ingredients that break down the pen and allow it to be easily removed with a clean cloth. When I first applied the hairspray, after reading about it on a cleaning forum and getting fed up of trying everything else, I was a little worried to see that the leather seemed to turn slightly lighter. I sprayed the spray on then left for about 5 seconds before removing. I repeated this process a few times and then wiped over the sofa with water and then leather cleaner to remove any of the spray. Soon afterwards the sofa returned to it’s usually colour with the pen mark nowhere to be seen. Whenever trying anything new on material such as leather, always do a patch test first in an area that will not be seen.

Hairspray, as I remember it, was always sticky, strong smelling and only seemed to make hair stick in to clumps. Over the years, haircare specialists have realised that the old hairspray were just not up to the job and since then hundreds of new products have flooded the market.

There are so many different types of hairsprays now, it can be hard to know which one is right for you. Below is a quick guide to two of the most popular ones.

Flexible hold – this will hold the hair in place but is normally a light spray that still allows you hair to move. This can be great for people that want to beat the flyaway look but do not want their style to be too ridged.

Firm hold – this is more of a fix hairspray. This is ideal if you have your hair up in a style that you need it to stay exactly where it is. Theses sprays normally last quite a while even in damp conditions.

Yes we know that hairspray is there to be used for style purposes, but here are a few other ways you can use that can.

Pet hair is a massive annoyance, especially when it’s left behind on furniture. Well you can use hairspray to try and get rid of this problem, by spraying a tissue with some hairspray and running over the offending areas. You should see that the pet hair sticks to the tissue, problem solved!

We hate insects flying about in the house, and it’s even worse when there’s no bug spray available. Well you can use hairspray too! Plus it’s not as toxic and smells better! Say bye to those pesky moths and daddy-long-legs!