Q My daughter brought some leather belts back from a holiday in Morocco, but they mark the clothes when worn. Is there is anything we can treat them with to stop this?

A You need to use a finishing product to seal in the colour, such as LTT Satin Gloss (gives a shine but not a high gloss), or Matt Finish, both £19 for 200ml, inc p&p, from the Leather Training & Technical Department (01423 881027; www.lttsolutions.net). This is a one-off treatment, but a word of caution: it may permanently shade or change the colour depending on the type of leather, so test a small area first. If you’re happy, spray evenly over the whole surface and allow to dry thoroughly. Unfortunately, it’s not suitable for suede or nubuck. If you need help getting the dye out of the clothes, try a colour-run remover, such as Dr. Beckmann Colour Run Remover for coloureds, £2.89 for 2 x 65ml from supermarkets or online at www.dr-beckmann.co.uk, although I’m not sure how successful you’ll be. Use either in the machine or leave to soak for up to an hour, then wash as normal. Leave dry-clean-only items to the professionals.

Q I have used Velcro to hang some pre-gathered net curtains, but the backing on the uPVC window has lost its stickiness, and the curtains are sagging. I have tried normal glue removers with the addition of heat from an iron with little success. Is there another way?

A Without knowing the type of glue that was used, it’s difficult to suggest specifics, and you should take care not to scratch the uPVC and glass. But here are some tips from Everest, the window company, that may help. Try rubbing off the glue with white spirit and a soft cloth. If that fails, use a hard plastic spatula to scrape off the worst, again being careful not to scratch the uPVC. It should then be possible to remove the remaining deposits with a uPVC cream cleaner, such as Nilco uPVC Cleaner, £4.99 for 480ml, from Lakeland (01539 488100; www.lakeland.co.uk), before polishing the area with a cloth. If it’s still there, contact the window supplier, which may offer a polishing service. Otherwise, look under “Double Glazing Repair” in the Yellow Pages.

Aggie MacKenzie co-presents How Clean is Your House? Send your questions for publication to aggie.mackenzie@thetimes.co.uk

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