Rating: 
Summary: My housekeeping bible!
Review: For years, I had a hand-me-down copy of "The Good Housekeeping Homeowner's Manual" on my bookshelf. At last, I've found a tome worthy of replacing that venerable old standard. Comprehensive, to the point of borderline obsession, Ms. Mendelson give exhastive instructions on all points of good housekeeping, from proper laundering, to food preparation to legal matters pertaining to home ownership.Ms. Mendelson's meticulousness is not meant to incite a housekeeping frenzy in the manner of Martha Stewart, but rather, to provide a comprehensive primer for those of us who grew up in a time when "homemaking" was looked down upon and pushed aside in favor of fast food, take out and the 30-minute-company's-coming-3-room-dash. The reader must remember that he/she need only take and use what is needed from the book and not slavishly adhere to every recommendation. "Home Comforts" is a great book for both novice homemakers and Martha Stewartistas alike. Novices will learn the essential tools and pantry items to keep in the kitchen to prepare a meal anytime, so that they need not keep Domino's on speed dial. They will also learn basic, sensible schedules for cleaning, laundering (as in, No, the cannot go in all at once even if you put it on the cold water setting) organizing. Experts will also be pleased to learn new techniques for stain removal and the nuances of lighting and air in the home. The book is a manual, but it is a pleasurable read as well. Ms. Mendelson has a concise, graceful style that softens the edicts she writes. Highly recommended.
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Summary: There's a difference between homemaking and housekeeping
Review: I am an enthusiastic, traditionally-minded full-time housewife. This book was the first thing I bought when I decided to leave grad school in order to better attend to my family's private needs. It has done me a lot of good on technical issues. For example, my husband and I both have long hair and we were endlessly getting into a vicious cycle with the bathtub: the drain would clog, the bathtub would get filthy because there's no way to clean a tub that doesn't drain, we would do violence to it with Drano and abrasive cleaners, and the problem would only be worse when it recurred a few weeks or months later. Mendelson helped me solve this problem very simply and easily. For such reasons, I'm glad to have the book. Yet I agree with the career women who say the tone and organization of the book are way off-base. Many readers have stated that if they did everything the book says to do, they'd never have time for anything else; those who love the book respond by quoting the author's disclaimer that you don't have to do everything. Supposedly she's just laying out all the information so you can choose your own level of housekeeping. Yes, that is what the author SAYS, but in reality the book is not organized to facilitate doing any less than the whole nine yards. And the author makes insulting assumptions about the reader's material resources. Living on just my husband's income with student loan payments to boot, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the lengthy chapters describing the myriad kitchen implements, china and linens one should have on hand in a proper household. And forget trying to follow the author's procedures for many basic tasks if you don't have the same facilities as her upscale NYC apartment. In the discussion of how to wash dishes, there is a cute picture of the dirty dishes piled up at the left of the double basin sink and a dishrack on the right. The instructions are ONLY for how to do it with exactly this set-up. Apparently it never even occurred to Mrs. Mendelson that not everybody is as lucky as she is when it comes to counter space. Basically, this is a book on how to do the work of a full-time housewife with the income from two prestigious, demanding careers. I think this shows that the author - not her dissatisfied readers - has some leftover feminist issues. All her disclaimers notwithstanding, the sheer heft and excessive wordiness of the book show that only major projects meet her standards for dignified work. She dismisses as frivolous any notion that creative activities, rather than cleaning and organizing, could form the fundamental basis of home life. Such mere "hobbies" as sewing and baking, she sniffs, can never substitute for gleaming floors and sanitized countertops. (Apparently while she was working on that philosophy degree she never came across a book called "Leisure, the Basis of Culture.") Several readers have rightly commented that her standards of cleanliness seem more appropriate for institutions than for a house. Indeed, the book's unspoken message seems to be that we should bring the level of organization and energy found in professional workplaces into the privacy of our homes. Sadly, the very structure of the book is a confession, painful to witness, of the author's unfinished business in the professional realm. Apparently she didn't quite cut it in her original academic vocation, so at this late date she makes up for it by weaving philosophical ramblings into her book on housekeeping, where they just take up space, offend some readers, and make the real info hard to find. Similarly with the legal profession and the several mostly irrelevant chapters on "legal issues" at the end of the book. I'm keeping and continuing to use the book, but I will definitely be looking for other references that I can use without having to constantly re-read the irrelevant autobiographical information. If, like most of us, you have enough career-vs.-home issues of your own, you might want to pass on this book rather than get dragged through the author's as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Too many words, not enough data
Review: I found this book to be too wordy. As a woman who works full time and keeps a house, I don't have time to understand, for example, WHY I'm eating lunch. I bought this book because I wanted an all-in-one easy reference guide, not an encyclopedic listing of impressive house related words. When I finally needed the book, however, it failed me. Living in a seaside community, I needed information on controlling mold in the home, and the book fails to describe what actions to take and/or whom to call with concerns. I'm sure this book works for true housewives who have the time to appreciate and read the author's beautiful prose, but I am not that person. I am going to donate this book to the local library in the hopes that someone else can benefit from it.
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Summary: I Like Clean, not Cleaning
Review: I love how my home looks when it is clean and orderly but I do NOT love cleaning. That is why I bought this book - to get some hints and tips for making life easier. Even if one has household help, there is so much to be done on a daily basis and this book was a great help. It is not a book that is meant to be read and adhered to from cover to cover, but rather to be kept as a reference book. One has the option of using as much or as little of the information as s/he wants. It was not meant to be a bible. I have used the sections on safe food storage; cleaning hardwood floors, tile, jewelry; fabric information and cleaning tips; odor removal; the care of metals; countertop care; and the household cleaners section. I found this last section to be incredibly informative. I liked the way this book is organized--it is very easy to use and the index is exceptionally well-done. I have given "Home Comforts" to several new brides and they seem to have appreciated it. I would heartily recommend this as a wedding shower gift.
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Summary: Cold water and enzymes? Who knew!
Review: Great book. In fact, it just paid for itself by helping me get a coffee stain out of a favorite light-colored wool skirt- thereby avoiding an expensive trip to the dry cleaners! I've just bought a house, and in two weeks, I have looked up everything from washer machine maintainence to insurance policies to pantry storage. A good source for those who are newly-confronted with 'house issues' or even those who just want a better stain remover. Comprehensive and easy to search.
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Summary: sweep this book under the rug.
Review: I decided of late that my housekeeping habits are a little shabby, and I could use some help in the how-to department. A little emotional support would be good: a little shove in the right direction....So I bought the book. I wish I hadn't. Because it's fussy.
I take a skeptical view of the author's claims of what is unhealthy....and she does an awful lot of preaching about it. I doubt that many of her proclamations would hold up in a biochem lab.
If I were to keep all aspects of my house in the way the book recommends, I would have no time for my three children, my husband, my garden, my piano, or anything else. In fact I find some of the "information" downright silly.
No-one in my home has ever come down with any diseases because their pillow cases were not changed at the posted minimum of two times per week...If I could afford the necessary 6 sets of towels for each person in my house, where on earth would I put thirty sets of towels...? .
There is some practical advice here, but much of it is for the housekeeping zealot. Forget this book if you're not one, or don't aspire to be one.
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Summary: A Way to Think About Your Home
Review: Home Comforts contains a philosophy of homemaking. If your parents never took the time to teach you (perhaps unwilling as a youngster) how to create a home, you may never have considered the pros and cons of airing beds, sanitizing kitchens counters, selecting the best sheets and pillows, preventing home accidents, and much more. I enjoyed reading sections out loud to my husband in the evenings so we could discuss our feelings and preferences about how we run our household. I suspect that many people my age (mid-thirties) dismissed housekeeping as non-important or simple work when approaching adulthood. We didn't realize everything that goes into making a home safe, attractive, and functional. A book like this helps to fill in some of the missing pieces, even though despite its enormous size it is still not comprehensive. For focused help on related topics, if you need help organizing your stuff I'd also recommend reading Sidetracked Home Executives by Peggy Jones and Pam Young, a book by Heloise if you want information on how to clean something, and A Housekeeper is Cheaper than a Divorce by Kathy Sherman Fitzgerald if you ever decide to hire a household employee or even a cleaning service. (When my husband ruptured his Achilles' tendon, requiring surgery, three successive casts and then rehabilitation, I quickly got swamped with household tasks. I used Kathy's advice to hire a college student part-time to help out, and it's been wonderful, though it wouldn't have worked as well if I hadn't invested time beforehand learning how to organize and clean my home effectively). Running a home well requires quite a bit of knowledge and organization, and Home Comforts will help you decide what and what not is important to you.
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Summary: a great reference, but advocates a little too much cleaning!
Review: This book has been a great help to me. The book includes useful discussions about various ways to deal with household dirt and other problems, such as how many grocery-store disinfectants do you need? How safe are they really? It got me thinking about what is really necessary in the house. For instance, on the 4th of July our sink/garbage disposal got clogged. We knew from the book that commercial drain decloggers can be dangerous, so we followed the book's recipe for unclogging the drain. I never knew simple baking soda and vinegar could be that effective - it was great! I also liked how she lists her sources, in addition to some of the chemical formulas for some of the cleaning recipes. There are plenty of things in this book that I know my mom never considered - it's good to have a reference that appears to have been so thoroughly researched. However, I do agree that the author recommends cleaning certain things far more than necessary. Some of her suggestions for routines to follow daily or weekly seem a little excessive. But I definitely recommend getting the book, reading her arguments for various procedures, and making your own educated decision based on what you think and your own life/family situation.
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Summary: New Book for Wedding Gifts
Review: This is my new gift for weddings. I started out buying it for myself and now I have purchased several as gifts for newly weds. It tells them everything from how to make a bed to getting stains out of clothes to cleaning different types of pots and pans. This is a great book for a new young person and the old one who sometimes need to look something up that they have forgot how to do.
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Summary: A Great Reference Book
Review: This is a very comprehensive book about keeping house. It covers everything! From laundry to cleaning up, it has everything you need to know. It starts at the basics, like how to fold different clothing and linen articles, to more complex issues. It has information on: legal issues in your home (such as insurance and liabilities); safety around the home; how to care for CD's, videotapes, photographs, etc; basic sewing skills; plumbing maintenance; how to start fireplace fires and so much more. The book gets very specific and has simple diagrams. This contains everything you need to know about setting up and maintaining a home. I would especially recommend it as a housewarming gift or for someone leaving home for the first time. A great reference book, and I doubt the author expects you to completely run your home like her. Its well written, easy to understand and just a great book.
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