Shannon Lush is an amazing woman. Not only is she an energetic mother and grandmother of two, an organic chemistry expert with a very high IQ and a chronic workaholic who sleeps for around four hours a night, but Shannon also happens to absolutely love cleaning. Yes, you read that right, she really does love to clean.

'I just like being able to clean efficiently,' Shannon says of her passion. 'I adore it.'

The domestic goddess is the author of three hugely successful books on the subject: Spotless, Speed Cleaning and How To Be Comfy. Shannon also makes regular appearances on TV and can often be heard talking on the radio about the subject.

In the family

Shannon says her passion for the art of keeping things clean originally came from her family.

'We were slightly matriarchal,' she says. 'The women ruled the roost and passed information down. We were all expected to go to work and be housewives and mothers.'

Her father was an industrial chemist, so by the time Shannon was four she had picked up enough information to be able to tell astonished adults what everything in the house was made from.

'I could break down everything into its chemical composition,' she says. 'Chemistry is like breathing for me.'

And because cleaning, as she says, involves both chemistry and physics, she has been able to put her scientific knowledge to very good use on the home front.

'If you're removing a stain, you're actually removing a chemical,' she explains. 'I have a workshop at the back of my daughter's house, and it's there where I test everything constantly. I'm learning more about stain removal all the time - sometimes accidentally.'

Shannon is also a fine arts restorer, and this has also helped in her cleaning experiments.

'One day I was in my workshop repairing some aluminium lace when I knocked my cup of tea onto it. When I polished it off, it was shiny like glass,' she says. 'I did some more tests and found it only works with aluminium. So if you have those aluminium frames around your shower, wipe them with a wet teabag. The tannic acid reacts with the aluminium oxide.'

Back to basics

Shannon's chemistry knowledge and her love of time management make her a very efficient cleaner.

'You only need to do 15 minutes a day to have a clean house,' she says. 'Do a different room every day and make everyone responsible for cleaning. Kids are really good at sorting washing into colours and putting away clothes.'

She is also a firm believer in the power of natural cleaning ingredients - with some of her favourites being bicarbonate of soda, vinegar, lavender oil, tea and even pantyhose.

'I have three main rules about what I use to clean,' she explains. 'First it must work, second it needs to involve the least amount of elbow grease and third it must cause the least amount of damage to the planet.'

Mood makeover

Feeling down? Shannon says she has a sure-fire pick-me-up for when she's in a bad mood.

'If I'm grumpy, I clean my linen cupboard,' she says. 'When it looks nice and everything feels nice and smells nice, I get a real sense of satisfaction.'

Of course, there are some jobs she would prefer to leave to someone else.

'I'm not good up ladders because I'm not great with heights,' Shannon admits. 'But even cleaning toilets is very satisfying - I do mine in 30 seconds, and my whole bathroom takes just eight minutes!'

Despite her passion for cleaning, Shannon doesn't believe she is too obsessive about it.

'I'm really not a neat freak,' she insists. 'I like being able to make a mess, but at least I can clean it up!'

How to get motivated to clean

'I think a lot of it is mental,' Shannon says. 'Many people think of it as drudgery and really hard work, but people go out and climb mountains - that's hard work! So you have to program yourself, and when you complete a task, give yourself a treat - maybe food, or the time to read some of your book, or stop and listen to music. Whatever makes you feel good.'

How to clean your bathroom in 8 minutes