Cleaning Book Review #2: How to Cheat At Cleaning

[smeddley]

I'm truly torn on rating this book, because it has some excellent advice (especially the justification about not making the bed!) and he does stress that having the right tool for the job makes things a lot easier (and they're not tools he's selling, which is a change). On the down side, the push of disposable products really bothers me. He tries to justify it by saying that you don't have to use energy and resources to clean disposable products, and in the case of, say, paper plates (which will biodegrade), sure. But diapers and plastic cutlery? I don't think it's particularly good to push that. And that uncomfortable message pushing this book down to a three-star rating.

I can't bring myself to push it down to a two-star rating (the disposable thing really rankles, can you tell?) because it does present a very important message: "Keep the kind of home you are happy with." It's not about impressing the neighbors or being as neat as your mother, it's about making *you* happy. Always remember that it's your house. If you're okay with a bit of dog hair on the floor, you really shouldn't try to make yourself vacuum every day because your Great-Aunt Martha might sniff at it. That's a recipe for frustration and stress.

Overall, there's not a whole lot the book will tell you that you didn't already know (except the justification for not making the bed, which I will use and cherish, thank you!) but it is an entertaining read.

* * *

He starts out the book saying you should have three goals:

1. Keep a safe and healthy home.
While I think he goes overboard on the 'disinfecting' portion of the book, I do think having a trip-hazard free house is a worthy goal.

2. Be able to find your possessions when you need them.
Yes, yes, and YES. This is really the biggest thing driving my whole cleaning binge. It's not about the cleanliness, it's about the frustration of not being able to find my size J crochet hook when I need it.

3. Keep the kind of home you are happy with.
Can I get a hallelujah? Too many organization/cleaning books expect everyone to be perfect. They show showroom perfect houses and impossible (for a normal person - I don't know about you, but I have more that three spare towels) storage solutions, and that's depressing for us normal folk who want a neat enough house, sure, but also would like to spend our lives doing some other things, as well. There's a line between how clean you want things and how much time (and money) you're willing to spend. And everyone's 'clean enough' line is different. Know yours, and don't make excuses for it.

(There is a caveat here, because if you go too far - hoarding, etc - you violate goal #1 and honestly I don't think most people are really happy with their houses in that much of a state of filth and clutter. I also thing obsessively clean people are an exception, especially if they irritate other people in the house. There is such a thing as 'too clean'.)

I like those goals. Those are my goals. Unfortunately, the book goes downhill from there. My biggest issues are:

1. Disposable products
I'm not a fan of them. I think they're bad. I don't want to use them, so they are in no way a 'solution'.

2. Over-emphasis on disinfection
Don't get me wrong, I don't want filth, but I also don't feel the need to spray toxic chemicals all over my house every day, if it needs it or not. He goes so far as to say the fecal coloforms in your underwear can sicken the person doing the laundry if you don't use hot enough water and bleach, etc, etc. The Mythbusters proved those buggers are everywhere, so obsessing about your undies seems a bit extreme. Women washed underclothes in streams for decades and managed to survive, I do think the anti-germ phobia is going a little far and frankly, crippling our immune systems. By all means, don't let your pets crap all over the house and not pick it up, but at the same time, the bathroom counter doesn't need to be disinfected every day.

3. Product-specific and sometimes expensive fixes
A lot of what he talks about relate to specific product (like the Roomba) or major household projects (installing nothing but recessed lighting so you don't have to dust light fixtures). This bothers me not because of product pimpage (unlike FlyLady, these aren't things he sells, so it's more unbiased, like a friend recommending a great product) but because of the cost. A lot of these things, he admits, are pricey. And I do think there's another line you have to consider - keeping what you are willing to clean that makes your house your home. Sure, we have recessed lighting in the basement, because we have lower ceilings and it's about the only thing that fits. And it's a basement. Do I want minimalistic, stark recessed lighting in my bedroom? No. I'll dust the ceiling fan in return for the way it looks... and the ability to use the fan. (More on clutter-busting vs. homeyness later)

The one thing that really made me perk up and go "bwah?" in the book was that he suggests not alphabetizing your CDs. Okay, I know a lot of you are all "CDs are old technology, who buys those anymore?" and I'm going to defend them, because if you have a really good stereo/speaker system there's a WORLD of difference between CD quality and MP3 quality. AND CDs aren't much more expensive than MP3s (I once bought a CD that was cheaper than the MP3 album, go figure that). AND when my computer crashes I still have all my music (I got the blue screen of death again, I think it might be time to look into a new computer... even though I really don't want to). But it's a moot point, really, because we got most of our CDs before MP3s, anyway. So.

He suggests just organizing by genre. Uh... okay... I have 700 CDs that fall into the 'rock' category. Do you know how long it takes to find a CD you want when you have to look through that many? This is obviously a man with very few CDs. We did once try to give up on our alphabetizing (back when we had the single-slot type CD organizers, which made adding new ones a pain!) and could never find the CDs we wanted. I will say that it's best to use a shelf-style organizer and give yourself room on every shelf to expand. Then it's just a matter of putting things back when you're done with them. And life is easy.

Now, you're all probably wondering (if you've read this far!) on why he says not to make the bed. Well, it's simple. Dust mites thrive in warm, damp places. Like, beds made right after a warm, damp body gets out, sealing in all that wonderful dust-mite heaven. Covers left in disarray air out the bed, making it less dust-mite-y. I'm not even going to research that idea further because I love it so much and as a person allergic to dust I'm going to use that to justify the fact that I don't make the bed (mostly I think it's pointless, I neaten the covers before I get in bed at night, but no dressy bedspread or throw pillows for me).

Like I said, it's well enough written, but as most self-help cleaning books go, you'll get more out of spending the time you were reading actually cleaning. There is an exception to that rule, however, and that's the next book I'm going to review...

Comments

[zweilous.livejournal.com]

I really do like how this book seems to emphasise being more happy with the way your home looks rather than keeping it super neat and tidy all the time. You don't see the 'put *your* desires first to keep yourself happy and sane, but with a nice house' mindset in many books like these.

I absolutely loathe and despise making the bed (you just make it messy again every night, there's no point!), so many thanks for sharing his justification about not doing it so often! :D

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

Yeah, a lot of the cleaning/organization books out there seem to give the impression of 'you're a complete failure unless your home is as tidy as a model home!' I really like the 'do what makes you happy' approach.

Yeah, I've never understood making the bed. Non-bedmakers unite! ;)

[pnkngrnd3.livejournal.com]

Interesting reason for not making the bed. I rarely ever make mine because I almost always wind up with crazy-looking sheets in the morning. (Plus, my cats seem to like sleeping on my messy bed more than when it's made.)

I, too, think that we're over-cleaning and causing a lot of our own immune problems.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

My dog loves to curl up on the heap of covers, so I completely understand! Man, we're just coming up with all sort of reasons not to waste time making the bed!

I'm very against over-cleaning. If you never expose yourself to any germs, how does your immune system get a workout? Plus, killing 99.9% of the germs means the nastiest, hardiest, most vicious 0.1% are the ones left, and the only ones you'll come in contact with.