The Rules of Speed Cleaning: Rule #7

Welcome back! If you are just joining us in our Speed Cleaning series, we're glad you're here and you're not too late! Be sure to read over the previous rules before you move on to Rule #7. Can you believe that we're halfway done with our Speed Cleaning series? It seems like it was only yesterday that I introduced the Speed Cleaning method to you. I know that learning new skills can be frustrating at times, so I want to encourage you to keep on keepin ™ on. Did you ever learn touch-typing? If you did, you know that it took you longer to use touch-typing you're your old hunt-and-peck method when you were first learning. You had to break comfortable old (inefficient) habits and replace them with unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and new (but very efficient) habits. Also, if you used your old hunt-and-peck method of typing all day long every day, you would never, ever get much faster than 30 words a minute “ even with all that practice. However, if you practiced your new touch-type method daily, you would improve your speed constantly: 100 words per minute is not an unheard-of speed. That's more than three times faster than a method that once seemed just fine to you. All that to say, stick with it! You are well on your way to becoming a speedy and efficient house cleaner!

Speed Cleaning Rule #7: If what you're doing isn't going to work, then shift to a heavier-duty cleaner or tool.

You’re going to get very good at knowing what tool or product to use without having to throw everything in the book at it. You’ll be learning to anticipate what to reach for before you start a task so you won’t have to shift. An example of switching to a higher-horsepower tool is when you encounter food dried so hard that even a white pad takes forever to work. Let's say drops of pancake batter have dried to malicious little bits of stone stuck to the counter. When you tried your white paid, you found that you were rubbing one micron or so off the top of the dried pancake batter every swipe. You were using up MGT “ Movie Going Time “ again. When you first encounter the problem, better to put your cloth away, grab your scraper, and scrape the batter loose in a second or two. Replace the scraper and continue along your way. Be careful not to scratch the surface: Spray the surface first and keep the blade at a low angle. Remember, increase the force or strength of the tool only as necessary. Question of the week: Which area of the house have you gotten the best at cleaning over the past 6 weeks?