Rating: 
Summary: Lots of Hype, But Less Real Substance
Review: I was very excited about this book and the idea of learning to clean my house more quickly and efficiently. When I read the author's intro and the comments included in the book [as well as the positive reviews here] I just knew I'd hit on a great cleaning solution. Unfortunately, in reading the book, I found it really didn't live up to the author's build up. For starters, the method really ISN'T very efficient. The author strongly recommends a whole arsenal of cleaning solutions and cleaning devices/tools. I just don't think the average home owner really needs all that stuff to do a quick and good job cleaning. [I'd be lost just trying to keep up with all those things!] I will note however, that all of these cleaning items are offered for sale on their website and catalog - a fact that is mentioned NUMEROUS times throughout the book ["buy our stuff!"]. The first time or two I read about their catalog in the book, I thought "how cool - one place to pick up all this stuff!". By the 10th mention of it I was feeling a little like I'd paid for a book that was really just advertising for their company and products. ["No, really, BUY OUR STUFF!"] I also thought the prices on the website were pretty ridiculous [way higher than I would pay to get the same stuff at Home Depot or someplace like that]. You would *easily* spend well over $$$ to buy all the products they tell you that you MUST have from their website/catalog. Another example of why I don't feel this method is very quick or efficient - many long years ago I read a Don Aslet book [who I recommend!]. In that book he said something that has stuck with me for almost a decade - "don't scrub anything you can soak" [or something to that effect]. Practically speaking, this means that when I begin to clean, I soak things first. If there are spills of food on the stove that have turned to rock, I pour a bit of water on it and let it sit for 5 or 10 minutes while I clean something else. The same with dishes, etc. I *NEVER* have to scrub - when I come back, I am able to wipe up the mess in one or two swipes with a paper towel. VERY QUICK and energy and time efficient. In contrast, Mr. Campbell spends pages and pages on how to scrub and scrape up a similar hardened spill/mess. He recommends beginning with one scrubbing utensil and working up to another and then yet another and then moving to a putty knife type instrument and then an actual RAZOR blade [which would damage my kitchen surfaces to no end...]. Never once does he even mention the idea of just soaking the stuff so it wipes up easily. I don't think that's very efficient personally. Other things that bugged me about the book were that it seems really written more for commercial cleaning teams. It claims to be written for the average homeowner, but most of the methods are truly suited to a professional "team" approach. He spends a great deal of time describing how the team should split up the work, etc. [I don't know about you, but I certainly don't have a set of friends that show up at my house every weekend to help me clean it...]. He runs a cleaning service in San Francisco, which he mentions repeatedly - I feel this book was really written for professional cleaners like him. I also didn't like the constant high pressure sales pitch; and I agree with another reviewer that the "spanish summary" at the end seemed kind of useless - why not publish the whole thing in spanish? Much more useful. There WERE good things about this book - while I found most of the better suggestions to be "common sense", they might be really helpful to someone who has never done a lot of cleaning [maybe a young person out on their own for the first time] or for someone who doesn't feel that they are very "efficient" in general. I also LOVED the chapter on the environmental impact of the cleaning products and found it very useful. [Worth the price of the book in fact]. There is also a good chapter on hiring a cleaning service/housekeeper - although that chapter seemed very misplaced in this particular book [If I could afford a house cleaner, I *wouldn't* be buying this book to learn to do it myself!]. The book was also very easy and quick to read. Overall I'd say it was worth the money, but not NEARLY as wonderful as it is hyped up to be!
Rating: 
Summary: My house has never been cleaner!
Review: I've always tried to keep a fairly clean (2,600 sq. ft.) house. My friends thought I was successful, too. But after the first "Speed Cleaning" pass through my house, I can honestly say that my house has never been cleaner. Yes, it took over 5 hours to complete the job the first time. But I can see that once the initial "baseline" cleaning job is done, the weekly trip through the house will be much faster. There are great tips in here for how to clean things, what tools and cleaning agents to use, how to enlist help from your family and more. If you want to buy the "right" tools, you can obtain reasonable facsimiles of the recommended products at Home Depot and Target/Wal-Mart for a lot less dough. I would recommend this book for anyone who wants a cleaner house, but is overwhelmed at the prospect of attacking the cobwebs in the corners or the dustbunnies under the beds. You'll learn the fastest, easiest, most effective ways to conquer these areas in addition to the basics (scrubbing the bathrooms, kitchen, dusting EVERYTHING, etc.) This book is not for ridding your house of too much stuff. In fact, if clutter is a problem that needs to be attacked before the real cleaning begins, I recommend Campbell's other book, "Clutter Control" or "How Not to be a Messie" by Sandra Felton. Both give detailed instructions and guidelines on how to reduce the amount of stuff in your home. If this is a problem for you, you will be amazed at how freeing it is to discard things. The more you discard, the more you will want to discard, so motivation to complete the project is sort of self-perpetuating.
Rating:
Summary: Concise advice for regular weekly cleaning the entire home
Review: There are dozens of popular cleaning books on the market, many of which are touted on TV or tied to a particular cleaning maven's approach... and web site! What I've found in most of those books--and I am a full time bookseller, so I see a lot of them--is a long list of recipes for multitudes of all purpose cleaners, or tricks for particular stains. This is the BEST, most SPECIFIC book I've seen yet for describing how a person should begin cleaning their entire home. It takes one step-by-step through every room. Though some reviewers complain about so many references to the Clean Team web site, the book explicitely describes alternate solutions and products in chapter 13. They use their own product names simply because they are writing an INTRODUCTORY how to book for those who are stumped as to how to clean their own homes! Some (many?) of those people will probably breathe a sigh of relief to have a single source for exactly the right tools for the job. The "recommended instead of" and "recommended in addition to" right now are both for the excellent housekeeping manual, "Home Comforts." I agree wholeheartedly that everyone should own that book, but this one does serve a different purpose. "Home Comforts" is an ideal housewarming or wedding gift, but it is HUGE and covers lots of other territory. "Speed Cleaning" is a quick--dare I say speedy--overview that can get a person working toward a clean, healthy home after an hour's reading. I must also add that I believe the emphasis on scrubbing over soaking is based upon the author's own habit of keeping an environment constantly essentially clean. A person who follows these steps on a frequent schedule and does daily cleaning religiously will find these methods cover every need. The expectation is that one will maintain using every step in the book, and therefore rarely need stronger methods. Buy this book if you want instructions as to how to quickly do a basic weekly cleaning of your home. Look elsewhere for:
* specific homemade cleaning product recipes
* clutter control
* heavy-duty spring cleaning tips
Rating: 
Summary: Takes the chore out of housework
Review: This had been on my wishlist for a while, I finally broke down and bought it for myself. I am giving it a 4 star rating only because I have yet to read the entire book. But what I have read has helped me housekeep faster, easierand most importantly, better. Some of the 'hints' Jeff gives you are common sense, others arethe type tht make you think, "How did I not know this?" S far I love this ook.
Rating:
Summary: Messie no more!
Review: This is a great book to read,with interesting ideas on how to make a routine for yourself and your messy house! I am a very messy person and the systematic approach has helped me become more organized and thorough in my cleaning. Good book, great ideas and an easy read!
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