Cleaning Rules!

(1) Don't clean out of guilt, clean out of love.
When you clean out of guilt, you are not actually cleaning, you are trying to get rid of guilt. Acknowledge the dirtiness and go pray instead. The easiest way to clean out of love is to clean with a friend. You will never appreciate them more than when they save you from doing all of the toilets. If you don't have a friend to clean with you, then it is harder to keep moving in a spirit of joy. In that case try to remember that God is working with you.

(2) The point is not to get the house clean, it is to remove the dirt.
No house can ever be absolutely clean, but one will always be able to remove dirt, so it is more encouraging to think this way. Focus on the job at hand: if you can forget that you still have a lot to do, it is actually peaceful to watch the little improvements you are making. But don't get lost in the little stuff. You also have to keep moving, because:

(3) The faster you can clean, the more fun it is.
My best days are when the coffee, and my state of mind combine to make me fast but at peace. The worst days are when I just can't stop thinking about something and I find myself pacing around with a rag in my hand mumbling to an empty house. Working is what snaps you out of it, but it is slow, frustrating work until you can focus more on the job at hand. The radio can help or hurt you here. It is usually a help for me because it distracts me from my thoughts. If the songs are too good, though, you end up dancing and singing instead of cleaning. At least, I do. Luckily, radio stations play a lot of bad music and have a lot of commercials. Listening to a CD that you really like is not a good idea.

(4) All you need for cleaning solutions is water and Bon Ami.
I am not in the bacteria killing business. Don't tell my clients but, unless they tell me otherwise, I just use plain old water for the mirrors, counters and floors. Windex is the cause of the streaks! Spray mirrors lightly, use a dry rag and make sure to get the mirror completely dry. You will never worry about streaks again. Bon Ami cleanser is helpful for the showers and sinks, and it doesn't have any bleach or crazy chemicals in it. Sometimes I like using a little bit of vinegar on floors and counters because I like the smell, but I doubt it helps much. If something like a stove top, or a microwave, is really greasy I just rub a dry cloth on it for a while and it picks it right up.

(5) Get an expensive feather duster.
Nothing makes you look more like a sissy, but nothing picks up knick-knack dust faster, or in a funner way, than an ostrich-feather feather duster. They are around twenty bucks at Jeff Campbell's clean team website.

(6) Pumice stone is magic.
If you have rust stains or some other tough stain on your toilet or bathtub a pumice stick is like this magical rock that removes everything without scratching anything. Just get it wet and start grinding. It feels like you're damaging stuff, but I have never seen it make a scratch. It's really good for mineral deposits on tile.

(7) Have a ton of clean dry lint-free non-disposable cloths. Don't be afraid of using too many.
Once again, go to Jeff Campbell's for some good cloths. Buy more than you need, they will disappear fast if your house is anything like mine. If you feel like one is too dirty or wet, just chuck it on the floor and get a dry one. It will save you from streaks. No paper towels: trees shouldn't have to give their lives for motes of dust.

(8) Sweeping is a mystery.

How many piles of dirt should I make? How do I know when I'm done sweeping? Did I already sweep that part? Just accept the mystery, do your best and move on.

(9) Hands and knees.
There's no better way to clean a floor and feel penitent at the same time. Get one cloth wet and have a bunch of dry ones at hand. Wax on, wax off, and keep moving.

(10) If cleaning isn't peaceful or fun, just forget about it.
Enough said!