Authors: Jeff Campbell
We clean over 18,000 times a year. Our three-person team can clean an average house in 42 minutes—start to finish! A one-bedroom apartment takes about 18 minutes! Believe it. And now we’re going to show you how. Good luck, and have some fun with the time you save.
Here are our trade secrets. We observe every one of them. Every day.
1. Make every move count.
That means work around the room once. Don’t backtrack. It also means you must carry your equipment and supplies with you so you don’t make dozens of aggravating trips back and forth across the room. Walk around the room once and you’re done, except for the floor.
2. Use the right tools.
Ah! Here’s probably the major timesaver of the bunch. Give your specialized gadgets to your enemies. You need real tools that cut time to shreds. Most of all, you need a
cleaning apron
to hang tools on and store cleaning supplies in as you move around the room. The method depends on it, and soon you’ll feel lost without yours. If you don’t have one, we’ll tell you how to get one later in the book (
this page
).
3. Work from top to bottom.
Always. Period. Don’t argue.
4. If it isn’t dirty, don’t clean it.
For example, vertical surfaces are
almost never as dirty as horizontal surfaces. Upper shelves and molding have less dust than lower ones. Often all that’s dirty about a surface is a few fingerprints, so don’t clean the whole area.
5. Don’t rinse or wipe a surface before it’s clean.
You’ll just have to start over. In other words, when you’re cleaning a surface, don’t rinse or wipe just to see if you’re done. If you were wrong, you’ll have to start all over again. Learn to check as you’re cleaning by “seeing through” the gunk to the surface below. Then you can tell when it’s dislodged and ready to be wiped or rinsed …
once
!
6. Don’t keep working after it’s clean.
Once you’ve reached ground zero,
stop
! You’re cutting into VLT—Valuable Leisure Time. Rinse or wipe and move on.
7. If what you’re doing isn’t going to work, then shift to a heavier-duty cleaner or tool.
You’re going to get very good at knowing what tool or product to use without having to throw everything in the book at it. You’ll be learning to anticipate what to reach for
before
you start a task so you won’t have to shift.
8. Keep your tools in impeccable shape.
Dull razors scratch—they don’t clean. Clogged spray bottles puff up and make funny noises—they don’t spray.
9. Repetition makes for smoother moves.
Always put your tools back in the same spot in your apron. You can’t spare the time to fumble around for them. And you can’t afford to leave them lying around in alien places for the dog to carry away. You’ll quickly get so expert you’ll become aggravated if the tool you expected isn’t in the right spot when you reach for it. Progress, progress.
10. Pay attention.
Almost everything else will fall into place if you do. Don’t think about the revisions in the tax code. Or anything else. In Latin:
Age quod agis
—“Do what you are doing.”
11. Keep track of your time.
Get a little faster every time.
12. Use both hands.
Your work force is half idle if one hand is doing all the work. Finish one step with one hand and start the next step with the other. Or, wipe with one hand while the other steadies the object.
13. If there are more than one of you, work as a team.
You’re what the biologists call a “superorganism.” If your partner gets done ten minutes faster, the
team
gets done ten minutes faster. And that is a wonderful thing. You can’t stop being vigilant for one moment about what will speed up or slow down your partner’s progress.
That’s it. Like any new skill, Speed Cleaning must be learned, practiced, reviewed, and perfected. It’s worth it. The payoff is that you will save hours every week. Hours that add up to days that you will spend
not
cleaning the house.
These are the basics. The rest of the book consists of specialized sections on tools, products, and jobs. Read the
following chapter
on tools and products. After that, if you’re going to clean the kitchen, you are the “Kitchen Person,” and so you should read the
kitchen chapter
next. The “Bathroom Person” and “Duster” should read the
bathroom chapter
and the
dusting chapter
respectively. If you are working alone, read the
kitchen chapter
after
Chapter 2
(Tools and Supplies) and take a break before reading on.
There are tools and supplies needed to do the job of cleaning that are indispensable. If you don’t have them, you’re going to have to get them—that’s all there is to it—even though you may have been getting along without some of them for years.
After you’re equipped with the proper products, guard against the entire Speed Cleaning process being slowly sabotaged because of tools wearing out or supplies running low. We’re offering you time to spend
not
cleaning. Get and keep the right supplies and tools.
The strict rules you have learned about cleaning also apply to storing your cleaning supplies. Your tools are too important for you to have them scattered around the house where they could be lost, damaged, or not available when they are needed. If you are going to clean your house in 42 minutes, you can’t spend 22 minutes gathering your supplies. We’ll tell you where each item is stored and who uses it in the kitchen, bathroom, and dusting chapters.
Remember we’re talking about speed, and the products we recommend offer speed while maintaining high quality. We appreciate the fact that there are premium products that we don’t mention (e.g., fine
paste waxes), but our job is to teach you speed. These are the products we use. We recognize that our method works best when you have access to the same products that we use. You can order just about everything we mention—including professional formulas—through our mail-order catalog (see
this page
). At the same time, our system isn’t so specific that you must use these very products. That wouldn’t be fair. So we’ll describe the products as well as possible so you can substitute others at your discretion. Occasionally we also list alternative retail brand names, but we do not necessarily endorse the effectiveness of those products.
Finally, if you’re concerned about the environmental impact of the products you use, read
Chapter 13
of this book before making your final choices.
Cleaning apron.
Nothing makes sense in this system without an apron. It saves more time than all the other products combined. It carries the supplies and tools that allow you to “walk around the room once and you’re done” (see
Rule 1
). If you’re mad at having to wear one, especially with all this stuff packed into it and dangling from it, go ahead and have your tantrum. Then get over it.
Wear it when cleaning—start to finish.
The Clean Team uses our own special aprons (see
this page
) featured in the illustrations of this book. You can make your own apron, too: Just be sure it has lots of pockets for your tools, loops for your Red
and Blue Juice, and will tie securely around your waist. Wear it every time you clean!
A smart way to tie the apron on is to put it on backward, tie it, and turn it around. The Clean Team apron has seven pockets, three of which are dedicated to the following tools:
Toothbrush.
Actually not recommended for your teeth at all, but it’s the handiest brush we’ve seen for getting into tight places fast—like the areas around faucet handles, tile grout, impossible nooks and crannies on stovetops, light switches, etc. You’ll be amazed at how often a spot will not respond to wiping but will come right up when agitated with a brush and a cleaning agent like Red Juice. This is a serious cleaning tool—not an old toothbrush.
Razor-blade holder.
It’s great for soap scum on shower doors, paint splatters on glass, and baked-on food on oven windows and surfaces of appliances. The one we use has a three-position blade for added safety.
Scraper.
Occasionally you will encounter mysterious globs that are difficult to remove with the toothbrush—like petrified lumps of pancake batter or squished raisins. They can be removed in seconds with a scraper. We use a 1 ½-inch-wide steel spatula with a plastic handle.
A fourth pocket is used as a temporary storage for debris you encounter while cleaning. This saves extra trips to the trash. Use a gallon-size Ziploc storage bag as a liner and heavy duty paper clips (as shown) to keep it in place.
Carryall tray.
Permanent storage for cleaning supplies.
Red Juice
(in a spray bottle). Heavy-duty liquid cleaner. Professional cleaners call it “Red Juice” because the commercial concentrate often is red. Retail products include 409, Fantastik, and similar spray-on liquid cleaners. For simplicity’s sake, we’re going to call it “Red Juice” in this book. Use it for spray-and-wipe jobs except glass.
Blue Juice
(in a spray bottle). Light-duty liquid cleaner. Similarly, most professional light-duty liquid cleaners happen to be blue. Consumer products include Windex or any similar liquid cleaner. Use it to spray and wipe mirrors, window glass, and picture glass.
Bleach
(in a spray bottle). Use it to remove mold and mildew in the bathroom. Clorox is the most effective brand.
Spray bottles
(three of them). Use them for Red Juice, Blue Juice, and bleach. Our model has a handle that fits well on the apron loops. Adjust the spray by turning the nozzle. If it won’t spray easily, clean
the end of the tube inside the bottle with your toothbrush, or force water through it backward.
Tile Juice
(in a squirt bottle). Liquid tub, shower, and tile cleaner. Use it to clean soap scum and mineral buildup from the tub/shower area.
Squirt bottle.
Use it to apply Tile Juice. Any tile cleaner you purchase should already be in a container like this.
Feather duster.
We are well aware of the purists who insist that feather dusters only move the dust around and don’t get rid of it. We agree wholeheartedly that dust does need to be controlled in the home as much as possible. In some cases, this can mean wiping the dust up with furniture polish and a cloth, or washing baseboards, or vacuuming shelves. However, when maintaining a basically clean home on a regular basis, moving a small amount of dust very quickly from one (higher) level to another (lower) level where most of it is vacuumed away is a decidedly good thing. And a good feather duster happens to do this better than anything else. Get an air purifier if you are kept awake at night wondering what happened to all the dust.
The only feather duster that works is made with real feathers—ostrich down to be exact. Down feathers are full, soft, and almost spiderweblike at the ends. The feather duster we use is 18 inches
long (including the handle). They’re expensive and they’re worth it. When you cut your cleaning time in half, you’ll appreciate how valuable they are.
Cleaning cloths.
The best are pure cotton—white only. Used table napkins are perfect. You may be able to find them at a local linen service. Don’t substitute! Retire those old T-shirts, underwear, socks or hosiery, sheets, and most especially newspapers. Trying to use them to clean will make work and waste time. Keep a supply large enough that you will not run out once you’ve started to clean. When they are too worn for general use, use them on the oven or other heavy-duty jobs and discard them. Notice that we call them “cleaning cloths” so as not to suggest they’re in tatters. We use retired cotton napkins that show some signs of wear, but they stop far short of being rags. We wash them in hot water with a liquid detergent and chlorine bleach to sanitize them.
There are two other possible choices. The next best thing to cotton table napkins is 100 percent cotton unfolded diapers. (If you have trouble finding them, they are still in the Sears mail order catalog.)
The third alternative is paper towels. If you’re going to use them, don’t pinch pennies. The best brand is Bounty Microwave paper towels.
Whatever your choice, we will refer to them as “cleaning cloths” from now on.
This is how to fold the cleaning cloths so they fit correctly in your carryall tray. It’s simple but important, so please do it right.
Pump-spray furniture polish.
We like Old English, and the pump-spray container carries well in the apron.
Furniture polishing cloth.
You know, those yellow things you see in the stores—but get the untreated ones if you can. Use only for furniture polishing—not with Blue Juice or Red Juice. Don’t wash in the same load with cloths that have wiped up powdered cleanser. The cleanser can be absorbed by the polishing cloth and scratch furniture.
Powdered cleanser.
We use Comet. Use it to clean inside tubs, sinks, and toilets.
One-pint plastic container.
(What’s left over after you’ve eaten the expensive ice cream.) Use it in the bathroom to help rinse the hard-to-reach areas of the shower.
Whisk broom.
Buy one with plastic bristles. Use it to clean the edges of carpets, especially on stairs, and for generalized brushing chores (e.g., between cushions on the couch).
50-foot extension cord on a cord caddy.
Use a round cord because it resists knotting much more than a flat cord does. The cord caddy
saves lots of time by keeping the cord organized. One good knot can take as long to untangle as it takes to vacuum a whole room.
Toilet brush.
We use brushes with stiff bristles to improve their scrubbing ability. Don’t buy the brushes with bristles held in place by a twisted wire. They aren’t worth the wire they’re twisted in.
Tile brush.
A large brush with stiff synthetic bristles. Used to scrub the tile and grout in the shower. Also used in the tub itself and in the bathroom sink.
White scrub pad/sponge (“white pad”).
We use the one made by Scotch-Brite that has a white scrub pad on one side and a sponge on the other. Used when a clean cloth isn’t strong enough.
Green scrub pad/sponge (“green pad”).
Same as above except for the color. Use this pad
only
for cleaning the oven because it will scratch just about anything.
Mop.
After years of searching and finally finding a great sponge mop, we’ve abandoned it in favor of something unique and much, much faster. A “Sh-Mop.” A major new design in cleaning is rare, but the Sh-Mop folks have done it. The Sh-Mop uses a flat rubber surface (a full 8 by 15 inches) covered with a removable, reusable, and washable terry cloth cover. That’s 120 square inches of scrubbing power on
the floor versus about 25 square inches for a sponge mop, so the Sh-Mop is three to four times faster than even an excellent sponge mop. It also gets the floor cleaner, reaches into corners better, and cleans under the edges of appliances. It can also clean your walls and ceilings in nothing flat, but that’s another story. And since the covers are tossed into the wash after use, it’s like having a new, sparkling clean mop each time you clean. It comes with a supply of three terry cloth covers.
Floor cleaner/polisher.
We use Brite. The coating it leaves is water-soluble, so it doesn’t build up over time.
Ammonia.
Use
clear
ammonia. Never “sudsy” or “detergent.” Used to maintain floors not suited to cleaner/polisher (above).
Oven cleaner.
Easy-Off is the simplest to use, and it works very well.
Rubber gloves.
Use relatively loose-fitting, heavy-duty gloves. The cheap ones rip immediately.
Vacuum cleaner—canister type.
(The “Big Vac.”) You don’t have to go buy one if you don’t have this type already. But next time you buy a vacuum, this is the one to get. It’s easy to maneuver, it has a second motor in the beater head, and it quickly separates so the hose can be used for other tasks as the need arises.
Vacuum cleaner—portable.
(The “Little Vac”) This second vacuum is necessary if you’re going to work in a team because you will often need two vacuums going at the same time. This is especially true if you have hardwood floors anywhere in the house.
Miscellaneous.
Pliers, a multipurpose screwdriver, and a spare vacuum and bag for the Big Vac. Once you are on the job, you can’t waste time looking for anything to solve little breakdowns.