Bleeding brakes

Bleeding brakes is a good maintenance procedure to take and can definitely affect your vehicle's braking performance.  You will feel sponginess in the pedal, which usually means there is air in the system.  This can be removed by bleeding the brakes.

To bleed the brakes, simply use a suitable size hose into a bottle.  There are proper tools for doing this, but I can't afford them at the moment. =)

most vehicles will use a 8-10mm nut on the bleeder nipples.  The idea is to build pressure in the pipes, and then open the nipple to release that pressure into the bottle through the hose. 

Start with the furthest away brake assembly from the master cylinder, eg. master cylinder is at the front right, start with the left rear brake.

Have someone sit in the driver's seat to press the brake.  Make sure they don't press the brake all the way down.  If you don't trust them, put a block under the pedal.  Reason being the cylinder is not made to be pressed all the way in, and can get damaged.

place the ring spanner on the bleeder nipple, and the hose to the end, then have the person pump the pedal five times, followed by a hold. while holding, open the bleeder nipple and the fluid will release into the bottle.  If replacing the fluid, use a different colour fluid, and once the new fluid colour begins to pass through, the whole system should be flushed out by then.