Dressed
Put your apron on and load it from your tray, putting Red Juice on one side and Blue Juice on the other. Put the furniture polish and polishing cloth in your apron. Put your feather duster in one back pocket and the whisk broom in the other. Take six to eight cleaning cloths and put them in the apron. (Next time you clean, you’ll know better how many cloths to grab.)
Managing Cleaning Cloths
As you start to spray and wipe your way around the room, carry the drier cleaning cloth over your shoulder so it’s easy to reach. When that cloth gets too damp for streakless cleaning (mirrors, picture glass, etc.) but is still usable for wiping, rotate it to the apron pocket and sling a new dry cloth from your apron over your shoulder. Use the damp cloth for wetter cleaning jobs like fingerprints, spots on the floor, and windowsills,for example. When that cloth in turn gets too damp or dirty and is no longer usable even for wiping, store it in the bottom of your lower right apron pocket.
Managing the Feather Duster
Approach most situations with your feather duster in one hand and the other hand free. Shift quickly to heavier-duty cleaning options as the situation demands, and gradually you’ll notice you’re beginning to do so smoothly and to anticipate your next move.
If you use proper technique with the feather duster, you will move most dust quickly from wherever it was to the floor, where it will be vacuumed away. (High to low— Rule 3 .) Poor technique will throw a lot of dust into the air and contribute to the poor reputation unjustly suffered by feather dusters.
Most dusting motions are fast, steady motions over the surface being dusted—a picture frame, for example. At the end of the dusting motion (i.e., at the end of the picture frame), bring the duster to a dead stop.
Don’t let the feathers flip into the air at the end of a stroke, thereby throwing all the dust into the air, where it will stay until you’ve finished cleaning and then settle back on all the furniture you’ve just finished cleaning.
By coming to a dead stop at the end of each stroke, you will give thedust a chance to cling to the feathers. To remove the accumulated dust from the feathers, tap the feather duster smartly against your ankle, close to the floor, every once in a while. The object is to get the dust to settle on the floor where it will await vacuuming.
The Starting Point
Set your tray on the floor next to the door of the first room you’re going to clean. For our purposes, you’re going to start by cleaning the living room.
The Living Room
Cobwebs
Rule 3 says to work from top to bottom, so the first thing to do is to look up and check for cobwebs. Use your feather duster to remove them. If they’re out of reach, stick your feather duster in the end of one or two lengths of vacuum wand. Then do a quick tour of the whole room, as it’s too time-consuming to put down and pick up this makeshift apparatus more than once. Kill all spiders. Or catch them and let them loose outside if you’re a pacifist or if they beg for mercy.
Fingerprints
Dust door panels or trim with the feather duster. Clean fingerprints around the doorknob with Red Juice (spray and wipe). Then, with Red Juice and cloth still in hand, clean the light switch next to the door. Move to the right along the wall, dusting everything from cobwebs on the ceiling to dust on the baseboards with long “wiping” motions of the feather duster. Remember to stop dead at the end of each swipe. Shift to wet cleaning (Red Juice, Blue Juice, or polish) only if you need to—as Rule 7 says.
Mirrors and Pictures
Picture glass typically needs wet cleaning only a few times a year. To test for cleanliness, run your
clean
and
dry
fingers lightly over the glass. Any graininess or stickiness means clean it. If it needs it, wet-clean by spraying Blue Juice lightly and evenly and then wiping dry. Wipe it really
dry,
not just until it looks dry. The difference equals a streak:
Put your apron on and load it from your tray, putting Red Juice on one side and Blue Juice on the other. Put the furniture polish and polishing cloth in your apron. Put your feather duster in one back pocket and the whisk broom in the other. Take six to eight cleaning cloths and put them in the apron. (Next time you clean, you’ll know better how many cloths to grab.)
Managing Cleaning Cloths
As you start to spray and wipe your way around the room, carry the drier cleaning cloth over your shoulder so it’s easy to reach. When that cloth gets too damp for streakless cleaning (mirrors, picture glass, etc.) but is still usable for wiping, rotate it to the apron pocket and sling a new dry cloth from your apron over your shoulder. Use the damp cloth for wetter cleaning jobs like fingerprints, spots on the floor, and windowsills,for example. When that cloth in turn gets too damp or dirty and is no longer usable even for wiping, store it in the bottom of your lower right apron pocket.
Managing the Feather Duster
Approach most situations with your feather duster in one hand and the other hand free. Shift quickly to heavier-duty cleaning options as the situation demands, and gradually you’ll notice you’re beginning to do so smoothly and to anticipate your next move.
If you use proper technique with the feather duster, you will move most dust quickly from wherever it was to the floor, where it will be vacuumed away. (High to low— Rule 3 .) Poor technique will throw a lot of dust into the air and contribute to the poor reputation unjustly suffered by feather dusters.
Most dusting motions are fast, steady motions over the surface being dusted—a picture frame, for example. At the end of the dusting motion (i.e., at the end of the picture frame), bring the duster to a dead stop.
Don’t let the feathers flip into the air at the end of a stroke, thereby throwing all the dust into the air, where it will stay until you’ve finished cleaning and then settle back on all the furniture you’ve just finished cleaning.
By coming to a dead stop at the end of each stroke, you will give thedust a chance to cling to the feathers. To remove the accumulated dust from the feathers, tap the feather duster smartly against your ankle, close to the floor, every once in a while. The object is to get the dust to settle on the floor where it will await vacuuming.
The Starting Point
Set your tray on the floor next to the door of the first room you’re going to clean. For our purposes, you’re going to start by cleaning the living room.
The Living Room
Cobwebs
Rule 3 says to work from top to bottom, so the first thing to do is to look up and check for cobwebs. Use your feather duster to remove them. If they’re out of reach, stick your feather duster in the end of one or two lengths of vacuum wand. Then do a quick tour of the whole room, as it’s too time-consuming to put down and pick up this makeshift apparatus more than once. Kill all spiders. Or catch them and let them loose outside if you’re a pacifist or if they beg for mercy.
Fingerprints
Dust door panels or trim with the feather duster. Clean fingerprints around the doorknob with Red Juice (spray and wipe). Then, with Red Juice and cloth still in hand, clean the light switch next to the door. Move to the right along the wall, dusting everything from cobwebs on the ceiling to dust on the baseboards with long “wiping” motions of the feather duster. Remember to stop dead at the end of each swipe. Shift to wet cleaning (Red Juice, Blue Juice, or polish) only if you need to—as Rule 7 says.
Mirrors and Pictures
Picture glass typically needs wet cleaning only a few times a year. To test for cleanliness, run your
clean
and
dry
fingers lightly over the glass. Any graininess or stickiness means clean it. If it needs it, wet-clean by spraying Blue Juice lightly and evenly and then wiping dry. Wipe it really
dry,
not just until it looks dry. The difference equals a streak:
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