# 325 - I'm a Cleaning Rebel!

Today's household often represents a Swiffer sort of mindset. Yes, I admit it, I once went through the Swiffer craze. I have a Swiffer which I like to use on the wood floors upstairs, but it's not my favorite floor cleaning tool.

For me and my household, the good old-fashioned broom reins supreme.

A Swiffer has limited resources. You can only continue cleaning for as long a the Swiffer pad holds up. Once that pad is full of dirt and hair, you must do away with it. This means you must stop cleaning and throw away the filthy pad to replace it with a new one that you must keep on hand --- which also means continually spending money to collect that dirt and hair on the floors.

For me, I use my broom to sweep up that dirt and dog hair...my broom does a marvelous job. I have a stand-up dust pan that efficiently collects the piles of dirt that I sweep for collection and there's no additional costs that I must make after the initial cost to pay for the broom and collection dust pan. I believe both of my purchases are at least 5-6 years old. I love cleaning tools that don't require refills.

Plus, the broom does more than just floors. I use the pointed part of the broom to get into the corners with vigor. Then, I run the tip of the broom along the tops of the baseboards to remove the dust, so my baseboards stay looking clean and dust-free. A Swiffer can't do this very easily, not with the swivel head and the flat Swiffer pad that isn't designed for such Olympic-Broom maneuvers.

Even better, my broom gives me added height to reach ceiling corners so I can remove any cobwebs. A Swiffer can't really claim to be good at cleaning these items, of course you can change out the Swiffer tools and use the dusting tool, which will still require an eventual change and replacement and another, and another, and another cleaning pad. Swiffer will be glad to keep taking your money to be the disposable dust pan you pay, repeatedly. Although, I like the thought of "I can't clean because I'm out of Swiffer supplies!"

As I go about cleaning with my broom, I go so far as to take my clean broom and run it along the six panels of each colony-style interior door throughout my house, to remove the dust that collects along the ridges of each panel. Above the door, I run the broom to dust off the top of the door-casing. You might be surprised at how much dust collects over each doorway. A broom can even be helpful to clean the blades of a ceiling fan. My grandmother always used her broom stick to beat the curtains to release any dust and to shake at kids who were behaving unruly. Or course, I always found that to be entertaining to observe, kind of like grandma was up to bat!

I clean my broom quickly by taking it outside to the pavement and giving it a few rough swipes back and forth. The roughness of the concrete does a great job of helping to dislodge any debris on the broom bristles.

My broom can reach behind furniture and under the bed, it sweeps the windowsills as I go about cleaning the floors and even makes a few swipes along the window blinds to keep the dust bunnies under control. My broom is very effective when cleaning under kitchen cabinets, there are lots of cracks and crevices that come under cabinetry. A Swiffer is a smooth working tool that doesn't really offer sufficient cleaning power. However, a Swiffer is great for a quick once-over of a floor that is basically already clean and just needs a quick replenishing pass. Otherwise, I leave the Swiffer in the corner and save money on buying refills, then head for my broom.

Now, don't even get me started on Wet Swiffers...my mop is unbeatable. To me, other "tools"only complicate cleaning and make it more costly. Sometimes, the old-fashioned broom and dustpan method is the highest and best method of getting it done, along with the best money-saving method used for generations.

There's a reason the traditional broom is still such a household staple. I love my broom and use it for all it's worth. I'm fast with a broom. It's one of my Super-Mom abilities...to do magical things with a broom. Oh yea, I can twirl it like a baton too...just for a bit of extra pizazz.

I've never twirled my Swiffer, it just doesn't inspire me with its uncooperative engineering. What can I say?