I am only calling it Spring Cleaning because I am talking about it in the Spring time. Cleaning house is one of my least favorite of things to spend my time and energy on, but alas it is most necessary and facing the matter head on, I do feel better when my house is clean... Well I should say cleaner, rather then dirtier. With a lot of us either cut or greatly reduced in the home care department thanks to budget cuts, and a legislature that listens to the squeakiest wheels that squawk the loudest, we must do our best to fill in the holes where we can. In my house it sometimes means that some things are clean up to a certain point but it is certainly better then nothing done at all.

Starting from the bottom, today's focus is on the floors so I'll talk about equipment  along with the chore.

Sweeping: Looking back at myself, learning how to sweep a floor in a chair, all I can say is ohh boy... and not in the excited sense either.  Now I manage pretty well, but I can still remember cracking myself in the skull with the broom handle and taking headers out of my chair, trying to pick up the dirt. So lets talk about the lowly broom.  If you can find a broom with a wooden handle, you or a friend can cut it shorter to make it easier to manipulate. Make sure you sand down the cut end really good. Don't try a metal handle, I did this and even taped up the end and it cut the heehaw out of the palms of my hands. For easier gripping, a few inches of pipe insulation, measure the palm of your hand and add two inches, taped tightly around the handle where you would grip it, helps tons. A hole drilled in the end of the handle and threaded through with a loop of stiff cording, will help you pick it up if you drop it. (a good job for the hooky stick) Now you cant talk about the broom without it's trusty companion, the dust pan!  I used to get long handled dust pans from the dollar store but they were easily broken and after a while, they quit selling them so now I am saving my pennies to get a long handled one like professional janitors use, in the meantime, I just get someone passing by to dump the shorty for me.

Mopping:  Mopping is a challenge of the first degree. Plan out your mopping strategy before you start so that you're never rolling on wet floor. I have black tires (huge mistake!) so along with the regular dirt of everyday rolling, they have this lovely black residue that seems to be water soluble. You haven't lived till you've looked back at what should be a nice clean floor, and seeing a giant, black tic tac toe board where you've rolled wet tires around. Next, forget the buckets! Buckets are heavy, weight shifting, giant pains in the necks and other body parts. Use what is closest. In the kitchen I use the kitchen sink, in the bathroom, the tub, just plan on scrubbing those things last in each room, after the floor is clean and dry.

Vacuuming: When you buy a vacuum cleaner, try to get one with an adjustable handle and set the handle to the shortest it will go. This is the biggest pain of all the floor jobs. To keep the machine as light as possible, empty the dirt cup often. Start at one edge, set your brakes and vacuum as far as you can safely reach, relocate and do it all over again. This will take up a good chunk of time but at least it will be done! 

Now to finish up this lively article I say... Section! Before you start working on your floors, plan to do it in small sections, it is easier to do when you concentrate on one square of room at a time and before you know it... You're done! Pat yourself on the back and treat yourself good!

Whats for dinner? Italian sausage patties with cheese and eggs on English muffins and a big green salad. Three more weeks until the farmer's market opens! YAY!