My book review of: The Lost Art of House Cleaning; A Clean House is a Happy Home by Jan M. Dougherty
I am one of the last people most would expect to do a book review. My closest friends know that although I am an author myself I am not much of a reader unless of course the sales ads count. Frankly I just don’t have the time!
Recently I was talking to one of my BFF’s and she started going on and on about a cleaning book she had just read “ The Lost Art of House Cleaning“. My first thought was “A book about cleaning, how terribly boring she needs to get out more.” But as Tracy went on and on about all the tips and tricks I stared to get incredibly intrigued. Tracy shared with me a few of the juicy tips and gushed about how her house was sparkling clean. I decided to head out to Home Depot the next morning and grab a bottle of Krud Kutter and a few supplies , and a can of Bartenders Best Friend that I read about while researching the book and try for myself (surprisingly Bartenders Best Friend is not suggested in Jan’s book, but I still love it) . Well fast forward to the next night after a few calls to Tracy confirming I was doing things right and had the right tools I was on my way to tackling the hardest project in my house, the dreaded orange shower! My shower stall actually isn’t supposed to be orange but with well water that is high in iron just about everything in my house including the white dishes had turned orange over the years. We recently solved the hard water / high iron problem thanks to a new treatment system from Atlas Water but that’s another story for another day.
Before I go further I must add that I actually hired someone to come in and clean and the cleaning lady was not able to do the job. Yes, you read that right, I hired someone to clean, It was the first and last time I will ever do that but that too is another story for another day.
So here I am in my bathroom really wanting to believe this art of cleaning was going to work magic with minimal effort but was a bit skeptic. I sprayed and sprayed and to my surprise it really worked! I watched the old iron rusty stains just run down the wall and wash away. I still needed to use Scotch Brite Scrubbies to get into the caulk lines and make them spotless but it came off and fairly easy! I was shocked. I had spent hours upon hours with every cleaner out there Magic Erasers by the case and my shower never looked perfect and now it looks brand new! The shower bottom did not come as clean as the walls did so I sprinkled some of my Bartenders Best Friend cleaner mixed with a little Krud Kutter and poof all clean! I rinsed everything down with vinegar and my bathroom shined like a show room! I spent about 2 hours cleaning and it was better than it ever was! In the two hours I did not only clean the shower stall and make the grout sparkle clean I also cleaned my jacuzzi tub , tub jets , floors walls, toilet, windows, glass shower doors , etc top to bottom just as Jan teaches. I stood back and watched it all sparkle and shin. I had to keep peeking into the shower stall and every time I walked by. I was in disbelief that the grout was no longer orange. Inspired would be an understatement. I was hooked as in drug addict hooked! I spent the next few days staying up till all hours of the night looking for things to clean with Jan’s methods. It was 1:30 am when i first realized I had a cleaning problem. I spotted Harry’s dog bowl and couldn’t resist spraying it down and watching it instantly shine like never before. Pathetic, maybe but try for yourself and see what you will catch yourself cleaning when you realize you are hooked.
I spent the past weekend at my in-laws lake house and felt withdrawals kick in as I looked at all the things I could be spraying down had I brought my stash of cleaning supplies. The algae stains on the bottom of their boat called me “Clean me , make me shine like new!” When my mother in law spoke of a blue-ish stain on her tub that she couldn’t get out I felt like a drug pusher telling her about this “stuff” I could get her that would make everything perfect. I was trying to recruit her into my cleaning addiction. When my father in law doubtfully asked if I could get his old frying pan looking new it took everything I had not to jump in my car with my GPS and drive an hour plus to the nearest Home Depot to get a fix. Yup all signs of a clean- a-holic! I am hooked! Coupons and cleaning I guess those are to good addictions, right?
So now that I have a cleaning addiction I realized I too wanted more and I too wanted the the book about cleaning. I needed to know more. Aren’t I the wild child! I went on Amazon ready to make my purchase excited to think of what others things I could clean that Tracy didn’t tell me about. I then thought to myself ” slow down!! Think outside the box” I challenged myself . How can I get this for free? So I did a little research and got in touch with the author Jan Doughterty and let her know that I was very interested in reading her book and doing a review. Sure enough she kindly agreed to send me one. But you know me I like to share. After a little arm twisting and website stats I got her to agree to send me 4 books. One for me and three to give away to fellow HTSFF-ians!
Many of you have stated that you consider my How to Shop for Free book your couponing bible well I now consider the Lost art of House cleaning my cleaning Bible and I am ready to preach the word of cleanliness! Thanks Tracy for getting me hooked!
What I love about the book is that it’ a quick read , funny and very informative yet simple so simple! I know some of you will think you know how to clean but be willing to change and your life will be so much cleaner and with little effort. No mops, no scrubbing and very inexpensive cleaning products that you do not need to wear gloves with when you use them. Jan claims to be able to clean her house for under $20.00 a year but you know we can do it for less with coupons!
So lets get the cleaning party started Who wants to win their own autographed copy of The Lost Art of House Cleaning?
If you want to score one for free be sure and enter the contest. If you don’t win you are still want to get a copy of it. Let’s face it you all can’t score freebies like I can so for those of you that can’t there is always Amazon.
Click below to enter for your chance to win one of the 3 autographed copies
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