I once appeared on the cover of a national woman’s magazine.

My picture was accompanied by the words ‘I’ve never Hoovered upstairs.’ It’s not a great claim to fame, and I’m not exactly proud of it, but from that day - almost 18 years ago - to this, not much has changed.

I still rarely lug the vacuum cleaner upstairs. If the truth be known, I don’t use it much downstairs either. So seldom do I use it that I recently had to ask my husband how to operate it. I’d turned it on and attached a nozzle to clean under a bed, but it blew a load of dust into my face and continued to spit out more than it sucked in.

I was told in no uncertain terms that I had not set it properly. Since when did vacuum cleaners have settings?

Cleaning has never been my strong point. My furniture has never seen a duster, my kitchen floor could host a Tough Mudder run, I last cleaned the windows last summer, and I wouldn’t ever dare to run my finger along the top of the kitchen cupboards.

I do clean the toilet, but that’s about all.

I feel guilty at this time of year, when we are reminded of the age-old tradition of spring cleaning, when households across Britain tackle grime and dust, making their homes look spick and span .These feeling are usually sufficient to propel me to the shops to buy multi-surface cleaners, bleach, dusters and scouring pads.

York Press:

Tradition: the annual spring clean

But, sadly, like New Year resolutions, the enthusiasm is short lived, and they remain in the cupboard, unopened. Try as I might, I get no housewifely urges to wash the curtains or wipe down the skirting boards. I feel slightly ashamed when I think of my nan, scrubbing away at the doorstep of her terraced home. But they did that in those days.

I was heartened to hear that I’m not alone in my lackadaisical approach to spring cleaning. Britons have little time or inclination to tackle it, a new study revealed.

A YouGov poll commissioned by green energy company Good Energy, showed that less than half - 49 per cent - of those surveyed said that they still undertake a once-a-year blitz of their homes and 30 per cent confessed that they have never attempted a spring clean. More than 40 per cent saw it as an old-fashioned practice.

Even so, I am determined to do better this year. I’ve been picking up tips from the expert cleaners who leave the offices where I work gleaming from floor to ceiling. They make cleaning an art form, whipping across surfaces with damp cloths, banishing dust into oblivion. And they enjoy it.

They have spurred me on and I have vowed to put some sparkle into my home. Not that I will be beating rugs and vacuuming mattresses. But I am going to turn on the radio, roll up my sleeves, put a smile on my face and finally make a dent in my stockpile of cleaning products.