The second thing I did after resigning from my full-time, paying career: clean my home. The first: figuring out how to do it without going nuts.
Kirstie Alley, while gabbing on Oprah, revealed that she is an avid cleaner (as in paid to clean houses in her past). She also announced that mops are a big NO NO. She conveyed this vital information in such a passionate, scrupulous way….I immediately sentenced my own mop to garage time. Let the spiders enjoy it. Instead, I bent down on my hands and knees and scrubbed my wood floors by hand. No fun task, but channeling a little Karate Kid vigor (wax on/wax off!) left me smiling at clean, sparkly floors. This is how I clean now. Every time. After all, Kirstie said this on OPRAH and I do what Oprah says. 😉
My new Dyson came next: the revolutionary cleaning tool that never loses suction! Well, almost never. It is the best purchase I’ve made this year.
Last, but certainly not least…I threw out all 30 cleaners adorning my storage closet. As a busy working mom, these cleaning products helped me feel like I was taking care of my family and home. It does this? That sounds great! Half the time? BINGO! I accumulated one expensive, confusing, disgusting (was that wet paper towel hiding under the Windex bottle since ’96?) cleaning stash.
No more.
On a new budget and determined to simplify, I armed myself with just a few major cleaning items: a lemon, vinegar, bleach, baking soda and Clorox wipes (in every bathroom my boys use. ahem.) Cheap and effective. Simple and not as dangerous as most products. (see more information on the bleach controversy and why I think it’s safer than we think here).
These have worked so well for me…I can’t believe I didn’t listen to my grandmother sooner. Why, today’s cleaning challenge to de-maggot, disinfect and de-stink my exterior garbage dumpster would make her smile. I didn’t. Not one bit. But I found that sparkle.
Ed Head 