How to Avoid Housework: Tips, Hints, and Secrets on How to Have a Spotless Home [Paperback]

Paula Jhung (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 5, 1995

Household tips by a popular columnist include fast tidy jobs for unexpected visitors, organizing clutter, creating a self-maintained kitchen, coping with mess-makers, and keeping the bathroom clean. 25,000 first printing. Tour. Lit Guild & Doubleday Alt.

Editorial Reviews

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

Product Details

• Paperback: 214 pages
• Publisher: A Fireside Book; 1st ptg edition (May 5, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684802678
• ISBN-13: 978-0684802671
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,898,896 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I've purchased several copies..., March 27, 2000

By 

Linda Giles (Rowlett, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: How to Avoid Housework: Tips, Hints, and Secrets on How to Have a Spotless Home (Paperback)

This is a great book if you are planning to move, build a new home or purchase new furniture. It gives hints on everything to the type of flooring that is easiest to keep clean to which furniture would be best to stay looking nice with little upkeep. Also good for ideas on how to organize and keep clutter to a minimum as to spend less time doing housework. I read it cover to cover and used a highlighter on points to refer back to. I loved this book so much that as a real estate agent, I give this to clients before they move and they have all loved it too!

29 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for Real-World People!, September 16, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: How to Avoid Housework: Tips, Hints, and Secrets on How to Have a Spotless Home (Paperback)

This is a wonderful book for anyone who hates housework and/or just doesn't have the time. I'm only half way through the book, but so far I've enjoyed everything! I especially love the portion where she states (and quotes others) that the immaculate homes that we see in the 'House Beautiful'-type magazines are not a reflection of normal people who have busy lives! Also enjoyed the chapter on getting the big ones and little ones in the household to do housework as a team. I am currently reading a library copy, but want / will get one of my own!