Kim Rinehart - The Big Clean

THE BIG CLEAN

How to Clean and Organize Your Home and Free Your Mind

Revised and Updated

ALSO BY KIM RINEHART:

Goodbye, Fatty! Hello, Skinny! How I Lost Weight And Still Ate The Foods I LovedWithout Dieting

THE BIG CLEAN

How to Clean and Organize Your Home and Free Your Mind

Revised and Updated

Kim Rinehart

ARTRUM MEDIA

The Big Clean: How to Clean and Organize Your Home and Free Your Mind (Revised and Updated) Copyright 2009 by Kim Rinehart.

eBook ISBN13: 978-0-9841957-5-6

eBook ISBN10: 0-9841957-5-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher. For information go to www.artrummedia.com.

Published by Artrum Media.

Paperback ISBN-13: 978-0-9841957-4-9

Paperback ISBN-10: 0-9841957-4-2

Disclaimer: The author and the publisher expressly disclaim responsibility for any adverse affects that may result from following the advice, methods and suggestions contained in this book. Caution is urged in use of cleaning and pest control solutions. Neither author nor publisher accept liability or assume responsibility for effectiveness of suggestions.

For those who dont like cleaning.

Contents

Its Not HardYou Can Do It!

Dont you wish you had a maid? Wouldnt it be nice to come home to a clean house thats free of clutter? Wouldnt it be nice to see everything in its place and dust free? Wouldnt it be nice to walk on freshly vacuumed carpets and gleaming wood floors? Wouldnt it be nice to have someone else do it for you?

Yeah, it would.

But, if youre like me, you cant afford a maid. However you still want a relatively clean house with the least amount of effort. Dont think its possible? I believe it is. It doesnt take much and once you start with a clean slate, i.e. by doing some deep cleaning and de-cluttering, all you really have to do is maintain it.

Its called The Big Clean.

The Big Clean is a system I came up with that allows me to go for stretches of time without worrying about housework. I do a Big Clean for each room in my house about once a year. After that, the rest is cake. And after The Big Clean is done, all I generally have to do is put in thirty minutes or so a week to keep my house clean. And I can even do it in increments of five or ten minutes and not all at once.

So, why should you do this? I mean, what are the benefits of doing a deep clean and getting organized? Well, for one thing, wouldnt it be nice to look forward to coming home to a clean house? Knowing you can come home to a place that is clean and in order and where you can find stuff is the best feeling. It gives you a sense of control. Knowing that if you pick up a little here or wipe a little there, your home will stay clean is a great feeling. It frees up your mind so you can concentrate on the more important things in life like dating or kids or shopping online.

Im going to tell you how I do it. Im going to take you step-by-step into the process that works best for me. Everyone that comes into my house tells me how clean it is and wants to know how I do it. It doesnt take that much. Sure, a few times a year I have to do the bigger jobs like washing windowsand I hate washing windowsbut overall, its pretty easy to maintain the clean. That is, once your home is clean and clear of clutter.

This should go without saying, but if you live in a huge house and not the standard three-bedroom, then it might take you a little longer to clean it. But dont worry. If you follow the advice in this book, you should still it get cleaned much more quickly than you would have otherwise.

The key to a clean house is organization. The great thing is that it doesnt take much to organize your house. And by doing this, you should be able to free up a lot of time which would otherwise be spent looking for a lost shoe or remote control or whatever. And you might not waste so much time shoving undesirables out of your way.

There are perks to getting organized:

A good point to mention is that you dont have to tackle everything all at once or all in one day. Just start on the little stuff that is driving you batty, then build on that. Pick a day to do this room or that room and then do it. Thats really all there is to it.

And when youre done, give yourself a little reward. (Im talking about an ice cream cone or nice dinner out, not more junk to clutter your place up again.) Also, while youre doing it, try not to get too overwhelmed. If you start feeling a little caged in, simply take a breather and come back to it later. The important thing to do is to actually come back and finish the work. So, be diligent and once its done, you will find yourself with a groovy, clean home that you will enjoy coming home to every single day. And thats the whole point, right? After youre finished, you might even like to invite some people over so they can enjoy it, too.

Fess Up To the Mess

We all know how to clean, right? I would hope so. But for those of you who find that your house is a Well, a mess, but dont know how to exactly get it clean, I am going to include a few tips along the way in order to help you understand how to get it tidy and keep it tidy.

As I said earlier, once your house is clean, it will be easier to keep it clean by doing little things every other day. Pick a day for laundry, a day for cleaning the bathroom, etc. Or you can save it all for one day. The choice is yours. Again, if its really clean, all you should to have to do for a month or so is spot clean.

Many people hate to clean house with a vengeance. This is understandable. However, it shouldnt take much to convince you that there is nothing like a clean home. I just love to look around mine. Maybe that makes me a bit persnickety, but, hey, I like to touch things without having my fingers stick to them.

But before we get to all that, the first thing you need to do is survey your house and figure out just what youre up against. Go ahead, take a look around. Are there magazines and newspapers everywhere? Is there a mountain of dirty towels in the bathroom? Does everything seem to have a slightly gross film over it? Does it look like someone had a party and forgot to invite you but you still have to clean up the mess?

Is it that bad? If so, dont freak out. Take a few deep, cleansing breaths. Its not as bad as it looks. Well, maybe it is. Nevertheless, its time to fess up to the mess your home is in and own it. Yeah, just like all those talk-show hosts are always telling people to own their problems, you have to own your dirty house and then you can do something about it.

Its easy, at first, to get overwhelmed. Instead of doing that, start with one thing and then move to the next. This doesnt have to be done in one day. Youll be breaking up big tasks into several smaller, more manageable ones. Tackle one joblike dustingall at once, then move on to the next project. That way, if you get fed up with it and dont want to do anymore, at least that part is done.

So, take a look around your home and try not to get overwhelmed. I know its hard to start a cleaning frenzy when everything is out of order and dirty. But the trick is to start slow. And then do it and get it over so you can have some time for yourself.

Important note: Always wear old clothes when you are cleaning. You can ruin a nice outfit if you dont watch it.

Another important thing to do: