How to Avoid Housework : Tips, Hints and Secrets to Show You How to Have a Spotless Home Without Lifting

From Publishers Weekly
Although it doesn't promise to eliminate housecleaning altogether, this breezy, upbeat book will gladden slatterns everywhere. Blithe I-hate-housework quotes decorate the margins (e.g., Kay Mosure's quip, "Why is there a permanent press setting on most irons?"), but the author, an interior designer as well as a newspaper and magazine columnist, uses more than humor to rally the troops. Some of the good advice is obvious (throw things away); some of it unlikely (if you have a pet that sheds, train it to live outdoors). Most is specific and well-reasoned: stencil, don't wallpaper, a steamy, heavily used bathroom because wallpaper paste can't withstand high humidity; one-step floor-cleaning products may loosen dirt but will trap it in the finish, so dampen a mop with diluted white vinegar instead. Realistically, if sexistly, addressing women, Jhung urges her audience to hire housekeepers and to draft husbands and children in the war against dirt and detritus?the best way to avoid housework, as always, is to get someone else to do it. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
" Anticleaning" columnist Jhung blames innate messiness for her aversion to housework. A go-getter as well as an inspired loafer, she studied interior design with an eye to making decor decisions that are eye-catching and conducive to a low-maintenance cleaning regimen. She wants to develop a self-cleaning house, and although that remains only a dream, the wisdom amassed in pursuit of it, if heeded, can help make cleaning much easier. Every housework how-to advises on hard-to-clean areas and the various nauseating buildups that cleaning preparations spawn, but Jhung also includes tips on such things as choosing "die-hard" houseplants: "A few lush, healthy houseplants can bring a room to life or screen a mess, and may even clear the air of household pollution." This is down-to-earth advice on keeping accumulating flecks of it from dominating your living space. Mike Tribby


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Although it doesn't promise to eliminate housecleaning altogether, this breezy, upbeat book will gladden slatterns everywhere. Blithe I-hate-housework quotes decorate the margins (e.g., Kay Mosure's quip, ``Why is there a permanent press setting on most irons?''), but the author, an interior designer as well as a newspaper and magazine columnist, uses more than humor to rally the troops. Some of the good advice is obvious (throw things away); some of it unlikely (if you have a pet that sheds, train it to live outdoors). Most is specific and well-reasoned: stencil, don't wallpaper, a steamy, heavily used bathroom because wallpaper paste can't withstand high humidity; one-step floor-cleaning products may loosen dirt but will trap it in the finish, so dampen a mop with diluted white vinegar instead. Realistically, if sexistly, addressing women, Jhung urges her audience to hire housekeepers and to draft husbands and children in the war against dirt and detritus-the best way to avoid housework, as always, is to get someone else to do it. (May)


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