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The Lost Art of House Cleaning: A Clean House Is a Happy Home

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Just as my cover states, I can teach you to clean your whole house and everything in it using a simple methodology and just 3 inexpensive, readily available products. (P.S. this is the same book as the original The Lost Art of House Cleaning, just with a new cover.)



I have owned a residential cleaning company since 2004 and we have cleaned thousands of houses during that time using my method and these 3 products. That's all you'll need too!



My cleaning method, "The Path" is simple and can be mastered in no time at all. This book actually started life as my employee's training manual.



The average household is spending hundreds of dollars a year on cleaning products. I'm sure if you look under your sinks and in you cleaning supply closet you'll agree. These 3 products should cost you about $20 a year.




first part of the book teaches how to deep clean your house, Big Job, then I go into maintenance. methodology is the same for both jobs the only difference is the depth of the job. In the back of the book is the Nitty Gritty, which gives detailed instructions on cleaning specific items in your house.

Also, visit my website: thelostartofhousecleaning.com for demonstration videos and blogs.



In the 7 years that this book has been available I have had hundreds of emails from people all over the world thanking me for teaching them how to clean simply and inexpensively.

Buy my book and Enjoy the Clean!

158 pages, Paperback

First published January 24, 2011

43 people are currently reading
166 people want to read

About the author

Jan M. Dougherty

1 book1 follower

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5 stars
101 (43%)
4 stars
81 (34%)
3 stars
36 (15%)
2 stars
15 (6%)
1 star
1 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
Profile Image for Katie.
2 reviews3 followers
August 6, 2016
This book gave me the motivation I needed to do a deep clean of my home! I found it funny that I enjoyed reading a book about cleaning (probably because I'm not having to do the actual cleaning yet). A quick read, with sections clearly labeled so you can skip if it wasn't applicable to your home. I like her method "The PATH" and I look forward to putting it into practice. Her method can be quite time consuming; she mentions it could take 3-4 hours to clean each room. She does mention how to maintain the room after you have done a deep clean. The only complaint I had about this book was that she used a lot of acronyms that weren't necessary. I would have preferred she just write out the full name for most of the products.
Profile Image for Jill.
239 reviews
November 26, 2013
Wonderful resource! Excellent methods and simple toolbox to accomplish CLEAN. Although - with six kids, I'd much rather hire this woman than clean the way she cleans...it's too frustrating to see it undone so quickly.
Profile Image for Carl.
12 reviews27 followers
April 8, 2016
Due to allergies we have to clean house to some degree every week. So I can't believe I waited so many years to read about house cleaning. I learned some things that I should have picked up long ago. For example, that buckets are a total waste of time. Spray bottles are way, way better and faster.

This book provides a simple approach to house cleaning, with lots of little tips and tricks for cleaning specific items. Written by a long-time professional house cleaner. There are lots of typos, but thankfully the writing style is funny and engaging.

You can get what you need out of this book in an hour or less. I expect to get that time back in the coming weeks by simply being smarter about how I clean.
151 reviews
June 20, 2020
I found the content very helpful but was really put off by all of the typos and punctuation issues. It seems disrespectful to readers to be so full of oneself that she couldn't even take the time to edit or have it edited. Seriously, a third grader could have picked out all the errors. So many times - "you" instead of "your" - just one example of the many possibilities. I actually wanted to go through and count them. I am confident it would be some type of publishing record. Really horrendous.

And I also saw no indication anywhere of this book being an "International Bestseller" as the title claims. Why so few reviews if an "International Bestseller"?

For content I would give it four stars, for writing - one star.
Profile Image for Yvonne Suessmuth.
25 reviews
April 26, 2017
Followed this advise for a while but not anymore. I am not sure if Krud Kutter really gets rid of all the dirt. I tried to keep redoing it in our kitchen in Avondale until the rags came up clean but after five times washing the same cabinets and they were still dirty I gave up. There can't be that much dirt on them, right?
3 reviews
April 8, 2025
It was a bit overwhelming. She starts with the "big job" first and I've never cleaned like that in my life. It does have some good tips. Not a bad read, but not a life changer.
2 reviews
March 18, 2020
Good step by step cleaning instructions

Loved this book for the “Nitty Gritty” explanations of how to clean basically anything and everything. No outrageous cleaning methods or supplies. Just your basic “how to” that I will give to my daughters (don’t have any boys) to help them begin homes of their own.
1 review
November 4, 2024
So true. It did motivate me. Every time I see something I do it. Now I’m doing cupboards!
Profile Image for Erin.
15 reviews2 followers
March 15, 2011
I look at "clean" differently now. I like that she wants whatever you are cleaning to feel clean not just look like it. It is a good book for those of us who would rather read about cleaning than actually doing it. Now I am motivated to make my house pretty and put the book to the test. Happy Spring Cleaning!
Profile Image for JHM.
594 reviews68 followers
November 26, 2011
I do not like house cleaning, but this brief, helpful, funny book has inspired me to dig in and do the deep cleaning I need to.

I should probably wait until I've actually tried her techniques to rate the book itself, but the fact that it was interesting enough to read it through says a lot right there.

If her techniques don't work, I'll come back and edit this review.
Profile Image for Apryl Hendricks.
3 reviews
November 16, 2018
Excellent Book

The book really teaches how to clean. Over the years I have s pent a fortune on cleaning solutions that didn't work. What a surprise to discover this author's experience with much cheaper supplies! Also, her way of ways of planning are ingenious. I enjoyed this book very much.
Profile Image for Beth.
1 review
March 12, 2012
I think this is a great H
"How to clean" book. My mother taught me to clean like this, but I had never used Krud Kutter. I am in love with this cleaning product!
7 reviews
September 26, 2012
This book takes the confusion out of cleaning. I bought the book a few weeks ago and have been loving cleaning ever since.
Profile Image for Audrey.
87 reviews4 followers
November 4, 2012
Took me three hours to clean my bathroom after reading this and I'm not sure that its up to scratch...but it's better than it was before, that's for sure :)
Profile Image for Barbara Huskey.
750 reviews16 followers
December 10, 2013
Learned a lot from this book. I bought the supplies they recommend and plan to to a BJ following The Plan!
444 reviews1 follower
February 28, 2015
Very useful. I will keep and refer to this often.
1,604 reviews5 followers
June 8, 2016
Kind of fun to read but not super helpful.
Profile Image for Joy.
181 reviews17 followers
January 3, 2019
I had no idea how many spots I was missing when we clean the house!
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews

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