Sometimes you just look around your house and say �Where do I START?!?!�

Well, you start at the TOP! Why? Because when cleaning and dusting, gravity participates. To get your home as clean as possible, we have to work with what we have and we have gravity!

Even if you damp-dust, you�re not going to get all of it. If you start cleaning from the highest point of the room and move downward, you will be able to clean the dirt and dust that has fallen. Think about it: if you started at the bottom (a windowsill for example) and worked your way up, you could wind up with dust or dirt from higher up landing on your clean windowsill.

How important is this really? I guess that depends on what your cleaning goals are. Is this that once-in-a-blue-moon deep down scrub? Is it the once weekly cleanup? Either way, do you have people (or animals) in the home that are sensitive to dust mites or dander? Do you live in an older house where there could be lead residue and dust? Is your mother-in-law visiting? Only you can decide how important it is. The reality is: if you�re going to clean all of these areas anyway�is it that much trouble to start at the top versus starting at the bottom?

So start at the top and work downward. For me, I take this to the extreme of starting on the upper level of the house and working my way down. I�m not so much a clean freak as I am supremely lazy�so the concept of anything dirty falling on the area that I took the time to clean makes me absolutely crazy. I start upstairs. Where I start upstairs is irrelevant.

Whichever room you start with, pick the highest point and clean�moving downward. Dust the cobwebs up in the corners of your ceiling. Clean the tops of your ceiling fan blades. Wipe (or dust) the top of your window moulding. Get the top of your dresser mirror. On your way down, don�t forget picture frames hanging on the wall. You get the idea. The last thing you do is the vacuuming. I love my Swiffer, but when I�m TRULY cleaning, I need to be sure that everything that has fallen to the ground is not kicked up into the air again�so I end by vacuuming (the wood floors AND the area rugs).

At the end of it all, I know it�s CLEAN. Let my mother-in-law wipe her finger on my baseboards. Go ahead�make my day!