You can make music when you clean!

Can you hear it? Well........you will.

I thought I knew all there was to know about cleaning when I started working for a cleaning service in Decatur. I was unorganized, I hated doing it, so I tried to get done in a hurry, and thought I was a pretty good house cleaner. But it wasn't long that I found out I really wasn't good at all because I hadn't learned that a good cleaner knows there is rhythm in cleaning. Find it, and you may hear music.

Okay you won't hear music coming from your cleaning supplies or duster, but your actions, your organized steps, your cleaning, will help you find a beat, which will make cleaning much easier, and sort-of like dancing! Set and keep this pace, and you will be done in no time.

Get organized. Set a time, keep your products and cleaning tools close, and put the phone on vibrate. Keep a water bottle near, and try not to be disturbed. Start cleaning when you enter the room. I start with the door frame outside the room, then enter, working top to bottom, left to right. Every surface in the room is touched and cleaned, including ceiling fans and window frames and sills. This is my rhythm, but you can come up with your own plan for organized cleaning. Whatever you come up with, find a rhythm, and go from there.

You see, cleaning does not have to be a chore. Find your rhythm, your plan of organized cleaning and maybe you will hear the music, too!

Happy Cleaning!
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Products from the Bucket, used in this issue

I prefer using the Swiffter Extended Duster handle.  It gives me the ability to reach high and low areas without getting on a stool or chair (which I do not recommend), or bending over much. Although Swiffter makes duster heads to fit the handle, you can get generic duster heads that fit and work just as good, at "Dollar Tree." There, you get three (3) duster heads for $1.00. I also add Endust, a multi-surface dusting and cleaning spray, to the duster to attract more dust and hair and add a shine to the surfaces. I recommend the spray not be directly sprayed on the duster. I spray it in the air and run the duster head through the mist. I ask that you Test it FIRST on your surface before general use.

As with all products in the Bucket, please read the product label to see if it is the right product for your surfaces. Try it in an "out-of-view"area of your surface. Then make a decision as to whether this is the product for you.

What's in the Bucket?



The HHRCS Bucket



As I said in an earlier post, when I decided to start my own cleaning service, I wanted to use everyday, over-the-counter cleaning products. The service that I worked for, used solutions that had to be mixed and that I only know as green, pink, or red solutions. I never really knew what I was using, except for the glass cleaner, which was known as the glass cleaner. But still, I didn't know what was in it.



So I spent an hour or so in the cleaning solution aisle at "Dollar General." Since I used Comet at home, I thought it was the best cleanser to use. I grew up using Comet, the green-powered version. My mother thought it was the best cleanser, back in a time when there were only a few in the cleaning aisle at A & P.

Comet Spray Bathroom Cleaner breaks the film build-up in the tub and shower and dissolves it.  And, it washes off pretty easy. It works really well on shower doors and in the tracks of the shower door. It disinfects as it cleans.

While it is a great product to use in bathrooms, I DO NOT USE it on natural marble, stone, brass surfaces, brass fixtures or colored grout. It works wonders on white grout in the shower.

If you plan to use Comet Bathroom Cleaner, or any product in my bucket, I recommend that you read the label, and then test it on a small, out-of-view section of your surface, FIRST to see how the solution treats it before generally using it in your bathroom.  Then the rest is up to you.

And that is one thing in the Bucket.

What's in the bucket?

The most important way to cut down on the time you clean, is the products and tools you use. When I started this cleaning service, I spent an hour in the cleaning solution aisle at Dollar General. Before I started the service, I worked for a cleaning service that used chemicals that had to be mixed. When it was my turn to mix, I could never remember how much water to add, how much of the solution not to add, and if I should shake, bake, or stir. For that reason and for the cost, I decided that I was going to use, what I used to clean my own house  over-the-counter products.

Over the course of the next few posts, we will get to everything that "is in the Bucket," and why I decided on those particular products. A few things that I don't use is bleach, ammonia or pine solutions. While I know many who use these products or versions of them, I do not recommend them and they are not in my bucket.

But lets start with what is,  and the three things in the bucket I am NEVER without.
The service that I worked for, required all those who cleaned for them, to have a tooth brush;  a soft bristled paint brush; and a plastic paint scrapper.While I changed the paint brush to a hand brush, each time I clean, I am never without these items and let me tell you why.

First, the toothbrush.  It's for the area around the faucets, and the hot and cold handles and the drains in the sinks just to name a few. In the kitchen, dirt, grime and food particles build in this area, usually from your dirty dishes or dish water. If you don't remove that build up right away, they may have to be scrubbed away and a tooth brush is just the thing to get to that hard-to-get-to place. In the bathroom, soap, grim and dirt can gather in many places that you cannot clean with a cloth. I have also used a toothbrush even at the base of the toilet where it meets the floor.

I use the  plastic paint scrapper in the area between the stove and the counter. Food and run-off of all kinds build up there and to get it, you need something very thin and easy to use. One of my customers has a grill on her stove. There is an area between the grill and the front portion of the stove, where food particles and grease gather.The plastic paint scrapper is thin enough to fit in that area. I recommend a plastic paint scrapper over a metal one. You don't want to scratch the surface or injure yourself.

And last, is the hand brush. I use the it to dust delicate items, statues, lamp shades and bases, curtains, pillows and more. You would be surprised about the amount of dust on a lamp shade or curtain.

So there you have it; three things I use everyday to clean. And they are always 'in the bucket.'

Welcome!

 

My Eat-in Kitchen!

Hello, I am Pam. For the past seven years, I have operated a residential cleaning service. The friends that I clean for, my clients, have taught me a lot and I have learned a lot through trial and error; oh yes error. But I have been successful in this. So please come with me and learn as I have, that cleaning does not have to be a chore.