EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to a writer's error, the notes taken from a source were published as Monday, April 28, 2008's What Women Need. Andra Bryan Stefanoni was not the author of that story. Below is the intended story.
Among married couples, women still do 63 percent of the household work, dedicating an average of 16 hours per week to household tasks such as cleaning, according to findings last year by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
What women need, it would seem, are tips for streamlining the process.
Marla Cilley, whose given name probably doesn't ring a bell but whose super hero-like name, “Fly Lady,” has catapulted her to fame among would-be domestic divas, recommends a “maintenance approach” to house cleaning: Rather than spend an entire day a week cleaning, or several days a year “spring cleaning,” complete a few 30-second to 1-minute chores each day in each room.
“In the kitchen, always start with the sink. Keep it empty and shining,” said Cilley, who authored Sink Reflections (Bantam, $15) and created www.FlyLady.net. “A sparkling sink becomes your kitchen's benchmark for hygiene and tidiness, inspiring you to load the dishwasher immediately and keep counters, refrigerator doors, an the stove-top spick-and span, too.”
Real Simple Magazine online offers an approach much like the Fly Lady: For example, follow a 4 1/2-minute daily plan for the kitchen to keep it shining:
1. Wipe down the sink after doing the dishes or loading the dishwasher (30 seconds)
2. Wipe down the stove top (1 minute)
3. Wipe down the counters (1 minute)
4. Sweep, Swiffer, or vacuum the floor (2 minutes)
Area professional house cleaner Mary Brinson, Frontenac, offered her own tips and tricks for streamlining chores:
“For a weekly cleaning, I always start with the bathrooms,” she said. “They usually are the dirtiest and take the most effort, so I tackle them first when I am fresh.”
She then moves to the kitchen and living areas, and finishes with light cleaning in bedrooms.
For daily maintenance and weekly cleaning, Brinson recommends using Clorox Wipes to wipe down the exteriors of toilets and sinks.
“You can use them to wipe around the base of a toilet, the flush handle, the seat, and it disinfects. Then you just throw them away,” she said, adding that to do such a chore with a sponge or rag that then is laundered “moves the germs and grime from your bathroom into your washing machine.”
