By Judith Garfield
Unlike Erma Bombeck, who once said: “I’m gonna clean this dump-just as soon as the kids are grown,” I’ve been cleaning and loving it since before the kids were born.
Being a loveless cook, one would suspect I also loathe housecleaning.
Au Contraire.
I love to clean. Sparkling counter tops and lustrous floors give me great satisfaction.
The same for Mr. Clean and his magic eraser. The discovery of penicillin was a very important event in the history of medicine. Likewise, the invention of the magic eraser.
What?!! You don’t know about the magic eraser?!! Trust me, this will change your life. I’m not entirely sure how it works –something about fine sanding- I don’t like to delve too deeply into these things.
Last year, while visiting my old friend N. in Manhattan, I realized how obsessed I had become.
“So, where should we go today, she asked? Moma, The Met, The Guggenheim?”
Sitting in her apartment all I could think about was getting my hands on a magic eraser so I could clean the smudge marks off her walls. N is a fabulous writer and professor, but house cleaning is not one of her fortes.
“Let’s do some shopping,” I suggested.
“Great.” Her eyes lit up. “Saks, Bendels, Bergdorf’s?”
I interrupted: “Uh, actually I was thinking more along the lines of the grocery.”
After I had my way with the magic eraser in her bathrooms, she canceled her appointment with the contractor, and her plans to renovate. She always says I saved her twenty thousand dollars. Now she’s happy to indulge me whenever I visit. I love to clean and she loves a clean house.
As far as my house goes, well, let’s just say I discontinued my gym membership after realizing that tackling the dust, the dirt, and the dead bugs that somehow find their way inside gave me the same workout…for free.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining. I enjoy the immediate gratification of spraying and wiping. Which brings me to Mrs. Meyers.
Her products are all natural, eco friendly, and come in a variety of wonderful fragrances. Her basil dishwashing soap makes my lack of a dishwasher almost enjoyable.
This week I plan to start my Spring-cleaning. Sweep the fireplaces, launder the curtains, and polish the floors. Oooohhhh!
And I haven’t even gotten to the porch.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Spring Cleaning
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4 comments:
I so relate LC. I love a good clean house and I too love the process of making it clean. I also love the smell of Mrs. Meyers- Geranium dish washing liquid and counter top spray. Ah the simple things in life...
I, too, love a clean house. The only problem is I loathe cleaning. It's so thankless. My counters go from sparkling to beyond hope after one meal's preparation. The only time I really feel gratified about cleaning is when I leave a clean house to go on vacation and come home to the lingering smell of Pledge. What ever happened to the futuristic promise of robot maids? Now, there's a product I would go into hock for.
best way to clean floors: i walk around in bare feet & once in a while a large crumb will stick to the bottom of one of my feet. pick the crumb off the foot & deposit in the trash. voila! one less crumb on my floor!
LC: i've always said, a good cook is a clean cook. and even a bad cook that is a clean cook is not so bad.
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