Clean Like a Man : Housekeeping for Men (and the Women Who Love Them)

Chalk Talk
Housekeeping Basics


For most guys, the first few chapters of Clean Like a Man will be Housekeeping 101-a crash course for all men who never took a home economics class, scraped mildew from shower tile, sewed on a button, or ever cared less about any of it. In other words, 99 percent of us.


The Men Commandments
Housecleaning Rules of Thumb


Professional housecleaners accomplish a lot in very little time because they follow some basic rules. These are good, commonsense fundamentals that both men and women should adhere to. But men have their own unique challenges. So Clean Like a Man took the basics and retooled them to be as guy-friendly as possible. Result: the Men Commandments (ironically, there are ten of them). They provide essential know-how in the manly quest to streamline housekeeping, and they're so simple that you should take to them like a cop to a doughnut.

1. Get Started

This is always the toughest part of housekeeping for men, but it's the most important. Why don't we start? Because we don't know where to start! There seems to be so much to do that you don't know what to do first. Cleaning the house has become an eight-hundred-pound gorilla. Or, more aptly, an intimidating mountain of mess (see "The K2 Syndrome" on page 00).

The best way to start is to decide the one room you want to work on: the kitchen, for example. Don't think about anything else. Go in there and take a minute to look around. What's bugging you most? Crumbs on the counter? Dishes in the sink? Decomposing food in the fridge? Dirty windows? Clutter? All the crap held by magnets on the refrigerator door? Start with the job that will have the biggest impact when completed. Better yet, write down a list of to-dos for that room, put them in order of priority, and handle them...one at a time.

2. Pick Up the Place First

Shoes and socks, scattered newspapers, plates, coffee mugs, knives and forks, half-read Tolstoy novels...all the stuff that's strewn about the room serves only to get in your way and distract you from the real job at hand: cleaning. You can't get at dirt and dust on the carpets or counters if it's covered up with junk. So clear the decks.

Make a clockwise sweep of the room, toss everything into a big box, a closet, or even into another room, and then you're ready for some serious cleaning. Just picking up by itself is a huge improvement.

3. Divide and Conquer

Contemplating the entire job ahead will only discourage you. Break each chore down into room-by-room "quadrants." Focus on one room at a time. Or chop it into even smaller pieces: one swath of carpet to vacuum, one shelf to dust. Things seem more manageable. Your focus sharpens, you work more efficiently, and being 100 percent done with something gives you a feeling of accomplishment.

4. Carry Your Supplies with You

Any project takes longer and is more frustrating when you continually have to stop your work and go look for a tool. Same with housekeeping. So tote basic cleaning supplies-all-purpose sprays, carpet spot treatment, a few sponges and cloths, a whisk broom and dustpan-in whatever kind of carryall works best for you.

If you have a bigger arsenal of gear, you might want to load it onto some sort of serving cart on wheels. If you have less stuff or are on a more limited mission, go with a tool belt that has your most important tools and supplies in the pockets.

Having all your goods at your fingertips saves constant trips from one room to another-or worse, from floor to floor-to fetch items. What's more, you never have to stop your work and ruin your momentum to hunt down something you need.

5. Deploy Supplies Where You Use Them

Place your most-used cleaning tools and supplies in strategic spots around the house to allow instant, easy access. For example, under your bathroom sink should be a sponge, a toilet brush, and a container of cleanser for the john; a spray bottle of Windex for the mirror, the sink, and the fixtures (plus a cotton rag and paper towels); Lysol and Tilex to spray into the shower or the tub and onto the curtain and the tiles to battle mildew; and a Swiffer or ReadyMop to get dust and stray hairs off tile or linoleum in a flash. You can stash a similar arsenal under the kitchen sink, and add a small hand vacuum and/or a whisk broom-dustpan combo for dry spills, and paper towels to clean up small wet spills.

This kind of planning will save you plenty of running around to find the appropriate tools and supplies when you need 'em.

6. Start High, Finish Low

Gravity-it's the law! Clean from the top down, ceiling to floor. The reason is simple: When you stir up dust and dirt, they float earthward. So . . .

* Begin by cleaning high: removing cobwebs from ceiling corners, dusting the tops of cabinets, ledges above windows and doors, shelves, ceiling fans, lamps.

* Move next to eye level to dust and clean picture frames, lamp shades, TVs, and bookcases.

* Finish low with chairs and sofas, tables, and, last but not least, floors.