Speed Cleaning
by Jeff Campbell
List Price:
Our Price: $6.89
You Save: $6.11 (47%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Jeff CampbellEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1991-05-01
ISBN: 0440503744
Number of pages: 208
Publisher: Dell
Book Reviews of Speed Cleaning
Book Review: Should be required reading, IMHO
Summary: 4 Stars
I picked this book up based on a suggestion from Elaine St. James' great book, "Simplify Your Life". I used to spend six hours every Saturday and/or Sunday cleaning my house, and was still never happy with how it looked at the end. I dreaded the whole ordeal & would even just put it off entirely sometimes for weeks on end. Then my house would get so hideous, I'd want to cry when I just HAD to clean it up.
When I learned Speed Cleaning, that all changed. To put it bluntly, before this book, there was no method to my cleaning madness. I learned how to go from room-to-room in an actual sequence, instead of the disorderly way I did before. Moving left-to-right & top-to-bottom is the sane way to go, but that had completely gone over my head before. I despised wearing the apron at first. No joke. But like the author said I would, I got used to it. Then I couldn't live w/o it. I have to clean w/ my tools- cleaning toothbrush, scraper, whisk broom, etc.- on me. The first time I got my thirteen-hundred-square-foot home cleaned by myself in an hour-and-a-half, I nearly jumped for joy. And it was "white-glove" clean. What woman or man doesn't want both a beautiful home AND their weekends back? Last weekend I actually found myself enjoying the cleaning- kind of kooky, but I loved seeing how clean everything got & how efficient I was! I never thought I'd say that.
I'm VERY glad I read this book & learned how to clean properly myself. For one thing, it's made me an extremely discerning customer. I got maid service for a few months because of a knee injury recently & was not thrilled w/ them- they weren't bad maids overall, but they missed a lot of things in the kitchen (like moving the small appliances & cleaning under them), they didn't dust windowsills or the bottom pedastal of the dining table, things like that which are easy to forget I suppose. But it's really important to get up as much dust as possible so that allergies don't get bad (and it all just looks better, period). Because I knew how to clean myself, I was able to catch these things & realize that the maid service wasn't worth the cost & bother. I never would have realized this before. Jeff Campbell's method really is the most thorough all in all, besides being pretty speedy. His version of kitchen cleaning, especially, is far superior to my former maid service's (which is considered the best company in my area).
Just a few cons exist in the book. The book came out in the 1980's. I'm giving it four stars instead of five because it really needs some updating. Considering it's still in print & is still a decent seller, I expect this of the author. I wish the book would update the products used for it's new readers (considering that there's more than Comet on the market for a household scrub, and microfiber cloths are now all the rage). Some of the products they mention (Brite, for example) aren't even on the market anymore. For real up-to-date help, though, they do have a good website. And their customer service people are really wonderful, too. But it'd be nice if they'd refresh the book- maybe even put it in color, w/ a spiral binding, so it's even more user-friendly (the current book just uses black-and-white illustrations). Vacuums & their attachments, also, have DRASTICALLY changed & improved since the 1980's. That really should be addressed.
Also, I do not like ostrich feather dusters both for ethical reasons (it's a cruel thing they do to the ostriches to get those feathers) & for cleanliness reasons. The best way to get rid of dust on a surface is vacumming it up w/ a high-quality, H.E.P.A.-filtered vacuum via an appropriate attachment or at the very least using a microfiber cloth to pick it up. More elbow grease involved, I know. But it only takes a vacuum & a dusting attachment, or a couple of cloths, and not that much more time. The dusting is more complete, better for people w/ allergies, and lasts longer than feather dusting. (Installing a good air filter isn't a bad idea, either.) And no matter how well you vacuum-dust or cloth-dust, eventually you'll have to break out good old furniture polish. (I like Lemon Pledge b/c it cleans & polishes wood, leather & stainless steel beautifully.) And glass, TV screens, glass lamp parts- eventually they'll either need to be individually & thoroughly cleaned w/ glass cleaner or washed by hand. Jeff's recommendation is to put anything you can in the dishwasher- filters, knick-knacks, stovetop burners, etc.- and let me say I completely agree! I'd say this needs to be done every 1-3 months, depending upon the smoke, dust & dirt level entering your home. Because I have to clean everything that I own thoroughly, I'm also not shopping for new things like I once did. Clutter only makes for more (house)work- no thanks!
There is a chapter in the book on cleaning the oven (with oven cleaner sitting overnight, using tons of paper towels, etc.), and I'm not sure why that was included in the book, since it is not a weekly chore. It should have been saved for "Spring Cleaning", the other book by the author for non-weekly chores. He also acknowledges something important in "Spring Cleaning" that he didn't here- if you're house hasn't been cleaned well, the initial cleaning will take a long time, and quite often, deep-cleaning chores like cleaning carpets, washing windows & cleaning the kitchen appliances thoroughly will be needed before Speed Cleaning can go fast.
Be aware that this will not be an easy or quick system to follow if you let the house get really dirty & cluttered heavily throughout the week. I, like many people, use FlyLady's system to maintain my home day-to-day. This includes doing daily chores such as making the beds every morning, cleaning up the kitchen every night after dinner, putting things away when I'm done with them immediately & keeping up w/ the laundry. Maintaining a neat place all the time makes the weekly cleaning go much more swiftly & simply. The book I read by Jeff Campbell, "Clutter Control", doesn't detail these things, to be clear. If you're a completely messy person, FlyLady or a similar system is needed first.
One or two reviewers complained that Campbell wrote the book for people working in a team. Yes, the author did lay it out so that if a team is available (say, a husband, wife & one teenage kid in the household), they could work together. But he also wrote it in a manner that one can follow it very easily when working alone. You simply start with cleaning the kitchen, then the bathroom(s), then dust the other rooms, then finish by vacuuming in all rooms but the kitchen & bathroom(s), since those rooms have already been cleaned. Work left-to-right, top-to-bottom throughout. Simple enough. And the author tells you which products that you can use from the grocery store- he just tells you about the products from their website because they did a lot of research & found the best products through trial-and-error, then decided to sell them. The cleaners that they themselves sell work pretty darn good, though, have no fumes or odor in 99% of them, are moderately-priced & environmentally-friendly. It's up to you, which the author spells out. You don't need many cleaners at all w/ this system, by the way, and definitely no gadgets.
I recommend purchasing the DVD of Speed Cleaning from their website if you can afford it. I got so much out of viewing that, on top of reading the book. It really improved my efficiency & thoroughness to watch him go through the actual cleaning of a home, the Speed Cleaning way. Also, the author's book "Spring Cleaning" is the definitive guide to quickly getting through non-weekly chores like washing windows, FYI. I agree with the one or two reviewers that said learning this method of housework should be required in school. Learning to keep a clean, uncluttered house (and life) is essential.
Summary of Speed Cleaning
Clean your entire house in 42 minutes with the Clean Team's unbeatable system that makes every move count.Health, Mind & Body Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Health, Mind & Body Books
Obedience to Authority: An Experimental Viewby Stanley Milgram
Harpercollins; Published: 1974-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $532.97
Emily's Reasons Why Not: A Novelby Carrie Gerlach
William Morrow Paperbacks; Published: 2005-05-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
Truth & Beautyby Ann Patchett
HarperAudio; Published: 2004-05-11; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $3.27
Price in other shops:
She Comes First: The Thinking Man's Guide to Pleasuring a Womanby Ian Kerner
William Morrow Paperbacks; Published: 2009-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.06
Price in other shops:
My Life Among the Serial Killers: Inside the Minds of the World's Most Notorious Murderersby Helen Morrison, Harold Goldberg
William Morrow; Published: 2004-05-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.96
Price in other shops:
Nutrition: Science and Applicationsby Lori A. Smolin
Harcourt College Pub; Published: 1996-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $30.50
Price in other shops:
Complete Idiot's Guide to Throwing a Great Partyby Patty Sachs, Phyllis Cambria
Alpha; Published: 2000-10-12; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.10
Price in other shops:
Complete Idiot's Guide to Walking for Healthby Erika Peters
Alpha; Published: 2001-02-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $49.11
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Managing Stressby Jeffrey P.; Davidson, Jeff Davidson
Macmillan Distribution; Published: 1996; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.33
Diving-Bell and the Butterflyby Jean-Dominique Bauby
Harpercollins Pb; Published: 2002-05-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.01
Similar Books and other products
Cleaning Plain & Simple: A ready reference guide with hundreds of sparkling solutions to your everyday cleaning challengesby Donna Smallin
Storey Publishing, LLC; Published: 2005-12-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.14
Price in other shops:
Talking Dirtby Jeff Campbell
Dell; Published: 1997-05-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.98
Price in other shops:
The Professional Cleaner's Personal Handbookby Don Aslett
Marsh Creek Press; Published: 2007; CD-ROM; Book
Best price: $13.60
Price in other shops:
Simplify Your Life: 100 Ways to Slow Down and Enjoy the Things That Really Matterby Elaine St. James
Hyperion; Published: 1994-04-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.69
Price in other shops:
Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping Houseby Cheryl Mendelson
Scribner; Published: 2005-04-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.91
Price in other shops:
Good as Newby Jeff Campbell
Dell; Published: 1998-07-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops:
Spring Cleaningby Jeff Campbell
Dell; Published: 1989-03-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.89
Price in other shops:
Clutter Control: Putting Your Home on a Dietby Jeff Campbell
Dell; Published: 1992-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.89
Price in other shops:
How to Open & Operate a Financially Successful Cleaning Service: With Companion CD - ROMby Beth Morrow
Atlantic Publishing Company; Published: 2008-04-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $19.97
Price in other shops:
Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shuiby Karen Kingston
Three Rivers Press; Published: 1999-05-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.07
Price in other shops: