1. YOU: Many women like to clean house in an old bathrobe, but getting caught that way at eleven in the morning can ruin the effect of all your hard work. So get dressed and make yourself presentable before you start the cleaning. Then if a neighbor or salesperson stops by before you have things in order, you can at least close the door behind you and talk to them outside, and they won't be left with an impression of sloppiness.
This one tip I really need to work on. I normally start out by cleaning then shower and get dressed for the day after all my house work is finished.
2. FRONT HALL AND LIVING ROOM: These are the first the areas that need to be attended to each day. Pay special attention to dirty windows, finger smudges on walls and doors, dust furniture, and an unvacuumed carpet or dull and dirty floors. I have always been told that these things are the signature of a poor housekeeper, but sometimes they are also the trophy of a busy mother with small children to care for or a working mother who comes home tired at the end of the day. Still, they make a house look unclean and gloomy.
"The FBI has more than 10 million fingerprints. So has every home with two or more kids in it."
3. COBWEBS: I hate to walk into a house and see cobwebs. Like magic, they appear in the middle of nowhere just in time to sweep down and hit some finicky lady in the face. You can De-cobweb a three story house in about 20 minutes. Put a damp towel or rag over a broom and brush away. If you have a rough ceiling, then really wet the rag. For hard-to-reach places, put an old sock or pillow case over a yardstick or broom handle and secure it with an elastic band. If you try to do the job with your vacuum cleaner, it will probably never get done and if you do find time, it will take hours.
4. CLUTTER: There are two types of clutter. The first is the kind that children make with their toys and paper cuttings and story books. Never worry about this kind of clutter. As the years go by it will cure itself all too soon.
The second type is adult clutter. If you haven't used something within the last three years, get rid of it. Let it clutter up someone else's house. Take all the broken and "someday" projects that you have been meaning to fix or do, the Tupperware that has been sitting around because you melted the lids in the dishwasher, out of the cupboard and store them somewhere else. Get rid of old newspapers and magazines. If you haven't found time to read them yet, you never will. Instead of building new closets or moving, try removing the outdated clothes from your closets. A lady one day recommended this prescription to a doctor I was working for, and one day he rumbled up my driveway with a station wagon full of old clothes. That year she made patchwork quilts and crayon aprons for all her children and grandchildren for Christmas.
"Clutter: Things that are worth saving but haven't been put away, deposited on top of things that are not worth saving but haven't been thrown away, which have settled next to things you aren't sure what to do with." Jill C. Major
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