<p>I was going to get a Swiffer (at the request of the cleaning people) but I didn’t because the clerk in the store told me that the Swiffer liquid is poisonous and if your dog tries to lick it on when it’s on the floor, it would be disastrous for the animal. After lots of trial and error, I just have the cleaning people use a mop and very hot water to clean the wood floors. In the bathrooms, they’ll add a capful of a cleaner called Fabuloso oxy.</p>
<p>Actually we use the dry swifter on the floors. My housekeeper uses vinegar on the floors.</p>
<p>Does anyone just vacuum the floors and furniture? I have seen Swiffer mentioned a few times, but did not know they were that widely used. Floor only requires mopping with water and white vinegar every couple of months.</p>
<p>Agree about no need to polish furniture. I wax my wood kitchen table every couple of years. Old cloth diapers (burp cloths) or soft tee shirts work well for dusting and waxing.</p>
<p>On our wood floors we just use the robotic vacuum. Have rarely ever needed anything else. We use hot water and even detergent as needed on sheet vinyl.</p>
<p>Okay, now I feel a bit obsessive about cleaning, but here goes. (Warning: I stopped using a cleaning service some years back when I realized I was cleaning AFTER they left, because I wasn’t happy with what they did. Plus, it was just more money than I wanted to spend.)</p>
<p>My two dogs are poodles and therefore don’t shed, but they do track dirt on their paws. We also live in very moist Portland…</p>
<p>I vacuum the main floor most days. I use mats at the main door to capture as much dirt as possible before it gets in the house.</p>
<p>I use a “cleaning solution” of hot water and a few drops of dish detergent for almost everything. I damp mop the kitchen with a moist towel almost every day. At the end of the day, I wipe down the kitchen counters and the dining table. </p>
<p>I clean my bathroom every day when I get out of the shower–moist cloth and a bit of hand soap. I use a small towel, get it moist, dust the counter, wipe the sink and the toilet (in that order), drop it on the floor and swipe the floor with the cloth (using my foot), fluff the bathmat, and I’m done. It takes about two minutes (because it’s every day, it’s easy). The toilet bowl is some sort of stain-releasing porcelain and only requires a quick brush every few days. I spray down the shower with a shower spray about once a week.</p>
<p>My grandfather was an efficiency expert who studied housecleaning briefly (before deciding there was no money in making it more efficient). (No, he wasn’t Frank Gilbreth.) He developed a few methods for cleaning the house quickly and well. I mostly follow those because it’s what I was taught as a child. I don’t like cleaning the house, but I do like having a clean house. It takes me about fifteen minutes (if that) to have the house up to my standards, which are high. About once a year, I do a complete deep cleaning, including baseboards, picture frames, dusting books, etc. If I can, I’ll hire a team to work with me for that. I use a steam cleaner for a lot of it.</p>
<p>Normally am not a fan of spending much on cleaning supplies, but the dry Swiffer is so good for gathering cat hair from under beds as well as dust bunnies from ceilings and upper walls. </p>
<p>In this area there is a spray product called Boniva used for hardwood floors. Recently I’ve realized it is very much worth the money, as it shines things up nicely. Usually I just wipe wood floors with a damp rag, sweep the kitchen most days, and the rest of the (now little used) house during the week. Old English is a liquid that I dust with on occasion, as it makes my dark furniture look richer. Or lemon oil. </p>
<p>My kids know the set rate for washing windows for me, and usually do them in summers. Recently I found a 13 year old young man, and trained him up. Window washing is a skill that should be promoted in the younger generation!</p>
<p>I have a swiffer but I also use a similar gadget with a washable head. You take it off and throw it in the washer and then reuse it. Gets all the dust bunnies etc. The wetjet swiffer is good to keep the kitchen floor in shape.</p>
<p>I have porcelain tile in my kitchen and I am looking forward to using a gift certificate I won to have it steam cleaned. It is impossible to get the dirt out of the little crannies in the tile without scrubbing with a toothbrush and that ain’t happening!</p>
<p>My family seems to confuse “Cleaning” with “tidying”. My kids will say they are cleaning their rooms, when they are really putting all their junk away and making it look nice. I feel like I failed to pass along some crucial skills :)</p>
<p>There’s a dry swiffer and a wet swiffer. I use a dry swiffer on my hardwoods to pick up the cat hair. I don’t use the wet swiffer, instead I have a steamer. Not that I’ve used it recently ;)</p>
<p>Elle: for just a month, I’d vacuum, dry swiffer the floors & run a swiffer duster over your tables. No need to polish. I’d also swish the bathrooms & make sure the sinks, toilets & countertops are clean & uncluttered. Then walk away. </p>
<p>VeryHappy: my mom used to roll up the carpets once a week and mop the floor underneath. And wash the curtains once a month. Those practices will never happen in my house.</p>
<p>“but I also use a similar gadget with a washable head.”</p>
<p>This is what I use. Much more economical and it picks up dust much better, imo. I have three dogs which shed and my whole house has hardwood floors, except the bathrooms and laundry room) so I am constantly dusting the floors. They also drool on the hardwoods so I use Bona on them about once a month or so. </p>
<p>I also have to vacuum the area rugs at least every other day because of the shedding. </p>
<p>I actually enjoy cleaning the house (do a big cleaning every two weeks or so.) I blast music and sing at the top of my lungs while I clean.</p>
<p>I’m enjoying this thread–never too late to teach an old dog new tricks, right?!</p>
<p>dmd77, interesting that your gf studied house-cleaning efficiency! How 'bout sharing some of those methods/quick tricks you learned from his studies? </p>
<p>I’d also like to know the name of your robot, himom.</p>
<p>I’m spoiled in that I’ve had a cleaning lady for the last 20 years. She is trustworthy and kind, but doesn’t always do a stellar job. As I don’t make the time to get it done myself, I love having her come and do her thing. I have a relative who swears that nobody will clean your house as well as you can. (…that may be debatable for some of us, but I understand her point–vested interest and all.) My mother did teach me how to clean, I just don’t often do it! </p>
<p>Sadly, I fear I’ve marked my kids forever! They were always responsible for cleaning their own rooms but I didn’t hold them to a very high standard. After they were in high school, I just shut the door and allowed them to live in a messy room. Clothes had to be in the hamper and in the laundry room on laundry day, but if they chose to live in a pig pen, so be it. Retrospectively, I’m not sure I’d do it that way again, but they do seem to have turned out to be relatively responsible!</p>
<p>I find I’m not very efficient with putting things away, etc. So, if nothing else, having my Tillie visit every two weeks makes me tackle the clutter before her arrival and she does the cleaning. DH calls it ‘cleaning for the cleaning lady’!</p>
<p>PanHandleGal: since you asked:</p>
<ol>
<li>Have a set of cleaning supplies and something to carry them in. I would include: old toothbrush, cleaning rags (I use old washcloths), cleaning sprays, polishes, etc. Whatever YOU use.</li>
<li>Empty box (about the size of a wine carton); 2 empty shopping bags.</li>
<li>You also need your vacuum and its attachments</li>
<li>Start with the room that annoys you most. Bring everything into the room. Spray everything you need to spray. Then, starting furthest from the door, wipe surfaces, clean windows, straighten, etc. Anything that doesn’t belong in the room goes into the empty box. (When you finish the room, it goes to the next room with you. Things that belong in that room come out of it there, not sooner.) As you clean, dirty cloths go into one empty shopping bag, trash into the other. Last step is to vacuum the room (if appropriate) or clean the floors; use appropriate attachments to get into corners, dust surfaces, etc. </li>
<li>Once room 1 is clean, everything moves to the next room. You don’t leave a room until it’s done.</li>
<li>Note that you can do this to whatever level is required; if your goal is spotless, top to bottom, it simply takes longer to do each room. (When we sold our last house, it took me and a professional 4 days to completely clean the house. 6 hours of that was spent on the cooktop and kitchen cabinets.)</li>
</ol>
<p>Love my swiffer, it’s basically all the kitchen floor gets! It’s a light color floor so it shows everything! I like having the carpets professionally cleaned at least once a year. I only use the dry fluffy swiffers for furniture, never polish…
I used Bona in a previous house that had lots of hardwood, it is a great product!</p>
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<p>This^^^ Every time I think of cancelling my cleaner, I think about how I can’t get myself in gear to ready the house for cleaning without that deadline.</p>
<p>I don’t want to be one of those people who picks a different room to clean every day. Even when I was a FT SAHM, that was just not gonna happen.</p>
<p>Great info here! DMD I am printing out your post. </p>
<p>One thing that I have noticed: I have quakehold lots of stuff to tables (a twist and it loosens the grip…quick twist is an it is back in place) She never moves stuff to clean. So, I’m doing it. I have also found a few things that were broken…like a glass dome that fits over some netsukes. I’m don’t blaming the housekeeper. Everytime she has broken something (nothing extraordinary) she shows me…And I say thank you don’t worry about it. She offers to pay for it and I always refuse. I think that it was one of the friends or my kids. I just made an announcement at a dinner that if something is broken…please tell me. I don’t want anyone hurt.</p>
<p>I would do nothing if my cleaning lady didn’t come for a month…wait, that happens all the time - she’s always cancelling and forgetting! Have had her for 10 years and she recently had a baby that is taking up her time and brain - damn kids!!!</p>
<p>I don’t clean anything anymore - it helps that I can’t see dirt and dust without my glasses on!</p>
<p>Sweep the kitchen floor, mop up spills right away. Mop once a week if it looks dirty. Wipe up kitchen counters every night. Clean the toilet and wipe bathroom counters once a week. Take a duster around a room if you see spiderwebs or dust, then vacuum the floor afterwards. There’s actually some controversy about whether you should be using polish at all: [For</a> wood furniture, when do I use polish, when wax, etc?](<a href=“http://askville.amazon.com/wood-furniture-polish-wax/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=2544759]For”>http://askville.amazon.com/wood-furniture-polish-wax/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=2544759)</p>
<p>My house is no where as clean as I’d like it, but I have given up spending precious free time cleaning when other people just make it messy again. One thing about wood floors and stairs – I’ve learned the hard way that polish (like Endust or Pledge) makes for a very slippery surface, so Murphy’s oil soap is the only thing I use to dust the stairs.</p>
<p>Polishing furniture- once every so many years with lemon Pledge (or when you move/renovate like we just did). Otherwise just dusting. Sinks, counters and toilets may need cleaning. Vacuuming once a month or more depending on the critter factor- all floors without rotating brush on noncarpet. Dustier here (no electronic air cleaner) so my monthly dusting got upgraded to more often.</p>
<p>Started cleaning my own house some 20 years ago when new construction house, no job and lousy cleaning services. Learned efficient ways. Prefer to spend 1-2 days (depends on house size, old/new) doing the whole house to one room a week or some such- then the house is never clean. I can be nit picky and then ignore the dirt for another cycle.</p>
<p>Tried the wet Swiffer but found I used a lot of fluid. Prefer a roller squeeze sponge mop and bucket of cleaning solution water method. Those ads that toot how few germs there are after cleaning a floor their way forget that the germs will return very quickly as people/critters walk on the floor. A wet mop cleaning gets rid of more dust/dirt than just vacuuming, even with a central vac.</p>
<p>Good for you to not use the substandard cleaner. Your cleaner will not have twice as much work to do if you ignore most cleaning for a month.</p>
<p>OK…I made a discovery! (I am so proud). My mil left denture cleaning tablets in my house. I read the instructions. Guess what? Put 2 tablets into toilet bowl and the pills bubble and clean…on their own. We have 5 bathrooms and I’m not scrubbing toilets.</p>
<p>This was a wonderful experiment in time management. (I LOVED Cheaper by the Dozen).</p>
<p>“Quite honestly, if she couldn’t come for a month, we would maybe sweep the kitchen floor, and wipe down the toilets.” - I agree. Maybe do some vacuuming if there are pets. </p>
<p>I used to have a house cleaner every two weeks. When she went away and missed a cleaning, it was not tragedy.</p>