Mary Ellen's Guide to Good Enough Housekeeping (Paperback)

by Mary Ellen Pinkham (Author), Dale Burg (Author) "Good enough housekeeping is cleaning to your own standards, not to your mother's (or anyone else's)..." (more)
Key Phrases: lambswool duster, disinfecting cleaner, enough housekeeping, Bon Ami, Bar Keepers Friend, Murphy Oil Soap (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Had enough of experts who make you feel you need a million different cleaning products, loads of time and encyclopedic knowledge to have a clean, comfortable house?

Then you're ready for Good Enough Housekeeping.

Here's the most practical advice ever from Mary Ellen Pinkham, the best-selling helpful hints expert and star of HGTV's "TIP-ical Mary Ellen"-the "good enough" method of getting the job done with little time and little or no help.

"Housekeeping is like painting the Golden Gate Bridge. When you get to the end, you just start over," Mary Ellen says. "It's overwhelming unless you unless you know where to begin-and when to stop." That's what this book will explain.

Good Enough Housekeeping is cleaning off the handprint without going on to wash the entire wall

Good Enough Housekeeping is sweeping the floor to protect it but not worrying if it's clean enough to eat off.

Good Enough Housekeeping is recognizing that the hygiene standards for a bathroom are not the same as for an operating room.

Good Enough Housekeeping means knowing when the job is done and not spending another second on it.

You're good enough to deserve a break. Start practicing Good Enough
Housekeeping now.


About the Author
Mary Ellen Pinkham's Best of Helpful Hints shot to #1 on The New York Times Bestseller List in 1979 and stayed there for over a year. She now has her own line of cleaning products and stars in "Tipical Mary Ellen" on the Home & Garden TV Network. She lives in Edina, Minnesota.

Dale Burg, Mary Ellen's long-time collaborator, lives in Manhattan.

Product Details

• Paperback: 226 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (May 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312285671
• ISBN-13: 978-0312285678
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,241,646 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mary Ellen Rocks!, May 3, 2002

By A Customer

Hooray for Mary Ellen! I never knew cleaning could be so much fun AND "good enough!" Mary Ellen is a riot. I came away from the book with a ton of great ideas and a smile on my face. A fun read. My grandma swears by Mary Ellen's first book so she bought me "Good Enough Housekeeping" now that Im a homeowner with 3 kids. I'm not kidding, this book has TOTALLY set me free from being a perfectionist and it set me free from VINEGAR! At last a book that doesn't suggest stinky vinegar for everything! Mary Ellen, you are the real deal and your book is far better than "good enough!" you rock!

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mary Ellen Rocks!, May 3, 2002

By A Customer

Hooray for Mary Ellen! I never knew cleaning could be so much fun AND "good enough!" Mary Ellen is a riot. I came away from the book with a ton of great ideas and a smile on my face. A fun read. My grandma swears by Mary Ellen's first book so she bought me "Good Enough Housekeeping" now that Im a homeowner with 3 kids. I'm not kidding, this book has TOTALLY set me free from being a perfectionist and it set me free from VINEGAR! At last a book that doesn't suggest stinky vinegar for everything! Mary Ellen, you are the real deal and your book is far better than "good enough!" you rock!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I'm surprised...., January 26, 2007

By	TRACY ANDERSON "traces of tracy" (WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was a fan of the show until it disappeared from tv. I was hoping for this book to be helpfull, and I read the other review. I even paid extra for quick shipping. But I was very disapointed in my buy. The book was less of a helpfull guide to cleaning and more of just a book. Sure, it's funny. It's written by Mary Ellen! She's hilarious! But the book is less of a guide; it doesn't have a clear set of examples and rules. I was hoping for something more like a thesarus. Something I could I use to look up what I wanted to know and have my information. This book you have to read it from cover to cover to get any information, and then, you are not guaranteed to find out what you want to know.