Clean With What You Have

The honest math

Take out a receipt. The bottle looks inexpensive until you count how often it comes home with you.

The aisle's typical year

Sprays, one for every surface$8–$12 each
Drain gel$9 every month
Oven can$8
Machine tablets$10 a box
Refillsevery trip

$300 and up over a year

Mei's cupboard

Two jugs of white vinegarabout $6
A big bag of baking sodaabout $3
Dish soap and peroxideabout $5
A stack of cotton ragsabout $12
The knowing of what to mix, how much, and whythis book

Most of a year under $40

Those are example shopping costs; your receipt gives you your prices. The book is a separate $19, paid once. A stone cleaner or a product for a particular machine still earns its place when the job calls for it. The cupboard needs answers, not another scent.

What's inside

Twelve chapters. Find the room, turn to the job, and put the measuring cup beside you.

The Cupboard, Not the Aisle
Why Scrubbing Loses
The Shower and Tub
The Toilet, Top to Bottom
Grout, Tile and Caulk
The Oven and Stovetop
The Washing Machine and the Laundry That Smells
Kitchen Grease: Cabinets, Range Hood, Stainless and Pans
Dust That Does Not Come Back
Couches, Carpets, Mattresses and Pillows
Mold, Air and the Rooms That Smell
The Rhythm of the House

You get exact measures, the time to let each treatment work, the reason it works, and the signs that tell you where cleaning stops. Short checklists keep the order in front of you. The final chapter brings the mixes and waiting times together for printing.

Real pages from the real book

Sample page: the working cupboard and the master measures — The master measures, spelled out.

Sample page: the shower habit and checklist — The shower: the habit that keeps the reset small.

Sample page from the middle of the book — The type is set big on purpose.

Who Mei is

My mother kept a six-person flat in southern China clean with a kettle, white vinegar, an enamel basin, and cotton rags. I came to California at twenty-four with her methods. I have kept the same hard-water Sacramento house with Daniel for thirty years, raising our two children here, both grown now.

What you can do after

Clear mineral film from plain, uncoated shower glass with a $3 jug of vinegar and the measured method.
End the mineral ring in the toilet bowl without the blue tablet sitting in the tank.
Strip sour buildup from washable cotton towels in one properly sized load, then dry them completely.
Clean the oven with measured paste and waiting time, without pressing the self-clean button.
Keep dust from landing again so quickly by working high to low and dealing with the vents, filters, and shedding fabric that send it back.

$19, one time.

Instant PDF. If it does not save you the price of one cart of bottles, write to me and I will refund it.

Put the measures where the next person holding the cloth can find them.

Get the book — $19