apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

thanks for posting this, i really enjoyed it. i plan to put it on the side of my fridge as a reminder

Flylady.net is a sort of similar (but hokey/inspirational) system. It's true - sometimes I need to be *motivated* to do those repetitious cleaning chores and to declutter.

i love flylady and have considered giving it as a gift but its extremely hokey and it's hard to get past that and onto to the meat of the book. also it seems kind of insulting to tell someone they are living in what she calls CHAOS (can't have anyone over syndrome).

Wow. I feel like a total slob after reading the list.

This seems too simplified.

Wipe down and disinfect counters weekly? I'm a slob and I do it after each meal I prepare.

Dust mouldings and ceiling fans monthly? Does anyone do this that often? We do it maybe twice a year.

Oh crap, you're supposed to deodorize the microwave?

Having more-or-less memorized Peg Bracken's I Hate to Housekeep at age 8, I'm imagining what she'd say about having a scheduled routine for disinfecting doorknobs.

Flylady is such a guilty pleasure. I love the collected stories about what people found while doing their decluttering... dead animals in the freezer! amputated limbs! contraception that expired three children ago! Anything you subsequently find under your bathroom sink seems so minor compared to these stories.

Unfortunately, Jon, some people really do do some of these obscure cleaning chores frequently. Too frequently if you ask me.

Seven years ago I was an au pair in Denmark (not recommended BTW!) and I still can't believe their cleaning demands. I had to sweep and dust the entire house three times a week, clean the bathroom (including washing the walls!?!) every week. All floors, moldings, baseboards, doorknobs, doors and the outside of the fridge had to be washed weekly. The fridge, pantry and cabinets had to be completely emptied and washed monthly. All of that was considered "light cleaning" and wasn't mentioned until I got there, of course.

My very first cleaning day, after I spent HOURS cleaning, my male employer came in, wiped his finger between the banisters, managed to find some dust, and accused me of sitting around doing nothing all day. Ya. I should have left that minute, or punched him, but I stuck around for a few months. Because I am an idiot.

Who knows how to deodorize microwave? I'd really like to know, mine is smelly :P

Deodorize the microwave by scrubbing it with baking soda, then nuking half a lemon for twenty seconds or so.

I say at least wait until the dust bunnies are fully grown so they can fight back.

Hee hee...sorry, had to laugh. Other than doing linen-type things like washing curtains and pillows, us Marine barracks rats did everything on that chart every week. Or twice a week if we missed a dust bunny the first time around. We even moved furniture and cleaned UNDER the wall-to-wall carpet. Hilarious, looking back on it now.

@jenniejen: I agree and there is a *lot* I look past - the stupid acronyms, the site design, the new-country music, the constant talk about kids, etc but I find the bare bones helpful if I am not busy resenting the rest. I signed up for the modified bare bones email list and just print out the "sneak peek for the week" zone missions and read the testimonials to get inspired. I haven't read the book.

@wende: I know! I sickly especially enjoy the Child Protective Services emails because even though I don't have kids, they light a fire under my butt.

I get the Flylady e-mails, too. I have yet to have a major change from it, but I'm sure her basic approach is right. I've also bought her calendar, which is a really good one--nice big spaces for writing in. And there's nothing dorky on it, except the cover, which you never see after you open it up. Both top and bottom, inside, are printed with the calendar squares (so one month takes up a whole double-page spread).

wow. there are several things on that list I have NEVER done, even in an apartment I lived in for seven years with a cat. (It was a tiny studio and I never had anyone over). I've gotten much better since then but am starting to think it may be time for a cleaning lady ;-).

I'm with eeeck. Some of these things on that chart I never even thought about doing. I am fascinated and not a little appalled by the really clean freaks among us, like the inlaw of a cousin who TOOK DOWN HER KITCHEN CABINETS AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR TO CLEAN BEHIND THEM. How dirty could those walls possibly get? I have a little plaque made by a beloved friend in her letter-press class years ago, something to the effect that hatred of domestic labor is the first step toward freedom. Everyone has an individual threshold of tolerance. I don't like things to smell funny, I take out the garbage and sanitize food-preparation surfaces, and I certainly clean the catbox, but how many hours are there in the day? No one ever regretted on her deathbed that she didn't spend more time dusting.

As a chemistry teacher, it cracks me up that this is presented in Periodic Table format.

"A clean house is a sign of a misspent life."