Cleaning Plain & Simple A Ready Reference Guide with Hundreds of Sparkling Solutions to Your Everyday Cleaning Challenges

by Smallin, Donna

• ISBN13: 9781580176071
• ISBN10: 1580176070
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-12-01
• Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC

Summary

Writing especially for the busy person, Smallin begins by asking "What's your cleaning style?" Super cleaner? Speed cleaner? Green cleaner? Occasional cleaner? No matter what the style, she has tips for how everyone can be successful at achieving and maintaining a clean, inviting home environment. She covers every imaginable situation, with special advice for dual-career families with busy travel schedules, pet owners, families with small children, allergy sufferers, and homeowners with large outdoor living areas. Endorsing the motto "clean smarter, not harder," Smallin makes practical suggestions for cleaning routines for each area or room of the house, and breaks down the big tasks into simple, doable pieces with varying timeframes. She builds on her organizing roots and suggests a combination of plain & simple organizing practices combined with daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning practices to keep the home environment clean and clutter-free-leaving more time to enjoy life. While keeping things simple, Smallin knows how to get into the nitty-gritty of cleaning. She can talk mops, squeegees, vacuuming, and the most effective products for cleaning, disinfecting, deodorizing, and decluttering with the best of them. She has special tips for cleaning everything from flatware to computers, couch cushions to countertops, shower stalls to stereo speakers, and, of course, the kitchen sink. Beyond the living areas, Smallin ventures into the basement, attic, and garage to address keeping storage areas orderly; cleaning bikes, skis, and other recreational equipment; and even the best ways to wash and wax the car, clean the battery, tires, engine, and air filter. Out in the yard, she tackles patios, decks, driveways, sidewalks, outdoor furniture, grills, garden tools, pools, gutters, siding, and trash cans. Never before has cleaning been covered so comprehensively-in such a plain & simple way, designed to appeal to every style of housekeeper.

Author Biography

Donna Smallin is the author of many Storey titles with a total of more than 928,000 copies in print. She is a frequent contributor to major national women’s and home magazines and has been a guest on the CBS Early Show, Better TV, HGTV, CNN, and Fox & Friends, as well as numerous radio programs. For the past decade, Smallin has been a spokesperson for such companies as Bissell, Kaboom, Staples, 3M, Keurig, and others. 

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
A Brief History of Cleaning

Part One: The Basics
  1  Getting Ready
  2  Cleaning Strategies
  3  Clearing Clutter

Part Two: Room-by-Room Challenges
  4  Floor to Ceiling
  5  High-Traffic Areas
  6  Kitchen
  7  Bed, Bath, and Nursery
  8  Laundry and Storage
  9  Outdoor Living Areas

Part Three: Everyday Challenges
  10  Clean Clothes
  11  Pet Cleanup
  12  Personal Items

Part Four: Household Challenges
  13  Clean Air Challenge
  14  Household Systems
  15  Pest Challenges
  16  Seasonal & Special Occasions

Appendixes
  Appendix A: Laundry Solutions
  Appendix B: Further Resources

Index