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3 )“Rather than spray entire
sur faces with cleaner, just
sprit z ‘contact areas’ where
grime collects, like the spot
on your patio door where
your dog left paw prints,”
says Dellutri. “Then dampen
half of a microfiber cloth with
water, leaving the other half
dry. Swipe the spots you
sprayed with the dry side
and use the damp half to
wipe other surfaces like
mirrors —you’ll save so much
time by not overspraying
items that aren’t that dirty!”Spotless in
half the time!
Borrow a trick hospitals use for a quick yet clinical clean:
Grab a microfiber mop, which locks in more dirt than
other mops, says cleaning coach Leslie Reichert. “You
can also Velcro a microfiber cloth to the bottom of a
Swiffer. Then fill a spray bottle^1 ⁄ 4 " high with cleaner
and the rest of the way with water. Spritz the cloth and
glide it across floors—no messy bucket needed!”It’s too hot outside to break a sweat cleaning—which is
why we tapped the pros for their easy, breezy secrets
that’ll get your house spick-and-span in a flash
Your organized home
Make kitchen floors sparkle
with a “hospital mop”Instead of zigzagging, vacuum in “corn rows,” says
Dellutri. “Start at the farthest left corner, fling the
cord over your left shoulder like a lasso and go straight.
When you reach the end of the first row, step to the
right and vacuum in the opposite direction. You’ll be
taking fewer steps and will get done in half the time.”Clean carpets in a flash
with the corn-row trickBanish 85% of dirt
instantly by tapping
your feet six times
Lift gunk with
a 50/50 clothTossing stuff into a laundry basket makes quick
work of clutter. To speed through even faster, try
organizer Dorothy Breininger’s trick: “Jot down
where the items belong on a sticky note—say, ‘tax
papers = den’—then stick the note on the bin and
stash it in a closet. When you return to the basket
later, you’ll know where everything belongs.”40 8/5/19^ Woma n’s World
Research shows that the first four steps
we ta ke into our home track in nearly
85% of the dirt in our house. The speedy
trick to stopping that grime before it gets
in? Just tap your feet on your doormat six
times, suggests Laura Dellutri, author of
Speed Cleaning 101. “That’s why the dirt-
grabbing mats that big stores use in their
entryways are typically six-feet-long,” she
explains. “It takes about six steps to knock
off as much dirt as possible.”
KO clutter in a “later” bin