[.ca] Talking Dirty With the Queen of Clean: Second Edition (ISBN 0743490401)

From Amazon.com:
Stand back, Heloise, here comes the Queen of Clean. Armed with both common sense and ingenuity, Linda Cobb made a name for herself on Morning, Arizona. For those of you who don't happen to live in Arizona, she has written this helpful little book. Talking Dirty with the Queen of Clean tackles just about any household stain, stink, or accident you can think of. "There are five cleaning products you should never be without," says the Queen, "and most of them are things you already have in your home." What are they? White vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice, club soda, and Spot Shot Instant Carpet Stain Remover (her favorite brand). With these simple items, you can clean and deodorize nearly every room in your home, thereby saving money on expensive store-bought cleaners and reducing the amounts of chemicals in your home. Did you burn a casserole? Fill the dish with hot water, one tablespoon of baking soda, and soak. Try cleaning brass and copper with half a lemon sprinkled with salt. It should shine right up (and smell good, too). The chapters are short and sweet, and besides the usual home/pet/kid/upholstery cleaning techniques, the Queen also tackles patio furniture, the grill, electronic equipment, plants, and smoke and water damage. Did you know you can distract grasshoppers by planting basil around your flowerbeds? They'll eat that and leave your flowers alone. Here's our favorite tip: when painting or washing walls, wrap washcloths or old rags around your wrists and secure them with rubber bands. When you lift your arms, the paint or water drips will be absorbed instead of running all the way down your arms. Keep this book handy. --Dana Van Nest

tremendous help:
I tried a few tips given in the book. It worked like a charm. I am not sure if I will become a fanatic cleaner, but it does take a lot of guess work out of cleaning.

Linda Cobb is help available for inveterate slobs like me:
If you read this book, you will find a way to tailor it to your own cleaning needs, good points and lacks. She has helped me turn the corner on my 44 year old bad habits by helping me attack the dirt her way. It is much easier to have a sense of control over your mess if you have knowledge of how to clean and what to clean. Thank you very much!

IT IS POSSIBLE TO MOTIVATE CHILDREN TO HELP CLEAN:
Yes, it is possible to motivate even the laziest child (my own) to help with spring cleaning! We saw Linda Cobb on Oprah one day and then went out and bought her book. When we got home my 10 year old daughter wanted to purchase the cleaning supplies and get going. So, I struck while the iron was hot. For about ... I purchased all of the "staples" that Ms. Cobb recommended. Then my daughter went to work. She made a paste of baking soda, bleach and borax, wore rubber gloves and goggles and attacked the mold and mildew on the bathtub/shower tiles by gently brushing the paste on. We let it sit for one hour and rinsed it off with the shower. No scrubbing, no scraping the mold is gone! Next I made Linda's solution to clean screens, took the screens outside, applied it and hosed it off. Walla! You could see the dirt falling off almost by itself! This is the best, most affordable and efficient book on cleaning I have ever read. God Bless Linda Cobb!

Good - and good FOR you:
Forget Martha. Forget Heloise. Forget the scary perfectionistic tomes on how to keep house. This is the book that has changed my life, cleaning-wise. If this book can't solve your worst cleaning problem, nothing will. I had tried an increasingly evil-sounding succession of expensive products to get the hard-water scum off my shower door. What finally worked? The vinegar-and-water solution in this book. I thought the grayish patches in my tub were there to stay until I followed the Queen of Clean's suggestion of... borax. I got months of burned-on food off my cooktop with the Queen's laughably simple scouring powder. Not only is my house cleaner than it ever has been, but I also threw out my toxic cleaning products, and I even feel better about myself: it turns out I wasn't a slob, I just wasn't using the right equipment to clean.

Absolute Genius!:
Linda Cobb is an absolute genius when it comes to cleaning, spot removal, helpful hints, etc. I haved tried several of her recommendations and have saved $$$ and a lot of valueable time! I must tell everyone about one specific helpful hint that has completely changed the way I clean: "ACT NATURAL" the chemical free cleaning concept! I ordered these fantastic products from "euronetusa.com" as soon as I read about them and could not believe the results. I never thought it was possible to clean without chemicals (you just use water with these products!) but was able to get rid of nearly all of them! No more dangerous fumes around my family. It saves me money, time and energy and helps our environment... Linda, you have really changed my life! Thank you...