Read Speed Cleaning Online

Authors: Jeff Campbell

Speed Cleaning (6 page)

The Second Trip

Now it’s time to clean around the room. Stick your feather duster and whisk broom into your back pockets. Estimate the number of cleaning cloths you’ll need and transfer them from the tray to your apron. At first, try grabbing six to eight cloths. As time goes on, you’ll know how many to use. You’re ready to move on to the easy part.

You will generally be using two cloths. Carry the drier cloth over your shoulder so it’s easy to reach. When that cloth gets too damp for streakless cleaning (mirrors, chrome fixtures, glass shelves, etc.) but is still usable for general wiping, keep it in the apron pocket between uses, and sling a new dry cloth from your apron supply over your shoulder. Throw your old cloth to the floor near your tray. If there’s any danger of damage to the floor, put (or toss) the soiled cloths in your tray or you may ruin the carpet.

Mirrors

Start at the right of the tray, cleaning your way around the room, moving to the right and working from high to low. Be sure to close the door as you go by. There is often a mirror on the inside of the door, and it needs to be cleaned. You need your Blue Juice and a dry cloth to do this, and since you are carrying these items with you in your apron, there is no need to go back to the tray.

To clean a mirror, spray it
lightly
and evenly with Blue Juice and keep wiping with a dry cloth until the glass is dry. People who have trouble with streaks leave the mirror slightly damp. If you wipe completely dry, you’ll eliminate streaks. Replace the Blue Juice sprayer after each use—back where it was on your apron loop.

Fingerprints

The door also may have fingerprints on it that need a quick spray-and-wipe. Fingerprints need Red Juice, so reach for it, spray the prints, replace the bottle, and wipe the area dry.

Here’s a task where we are careful to apply
Rule 4
: “If it isn’t dirty, don’t clean it.” If all you need to do is remove a fingerprint or two from an otherwise clean door, just spray the prints and wipe dry. Takes
about two seconds. Don’t haphazardly spray a large area of the door (which takes longer) and then have to wipe this larger area dry (which takes longer still).

The places that often
don’t
need cleaning are the vertical surfaces of the bathroom (the front of the toilet tank or the outside of the tub, for example). However, the horizontal surfaces (shelves or the top of the toilet tank, for example) will need cleaning every time.

Cobwebs

Train yourself to look all the way to the ceiling to check for cobwebs each time you advance. Spiders seem especially to like corners. When you see a cobweb, grab your feather duster from your back pocket, knock down the cobweb, replace the feather duster, and proceed. If you can’t reach the cobweb, use one or two of the vacuum tubes as an extension wand for the feather duster.

Towels

Towel racks often need your attention—especially where the towel rack is attached to the wall. This is a place to use your toothbrush. A
quick swipe with the toothbrush can clean such places much faster and better than your cleaning cloth alone.

Also clean the corners of the towel racks using your toothbrush and Red Juice, and then wipe dry. After you’ve cleaned them with the toothbrush, a quick wipe with a cloth will suffice for many future cleanings. Fold and rehang towels after you’ve finished with the rack.

The Medicine Cabinet

Wipe the very top with a cloth and then clean the mirror. If it has an outside shelf (usually with a supply of bathroom things on top of it—deodorant, toothpaste, perfume, etc.), move all the items to one side and spray and wipe the cleared area. (If the shelf is too crowded to merge the two halves, move the items to a nearby countertop.) Now pick up each item and wipe it clean as you move it to the other side. Then spray and wipe the second side, and finally redistribute the items as they were. Don’t open and clean the inside of the cabinet itself, as that’s not part of weekly cleaning.

Below the mirror you’ll probably find the toothbrush holder. Clean it with a quick spray-and-wipe. To clean the holes in the holder, put a corner of your cleaning cloth through each hole and pull up and down a couple of times.

The Sink—Outside Only

When you come to the sink, use the Red Juice to clean around the faucets and the rest of the outside area of the sink—all but the inside of the sink itself (it’s already clean, remember?).
Don’t use powdered cleanser!
Use the toothbrush around the base of the faucets each time. Use your white pad and Red Juice around the rest of the outside of the sink. Then wipe as usual. Use a dry cloth for a final wipe and shine of the chrome sink fixtures. Don’t dry the whole sink … just the chrome.

Debris

Check below the sink and around the cabinet for fingerprints. Continue around the bath to the right, working from top to bottom. Pay particular attention to plants (dust them and then remember to put the feather duster back in your rear pocket), windowsills, pictures, moldings, etc. Don’t miss the light fixture in the middle of the room. As you encounter loose trash, dump the debris into the plastic-lined pocket of your apron. (Don’t walk to the trash can.)

The Toilet—Outside

When you come to the toilet itself, start at the top of the tank and work down using Red Juice and a cloth. Once again, Clean Team
Rule 4
applies: “If it isn’t dirty, don’t clean it.” If the front of the toilet tank isn’t dirty, don’t take the time to “clean” phantom dirt. Don’t forget to wipe the flushing handle as you go by.

When you get to the seat and lid, put them both in the “up” position and follow this sequence carefully. After you’ve done it a couple of times, you’ll find that the explanation is much more complicated than the doing.

1. Spray the underside of the seat, and lower it.

2. Spray the top of the seat. Don’t wipe yet.

3. Spray the underside of the lid, and lower it.

4. Spray the top of the lid. Also spray the hinges and the small flat area of porcelain on the far side of them.

Hang your Red Juice on your apron loop and wipe in the reverse order that you sprayed. That means you start with the small porcelain area and hinges. Now start using your toothbrush where needed. The first target is around those hinges. Then wipe the porcelain, the hinges, and the top of the lid dry. Raise the lid.

Use your toothbrush around the rubber bumpers and hinges (again). Wipe clean and dry. Be careful about splattering the clean porcelain. Wipe the top of the seat and raise it. Use the toothbrush again where needed and wipe dry. You’re done with the lid and seat.

Now spray the top porcelain rim of the bowl. Tilt the seat and lid half forward with one hand and with the other retouch the hinge area of porcelain (catching any splatters). Push the lid and seat back fully upright and wipe the rim clean.

Clean all the way down the outside to the floor, using the toothbrush on areas such as where the toilet meets the floor and around those
annoying little plastic caps. (The inside of the toilet is clean, so don’t touch it at all.) If there is mold left at the base of the toilet after you’ve cleaned this area, leave it and spray it with bleach later. You may very well want to dedicate a toothbrush exclusively for use in this delicate part of the bathroom ecosystem.

The Floor Around the Toilet

Even though you haven’t started to clean the floor yet, we prefer to be on our hands and knees, eyeball to eyeball with the toilet, only once. So clean the (uncarpeted) floor around the base of the toilet while you’re there. Spray the floor around the entire base of the toilet with Red Juice and wipe it clean and dry. Remember that you are throwing the cloths into the far corner of the room (or into your tray) as they get too soiled or wet. Also remember not to throw soiled cloths on carpets or wood floors—they might stain. If you have a carpeted bathroom, carry a whisk broom in your spare back pocket to brush the areas of carpet that the vacuum can’t reach.

Shower Doors—Outside

Just before you finish your trip back to where you left your tray (on the floor at the right end of the tub), you will pass the shower doors.
Clean the
outside
only with Blue Juice. Often all you need to clean are the fingerprints around the handle. The outside of the tub occasionally needs a quick swipe. You’re just about done!

The Floor

Take several fairly clean and dry cloths to do the floor. Go to the far corner and (on your hands and knees) start spraying and wiping with Red Juice as you back out of the room. The proper technique is to spray an area about 2 feet square lightly and evenly so that hairs and dust don’t fly around. Then wipe up with your loosely folded cloths in a deliberate, methodical side-to-side movement (sort of a flattened “S” pattern). As you pick up hair and debris, carefully fold the cloth to trap the debris you’ve collected so far and continue. When one cloth is too dirty or full, use another cloth. You don’t have to dry the floor, but wipe it and turn your cloths often to avoid making streaks.

When you come to the rubber ducky and bar of soap on the floor, you can put them back around the tub, provided there isn’t mold left around the tub or shower. If there is, you’ll treat it with bleach in a minute, so hold off replacing the ducky and soap until the treatment is finished.

After you’ve cleaned your way to the door, you can bundle the dirty cloths into a “ragamuffin” so you won’t leave a trail of cleaning cloths
and debris on the way to the washing machine later. To make a ragamuffin, spread one cloth on the floor and put the other cloths in the middle. Then tie opposite corners of the flat cloth together two at a time. Presto! A ragamuffin. And you’re done with the floor.

Bleach

Now is the time to apply bleach to any remaining mold still clinging for dear life in the bathroom. First make sure the window is open. Bleach destroys just about everything, so treat it like strontium 90. Hold a cloth under the spray nozzle to catch any drips. Set the spray adjustment of your bottle to “stream” instead of “spray” so you minimize the amount of bleach in the air that you might inhale. Apply it as a liquid dribble directly on moldy areas. Wipe off any bleach that gets on the chrome fixtures immediately. Bleach dripping off chrome turns the tub’s porcelain black. The discoloring isn’t always permanent, but it can be awfully discouraging. When through, drape the same cloth over the spray nozzle to catch any drips as you take your tray through the house. One drip on a carpet will make a little white spot that lasts forever! Keep the top of the bleach spray bottle covered with a cloth at all times except when you’re using it. Also aim the nozzle toward the center of the tray. Changes in room temperature can make bleach ooze out. So can pressure from other objects in your tray. The first time
you dribble bleach on your carpet, you’ll realize we were not being too fussy, but it will be too late.

Escape

Replace the covered bleach bottle in your tray and set the tray outside the bathroom. It’s not a good idea to leave bleach on surfaces for more than five minutes. Come back to the bathroom to rinse away the bleach. This will also give you an opportunity to admire your work.

After rinsing the bleach, replace the rubber ducky and all the other items you had removed from the shower and tub. If it needs it, redry the chrome quickly to put the finishing touch on the bathroom.

Don’t move the trash or the carpet that you previously set outside. They will be taken care of after the carpet is vacuumed and it’s time to empty the trash.

_______________YOU’RE FINISHED!

Spare Bathrooms

If there is a second bathroom that is used daily, go clean it now in exactly the same way. If there is a spare bathroom not often used, clean it according to the “If-It-Isn’t-Dirty-Don’t-Clean-It” rule and use only as much energy as needed. Don’t automatically clean the mirrors if they’re not dirty. Don’t spray the door for fingerprints if none exist. Dust items that you might normally wipe. If the tub/shower hasn’t been used, just wipe it quickly with a damp cloth, or spray and wipe with Blue Juice to remove dust. If you do this, it will be just as clean as the one that is used more often, but it will take you only a couple of minutes.

Different Bathroom Floor Plans

If there is a shower stall only and no tub, then treat the shower stall as you would the tub. In other words, set your tray by the right side of the shower when you first enter the bathroom.

If there is a tub separate from a shower stall, start by setting your tray down as we just taught you. Then clean the tub, the shower stall, the sink (inside), and the toilet (inside). Finally, clean around the room as previously discussed.

Bathroom Summary

(1)
Put tray on floor at right end of tub. Put trash cans and rugs outside the room. Load up apron, but don’t carry duster or whisk broom yet. Make two trips around the room: the first for Steps 2–6 and the other for the rest.

(2) SHOWER:
Set loose items like soap on a cloth on the floor. Wet shower walls. Spread (don’t scrub) Tile Juice evenly with tile brush starting with the wall farthest from the drain and ending with inside doors. Replace Tile Juice in tray. Start with first wall and scrub all surfaces with tile brush from top to bottom. Clean door tracks with Red Juice and the toothbrush or white pad.

(3) TUB:
Wet tub and sprinkle lightly with cleanser. Scrub with tile brush, starting away from the drain. Put unrinsed brush in the sink.

(4) RINSE:
Rinse walls top to bottom, starting near the drain. Rinse tub starting away from drain. Shine chrome.

(5) SINK (INSIDE):
Use tile brush on the bowl. Rinse it and the brush and return brush to the tray.

(6) TOILET:
Clean inside the toilet bowl with cleanser and toilet brush. Flush toilet and rinse brush. Put feather duster and whisk broom into back pockets. Add six to eight cloths to apron pocket. Start second trip around room.

( ) SINK (OUTSIDE):
Spray/wipe faucet, rim, and front of sink. Shine faucet with a dry cloth.

( ) TOILET (OUTSIDE):
Spray/wipe tank. Raise lid and seat. Spray underneath the seat and lower it. Spray top of seat. Spray underneath the lid and lower it. Spray top of lid and behind it near the hinges. Wipe in reverse order. Spray/wipe rest of toilet and floor near base. Continue your way around rest of room.

(9) FLOOR:
Spray/wipe the floor with Red Juice and cloths, making large “S”-shaped movements from side to side as you work toward the door.

(10) BLEACH:
Dribble bleach on areas that are still moldy after cleaning. Immediately wipe off bleach that dribbles onto metal surfaces. Rinse off remaining bleach with cold water in five minutes. Dry plumbing fixtures if wet. Replace soap and other items.

[Note.—Fill in Steps 7 and 8 for your own floor plan.]

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