Speed Cleaning

Anyone who spends too many weekends scrubbing and dusting will find this guide aimed squarely at them. Its author argues that traditional housework takes up time that belongs to rest and pleasure, and that tips alone will not solve the problem. The answer offered here is a different approach to cleaning altogether.

The book is built around the Clean Team, a crew of professional cleaners from San Francisco who can clean a whole house in 42 minutes. Readers are taught the team's methods, which focus on making each movement count so that the work goes faster without becoming more strenuous. The revised edition covers environmentally safe products that perform well, newer tools and techniques that cut both time and cost, and a system suited to either one person or a household. It also explains how to get the most from a hired cleaner or cleaning service, and includes a summary of the book in Spanish.

The approach is step by step and streamlined, and its promise is that following it can halve the time spent cleaning, or cut it even further.