[email protected]

In a message dated 6/20/2002 2:13:14 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
[email protected] writes:


> << So - I'm curious - what did you learn? What kind of thing is there to
> know
> about cleaning? >>
>
> When to use powdered cleanser and when not to.
> How to clean out the runner in a shower door.
> How to wash dishes by hand. (I've seen people stick a dirty pan right in
> with glasses at the beginning; that won't work well at all.)
>
> Tricks, like using old mismatched socks as disposable dustrags (put them on
>
> your hands and just TOUCH everything you want to dust). Like wiping Windex
>
> off with crumpled up newspaper instead of cloth or paper towel, because it
> won't leave any lint.

Okay - household tricks I understand - but you can get a thousand of those in
20 minutes of reading at the bookstore (I've done it). It doesn't seem like
"cleaning" is that big a deal. I remember someone going on and on once, back
on the aol message boards, about making sure her children know the RIGHT way
to load the washing machine (not the dishwasher, the clothes washer). I mean-
okay, don't stuff it too tight with clothes, don't put new colored stuff in
with other things -- that's about it. It's all just common sense stuff, isn't
it?

It is clutter that overwhelms me - I don't understand how to keep it under
control.

However, I had a housekeeper once (back in my previous life <G> when I was a
corporate economist). She was a woman much older than myself. I asked her
what I should do to keep my house more tidy. She said, absolutely seriously,
"Pick up one thing and put it away. Then do the same with another. And then
just keep doing that."

--pam


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Amy Thomlinson

"Pick up one thing and put it away. Then do the same
with another. And
then
just keep doing that."

This is the same type of thing I tell people who ask
me how I clean house. I clean for people who seem
like they should really know stuff (doctors and
lawyers) and they have no clue that the best way to
avoid bugs is to put dirty dishes in the dishwasher
instead of leaving it on the floor or table. They
just put stuff where ever it is convenient and never
put anything away. One house I clean once a week is
clean when I leave it and the next week I can barely
walk thru the house because there is so much stuff on
the floor. The lady who owns the house asked me how
I get the house so clean, and I told her that I just
put everything back where it goes and she acted like
I told her some huge secret. I say "a place for
everything and everything in its place" I don't
remember where I heard this but it is the way I try
to keep my space and it seems to work.



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