Idaho Statesman Logo

Why a cleaning service can be a miracle | Idaho Statesman

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • Customer Service
    • Mobile & Apps
    • Archives
    • Buy Photos and Pages
    • Contact Us
    • Newsletters
    • Newspaper in Education
    • Subscribe
    • Subscriber Services

    • News
    • Boise
    • West Ada
    • Canyon County
    • Crime
    • State News
    • Nation/World News
    • Databases
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Idahoans in the Military
    • Weather
    • Traffic
    • Helping Works
    • In the Classroom
    • Our Community
    • Sports
    • Boise State Football
    • Boise State Basketball
    • Idaho Vandals
    • High Schools
    • Bronco Beat
    • Chadd Cripe
    • Varsity Extra Blog
    • NFL
    • NBA
    • NHL
    • MLB
    • Golf
    • Idaho Politics
    • Elections
    • Government and Business
    • Capitol & State
    • Letters from the West
    • National Politics
    • Business
    • Business Insider
    • Business Columns & Blogs
    • Personal Finance
    • Legal Notices
    • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Bill Manny
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Guest Opinion
    • Submit a Letter or Opinion
    • Entertainment
    • Events Calendar
    • Restaurant Reviews
    • Arts and Culture
    • Festivals
    • Movie Reviews
    • Movie Showtimes
    • Music
    • Television
    • Books
    • Comics
    • Puzzles & Games
    • Horoscopes
    • Puzzles
    • Words & Deeds
    • ArtsBeat
    • Outdoors
    • Playing Outdoors Blog
    • Biking
    • Camping
    • Fishing
    • Hiking and Trails
    • Hunting
    • Winter Recreation
    • Living
    • Food & Drink
    • Health & Fitness
    • Home & Garden
    • Treasure
    • Pets
    • Religion
    • Travel
    • Best of Treasure Valley
    • Heart of the Treasure Valley
    • Margaret Lauterbach
    • Tim Woodward
    • Carolyn Hax
  • Obituaries

  • Contests
  • Advertise
  • Classifieds
  • Jobs
  • Cars
  • Homes
  • Place An Ad

  • About Us
  • Mobile & Apps

Living

Why a cleaning service can be a miracle

By Wina Sturgeon

Adventure Sports Weekly

    ORDER REPRINT →

July 23, 2016 11:30 PM

I once knew a woman who had allowed her clutter to become her prison.

She wasn’t a hoarder, but there were stacks of old mail and magazine filling every corner and every surface in her home. That made it impossible to dust. She was embarrassed about her home being so dusty and cluttered that she wouldn’t allow anyone to come inside and thus never had visitors.

A group of neighborhood friends got together and each chipped in enough to purchase one hour of a cleaning service for this 63-year-old lady. The service sent a team of two women to vacuum, clean, dust and organize the home. What that team was able to accomplish in just one hour was a miracle. The house became more than presentable – it actually sparkled. Carpeted floors were vacuumed; kitchen and bathroom floors were washed. Corners were meticulously cleaned.

A lot of the clutter was put in a “maybe” pile for her to sort through and see what she wanted to keep. To her own amazement, the woman didn’t want to keep ANY of it. Years and years of useless clutter were tossed. The now-cleared surfaces were dusted and polished. Two days later, the woman held a small party to show off her “new” home. The episode was a genuine before-and-after moment in her life.

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to The Idaho Statesman

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

The woman’s friends had contacted a home cleaning service. A team of two experienced cleaners is always sent. The cost was less than $100, with a discount for regular customers.

It’s a great gift for an older relative or good friend, and like most such services, free estimates are offered. Someone will actually come to your home and give a no-cost estimate of how long the chores you want done will take and how much the service will cost.

But there are many additional wonderful ways to use a cleaning service. Suppose you have a whole list of disgusting chores you just can’t bring yourself to do: clearing out the refrigerator, scouring the stove, scrubbing the sinks and bath or cleaning a long-neglected toilet. Think about having all those distasteful chores done to perfection by two non-judgmental cleaners, who will finish all of them in less than an hour. That’s certainly worth money.

Another plus is that having two strangers take a look at long embedded clutter and dust makes it easier to let go of the objects you’ve been holding onto for years for no real reason.

When my mother died, I had to clear out her apartment. Growing up, I saw her as obsessive about neatness. I remember once catching her in my home, sneakily running a finger along a kitchen chair rung, looking for dust.

But seeing her apartment after the end of her life, I kept wondering, “What made her keep this?” “What made her keep that?” while looking at a tattered shawl that obviously hadn’t been worn for a quarter century, or an old and battered cabinet with nothing in it.

Having a regular cleaning service as you age will prevent your children or other relatives from having to do it afterwards. That makes things easier on them, but it also gives you a final personal privacy and dignity that will make things easier on everyone.

Wina Sturgeon is an active 55+ based in Salt Lake City, who offers news on the science of anti-aging and staying youthful at: adventuresportsweekly.com. She skates, bikes and lifts weights to stay in shape.

  Comments  

Videos

It’s okay to be different: The story of Rupert the bear

This boy can’t use his legs, but he can climb walls

View More Video

Read Next

Travel

Hermitage Club puts you in center of private ski resort

By SAMANTHA FEUSS Tribune News Service

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 18, 2019 01:00 AM

The Hermitage Club at Haystack Mountain is a premiere destination for any New England visitor or local. Southern Vermont is easily accessible, just two hours from Boston and four hours from New York City, and puts you right in the center of the East Coast's only private ski resort. Members enjoy year-round entertainment surrounded by the natural beauty of the mountains.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to The Idaho Statesman

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE LIVING

Religion

Oakland diocese names 45 priests accused of sexual abuse

February 18, 2019 01:00 AM

Family

Moms Gear: Enjoy color-changing umbrella in the snow or the rain

February 18, 2019 01:00 AM

Home & Garden

Surprises and mortgages from the ‘seventh circle of hell’: Things I wish I knew before buying my first home

February 18, 2019 01:00 AM

Family

Game review: ‘Apex Legends,’ fantastic free-to-play battle royale shooter is already a blockbuster

February 18, 2019 01:00 AM

Home & Garden

Interior designer Michelle Dirkse creates one-of-a-kind textiles from local artists’ work

February 18, 2019 01:00 AM

Family

App review: Who Was? Adventure, fun quiz game teaches kids about presidents and other historical figures

February 18, 2019 01:00 AM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Idaho Statesman App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Archives
Advertising
  • Information
  • Place a Classified
  • Local Deals
  • Place an Obituary
  • Today's Circulars
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story