Good Housekeeping The Complete Household Handbook: The Best Ways to Clean, Maintain & Organize Your Home [Hardcover]

From the Editors of Good Housekeeping (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2005

For more than 100 years, the professionals at the Good Housekeeping Institute have helped readers keep their homes in top shape. This complete guide offers the Institute's expert advice everything homeowners need to know, from cleaning a floor to fixing a leaky gutter.

The professionals at the Good Housekeeping Institute present practical, easy-to-understand, and simple-to-implement advice on every aspect of maintaining and managing a home. The Institute's directors have researched and tested all the time, money, and energy-saving tricks in the book, from choosing a vacuum to removing wallpaper, from getting rid of stains to keeping your family safe, and much more. Throughout, homeowners will find vital hints and tips, color-coded by category for quick reference, plus checklists, charts, and step-by-step illustrations ranging from the anatomy of a door lock to maintaining a beautiful lawn. A Selection of the Bookspan Book Club.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This extensive, phenomenally organized volume lives up to its title: with this household handbook, there's no need for another. The book even manages to make such dry subjects as loading a dishwasher and installing lock sets reader-friendly and reasonably interesting. The chapters—beginning with cleaning and going through laundry and clothes care, food and the kitchen, decorating, storage and home office solutions, maintenance and repairs, home finances, and safety—are logically subdivided to help readers find topics quickly. They feature frequent boxes containing helpful suggestions ("keep a sponge mop just for rinsing floors; it is almost impossible to get all the cleaning solution out of a mop"), time savers ("paint large areas more quickly with the help of a power roller"), dollar stretchers, safety tips and advice on how to shop for specific items. Diagrams, checklists and focused sidebars (such as how to hang pictures, in the home decorating chapter) round out the detailed coverage. Neat freaks will pore over this work as if it were a suspense novel; the rest of the population will be glad to take its easy-to-follow advice as needed. (Apr.)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Hearst (April 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1588164039
• ISBN-13: 978-1588164032
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #854,338 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book tells it all..., October 25, 2005

By 

Annette Hester "countrywoman1" (White Oak,NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Good Housekeeping The Complete Household Handbook: The Best Ways to Clean, Maintain & Organize Your Home (Hardcover)

I bought this book for my young bachelor son; but after going through it, I am going to keep it and buy him another one. It is up to date on cleaning products, and tells you about so many things that most other books of this type don't tell you; such as, diagrams on how to iron, how to sew. It tells you when fruits and vegetables are in season and how to tell when they are ripe. I think it is the most complete book of it's kind that I have ever seen. It would be excellent for newly weds, bachelor sons or daughters just getting their 1st apartment. And it is great for someone that has been housekeeping for over 30 years...like me!! Buy it, you won't regret it!

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, August 23, 2005

By 

taxlady (Al) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Good Housekeeping The Complete Household Handbook: The Best Ways to Clean, Maintain & Organize Your Home (Hardcover)

This book is chock full of valuable information,would make a wonderful gift for a newlywed couple or do-it-yourself couple.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone should own this book!, April 5, 2008

By 

Linda C. Ayotte (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Good Housekeeping The Complete Household Handbook, Revised Edition: The Best Ways to Clean, Maintain & Organize Your Home (Paperback)

I wish I would have had this book when I first became 100% responsible for my dwelling! This book is practical and tells you how to clean, how to take care of and manage a household. Every teenager heading off to college, or newly married couple should receive this book as a gift into real adulthood!