Oh, wow. How in the world did the lady who cleaned my house before I retired make it look SO good in just 3 hours!?!?!? It is backbreaking, never ending work!
Today, I spent 3 hours on one SMALL bathroom and JUST vacuuming the other rooms she used to clean. I didn't even dust first (don't tell my mom).
I ran out of steam and didn't even consider mopping those floors, which of course means I have to start all over with sweeping or vacuuming the next time I don the head scarf.
It's not like I'm in bad shape - I workout 5 days a week! Three days with a personal trainer and the other two, intermediate Pilates. Add to that a bike ride a couple times a week (and I'm not talking about a Harley).
Of course, there are some differences between Domestic Goddess Day and Cleaning Lady Day.
For instance, the night before the CLD, we held what my father used to call "A Pick Up Parade," to put things away and leave clear, unencumbered surfaces ripe for the cleaning. On DGD, it's just little old me putting stuff away as I go and sometimes I have to admit that is A LOT of stuff.
CLD happened every other week without fail! There were no long stretches of haphazard cleanliness as have become more the norm now. Hey I am RETIRED, not seeking employment as Domestic Goddess.
Of course, we paid the Cleaning Lady and she cleaned our house in the morning, another in the afternoon. Getting paid (and believe me it was more than minimum wage - see below), and having a second half of the day to get paid, would certainly add incentive to do a job quickly... yet well enough to keep a pretty good gig.
But seriously, how did she do it?
A few years ago I read the book Nickle and Dimed in America in which an essayist tries to 'make it' on minimum wage jobs in different parts of the country, just to see if it can be done (hardly).
During one stretch, she cleans homes. She is trained that the Number 1 Public Enemy of cleaning services is WATER. Yes, any surface that can be cleaned with a spray and a wipe will not receive any amount of water as a cleaning agent. This includes the bathroom - ICK! Apparently, water just takes too long to go down the sink or otherwise be removed from a surface.
There were certainly other tricks to the cleaning trade, but the NO WATER policy is the only one I remember.
But my CL was a friend of a friend and she had never worked for a service in her life so I'm thinking the no water trick would be news to her. I suppose I could be wrong.
Even then, can NOT using water save you HOURS in the process of cleaning a house?
Well, like many difficult questions in life, I believe this one may never be answered.
In the meantime, I will tidy up when I can, do some real cleaning on Domestic Goddess Days (only when it rains from May through October) and recall with fondness and immense respect the days of The Cleaning Lady.
Merry Maid-ing,
Miriam
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