Take a journey through your home from top to bottom. You'll be surprised by all the dirt you discover! Richard A. Slinde, a longtime domestic cleaner, has seen how messy homes can become during his more than thirty years of cleaning houses and apartments, both big and small. In Domestic Olympics: The Ultimate Housecleaning Guide, Slinde provides step-by-step, room-by-room guidance for cleaning your home in fun and easy ways. Each room is fair game for cleaning-your kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and every nook and cranny in between. You'll learn time-saving cleaning routines specifically created for each room in your house. Along the way, you'll also discover how to evaluate cleaning products, wash your walls, shampoo your furniture, eliminate roaches and other pests, and engage in a top-to-bottom spring cleaning that will ensure you haven't missed a thing. It doesn't matter whether you rent or own, whether you have a big family or live by yourself, Domestic Olympics provides practical tools and strategies that can make your life easier and your living quarters cleaner.

Domestic Olympics

The Ultimate Housecleaning GuideBy Richard A. Slinde

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2012 Richard A. Slinde
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4697-7745-0

Contents

Acknowledgments.........................................................viiIntroduction............................................................ixGetting started—What's in Your Bucket.............................1Cleaning Products—Choosing the Right Target.......................5Cleaning Product Links—Hitting the Bull's-Eye.....................37The Master Bedroom—The First Hurdle...............................41The Teenager's Bedroom—Into the Deep End..........................45The Baby's Room—A Clean Sweep.....................................49The Bathroom—A Fresh Start........................................53The Living Room—Keeping the Pace..................................59The Dining Room—Our Second Wind...................................63The Family Room—The Last Hurdle...................................67The Laundry Room—Cycling through to the End.......................73The Entryway—First Impressions....................................77The Kitchen—Crossing the Finish Line..............................81Spring Cleaning—Bringing Home the Gold............................87Index...................................................................149

Chapter One

Getting started—What's in Your Bucket

Cleaning your home is not rocket science, but at times it does take science to solve your cleaning dilemmas. Finding the perfect methods for cleaning your house seems like a daunting prospect, but most problems can be solved with a little know-how. Domestic Olympics: The Ultimate Housecleaning Guide puts forth a simple plan that anyone can use by adjusting it to their circumstances. Whether your accommodations are modest or grand, this book will make your life a little easier and your home a more comfortable place. There will be plenty of repetition within this book. The reason for it is to get you to remember the steps that must be taken. Cleaning is very repetitious, but once you have it down, it will stay with you forever. So don't be afraid of the repetition.

So let's get started. Here is a list of what is in my bucket. Put them into yours, and you'll be set to go.

1. A two-gallon bucket

2. A brass squeegee for windows and mirrors

3. A good scrub brush

4. A bottle of tilex mold and mildew remover for the bath

5. A bottle of your favorite window cleaner

6. A bottle of Lysol bacterial disinfectant (yellow color)

7. A bottle of Mrs. Meyer's all-purpose cleaner

8. A plastic cup for rinsing down shower walls

9. A small container filled with laundry detergent (powder form only)

10. A large sponge with a scratch pad on one side

11. Microfiber cloths for washing and dusting

12. A good vacuum with attachments

13. A mop that rings out well

14. A cob-web duster

15. A razor-blade scraper

These are the items in my bucket. After thirty years, of being in the cleaning business believe me, I've got it down to a precise science. It seems like a lot of things, but they will last a long time; all you will have to do is replace them when necessary.

Of course, there are many other cleaning products to choose from: products for silver, copper, crystal, acrylic, and so forth. We will list them in another chapter and explain what to expect from each of them.

For the purpose of this book, I'm setting up a home with one bathroom, three bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen and a family room, along with an entryway and laundry room. If you can follow the plan outlined in this book, you can clean anything. Believe me; I've worked on spaces as small as one room up to and including thirty-room homes.

This is the beginning. Let there be light. Turn on the lights because you can't see the dirt in the dark.

Chapter Two

Cleaning Products—Choosing the Right Target

Finding the right cleaning product can be overwhelming. There are so many cleaners on the market; who knows which one is the right one? We are going to travel through this galaxy of products and hope we don't get thrown into a wormhole and go even farther into the darkness. Let's start by talking about the products I recommended in "The Beginning"; the products that are in my bucket and the ones in my car that get used occasionally. I am a firm believer in keeping it simple. The basics that I have put into my bucket are just that—basic. You can expand on or omit these products as needed.

Powdered Detergent

It really doesn't matter which brand you choose. Powdered detergent is filled with enzymes, those little buggers that munch on all kinds of dirt and grease. What a magical product! Who would have thought that this simple product would have so many uses, especially in the kitchen where it is used for grease removal, and in the bathroom where we use it for removal of soap and oil deposits? it is one of my favorite cleaning products.

Tilex Mold and Mildew Remover

This is a chemical-based product that everyone needs. It is not fun to have around, especially if you have children, so keep this one out of their reach. The product does exactly what it says: it takes care of mold and mildew. After you clean your bath, spray this wherever you see little black dots (i.e., the signs of mold and mildew), and let it stand until it is dry; do not rinse it off. It needs to stay on to do its job, which of course is removing the mold and mildew and turning your grout and caulking back to the white you like to see. Wear gloves when working with chemicals. And make sure the bathroom is ventilated. Also keep the spray away from chrome as it will damage those pieces. Just be careful, and it will work.

Window Cleaner

Once again, there are many brands to choose from, so simply pick your favorite as they all work the same. Alternatively, you may want to make your own. To do that, start with a new plastic bottle with a sprayer on it, the smaller the better. Run the hot water, fill the bottle, add five to six drops of liquid detergent, and tighten the sprayer, and you're ready to clean your windows. This is what a professional window washer I know uses. We use the liquid detergent because it cuts through the grease that has attached itself to the windows.

Lysol Cleaner

This is a bacterial disinfectant every house needs to help keep the germs away. Lysol is relatively inexpensive, and I have found it to be one of the best on the market. This is what you should use to clean your doorknobs, kitchen pulls and handles, telephones, keyboards, and remote controls as well as most of your home.

By the way, you likely can't all keep your hands in water all day as I do, but try to wash your hands as often as possible. Hand washing keeps away some pretty nasty germs.

Mrs. Meyers

What a great product for the shower! It's totally natural and fresh smelling and has lots of lemon oil. Spraying the walls and floor with Mrs. Meyers and then going over them with a scrubbing sponge and some liquid detergent will remove soap scum. Spray the walls and doors after you finish showering to keep the dirt in check.

This product is good for all hard surfaces, just remember to rinse and dry to stop streaking.

Don't forget a cup for rinsing the walls in the bathtub and shower. I use a plastic...