Mission Organization: Week 7 – Getting Organized to Clean

I have to confess that I have not been cleaning or organizing this week at home. After spending last week away from home, I did have one day at home getting the laundry caught up and repacked for another trip with my sister. My sister had a medical appointment in the Dallas area, and we have a favorite aunt who has been in the hospital in that same area, so we have spent the last several days in the traveling, visiting, and shopping mode. Woe to my housework.

I may not be at home, but I still haven’t forgotten about the 52 week organizational challenge. This week I want to share a favorite household cleaning book.

Speed Cleaning by Jeff Campbell is a wealth of information about how to efficiently maneuver through the weekly cleaning chores of a regular household. There are suggestions for the correct tools for the job, and how to move through each room in the house so that you don’t have to go over an area twice.  There are also suggestions for environmentally friendly alternative cleaners such as baking soda and vinegar for specific purposes.

Probably most everyone uses some kind of tote like this one for cleaning purposes. If you don’t use one of these, it’s a tool that is very handy.  Speed Cleaning suggests that by keeping one of these totes filled you will save 22 minutes every time you clean because you don’t have to gather up the supplies.  Some of the items to keep in the tote are different spray cleaners, soft cleaning cloths, furniture polish, a whisk broom, and an ostrich feather duster.

I won’t be home from my latest trip until next week, and I am glad that my tote will be ready to go when I get there. There will definitely be a lot of cleaning that needs to be done by the time I make it home.