A Clean House

"A clean house makes coming home even nicer." -- So states an advertisement for The Cleaning Authority -- "Your Residential Cleaning Professionals".

Well, some days I feel like a residential cleaning professional. Maybe that should be my new title. No more "housewife" or "stay-at-home mom" or even "domestic engineer", or my favorite, "domestic goddess." No! From now on, I am Mrs. Residential Cleaning Professional! Hear me vacuum!!

Okay, so I'm only a professional in my own home. Hand me someone else's cleaning to-do list and I am completely lost. But I have managed to keep a somewhat clean home -- as clean as two little boys, two cats and a very large black hairy dog will allow -- in my four-and-a-half years of married life. But there is always much room for improvement, especially for a Type W (Wait to clean it until it looks really dirty for Maximum Complement Potential) personality such as myself.

The ad goes on to say "Life's too short to clean your own home." Well, as a Residential Cleaning Professional (RCP) myself, I would have to say that my life is long enough to clean my own home. I know that's not the case for everyone, so don't take offense. Not everyone is called into the Residential Cleaning Profession! But I do actually enjoy the process, and especially the end result, of cleaning... yes, even the toilets! There is a certain satisfaction in entering a freshly cleaned bathroom, knowing that you are going to be cleaner coming out than you were going in.

Okay, enough potty humor. The reason I wanted to post this blog is to list the many, many things these particular RCP's do to maintain the beauty of the homes they clean. I could take quite a few pointers from these people!

This is what they do every time they come to your home:

Bathrooms:
tile walls, bathtubs and showers cleaned and disinfected
shower doors cleaned and disinfected
vanity and sink cleaned and disinfected
mirrors and chrome fixtures cleaned and shined
floors washed and disinfected/carpets vacuumed
toilets cleaned and disinfected
mildew chemically treated
cobwebs removed
general dusting

Kitchen and Eating areas:
countertops cleaned
outside of range hood cleaned
top and front of range cleaned
drip pans wiped
sinks cleaned and disinfected, chrome shined
fronts of other appliances cleaned
floors vacuumed and mopped
cobwebs removed
microwave wiped out
general dusting

Sleeping and Living Areas:
flat areas damp cloth dusted
stairs vacuumed
accessible closet floors vacuumed
all readily accessible floors vacuumed
wood floors vacuumed and dust mopped
cobwebs removed
picture frames dusted
window sills and ledges dusted
louvered doors dusted
mini blinds dusted
ceiling fans dusted
lampshades dusted
intricate items dusted
heavy knick-knack areas dusted

And these services are provided on a rotating basis:

Bathroom Detail Cleans:
tile grout scrubbed
shower door given extra attention
spot clean doors and door frames for fingerprints
knick-knacks individually cleaned
fronts of cabinets wiped
baseboard wiped
extra attention to floors

Kitchen and Eating Area Detail Cleans:
inside of range hood cleaned
grease filter cleaned
drip pans cleaned
doors and frames spot cleaned for fingerprints
appliances cleaned and shined
knick-knack areas cleaned
outside of cabinets cleaned
baseboards wiped
all kitchen furniture hand wiped

Sleeping and Living Area Detail Cleans:
doors and frames spot cleaned for fingerprints
window sills and ledges damp wiped
knick-knacks individually cleaned
furniture hand wiped
baseboards wiped
furniture and upholstery vacuumed
carpet edges vacuumed
areas under accessible furniture vacuumed

Okay... wait... maybe I DO want these people to come clean my house ;)

Regardless, I know I'm going to be adding some of these things to my cleaning to-do list! I always forget to remove the cobwebs, clean the inside of the microwave, DUST, and vacuum the furniture. So I guess I'm not doing too bad, I just have some things I need to work on. I think I'll print this list out and work it in to my cleaning routine. Or maybe I'll start with making a cleaning routine. Whoa! I'm on a roll. Any other RCP's out there?