Read Online Speed Cleaning by Jeff Campbell - Free Book Online Page A

Glass begins to
look
clean as you’re wiping it even though it’s still slightly wet with Blue Juice. Wipe until it’s completely dry. Trust us.
    Wipe in broad movements, taking care to wipe the corners well. Don’t wipe in small circles or random excursions. Also, stabilize the frame with one hand—
firmly,
don’t be halfhearted—while you wipe with the other. If you don’t stabilize it, it may fall or leave scratches on the wall from the frame jiggling as you clean it.
    The woods are full of people who can do a slow and mediocre job ofcleaning glass. Our goals are higher, and one of the things that makes the greatest difference is checking your work. If you look head on into the glass, you will see a reflection of your own sweet face, but you may miss 80 percent of the dirt on the surface. Check it from as narrow an angle as you can.
    Once you have cleaned a picture frame or mirror, it probably won’t need a thorough wet-cleaning again for weeks or even months. Dust it every week or so on the top of the frame and occasionally even the glass itself.
Wall Marks
    As you dust, check the walls for marks and fingerprints. Use Red Juice on wall marks of all kinds. Before you move to the next section of the wall, look all the way to the floor (especially when there is a wood or tile floor) to check for little dried-up spills that should be wiped away.
End Table—Surface
    Clean
above
the end table first. With wiping motions of the feather duster, dust the lamp shade, bulb, lamp, and then the objects on the table. The surface of an end table is rarely touched, so there is no need to use furniture polish every week. Just use your furniture-polish cloth without extra polish. By “polish” we mean either wax or oil—an important distinction to make, it turns out, as the two do not get along well on the surface of furniture. If you’ve been using an oil polish (“lemon oil,”“red oil,” etc.) continue using it. Otherwise use the Old English from your apron pocket—a type of liquid wax that we find very easy to use.
End Table—Objects
    When cleaning an object-laden table, just work from top to bottom again. Use your feather duster first (on lamps and objects on the table), then a cleaning cloth (on objects that need more cleaning), and then the polishing cloth (on the table itself).
    Use caution. Cleaning and moving small items on shelves and tables is the scene of most accidents for dusters. A few guidelines will avoid most accidents: most important, pay attention to what’s in front of you. Use both hands to move anything top-heavy or irreplaceable, or anything composed of more than one piece (e.g., a hurricane-lamp base with a glass lantern on top). It’s almost never wise to move something on a pedestal by pushing the pedestal. Steady the top piece with one hand and grab the pedestal with the other. You usually get to make only one mistake with such things. And keep a wary eye out for heavy objects:
Do not,
oh
do not,
slide them across the surface of furniture. Scratches will follow in their path without fail or mercy.
Dust Rings
    Our end table is on a wood floor, so use your feather duster to wipe the floor around the legs and underneath it to save time for the vacuumer. By dusting these areas where the vacuum would leave ringsor where the vacuum can’t reach, you are speeding up that job, since the vacuumer won’t have to stop to do it. If furniture is on a carpet, use the whisk broom instead of the feather duster for this job.
Couch
    Fabrics vary greatly in characteristics that affect cleaning strategy. If you’re lucky, your furniture will need only a quick swipe with the whisk broom. At the other extreme are fabrics that hair will cling to until you pluck it off like a surgeon. In the middle are a great number of fabrics that will cooperate reasonably and respond to your whisk broom. Every so often even the most agreeable of fabrics could use a good vacuuming, however, to remove accumulated dust. The