You may have noticed that I'm not including cooking, dishes or laundry in my list of what to do.

Cooking is not included because it's really not cleaning. However, we will be working in the kitchen once per week and I hope some of my suggestions will make cooking perhaps not easier or faster but maybe a little less frustrating.

Dishes aren't included because they're regular daily maintenance. You just can't leave them for an entire week. Dishes is that are far less likely to break if they're either being stored in the pantry (or in cabinets or wherever you put yours) or are in a dishwasher, whether clean or dirty. Dishes left in a sink or on a counter or table are far more likely to meet with misfortune. This doesn't mean it has to happen this way (and, if you live in an earthquake zone, your dishes are vulnerable pretty much everywhere), but a glass in a sink is more likely to be knocked over when the water is turned on. Plus, leaving dirty dishes out makes it harder to clean them yet easier for vermin to get a toehold in your home.

Laundry also isn't included because it's a more or less daily thing. This depends on how many people are in your household and whether you have laundry where you live, or if you have to go to a laundromat. My only advice in this area, if you have to do your laundry off-site, is to seriously consider a wash, fluff and fold service. This isn't the same as a dry cleaner, and it costs a lot less. Most laundromats have a service whereby they'll do your wash (they usually don't do stain removal unless you specifically request it) for a certain dollar figure per lb. If you can afford this, try it. In the early 1990s, I used to have this done. It cost about $12/week (I was living on Long Island at the time) but saved three or so hours of hanging around a laundromat. And, even if I had gone to the laundromat, it still would've cost about $5 - $7/week. Hence the difference in cost was about $ 5 - $7/week, or $250 - $350/year. Since I lived in an apartment and wasn't allowed to get a washer-dryer, this was a decent compromise, although after about four to five years I'd spent enough additional monies to have afforded a washer and a dryer. Still, it saved time and energy, as laundry at a laundromat is a time killer of the highest order.

Do you need this site? Ask yourself the following questions:

Can you have company over in an hour - a half hour - fifteen minutes - and feel that your home is clean enough?
Can you find last year's taxes? How about your taxes from three years ago?
Can you find everything you need for a day at the beach - a night on the town - a weekend trip out of town - in less than half an hour?
Is your tub clean enough for a good soak?
Do you know when all of the medicines in your home (both over the counter and prescription) expire?

If the answers to any of these questions is no, you might be interested in this site.

Or, ask yourself these questions:

Is anyone in your home allergic to any of the following: pollen, pet dander, dust or mold spores?
Is there a closet so full of clothes that the hanging rod is bowing in the center?
Is there a closet so full of clothes that you can barely fit another hanger in?
Does your home look or feel cluttered, and you'd like to simplify your life?
Are there any drawers so stuffed with clothes that you can't fit anything else in?
Do you have not dust bunnies, but dust rhinos?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, you may be interested in this site.

Now, I'm no neat freak and I'm sure my home is definitely not the cleanest or best organized in the neighborhood or even the street. But I'm willing to try and I hope you are, too! Together, we can learn about what works, and what doesn't. I propose one-half hour per day for everything. This is 182.5 hours per year, which translates to one week plus fourteen and one-half hours. No more, and even less if you're too busy (but if you put in less time, naturally you shouldn't expect the same results).

There's a specific day for everything: Sunday is trash day/outdoor work. Monday is bathrooms. Tuesday is dusting. Wednesday is vacuuming. Thursday is glass surfaces/mopping.Friday is the kitchen. Saturday is clutter reduction.

You can change the days around, but there is some method to my madness. I have selected Sunday for trash day because my trash is taken on Mondays. Bathrooms can be done any day so they defaulted to Mondays. Dusting, vacuuming and glass surfaces/mopping should be done in that order because the dust gets on the floor and then, after you vacuum your noncarpeted surfaces, you should mop them. Hence the order of these tasks. I selected Fridays for kitchen cleaning because I usually cook splattery stuff on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, so giving the kitchen a good cleaning before Friday is a waste of time. Saturday was picked for clutter reduction because it's the day before trash day and because there's more time on the weekends. Also, since the Goodwill dropoff is in the grocery store parking lot - and I do my grocery shopping on Saturday or Sunday, I'm set with stuff for Goodwill. Play around with the schedule and see what works best for you.

I'll post a list of tools/equipment the first week and then afterwords I'll post various tips and links to other sites that can help. A favorite is Heloise - she's terrific and has a lot of wonderful hints, and not just about cleaning and clutter reduction. The tools and equipment will be chosen for ease of use, price, ecological soundness, convenience or ease of purchase. See my motto, which can be found at the top of the page.

We can do it!